It's been months since I've posted on here. I seemed to run out of steam for my soapbox, but this past week I celebrated my one year anniversary of being sugar free and gluten free. What a year it's been! The outward reward that others can see is the near 50 lbs. that I've lost since January 2015. People who don't see me often call me the Ever Shrinking Woman. :) It's a nice compliment, but I still can't accept a compliment. I just blow it off, like it's no big deal. I'm easily embarrassed by compliments and don't know how to respond appropriately to them.
But the internal rewards far outweigh the outward reward. My mind is clearer. My body is free from all inflammation. I have no back pain, muscle pain, or joint pain. I'm happier and my brain isn't over taken by feelings of guilt, shame, and anger. I'm calmer. Honestly, in general, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. Everything else has stayed the same in my life. I'm still married to my sweetheart and we still get on each other's nerves. I'm still the mother of 4 great kids, that seriously get on my last nerve at times. I'm still a teacher, but at a new school. I continue to work with great professionals, but the learning curve in this new position has been enormous (to say the least). We've had our ups and downs as a family. Some major stress issues, same effect, just different scenarios. So, everything is essentially the same, but I'm happier. I'm more fulfilled. It's because my brain isn't hijacked by sugar anymore. I'm not coming off a sugar high every few hours and am not jonesing for my next sugar fix. I'm not depressed. It's been more liberating than anything else that I've ever tried in my entire life. Never, ever did I ever think I could feel this good on the inside. The outside doesn't matter nearly as much to me as the inside does. I never fathomed this would be an effect from going sf / gf.
I've stuck to my sugar-free and gluten-free way of life the entire time. I still see sugar as my addiction. I know how easy it will be for me to succumb to its power, so I have NO intentions of ever eating it. The sugar I eat is from natural foods such as fruit and diary. I still only drink unsweetened almond milk, but I've added Oikos triple zero greek yogurt to my menu. It's sweetened with Stevia and has 7 grams of sugar (found naturally in the milk). It's the only thing I eat that has more than 3 grams of sugar. I usually eat 2 of these a week. Once in awhile I'll eat a serving of Cheerios (3 grams) or Rice Chex/Corn Chex (3 and 4 grams). But, I eat these sparingly, maybe a few times per month.
As for gluten, I only buy and eat gf bread, pasta and just recently pancake mix. I also buy gf - low sugar (>3 grams of sugar) protein bars for sports. They are the only things we have in the house that are really super processed (that's what I consider it). It's still "junk food" because it still spikes your blood sugar, but we enjoy it as a treat. One loaf of bread a week is our staple for 5 people, so we average 2-3 slices each per week. I also buy 2 packages of gf pasta per month. My kids love this pasta dash that I've made for years and none of us want to give it up entirely :) (It's made with fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, apple chicken sausage, and arugula). Super yummy! As for the pancake mix, I found a great mix at our local health food store around Christmas. I picked it up for a treat for Christmas morning. The kids were super stoked. Joe's been making gf crepes for months, but it was a nice treat to get pancakes. The kids use local honey as their syrup. We used pure maple syrup at Christmas, but my kids seem to go nuts over it. I feel like they have an easier time with honey, in regards to not craving it, unlike the maple syrup.
I remain gf and keep a gf home in solidarity for my 9 year old who is allergic to wheat. But, the other kids are free to make their own choices when they are not home. So, they've been eating gluten and sugar at times, but the vast majority of the time they are eating very healthy. Joe will eat freely when he's not at home too, and had a feast on his last trip overseas. 2 weeks and a ten pound gain is proof to what sugar and over- indulging in processed carbs will do for your waistline.
So, I've been toting for a year the effects of sugar and it's highly addicting qualities and the health benefits of going sugar free. I'm sure people are annoyed with my preaching, but I now have two huge backers supporting my claim and research....Weight Watchers and the USDA. In November WW announced their "Biggest Change in 50 Years!" They reformulated their program and got rid of Points Plus and started Smart Points. Over 50% of foods have had a point value change. Do you know why? Because now they are focusing on SUGAR and SATURATED FAT! So, instead of just calculating with dietary fiber, people have to input sugar and saturated fat content manually. Lean proteins like shrimp, turkey and most seafood are 1 Smart Point. 3 oz. of chicken is now only 2 points. Foods with higher sugar and/or saturated fat have much higher point values now. Faithful Weight Watchers, have been shocked by the new plan, but are seeing huge results. A friend of mine works for WW and her first week on the new plan she lost 4.5 lbs.! She was shocked and it's her biggest single week loss she's ever had and she's been with them for YEARS! She said people are losing more weight than ever before. I'm so excited for WW because they do change lives and educate people about nutrition. I feel like it's a huge step in the right direction for our country.
Another big change in the U.S. is the new dietary recommendations by the USDA. They have finally made an actual recommendation on sugar intake. They recommend that 10% of our daily recommended calories come from added sugars. But sadly, they still have not actually changed the food labels. It would be a hell of a lot easier for them to just give us the recommended grams of sugar like the World Health Organization and American Heart Association. They recommend 36 grams for men, 24 grams for woman, 12 or 16 for school age / preschoolers and 9 grams for adolescents. And, these grams are for all sugars....dairy and fruit plus the sugars found in anything else. Essentially, if you are eating 3 fruit a day and having some dairy, chances are you meet your recommended daily allowance.
My hope for 2016 is to inspire more folks to really take sugar seriously. It's no joke. Sugar is not healthy for anyone. You don't need to be addicted to it to be negatively effected by it. You don't need to be obese to suffer from the health issues of sugar. You can be completely unaware of the side-effects of added sugars. But, I kid you not, it IS effecting you in a metabolic way. It IS playing havoc on your internal systems. If you care to know more, comment on this post and I'll be happy to post links to the scientific research behind these claims.
My other goals for this year is to lose that extra 35 pounds. I want to be within the normal weight range for my height. And, I hope to run my first official 5k. I hope to continue to inspire my friends and family to be healthy.
Peace, Love, Happiness and Healthy Eating,
Tiff
