My year without refined sugar and other things

I have been thinking about doing this for a while, like over a year.  This time I just think its a good time.  To be healthier.  I really think that the amount of sugar I consume knowingly and unknowingly is way too much.  I've done this before for 4 months a year ago.  I don't remember exactly how I felt because I never recorded it.  That is why I am keeping tabs on it. 

When I say I'm not eating sugar, a lot of people will be smart alecs and say well sugar is in everything.  My point exactly.  You know they know you mean no sweets, but they still want to be annoying about it.  

So here is my specific definition for it (even if it isn't nutritionally accurate) and I make my own rules:

refined sugars- any things that have been modified from the original source. 

So, there fore, honey,agave, stevia etc are NOT included.  Nor is raw cacao.  WHITE sugar is.  So anything with that I will be avoiding and cutting out .  Its gonna be hard because everything has that sugar in it and it has a million different names! 

-baked goods (December 2014-December 2015)
-candy (December 2014-December 2015)
-breads (April 10-December 2015)
-any sauces or condiments with sugar (a ton of them do) (avoided)
-sugar drinks (December 2014-December 2015)
-pizza (March 2015-December 2015)

I'm also going the extra step and cutting out refined carbs.  My definition for this (probably not nutritionally accurate) is anything from its pure source and changed

-white rice (I never did this, it was too much to cut out)
-potato chips (December 2014-December 2015)
-fries (December 2014-December 2015)
-cereals (July 2015-December 2015)

-pasta (April 10-December 2015)
-crackers (July 2015-December 2015)

Basically I will have to look at all labels.  And I just read an article about a family who went off sugar for a year. All sugar, even agave and such.  I'm gonna a have to ease into that one I think.  Perhaps have it once a month like they did.

I've also added processed foods because those cannot be good for you either. 

I haven't started all the way, but I have been weaning myself off of it for about a month.  Full blast will be December 31 2014 to December 31 2015.

I'm predicting I will feel way better and have more energy.  And less belly fat.  I'll check in every 4 months from December 31 2014.

April 29

It's time for an update!  I'm a little early than April 29th, but I have much to tell.  It is March 30th. The past three months have been full of energy, but also massive headaches that I had to repair by drinking 80 ounces to a gallon of water a day and also eating every two hours.  Just this past week I have been going down to every three hours because I am not burning that many calories since I stopped my marketing job of walking 6-8 hours a day.  I have noticed my fat has gone down.  In places such as my stomach and arms.  The reason I was getting massive headaches and almost fainting type situations is because my body was going through withdrawals.  Which goes to show that sugar is a real addiction and a big reason why I decided to go away from it for a year.

I also discovered that eliminating everything on my list was not very realistic.  Of course I did the refined sugar/white sugar.  I looked at cereal labels, bread labels, etc.  I've stuck with whole wheat bread 90% of the time, but life is going to be filled with home cooked meals that are hard to resist.

I found that I took sugar/sweets/chips/fries out of the picture and I turned to cheese and other fatty things to fulfill my cravings.  Especially pizza.  So, in order to not be chained to food like I was with sugar, I went off pizza starting in March and am going through until the whole year.

Curiously enough, my skin is way clearer because no matter what some friends have said, I really do believe my body has an allergic/awful reaction to sugar.  And I have the history to prove it.

The best part of these past three months is that I don't even want it anymore and natural foods like fruits are like eating a piece of candy.  Starting April I am not going to eat pasta. 

April 28

I know I am not due for an update, but I have to give one!  I made the tough choice to stop eating bread and pasta for the year.  The biggest reason being, I had decided that I was going to go off them in the beginning ,so I needed to start as soon as I thought I could.  I swear what you eat directly goes to a specific part on your body.  For example, when I stopped eating sugar, my stomach lost some circumference.  The top part and the middle.

 I have been off bread and pasta for a couple of weeks now and the lowest point of my abdominal area has gotten visibly smaller.  Also, my arms have lost some fat- I can tell.  I wish I had one of the body weight scanners that can tell me what part of my weight is muscle vs. tissue vs. fat.  That would be really helpful, because I have visibly lost fat but I still weigh about the same.  And I am not working out (besides walking around all day for work) so I know I am not having any significant muscle increase.

I've decided I will start making a big effort to exercise after month 6 (July) just so I do not overwhelm myself.  No bread or pasta for the rest of year is going to be tough because I do get tired of eating lots of veggies, fruits, and proteins.  That is why I haven't given up crackers or tortilla chips yet.    But I will eventually.  Just to say I did.  I'm proud of this will power I found in myself and am now convinced that if I decide to do anything in my life, I can do it.  The human mind consistently amazes me.

August 30

These have been my months without bread, sugar, pasta, pizza, chips, fast food fries, fast food anything, crackers, and cereal.  I was kind of shocked the recent omission of crackers and cereal and what that has done for my acne.  Now I just get the hormonal acne or I didn't wash my face correctly, acne.  I used to get really really deep acne in random places because I really think my body was not processing all of the foods above very well.

I'm asked often if I will start eating those things next year and honestly, I'm 90% sure I won't.  I have had too many great results.  One random one is that my resting heart rate went down 10 figures.  I didn't even think diet affected it so much.

 I am basically following a Paleo diet, but I eat corn products like corn tortillas and chips.  And even though chips and salsa is a weakness and I will sit and eat a ton, I will not let it go because it A. does not give me acne, and B. because its an indulgence and a love that I'm just not willing to give up.  And since I made my own rules about this whole thing, I have that right.

I have learned more self will this year with this eating change than I ever have.  Now I find it extremely easy to discipline myself with anything I do.  I wanted to start exercising last month, and I did, but I am going the route of baby steps and weaning into it.  I started eating less sugar last October to prepare myself for going cold turkey so that it wouldn't be such a shock and I discovered I have to take the same approach to exercise.

 Another reason that I don't want to go back to eating those things next year or possibly ever is because I know with eating that well AND working out, I will be in the best shape.  And once I get there, to give that up will so extremely hard.  Especially since its something that I've always strived for but couldn't quite get my mind into it before.

The past couple of weeks I have also stopped eating past 8 PM and I dropped 2lbs.  I didn't even try, it just happened.  And now my stomach doesn't feel awful in the morning and I am less bloated and I sleep way better.  That was another hard thing to let go of because I used to get really bad headaches right before bed because I hadn't eaten enough and that would keep me up.  But one night I just decided to tell myself that I was fine and that I didn't need to eat and to just fall asleep.  And it worked.  Another circumstance that made me realized the mind can do incredible things. 

December 20

I am a little early with my log in but I keep meaning to write all of the things down that I have thought about with this whole process.  In December, I started eating bread, pizza, pasta, cereal, crackers, and chips again.  I was kind of sick of eating meats, vegetables, and fruits for life haha. And I figured 6 months without these things was more than most people do so I felt that was a big accomplishment.  What was nice though is that it tasted so good that I didn't need to eat very much to feel satisfied.  And I appreciated it more so I ate slower.

Also in December, I became more lax with my sugar intake.  For example, I ate yogurt with sugar in it, salad dressings, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, mentos, sugar cereal ( Which btw, Raisin Bran has more than twice as much sugar as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch just has a few less grams of fiber, I was shocked ) some chocolate covered pretzels, a couple of bites of pistachio salad, and some caramel coated popcorn.  These things were incredibly sweet and I only wanted a few bites.  I felt so awful in my stomach after I ate the peanut butter and jelly, as well as awful when I ate pizza again.  I also gained a pound, but I think that was due to me eating more than I should have in general that week.

Last Review

Over all, I am very glad I stopped eating sugar and other things.  I gained a ton of self control and what once controlled me now I control (AKA, food).  I also found that I feel best when I am eating a low carb diet.  My heart rate went down as well as my blood pressure.  Even though I did not do much cardio this year I am able to breath better when I do cardio now and also recover faster.  I know my fat % went down, by how much I do not know.  Probably not a ton do to my lack of cardio (I am at a job where I have to stay in the facility 24/7 for 5 out of 7 days and only have 48 hours off).

Not only can I control what I put in my mouth, I can also tell myself "no".  I also can control my cravings and portion sizes.  Basically I accomplished what I set out to when I started this: Feel better, lose belly fat, and gain control over sweets and other things.

This coming year of 2016 I will be still avoiding sweets and sugary things because I feel much better and I don't really crave them or have a taste for them.  I will also eat in extreme moderation: pizza, chips, crackers, cereals, pasta.  Because I feel best when I do not eat a lot of those things.

 In the past couple of months I have also realized that I stress out a lot more than I realize.  I worked at not stressing out and my acne went down a TON, and it was already down since the beginning of the year.  Which makes me wonder if, when I stress and the stress is contributing to the acne, not the sugar.  Which I always thought it was the sugar, but I think it might be the stress.  Which is also something I have been managing pretty well.  Stress aside, my body does not process sugar very well and probably never will.

This past year I got my eating habits under control and this next year I want it to be my fitness year.  I think people mistake eating healthier and getting into exercising as a thing that needs to be done in 3 or 4 months.  I took my time for a year and figured it all out, which made it less stressful and more simple.

Things that helped me to go without these foods was A. Strong desire to conquer a weakness  B. Giving myself a reasonable time frame

If you don't really want to go without certain foods or to exercise, then you will always fail.  Just like if you don't really want to quit a bad habit, you won't.  I really wanted to stop eating sugar, so I did. And I really want to get into fitness, so I am going to.

* I began weaning myself INTO exercise in October, first, starting with abs in October, adding arms in November, and legs in December.  This has helped me establish a habit and enjoyment for exercising that will help me go harder next year.

But it all didn't happen overnight, I started weaning myself off sweets October 2014.  And then I went cold turkey on December 31st.  And now I am stronger than ever and it's awesome.

A paradigm shift

I've decided to change the way my brain works.  In college its very necessary to make a rigid schedule in a planner and basically plan out your whole year.  It keeps you sane and actually not stressed.  But once graduated, the world is yours.  And planning and thinking about the future always will totally stress you out and give you anxiety.  At least it does me.  Living each day at your best is what is necessary to keep calm and carry on.  In college, you knew when class was,when a test was, when an assignment was due.  But after, you basicalky just know when you work.  Everything else is unwritten.  I want to be happy everyday and stress free.  And that means not fixating on the future.  Live each day trying your best.  This eliminates up tightness and anxiety.  Or at least lessens it.  Im one to dream about what could be.  I don't really focus on the past , but I hardly ever focus on the day that I'm living.  This needs to change and I'm gonna try it out.  I predict it will make me happier and lessen my anxiety. 

unoffical bucket list

I say unofficial because I'm always adding stuff and I always have it in my head, not written down or anything.  And its not a normal bucket list, so I've been told.

Stuff I've already done

Jump in a pool with dress cloths on
Smash a huge cake in someones face
Made a glow in the dark dance video/paint my whole body glow in the dark
One month dressed up girly girl every. Day.
Go without refined sugar for a year

Learn how to snow board

Learn how to French braid my own hair
Do the splits

Learn a rap and rap it without any mistakes
Hold a penguin or at least come in close contact with one

Stuff I still need to do

Get my body like a Victoria Secret Model.  

Jump on a train and ride it and jump off and be picked up in a random place

Be an extra in a movie
Jump into a pool of chocolate sauce
Do a back flip on regular ground
Learn a choreographed dance
Learn how to box
Ride an ostrich
Spend 4-6 months in Hawaii and learn how to surf
Learn how to hip hop dance
Bungee jump in new Zealand
Memorize all the countries in the world (I've always felt ignorant when it comes to geography)
Climb the Sydney bridge

Why am I so against this?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a strong advocate for women not marrying too soon, growing on her own in her 20s, and pushing a family as far back as possible.

I recently had a conversation with someone I've been kind of interested in.  We started talking about dates and how people out in Provo,UT seem to prefer a first date rather than being in a dating relationship.  I said that that was one of the reasons I don't date out here.  First dates get boring and all this casual in the air makes me glad I hide out.  I then said that another thing that bugs me is the 3 month dating to engagement thing.  To my surprise, he thought that wasnt bad at all, and that some people just know and why just date when you could be married?

I went off about how marriage is scary and having a family is terrifying and you need to date for a long time to make sure you want to be with this person forever.

This is probably not the brightest move of mine
Because Im sure it was a huge turnoff.  But I can't help how I feel.

Then, I started to wonder why do I feel this way? Why am I so against being a mother and wife? Why am I fighting my destiny as a woman?

Someone asked me today what I wanted to do with my life.  I told them the different things I had going on , but none of them involved dating someone or wanting a family.

I always felt I would change my attitude once
I fell in love with someone,  but is my negative attitude about dating and a family driving potentials away?

I turned to an LDS general conference talk for comfort and found Elder Cristofferson(sp) talk from Oct 2013.  He qouted someone and I realized that the type of woman that they were talking about was not me pretty much at all.  Here is the qoute: "The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

If anything, Im a detriment to the noble birthright of womanhood.  Im rude, not refined, kind to the elderly and people younger than me ..but not my peers, definitely vain, definitely not refined, and I definitely care more about popularity then purity.

Who would want that person to be the mother of their children?

Maybe that is why I am so against it.  I just cant picture myself at this time in a motherhood role.

I am ready to have someone by my side who i ca n grow with and be a better me with.  But who wants to grow with someone with an attitude like that?

How much is my current attitude being a detriment to my future?  I'd say a lot if it drives people I could see myself with away.
I
Maybe I'm missing the purpose of my life at this time.  I believe in following what God desires for you.  I just fear that I being so negative He cant get through to me about what direction and purpose my life should be going in.  It makes me sad.

UPDATE

8/15/14

OK so I was still in baby and marriage  hungry land when I wrote this.  I am no longer feeling this way and all those natural womanly feelings of babies and marriage I'm sure willcome to me someday.  JJust not anytime soon.