Bringing in 2010…

Christmas was lovely, I didn’t take any pictures.  I finished 22 handmade gifts, and I didn’t take any pictures.  My sewing machine and my piles of stuff has been all over the house (but mostly covering the dining room table) for months, and I have no final product pictures.  Kind of embarrassing.  But, I guess that keeps me from the two weeks of christmasy pictures in the new year.  I am vowing to next year take more pictures (and start in July) and now I’ll just jump right into 2010.  New year, new decade, new major changes… well, only two.  One for today, and one for tomorrow. Here is to bringing in the new year… a week late.

I am a sugar fiend.  I love sweet things, pretty much anything that isn’t ruined with mint or toffee or nuts (or cherry flavoring, but that goes without saying).  It doesn’t really matter what it is: cookies, cake, chocolate with peanut butter, candy, ice cream, hot chocolate, pie, chocolate pudding… actually it IS mostly the cookies… and the chocolate. Love them.  I have a sweet tooth that will knock your my socks off.  Hubby is the absolute opposite.  Dessert is lost on the man.  Cookies could sit on the counter for days (ha… like that has ever happened) and he would maybe eat one.  If I remind him they are there.

[image source]but don’t try this recipe… it looks a little iffy.

He is totally into the salty snacks.  He doesn’t end his day without barq’s rootbeer (rootbeer with “BITE”) and chips or popcorn. Which, might I add, is pretty much the worst invention ever.  I don’t like popcorn’s smell, or the taste, or the texture.  The only thing it is good for is stringing on Christmas trees.  But he loves it, hot and airpopped with a little margarine and salt.  Grossest thing ever.

Back to me. On New Years Day I started my plan.  NO SUGAR. (!!!)  It has been a really rough week.  I crave something sweet after each meal.  And several more times throughout the day, let’s be honest.  I decided before Thanksgiving that I was going to do this.  But I couldn’t bear to miss all of my favorite Christmas things.  So, I enjoyed life and lived it up and partook of all that goodness and then went cold turkey on sugar January 1.  Not going to lie, the first three days I was in total sugar withdrawals.  But, I didn’t cave.  Not one bit….. well, kind of.  I did make some sugar free instant chocolate pudding… to get me through a rough spot.  But, I haven’t even had that for four days.  I am well on my way to breaking the habit.

Before all my fellow sugar fiendette’s freak out and tell me it’s not worth it and there is no use killing yourself over a few cookies now and then (when have I ever had just a FEW cookies… never.) I do know that it will be worth it.  Two years ago I did this very thing.  And it worked wonderfully and I lost about 20 pounds in 3 months.  And then I was in the habit of eating healthy and it just kind of stuck around.  And then I hit the the last 2 and a half months of being pregnant with Creamie and I got so so SO sick.  So those really bad weeks when I was puking 40 times a day (not an exaggeration) I had to eat the foods that packed the most calories in the smallest portions (think 1/2 cup or less at  each “meal”) to prevent pukage.  But I was successful in that I didn’t have to be fed through a tube, or an IV, or live at the hospital. But, that meant that I was mostly eating candy and fat and sweets and banana shakes.  And I ruined all my hard work.  Sugar fiend raised it’s head again. (Creamie was born healthy and normal and I was only a little worse for wear.)

But, Round 2 is working.  Thankfully.  Or I wouldn’t be willing to do this.  By not eating sugar (and other starchy, super refined carbs) I have lost 8 pounds in 7 days.  No exercise required.  And no pills, and no drops, and no weird drinks.  (Dont’ freak out.)  I drink milk and water, and I eat a LOT of veggies… an awful lot, plus cheese and protein.  Two weeks of this and then I will add in whole grains, fruit and a tiny bit of sugar.  Like, maybe one day a week I’ll treat myself to a few cookies, but no more eating half the batch. (Come on, you’ve done it… eaten half the batch by yourself before you realize it.  I just maybe do did it a lot more often)  Last time this plan worked wonders.  And it needs to work wonders this time so I don’t have to buy new pants.

So, raise your veggies to 2010… and not buying new pants.

(Not so much the buying new pants I object to, it’s the size that would be on the label….. now vanity raises her head.)