I Quit Sugar - Days 1 and 2

Two days ago I quit sugar.

I had been feeling moderately convicted to do it for months, but was ignoring the conviction because, well, I knew it would be hard.  And I am tired of doing hard things.  But the conviction got stronger, and the guilt at telling my children to do hard things while I was unwilling to do so, got heavier.  I signed up for this quitting sugar support group, but they weren't starting until October.  So I decided to just take the plunge and do it now on my own.

What that means is that for the next 8 weeks I am cutting out ALL sugar (as much as possible anyway) from my diet.  No pop or Snapple, no Cheerios, no fresh or dried fruit, no cookies or muffins (at least not the way I am used to making them).  No ice cream or orange juice or lemonade! It DOES mean meat, and lots and lots of veggies, bread, cheese, eggs, nuts, and a new way of preparing snacks and desserts.  After 8 weeks I will slowly add back in some low fructose fruits and see how my body tolerates them.

My timing is somewhat ironic, as we are experiencing warmer-than-normal temps and currently have no a/c in the house, so I am already dragging from the heat.  Now I am also dragging from the sugar crash, or withdrawal, or whatever you call it when your body suddenly realizes it's being deprived of the chemical jolt it was used to getting (multiple times) every day.

Day 1 was not too bad, actually.  I made myself an awesome omelette for breakfast, with two eggs and loads of veggies, a bit of cheese and a touch of fresh basil.  So I was all protein-ed up and satisfied for several hours.  My hardest time came before bed, when I wanted a small snack and didn't think I had any good sugar free options.  After a bit of googling, I came up with toast with peanut butter on it.

Day 2, yesterday, was REALLY hard.  My body just wanted sugar sooooo badly!   I made it through the day, but it required every ounce of will power I had, and I was not a very pleasant person that last hour before dinner.

Today I have dinner already prepared, sitting in the fridge waiting to bake tonight.  I will move our toaster oven out to the porch and cook dinner out there so it will not make my kitchen any hotter.  I am trying my hand at my first naturally sweetened, non-bake dessert.  This no-sugar way of eating is requiring adjustments to the way I plan and prepare for meals, but I like that it is really simple.  There is really only one prohibition so it's really easy to remember!

I'll let you know how it goes....

Mission Trip!

Back home, we spent the weekend readying two of our boys to go on a combined high school/middle school mission trip.  Son C, in foreground, and son G, in sunglasses, left this afternoon for a week of working hard, serving God in the inner city.  Here they are, being prayed for before boarding the bus.  God be with them both!

Soul Refreshment

Some of the People I dearly love.....

 My daughter and my dad....

My sister and her son....

Two of my aunts, and a dear friend.....

My mom, my nephew, my daughter.....

My two widowed aunts, each facing life so bravely!

My cousin and my daughter.....

My niece and my brother in law.....

My two girls!

My mom, my dad, my sister.....

Me and my mama!

A treasured friend since high school!

God is so good to have given me time with so many people I love, who speak truth into my life and who remind of God's faithfulness and grace.

Day at the Lake

I so thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of my native state of Washington!  One of my favorite days while there was this day at the lake.  We went boating, wake boarding (the teens, not me), swimming, and just laid around in the sun talking.  It was glorious!  Above is my brother in law, the father of the bride, and the middle one below is my other sister's husband.  It was great to see pretty much all the immediate relatives (and a bunch of extended one, too!)

Me and my sisters, together.  Nothing like it! :)

Wedding!

My older sister's daughter is now a married woman!  The girls and I felt so honored and thankful to get to be there to witness her marriage to her love.  It was a beautiful ceremony in every way.

God gave us absolutely perfect weather for it!

My brother in law walking his happy girl down the aisle.  This man was my first "brother" (at age 12) and later became my first brother-in-law.   I choked up when he gave his girl to her love.

My beautiful mama and handsome dad.

Me and my cuz.

The girl cousins!

My sister and her daughter the bride, the night before the wedding.

So content to be with these people I love......