Pretty in Pink

Well, that's it. We are over. After such a long relationship, it has come to an end.

Sugar and I are over.

I have started seeing a Naturopath. During my appointment on Tuesday we were discussing diet and reviewing my one week Meal Record.

I don't recommend the Meal Record exercise the same week as a wedding, a barbeque and the busiest week of the year at work. Cake, brownies, bread, KD, it's all on the record...

Anyways, I am happy to go and see a Naturopath as long as they are not trying to supplement me all up and sell me all sorts of stuff. I would much rather make changes in my life than take a bunch of 'stuff'. And, I am not willing to starve.

So, since I would rather make changes in my life, I am now off of sugar. I am going into this with cautious optimism. Certainly sugar is not something I need to be ingesting copious amounts of. Cutting it out completely is still going to take some doing.

The rest of this week I will be finishing off the things in the house that I am cutting out and working on restocking the cupboards with things I should be eating. For me the hard part is not stocking the cupboards, it's putting in the prep time, planning my meals and packing enough to get me through the day, and night, when needed.

Today seemed to go well.

I had oatmeal with raisins, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg and rice milk for breakfast. It was very good. I had three servings of oatmeal left, and then I will be switching to Steel Cut Oats instead. Steel Cut Oats are 'allowed' and oatmeal is not.

A morning snack of yogurt with mixed nuts and seeds was also great.

Lunch was veggies and hummus, lots of veggies. I love hummus. I could eat it with a spoon. Maybe I have, but I would never admit it...

I also packed an apple and peanut butter for an afternoon snack, but was not hungry, so I will have that tomorrow.

Once I got home, I made myself a veggie pizza on a flour tortilla with veggies, cheese and veggie pepperoni. The flour tortilla, cheese and veggie pepperoni are on the no-no list. The flour tortilla because it is processed flour, the cheese because of the ingredient Tartarazine and the veggie pepperoni as it is highly processed.

This is one of my favorites.

Later, as a snack, I made a smoothie. I am pretty sure it was the best thing I ate all day! I mixed a banana, frozen strawberries, vanilla yogurt and 1 Tbsp of Udo's Oil.

Pretty. Pink.

Udo's Oil is plant based and a source of Omega 3-6-9. I have not ever used this oil before, and was very concerned that it would be... well... gross. I have attempted to include other oils in my diet previously but have tossed them out as they have added an unwanted aftertaste. I tried a bit on my finger before adding it to my smoothie, and it has no taste. None. I think I will try it as a salad dressing next.

I don't want it to sound like all I am doing is cutting stuff out. I am cutting a lot of things out, true. A lot of crap I don't need to be eating.

Some things I will be changing, like cheese. I can still have cheese, just a different brand that does not have Tartarazine. There are also breads I can have; good whole grain breads. Pizza crust is also available, just not what I am using now. So it's really just changing some things for better options.

The Naturopath I am seeing has a list items to avoid, a list of items to stock up on, and most importantly, a list of where to find things locally. This is important. Don't tell me I can have 'A' or 'B' but then not tell me where I can actually get them. She also has meal suggestions so that I don't feel like I am lost in the woods on my own. I have enough to get started with.


So, this is the next adventure. The next challenge. I look forward to it.