DAY 21: Three Weeks Down

Well, it has been 21 days! I would be lying if I said I was perfect all the way through, but I can say with confidence that these past 3 weeks I have taken in less sugar than ever before. Ever before meaning, in the past 5 years or so.  While I did make some slip ups ( bite of a cookie here, or piece of biscotti there) I did not have ANY CANDY!

To treat myself I purchased a small Pinkberry original flavor frozen yogurt. I had a few bites and actually could not finish it because it was way too sweet. As for now I plan on staying low sugar. I am hoping that these three weeks have helped with my sweet tooth and the cravings I have after every meal. One treat a week seems appropriate, and if I feel like my cravings are creeping back, I will definitely try three weeks again.

What next do you ask? Low Carb diet! Aiming for 14 days of low carbs = no bread. Will be tough I am sure, but the sooner your start the sooner it is over! Stay tuned for more healthy recipes and dieting ideas.

Day 19: Healthy Eating Recipes

Looking for healthy spins on some recipes? Here are some things I have eaten, loved, and think you will too. I will add some more later, but here are just a few for now.I also included some snack ideas!

Day 17: Struggling With A Diet

It happens to most of us. You start a diet or exercise program and get super excited about it. You start out doing really well, and then as the days or weeks go on you start to lose interest. I have mentioned struggling with that before, and up until this point I was doing really well with this diet thing.

I think the weekend and the long race I did is causing me to make some dumb food choices. Part of the bad eating is because I was so hungry yesterday from running for so long. Dumb excuse, but I was in carb loading mode. Today, I had a pretty big lunch and now feel full and uncomfortable. It is just a matter of getting back on track, which can be extremely difficult. Once you are back in the zone for 3-4 days, it gets a lot easier.

I find that reading about different healthy recipes, and learning new workouts is helpful when trying to stay on target. I also like reading quotes and ideas about getting healthy and fit on Pinterest. Here are a few cool things I have come across.. hopefully it is helpful!

Love this! Everytime you give up you have to start over from scratch

Day 16: Race Day

Finished my 10k race in 52 minutes, which is about an 8.5 minute mile. Not too shabby, considering I did not get much sleep (Thanks Celtics..) and I drank a beer or two the  night before. It was a hot day and there were tons of hills. Overall, it was a good race. Over 800 people running in it and I finished 49th in my age group and 500th something overall to finish. Still trying to find out how many people were in my age group.

Races are a lot of fun. I am going to check out some more over the next few months, and I will be running in the 1/2 marathon in the Fall. My best friend ran her first 10K today and did awesome! She ran under an 11 minute mile which is great for her. I suggest everyone try a 5k or 10k race once in their life. If nothing else, you get a sweet t-shirt or water bottle. Unfortunately only the first 400 people who signed up got a t-shirt for today’s race, so I missed out. Oh well.

Aside from the 52 minutes of running, I ate pretty badly today. I have been following the low sugar, no candy or chocolate thing, but today I did slip up. I ate a piece of homemade biscotti and a couple of jelly beans, which is completely off track! Running made me feel like such an athlete with healthy eating habits, but I also had that “I deserve this” mentality going on.So, tomorrow is Monday and I will be cutting the bread out for the week. I will keep you updated on that as the week goes on. Only one more week of this 21 day sugar diet, but I think I will try to stick it out longer. We will see!

Day 14: Weekend Eating And Racing

 

 

Cute Puppy For Your Friday Viewing

Well, it is Friday again, which means the weekend! Thankfully there is no garbage food in my house. There is actually no food in my house..should probably hit up the grocery store. This time I will eat and not be hungry when I go shopping.

 I am going to check out some local farmer’s markets on Saturday. The goal for the next 7 days is to not only cut out sugar, but limit my simple carbs. I have focused these first two weeks on cutting candy/treats so much, that I have actually eaten more bread. Will have to work on that.

I will be running a 10k on Sunday with my bestie. It is her longest race and my first 10k. I have run in a 1/2 marathon but that was last September, so this will be my longest race since then. Going to have some Italian food in the North End for dinner the night before, which is OK because I am gonna burn right through that meal Sunday morning. Wish me luck!

Just read this blog. Love it! I think everyone should try going vegetarian for at least one month. If nothing else, take two days out of the week to be meatless. I have given up red meat and feel great about it. It has been 2 years and I honestly do not feel the urge to eat red meat what so ever. I was not eating chicken for about 6 months and have slowly been eating that again. I may try 21 days of vegetarian diet next. I have to say that the book, ” Crazy Sexy Diet” by Kris Carr is what first inspired me. Definitely worth checking out if you are interested in this stuff.

Day 13: Food Prep For Healthy Eating

I can not stress enough how important food preparation is when dieting. I should probably practice what I preach, because lately “grazing” seems a lot easier than eating an actual meal.

Sunday is the best day to plan your meals ahead of time. That is what I plan on doing this weekend.  I am no nutritionist, but I do know a good amount about eating healthy, through common knowledge and friends in the health industry. So here is a list of some foods you can prepare ahead of time to stay on a healthy diet.

Day 12: Cut Back On The Carbies

half eaten cake in my fridge.

I actually have no cravings for sweets. I have not thought about candy for a while now. It would be harder if it was actually in my face, but fortunately for me nobody in my house has a big stash of the stuff lying around. There is however, a chocolate cake in my fridge. When I feel the urge to take a forkful when nobody is looking, I just think about the scene from the movie “Matilda” where Ms.Trumbull makes the fat kid eat an entire chocolate cake. EW.

I have noticed in the past few days that I have been eating a little too much bread. Mainly peanut butter (teddie all natural salt free) on 12 grain high fiber bread, but this isn’t the healthiest lunch & dinner. Preparing your meals ahead of time is the most important thing to do when trying to diet. Lately, I have been lazy with the food prep, and just eat on the run. I only have 30 minutes for lunch and usually have boot camp class right after work. Will have to work on that.

Day 11: Different Tips To Beat Sugar Cravings

Which will YOU choose?

My biggest problems with food is eating when I am stressed, or eating when I am bored. It has nothing to do with feeling hungry, it is just mindless eating. This does not just apply to sugar. I will say that when I am stressed, sugar/candy is my go to snack. The boredom food is usually anything that is laying around.

Here are some tips that help when you are craving sugar, or just going to eat crap.

* Brush your teeth/use mouthwash. This will help because it keeps you busy for a little, and everything tastes bad once you brush your teeth.

* Eat a piece of fruit, like an apple. I might end up eating like 5 apples, which would defeat the purpose. So, try cutting an apple up into a bunch of pieces and sprinkle some cinnamon on it. Takes longer to finish the apple this way.

* Go for a walk/run. Working out in any way makes you feel good, and makes you want to be healthier in general.

If you still find yourself going on little binges, then write down everything you ate and calculate the amount of calories you took in. You don’t want to know the amount because it can be horrifying (believe me), but if it will help you the next time you want to mindlessly eat then DO IT!

Day 9: It’s a 5K Kinda Day

pre-race stance

It was a last minute decision, but when a 5k race is starting across the street from your front door it is hard to turn down. I will be running in a 10K next weekend, so I wanted a little something to get me ready. This race was great! It went up a few huge hills which was a cool challenge. I ran an 8 min. mile, which is not too shabby. There were kids that were probably 10 and 11 years old that beat me. It was crazy. They sprinted the whole time! Races are great because they make you feel accomplished, and are a great start to the day, especially when you dieting. It is hard to eat junk when you ran in a race, because you want to keep that ” I am an athlete” thing going on.

Today was a big step for me. I attended a friend’s graduation party and there was ridiculous amounts of food. I did eat some french bread, but did not eat ANY of the desserts. There were at least 3 different cakes, a few pies and 3 plates of cookies. There was also fruit platter, of which I had some grapes and a few strawberries. I didn’t feel the urge to eat anything, which was surprising. I did just want one of the ginger snap cookies. I have been craving those for a few weeks now.

so many sweets

Feel content and healthy! Nothing like a good run to keep you on track.