The sugar story

Ok, here we go. This is a whopper of a blog post!

Last month, I discovered a healthier way to take care of my hair. Little did I know I would be embarking on a bigger quest; healthier eating, ha ha!

So, it all started 2 weeks ago when I was chatting with a good friend. She and I were talking about how to eat healthier, lose weight, and take better care of yourself. She cut out ‘the whites’, no white sugar or flour. Refined sugar. Deep down, I thought “Well, of course that would make you healthier! Sugar is wonderful tasting, but crap for your body.”

I can’t exactly remember how I came to the decision to try it, but I decided to try cutting out the whites. I started my good old researching at night, and learned a ton. I’ve gotten a lot of interesting responses to my quest. Lots of ‘you’re crazy!’, ‘ I can’t live without my sugar’ , and some from friends who have gone this route. I totally agree on the crazy part. I mean, hello. You all see the fun recipes I share on FB, and we know how much I love that darn good nutella cheesecake.

So, part of me wondered, ‘why am I attempting to go without sugar??’ and the other part of me wondered, ‘Well, let’s see’, because I do want to be healthier, and wouldn’t mind losing a little weight, but above all, it just feels good to be healthy and take care of your self.

At first, I read a lot from Sarah Wilson, this Australian lady who cut out sugar completely. Hardly any fruit, no honey, agave, etc. She had good things to say about the health benefits of no sugar, and the addiction factor, but I like to eat fruit.

That’s another thing. A lot of the articles I read mentioned sugar being as addictive as cocaine and other drugs. Crazy! I don’t know how often we think of sugar in that manner, but I don’t doubt it being addicting.

I read about how eating healthy food gives your body the cue that it’s full, and you don’t gorge yourself. White sugar does not, and if you’re not disciplined, you can easily eat too much of the sweets.

Along the way, I read about the benefits of eating healthy fats, and not sugar fats. Full fat milk and other things don’t necessarily put on the weight; the sugar and fructose does. How low fat things tend to have more sugar in them to make them taste as good as the full fat item. (yogurt and such) So, its really doing you no good to get low fat this and that. Interesting. 

My favorite thing I learned was about beans! I learned, well, was reminded since my Mom did this, that if you soak dry beans over night, it de-gasses them. So, no toots! I soaked a bunch of pinto beans, put them in the crock pot with onions and garlic, cooked for 8 hours, mashed them up with a bunch of cumin, and they tasted great. You can freeze them easily for burritos, bean dip, etc. So, my favorite snack now is chips and bean dip. I’m so silly, but beans are dang healthy for you:) Plus, they tasted ten times better than canned refried beans!

I made a few sugar free desserts, just to try and see. Well, they tasted like crap to me. Even the kids didn’t like them. The brownies were the equivalent to cardboard. It was pretty funny. We went to a friend’s party. Shaun wolfed down some apple pie, thinking it was the last chance he would get sugar, since I got rid of 4 bags of panty food. I saw him doing that and laughed.

The crazy thing is sugar is in everything!! BBQ sauce, ketchup, salad dressings. High fructose corn syrup is worse, and is also everywhere. There’s more sugar in BBQ sauce than in chocolate ice cream topping. I tossed Aunt Jemima’s pancake syrup out. Shaun cried. To explain, I haven’t changed everything. The kids still eat their food, and I kept some jam and Jiffy for Shaun, but I’m trying to cut out the high fructose corn syrup for the kids, and help them eat a little healthier.

I also read about hydrogenated oil. Wow, that was an eye opener. All of sudden, Jiffy peanut butter doesn’t taste so good. Bought a healthier peanut butter quick.

I decided to try brown rice pasta to solve the white flour issue. Thankfully, it tastes great to me, so we are friends:)

I learned about refined oils, the ones to avoid and why, and the blessings of coconut oil. Check out link here to learn more about that. Reading about canola oil not being so good for you made me think, ‘Does Bobby Flay know this? Because he sure dowses everything he cooks in canola oil!' I’m sure not all the chefs on Food Network are nutritionists.  Hello, Paula Deen!

So, it’s been crazy, but I have been making little changes here and there to our eating. On the sugar issue, I decided that I’d like to really cut back on eating refined, white sugar. Once a month treat. I have been reading a lot of whole food blogs, and that’s what I want to do. Eat more organic, whole foods.  Cut out the processed crap.I decided to try using organic palm cane sugar for the moment. I’m open to using honey and maple syrup for sweeteners.

I also know what I want for Christmas, and it’s called a Vitamix. It’s a super blender, food processor, soup maker, ice cream maker, and more, and it’s perfect for whole food eating. Saw it at Costco this weekend. Oh, man that will be a fun investment someday.

In a way, it just feels like I’m coming home. My mom and grandma ate super healthy like this. Seeing the same brands of health food that I saw growing up is neat. I remember being at my grandma’s house, and looking in her fridge for something to eat. Nothing but tofu, veggies, and weird condiments to me as a kid, thinking ‘Is there anything normal to eat in this house?’ And yet, now I love health food. Eating good food tastes so much better to me. Strangely, I’m not going bonkers to have chocolate and sweets. I read all labels in the store now. Basically, the shorter the list of ingredients in the food, the better it is for you.

Bottom line is this; the first week I was off sugar, I felt good. I had good energy, and my mind seemed to be more alert. I just felt better. It was really neat to see that. I did have a little strawberry shortcake with Shaun on our date this weekend, and I didn’t go crazy and binge. Go, me!

Ok, getting pooped, and need to post some links for you guys below, so I must retire. I still have lots to learn on the food topic, so feel free to share what you’ve learned. I love hearing from you all:)

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ Great blog of a family who quit processed foods.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/06/07/milk-101-whole-raw-organic-low-fat-etc/ Healthy milk talk

http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/how-to-store-prepared-beans/ The beans!

http://deliciouslyorganic.net/ Good food blog

http://www.foodrenegade.com/ Another good food blog