I’m keeping it simple with a few thoughts.. I was struggling a bit last week and I put it out there honestly. I got such wonderful support and that kept me on track. The beginning of this journey, 2 and 1/2  months ago, I came to realize that the only way for me to accomplish what I want to accomplish this year was to give it my all! This change can’t happen a little bit. While I’ve had many wonderful people say to me, “you have to give in to your cravings once in a while.” I say, ‘I don’t think so.’ I believe we have to “keep our eyes on the prize”. THE MUCH BIGGER PICTURE. I’ve had a few moments that weren’t perfect, I accept them and keep going. I know many people who can’t drink alcohol and are successful today because they haven’t touched a drop in 10 and  20 plus years. They understood the consequences of what happens to them when they drink. I’m sure they wouldn’t be successful today if they hadn’t changed their behavior and abstained. There is controversy today over whether or not sugar can be an addiction. I believe it can be, from my experience. I know what happens to me when I have sugar.
Another person would say “no, it’s will power”. Well right now I have the will power to stay off it. (Gratefully)

I keep promising not to make a big deal about what the scale says but in 16 days I’ll reach 3 months. I am hoping to be down 30 pounds. I won’t be upset if I’m only down 26, 27 or 28 but I am hoping to round it up to 30.  I’m 25 pounds down and feeling so much better in so many ways then I did just 2 and 1/2 months ago.

 

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend
  • Debbie Phillips - January 30, 2012 - 8:33 am

    Losing even 20 pounds in that amount of time if fabulous!! Good health to you, Josie.ReplyCancel

  • Ginny - January 29, 2012 - 5:49 pm

    I am so proud of you! Keep up the good work.ReplyCancel

I got some really good suggestions for replacing sugary snacks with healthy choices on my post on DAY 73 so I thought I would dedicate this post to sharing them with you.

The suggestions that came in are from different people on different eating plans so take what your like…

BARBARA McRae: of The Savvy Success Coach “Pecans are perfect for me since my body craves protein!”

KATHRYN DONATELLI: “I really enjoy cutting up a nice crisp apple and putting a half teaspoon of almond butter or natural peanut butter on each slice. The juice, the sweet and the tart are so good with the nut butter. The apple has a nice crunch to it too. It also picks me up and takes the edge off. Gets me through a few hours till dinner. The same thing could be done with a banana and honey with chopped walnuts sprinkled on top. It almost tastes like a banana split but has no dairy or animal fat.”
(A little side note.. Click on Kathryn’s name to see her wonderful artwork.)

LAURA WALKER: “My favorite “sweet” is definitely fruit… But sometimes, I need a “dessert”. For a quick grab, I love sugar free jello, and add a dollop of fat free topping… Also, I really like making a baked apple – cut apple in half, core it, sprinkle with a little cinnamon, splenda (if desired), and put a little lemon-lime seltzer in bottom of pan.. Cover in foil and bake at 325 until apple is soft. Put a little fat free topping or or fat free frozen yogurt on it…and it feels like a real treat!! Also, I like rice cakes with peanut butter, like you said, but I put raisins on them…adds a little sweet to that too. I also found that dairy products have have sugars in them, and can satisfy a sweet craving in us. I actually learned this when I had to give up dairy when nursing my son, who was allergic to dairy and soy! I was all of the sudden craving sweets, when prior, I didn’t have the biggest sweet tooth. My doctor told me that dairy had sugars in them, and my body was used to getting “sweet” thru the dairy I was eating. So maybe adding cheese, or milk products, can help cut back on sweet cravings too!!”

GINNY PERROTTI: “The two months that I gave up white cane sugar were not free of sweets, but quickly freed me of cravings. I used honey, pure mle syrup, or rapadura which is unrefined cane sugar with all the nutrients left in. I did lose six pounds but at a holiday party, ate a cream puff which led to cookies and more. An easy quick snack without sweetener is to take pitted dates and add peanut butter, roll it in coconut… Delicious and satisfying.”

MAGGIE GRIFFIN: “One my favorites is sweet potato or butternut squash. I just love it as a desert or a meal. Sometimes, I will slice the cooked sweet potato and put it on a frying pan with pam spray and maybe a little cinnamon and sweetener. Or even without the cinnamon, it’s a nice treat!”

To recap the suggestions I made..

Spread natural peanut butter or Almond butter on a brown rice cake. Then take a half a teaspoon of  “all fruit” and spread it on it. It satisfies a crunch and a little sweet at the same time.

Natural whole fruit is always a great choice. A sweet delicious orange… YUM!  Nature has done a great job at giving us a variety every season. Here in the north east, citrus, apples, and pears  are in in the fall and winter and peaches, nectarines, plums and berries are readily available in the spring and summer. Of course here in the US, we can get all varieties year round but I tend to stick to what is in season because the seasonal fruits seem freshest to my taste buds.

Raw almonds, walnuts, pecans or cashews and honey. Put 10 or 12 raw nuts in a bowl and lightly drizzle a tablespoon of raw organic honey over them. I love this little treat!

And let’s not forget LaraBars. So many great flavors.


I watched Alec Baldwin on Piers Morgan CNN last night. Seems Alec gave up sugar and lost 30 pounds. We are on the same path Alec! 🙂 I’m on 74 day into my ‘no sugar’ challenge and it is making a big difference in how I feel. When I say ‘no sugar’, I’m not referring to foods with natural sugar like fruit, I’m referring to processed food with sugar in it or adding sugar to anything I’m eating. When you think about it, most ‘real’ food is whole food. That’s what I’m talking about. Fruit, vegetables, brown rice, beans, raw nuts, potatoes and lean protein. If you just make up you mind to eat this way, there is a lot of food you can eat. I will eat foods prepared with whole foods, like LaraBars, natural peanut butter and almond butter etc.

As a side note.. without intending to, I have given up dairy about 99%. It just seemed like the right direction to go in on this quest for wellness. Once or twice in the last 74 days, I had a slice of low fat swiss cheese but that’s all the dairy I’ve consumed. I have really bad allergies and I suffer from sinus headaches. I was living on Advil almost daily and after the first week or so of omitting dairy and anything artificial from my diet, I haven’t had any headaches. I was literally living on over the counter pills for my headaches. Any change in atmospheric pressure, I was hurting. I’m not a doctor, nor an expert on the subject but there is a noticeable difference; dare I draw a correlation? I’ll just leave it at that: ‘I’m so happy to be feeling better’.  I’m anxious to see if my spring allergies seem any less too.

If you’re interested in Split Pea Soup with Ginger you can try this recipe. (I don’t use salt but feel free to salt away if that’s what you like)

Olive Oil

20 oz bag of dry peas

1 Onion

3 Cloves of Garlic

Ginger Root- about 1 – 2 inch piece chopped up.

2 Stalks of Celery

4 Carrots

Pepper to taste

I put about 10 12 cups of water  (P.S. I do most everything by eye)

Cooking Instructions:

Pour a small amount of Olive Oil in a large pot.

Chop the Garlic, Ginger, Onions and saute them in with the Olive Oil.

Chop and slice the Celery, and Carrots, and add them to the pot.

Add 2o oz of dry peas (Since I improvise when I cook everything, I used the whole bag but 2 cups will probably due)

Add the Water  and Chicken or Vegetable Broth as desired. You can use up to 6-8 cups of water. I love to have left over soup all week. 🙂

Stir the ingredients together and cover and let simmer until the peas are cooked.

 

There is no day like today! We can make it what ever we want too. My day started with some technical issues trying to get my new website up and after switching my photography blog URL from a .com to .net, I lost all the images I spent so much time adding over the last year. Well OK, maybe I can still figure it out. Phone calls are out… Now on to the rest of the day that I can make what whatever I want to make it… 🙂 (blog got fixed thanks to my technical genius partner.)

I got an email from a women yesterday asking me about this blog and what I’m doing to loose weight. When I told her I am sugar free etc, she said that “she has such a sweet tooth that she didn’t think she could do that. First of all, I never tell anyone that they should do what I’m doing, but I did let her know that there are alternatives to eating sugary foods for a sweet tooth. I told her  I would post a few here on my blog. My sweet tooth has been mostly under control since I have been off sugary foods. I don’t seem to crave sweets as much; I seem to have crunch craving though.

I buy salt free brown rice cakes. All it is is brown rice. Then I spread natural peanut butter or Almond butter on it. Then I take a half a teaspoon of  “all fruit” and spread it on it. It satisfies a crunch and a little sweet at the same time.

Also, natural whole fruit is always a great choice. A sweet delicious orange… YUM!  Nature has done a great job at giving us a variety every season. Here in the north east, citrus, apples, and pears  are in in the fall and winter and peaches, nectarines, plums and berries are readily available in the spring and summer. Of course here in the US, we can get all varieties year round but I tend to stick to what is in season because the seasonal fruits seem freshest to my taste buds.

Then we have raw almonds and honey. Put 10 or 12 raw almonds in a bowl and lightly drizzle a tablespoon of raw organic honey over them. I love this little treat!

And let’s not forget LaraBars. I tried another one this week. Tropical Fruit Tart. I love the pineapple and coconut combo with nuts. This is also another really good bar in my opinion.

Ingredients: dates, pineapple, unsweetened coconut, almonds, extra-virgin coconut oil, cashews, orange juice concentrate, orange peel

Tropical-Fruit-Tart-LaraBars-on-changingitnow.com

 

If you have any suggestions to add as alternatives to sugary sweets, please share them with us here.

I promised to post my Split Pea and Ginger soup recipe at least a week ago so I better follow up with that? Something to post later.. I also want to come up with a Carrot Ginger soup I can post.

 

add a comment
link to this post
email a friend
  • Kathryn Donatelli - January 28, 2012 - 12:33 am

    I really enjoy cutting up a nice crisp apple and putting a half teaspoon of almond butter or natural peanut butter on each slice. The juice, the sweet and the tart are so good with the nut butter. The apple has a nice crunch to it too. It also picks me up and takes the edge off. Gets me through a few hours till dinner. The same thing could be done with a banana and honey with chopped walnuts sprinkled on top. It almost tastes like a banana split but has no dairy or animal fat.ReplyCancel

  • maggie Griffin - January 26, 2012 - 7:33 pm

    One my favorites is sweet potato or butternut squash. I just love it as a desert or a meal. Sometimes, I will slice the cooked sweet potato and put it on a frying pan with pam spray and maybe a little cinnamon and sweetener. Or even without the cinnamon, it’s a nice treat!ReplyCancel

  • Ginny - January 26, 2012 - 7:18 pm

    The two months that I gave up white cane sugar were not free of sweets, but quickly freed me of cravings. I used honey, pure mle syrup, or rapadura which is unrefined cane sugar with all the nutrients left in.

    I did lose six pounds but at a holiday party, ate a cream puff which led to cookies and more.

    An easy quick snack without sweetener is to take pitted dates and add peanut butter, roll it in coconut… Delicious and satisfying.ReplyCancel

    • admin - January 26, 2012 - 7:21 pm

      I’m definitely going to try those dates rolled peanut butter and coconut.ReplyCancel

  • Laura - January 26, 2012 - 6:10 pm

    My favorite “sweet” is definitely fruit… But sometimes, I need a “dessert”. For a quick grab, I love sugar free jello, and add a dollop of fat free topping… Also, I really like making a baked apple – cut apple in half, core it, sprinkle with a little cinnamon, splenda (if desired), and put a little lemon-lime seltzer in bottom of pan.. Cover in foil and bake at 325 until apple is soft. Put a little fat free topping or or fat free frozen yogurt on it…and it feels like a real treat!! Also, I like rice cakes with peanut butter, like you said, but I put raisins on them…adds a little sweet to that too. I also found that dairy products have have sugars in them, and can satisfy a sweet craving in us. I actually learned this when I had to give up dairy when nursing my son, who was allergic to dairy and soy! I was all of the sudden craving sweets, when prior, I didn’t have the biggest sweet tooth. My doctor told me that dairy had sugars in them, and my body was used to getting “sweet” thru the dairy I was eating. So maybe adding cheese, or milk products, can help cut back on sweet cravings too!!ReplyCancel

    • admin - January 26, 2012 - 6:22 pm

      WOW! Thank you Laura for adding your suggestions.ReplyCancel

  • Debbie Phillips - January 25, 2012 - 4:27 pm

    Sounds good, Josie. You’ve inspired me to try that particular LaraBar. Thanks!! Keep up your great work.ReplyCancel

I was so inspired by the support I got from the “women on fire” group today. I am very grateful!

I had a really good full day and I ate perfectly. 🙂

Now to get some much needed sleep. Love and Peace and more tomorrow.

« Older posts Newer posts »