Day 19 - 21 DSD - Back on track!

Day 19
Hurray Friday! Still had the sore throat but felt a bit more rested when I woke up. Going to sleep early was a charm.

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Snacks: Almonds and a green apple

Lunch:  Had the leftover zucchini and ground beef dish for lunch. Made me happy.

Dinner: Got home feeling super crappy. Made a camomile lemon tea and drank it hot. Not a fan of tea but it was doable.

Felt super rough so decided to make a homemade chicken soup. The rotisserie chickens were all gone by the time I made it to the store :(. So I bought an overpriced cooked sliced chicken package. Cut up some onions, carrots and celery, added some chicken stock and voila - a healthy perfect meal.

Wasn't feeling so hot so opted for another early night's sleep. We had a big day tomorrow - doing a telus phone book fundraiser. Young Life agreed to deliver them to all of Slave Lake - a decision I completely regretted shortly after trying the first route. Ah well, the show must go on.

Day 19 = Success!

Day 18 - 21 DSD - Suffering the effects of the cheat

Day 18
Woke up with a sore throat, headache, and felt exhausted. Effects of the sugar. Tuesday's birthday cheat had tempted a sore throat and Wednesday ice cream had brought it home. Granted, I hadn't had barely any sleep from getting in at 1am.

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs to keep me stable for the morning.

Lunch: Made up a quick salad for lunch with leftover chicken. Yum!

Dinner: Made my fav dish - zucchini with ground beef and tomatoes. Delish!

After dinner went straight to bed. Felt like garbage. 

Day 17 - 21 DSD - The Planned Cheat

So I couldn't blog for the past few days because I was on a secret mission. Jay and I flew home to Ontario to surprise my Mum for her 60th birthday. It was a success! She was totally surprised, we had a great time with friends and family. It was a blitz trip - 3 days. As for the sugar detox...well, we'll get to that. 

Day 17
Breakfast: For breakfast I had 2 hard boiled eggs. And a little sliver of Tina's dutch cookie. Whilst Jay wasn't looking. I might have had 2. Ssshh.

Lunch: For lunch we met up with some of our Young Life girls in Uxbridge. We went to a little coffee shop called the Tin Cup - one of my fav places to go with my YL girls. Jay came too this time. He was good and ordered a salad. I gave in (as was becoming a trend whilst in Ontario) and had what I always order - a jalapeno pretzel with cheese and ham. Delish!

After lunch I decided to go for the only planned cheat I'd had on this sugar detox. Why a planned cheat? Well I kept seeing emails that said, "when you slip up..." or "don't worry about slipping up, just get back on track" and the weaker part of me thought, hm, well if they're expecting you to slip up, you may as well. So I planned that when I went back to Ontario, I would go to Kawartha Dairy and get an ice cream. (Yes I realize I'd already cheated last night but this was the official planned slip-up). So I headed there with Esther, Jay and Alex, only to discover I was the only one ordering ice cream. But no matter, I was still going for it. Had black raspberry thunder and cookie dough. AMAZING. AMAZING. oh did I mention it was AMAZING. no lie.

Dinner: So I wasn't going to deal with the stupid cheese platter again so I insisted that we grab a real dinner at the airport. Our waiter was the bomb diggety. We each ordered the pub salad and funny enough we were both craving steak. They didn't offer it as an option, but not only did our waiter make it happen, the cooks didn't want to slice one steak in half so we each got our own $20 steak for $5.

On the plane ride Jay and I were split up because we were on standby. Since Jay wasn't able to nag me about staying on track, I accepted the offer of bits and bites (pretzels, chip-things). It wasn't especially good. I should have resisted.

We got back to Edmonton at 9ish. It was a long road trip ahead (about 3 hours). We opted for the rest of our beef jerky and pumpkin seeds. I passed out and woke up at 12ish. Jay said his eyes were burning and could I please drive. The pumpkin seeds were what kept me awake. No shame there, ha.

So...Day 17 was a fail - but a pleasurable one!

Day 16 - 21 DSD - Sugar Detox Goes out the Window for a Night

So I couldn't blog for the past few days because I was on a secret mission. Jay and I flew home to Ontario to surprise my Mum for her 60th birthday. It was a success! She was totally surprised, we had a great time with friends and family. It was a blitz trip - 3 days. As for the sugar detox...well, we'll get to that. 

Day 16
The big day was finally here! The day I'd been planning for about three months. My mum's 60th birthday. And she had no idea I was going to show up on her doorstep.

Breakfast:
Jay's mom made us breakfast - eggs, bacon, and cheese. We were offered a blueberry crepe but I passed up declaring I was gonna stay strong on the sugar detox.

I showed up to surprise my mom . Will post video later. She cried. It was the best surprise.

Lunch:
For lunch we went to a little place called "The Piano Cafe." As I scanned the menu I came across a crepe with spinach, feta cheese, chicken, peppers. Away went my digression and we each ordered one. With a big salad. Delish!

Dinner:
We came back to the house where my sister and family were waiting to surprise my mum with a nice birthday dinner. She didn't expect it at all. Although she asked a million questions so she definitely knew something was up. The sugar detox kinda went out the window for this.

Sugary things I gave into:
- 2 slices of french baguette
- caesar salad
- tortilla chips
- dutch cookie
- a slice of pie
-a slice of chocolate mousse
- vanilla ice cream

So bad I know! But the way I saw it was - it was my mum's 60th birthday. It would never come again and so I decided to just let it happen!

Day 16 - was a fulfilling FAIL.

Day 15 - 21 DSD - Making it count

So I couldn't blog for the past few days because I was on a secret mission. Jay and I flew home to Ontario to surprise my Mum for her 60th birthday. It was a success! She was totally surprised, we had a great time with friends and family. It was a blitz trip - 3 days. As for the sugar detox...well, we'll get to that. 

Day 15:

Breakfast: Were treated to a yummy breakfast at Ben and Amanda's with Katie and Justin. Felt really good to get some genuine time with them. We were good for breakfast - had eggs, with peppers, a little cheese and slices of a green apple. 

Lunch: For lunch we hit up a burger place called "The Works." Amazing burgers. Jay declared it his second cheat meal and had sweet potato fries and a loaded burger. I was good and had a salad with balsamic viniagrette, a burger and I didn't eat the bun. It was amazing. 

Dinner: For dinner, Jay's parents came over to Ben and Amanda's and we had a mix of salad and sweet potato casserole. The casserole was amazing. I passed up cornbread, raspberries, and the sweet potato layer on the casserole and it was still a thoroughly amazing dinner. I couldn't complain. For dessert I wanted to make frozen banana icecream but the bananas weren't frozen enough so it ended up being more like a frozen banana pudding. 

I count day 15 a success! 

Day 14 - 21 DSD - Overpriced plane food and a werewolf moment

So I couldn't blog for the past few days because I was on a secret mission. Jay and I flew home to Ontario to surprise my Mum for her 60th birthday. It was a success! She was totally surprised, we had a great time with friends and family. It was a blitz trip - 3 days. As for the sugar detox...well, we'll get to that. 

Day 14
Breakfast:
Jay and I headed down to Edmonton (a three hr trip) and we needed some snacks.  You have no idea how much the candy in the gas station was calling my name. And the pringles. Soooo we opted for beef jerky and pumpkin seeds. We also had a couple green apples in the car. 

Lunch:
We hit up Mucho Burrito for a yummy lunch. Really wanted to eat the taco shell but did NOT give in!









Dinner:

So dinner was kinda a joke. We got to the airport and felt like we'd just eaten so we didn't grab anything. Boy I wish we'd thought twice about the decision. We get on the plane and they've got this nice little brochure about all the sugar-infested treats - pringles, mini-eggs, chips, sandwiches - all three times the price they should be. I was starving. Looking back now I think I had a moment similar to a werewolf. The way Jay describes it I was grasping at him, insisting that I NEEDED A SANDWICH RIGHT NOW. Jay wouldn't let me give in so we ordered a cheese platter. $6.50 for this thing.

 I gave Jay the grapes, succumbed to the crackers and hid the chocolate truffle in my bag for after this stupid detox is over. We've made habit of that by the way - our freezer is chock full of goodies for after the sugar detox. Terrible I know. I blame Jay. He is building up our stash.

Got picked up at the airport by Ben, Katie, and Justin (Jay's sibs + Katie's husband) and headed to Ben's place for a good night sleep. At 1am I wasn't hungry at all.

I count Day 14 as a success!

Day 11, 12 & 13 - 21 DSD - Kinda sick of the stupid detox.

I work on a computer all day and then come home and do Young Life volunteer stuff on a computer and so some days I'm dead sick of using a computer by the end of the day. So Day 11, 12 & 13 aren't getting recorded until now.

Day 11 :
Breakfast:
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken with zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and poutry seasoning - delicious!!
Dinner: Tacos (minus chips) + 1 green apple

Mental state: Woke up super exhausted. Made an effort at lunch because I knew I had to make something good. Felt sick of the stupid detox. There were Lindor chocolates in the library at work and I really wanted to eat one. But I didn't.
Dinner was a potluck bible study so it was easy enough. After dinner we stopped by a Young Adults hang out thing. On the table were 3 plates of huge chocolate brownies. I couldn't stop staring at them. They spoke to me. I ignored them. Jay took 2 and put them in the freezer for after the detox.


Day 12:
Breakfast: 1 green apple
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken with zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and poutry seasoning - delicious!! + 1 green apple
Dinner: Ground beef with zucchini and cheddar cheese

Mental state:
All day I daydreamed about those huge chocolate brownies that I had seen last night. I envisioned stuffing my face over and over. That night I made some banana icecream. Needed something to make me feel treated.

Day 13:
Breakfast: 2 eggs with 1 slice of cheese
Lunch: Nothing. Forgot to eat it.
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken with zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and poutry seasoning - a charming meal didn't mind making it twice.

Mental state:
Today (Day 13) was hard. We started a fundraiser and I forgot to eat lunch so was super tired and cranky. It turned out to be a bit of a gong show as the instructions were crappy and some of the info was wrong (we were delivering Telus phonebooks - to addresses that were messed up). I went and go gas and really wanted to buy something junky and sugary to stuff down my throat. But I didn't.
Came home after and made the rotisserie chicken dish for dinner. Easy and yummy. Left to go to see a friend for her bday party.

Day 9 & 10 - 21DSD - Getting Lazy

So it's the end of Day 10 and I'm getting lazy. Completely forgot to blog on day 9. So here's a sum up of the 2  days.

Day 9.

Breakfast: Eggs with asparagus, ham, and cheese.
Lunch: Can't remember - maybe some sort of salad..
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken and salad.

Went to YL leader meeting and Ashley had made some yummy looking treats. Thankfully we each had thought to grab an apple beforehand so that kept us from giving in.

The best part of Day 9 was having a bunch of YL leaders over for Dutch Blitz and making them frozen "banana" icecream. It was a hit!

Day 10.

Breakfast: Plain yogurt with cinnamon & green apple
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken and salad.
Dinner: Bacon-wrapped avocado. Was ok. An egg. Some cheese.
And then I attempted a chocolate mousse. Um. It was disgusting. Avocado, banana, vanilla, and unsweetened cocoa, and coconut milk. Not even the slightest bit of tastiness.

Need to find more recipes or this thing is gonna flop!

But regardless Day 9 & 10 were a success.

Day 8 - 21DSD - Fav dish so far - Zucchini with Beef

Day 8. Feeling great!

Planned breakfast: Plain yogurt with cinnamon and green apple.

Actual breakfast: Plain yogurt with cinnamon and green apple. Yum!

Morning snacks: Brazil nuts. Yum!

Planned lunch: Spinach with ham, tomatoes, other veges and havarti cheese.

Actual lunch:Spinach with ham, tomatoes, other veges and havarti cheese, and egg.

Made it through the afternoon with some almonds.

Planned & Actual dinner: Zucchini with ground beef, tomatoes, garlic, basil and grated cheese.

We were supposed to have a friend for dinner (so I made lots) but she got a call for work so Jay and I ended up eating it all it was sooo good. Pigs I know.

Now I'm taking Sadie for a walk and Jay is going to the gym so we'll work it off ha!

Day 7 - 21DSD - Reflecting on a Instant-Gratification-Sugar-Stricken Culture

Day 7. Wow. Sticking to the 21DSD is much harder when you're away from home.

Planned Breakfast Fail:
For example. This morning we made sure to wake up at 9:30am so that we could enjoy the complimentary breakfast that the Hampton Inn & Suites offers. But when we got down to the lobby everything was cleared up. It was then that I saw the a clock on the back wall that read 10:40pm. I pointed it out to Jay and we realized the clock in our hotel room was set an hour back. Great.

We went back up to the room and I made a call to the front desk and explained what had happened. The hotel personnel advised if we came down now they could serve us yogurt, muffins, or fruit. Darn. I explained we were on a sugar detox and couldn't have any of those things. She said,"Oh but there's fruit salad." But the only fruits we are allowed are 1 green apple or 1 green-tipped banana. I didn't explain that as she would have thought I was crazy probably. I asked if she had any vouchers for any restaurants in the area. She advised she was with a customer and would call me back . No call back.

Reflections on our pathetic Instant-Gratification-Sugar-Stricken Culture :
It's sad how much sugar we eat normally and when you are declining sugary items you realize it. This detox has been great for me in learning the discipline of resistance. See, it's not that I eat sugary things all the time. My problem is more that if I see it, I want it right then and there and I can't say no. It has helped in the last few months that Jay has been eating healthy because we had already stopped eating bread and potatoes and only eating those if we were at someone's place and it was offered to us for dinner.

Last night at Red Lobster when I passed on the biscuits, I thought to myself how pathetic it is that it is so painful and difficult to say no to food. I thought of all the places in the world and all the poverty-stricken areas where there aren't options for the kinds of foods you can have. We are an instant-gratification-sugar-stricken culture. We see it and we want it so we buy it. I do love that Jay and I are on a strict budget as it really helps. We are learning to say no to instant-gratification spending and now we are learning to say no to instant-gratification eating. We are debt-free and we plan to keep it that way. I hope after this detox my mentality is that I desire to be sugar-free as much as possible.

Actual Breakfast:

We decided to go to Ricky's restaurant because they serve a great breakfast there. I felt sad because normally if I was there I would order a giant strawberry milkshake and hashbrowns with my meal. Pitiful - I know! For breakfast we each had an omelette laden with veges and some bacon/sausage on the side. Funny enough, I asked for a box to go but they accidentally threw it away so they decided to make me a new omelette to take. So that was sweet!

After breakfast we decided to go to the mall. I badly needed new jeans. Let me emphasize - I am not a big spender. In fact I hadn't been shopping for jeans in a year and hadn't done a shopping trip in about 5-6 months. So this was a neccessary shopping trip. My jeans were too short and my boots had holes in them.

One problem. Every store we went to didn't have boots. Every store is all about spring now. Sheesh - great timing on my part. Looks like I'll be hitting up Walmart for another pair of $25 boots.

As for the jeans I found ones from blue notes that FIT! This was amazing. I HATE shopping for pants because I am tall but don't have a huge butt so pants either are tight and look great but too short or long but I've got "butt baggage" (pockets of nothing hanging off my butt). And to top it off  - the jeans were buy 1 get one 50% off. Awesome.

Now for SNACKS for our road trip home. We got jalapeno havarti cheese, cherry tomatoes, carrots, almonds, brazil nuts, and Mary Organic Crackers. The crackers were the closest thing we could find to what was allowed. They had no listed sugar but they did have rice flour. They weren't especially tasty but they worked with the cheese.

Planned dinner : Something

Actual dinner: Spinach salad with ham, cheery tomatoes, havarti cheese, and sesame seeds. Yum.

For dessert - frozen banana "icecream".

Day 7  = SUCCESS

Day 6 - 21 DSD - Saying No to Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Day 6. Um. This might be the day we cheat. I shouldn't say that I know I'm practically giving myself permission but you gotta understand the circumstances...

Young Life decided to pay for us to stay in a nice hotel in Edmonton to thank us for all the volunteering we do.

We set off on our road trip this morning armed with apples, and nutty banana-apple "cookies". We both had eggs with tomato for breakfast and I thought it'd be a breeze. Sure we'd be away from home, unable to make a selective sugar-free meal, but it was Edmonton - there are tons of options - right?

Uhh. Right - except for the fact that we had booked Jay's car in to get the windshield replaced and so our only lunch options were within walking distance. We opted for Mc Fatty's as Jay said they had great salads there. Turns out the salads aren't all that great when you can't have dressing. Rabbit food plain and simple. Still I felt good about myself, looking around at all the chunky people gorging themselves on sugar and calorie-loaded junk food. I was feeling great so I had no reason to complain.

Did a bit of shopping and then went to pick up the car. BAM. Sudden headache and crazy tiredness. I just wanted to crawl into a dark room and close my eyes. Maybe my blood sugar was low, I dunno. The banana-apple cookies were tasting less and less tasty as the day wore on.

I started fantasizing about all the sugary foods I could be eating right then. Marble slab icecream, chocolate, cookies, ahhhhh. This was so wrong! I started googling "can you have a cheat day on the 21 day sugar detox". It was not a good idea. The people that had failed said yes. The people that didn't give in, reminded you how hard it was.

We decided that Jay would drop me off at the hotel so I could close my eyes and he would pop by Canadian Tire. I walked into the hotel suite. Nice big room.  Put my bags down. This was going to be a great romantic weekend. It was then that my eyes fell on what was on the table.
A bottle of wine in a bucket of ice accompanied by a rose and two wine glasses. Next to that was a lovely plate with chocolate-covered strawberries. My heart took a leap! Aw so romantic! This was awesome! It was then that it hit me - oh, right. We're on a sugar detox. This isn't allowed. CRAP CRAP CRAP.

Suddenly my headache was gone and I sat down with renewed vigor to write this post. I needed to document the day. I needed accountability. Ahhhhhh. I just knew that when Jay walked in the door and saw this he was gonna throw the sugar detox right out the window. But I also knew that eating sugar might just make the headache thing a whole lot worse. What to do?!!

Jay walked in and decided today would be his cheat day. First he tried to force feed me a strawberry but I refused to give in. He happily gobbled up the chocolates on the plate.

We went off to the mall and were taunted by delicious aromas. Then we went to Red Lobster. By this time I was starving. I was a good girl and passed up the biscuits and ordered a steak with salad, broccoli, and asparagus. And no dessert of course!

Then we went to see "Olympus Fallen" and we passed up popcorn or any treats. Not gonna lie I wanted candy but I found as the day wore on it got easier and easier to resist. Eating a big meal probably helped too. All in all, Jay really only gave in for one meal (having fries and a biscuit) and the chocolate treats in our room. For me Day 6 = SUCCESS! (And for Jay - not as bad as it could have been...)

Day 5 21 DSD - Cheatin' with Apples

Day 5. It's Friday!

Ok so today I didn't exactly stick to the plan.

Breakfast on a whim was plain yogurt, green apple, and cinnamon. Pretty tasty. Got my little 21 DSD encouragement and that was what they listed as their choice for breakfast so guess I'm doing alright.

Used my lunch break to run some bottles to the depot to raise money for Young Life camp. Yes, I pretty much eat, breathe, and live Young Life stuff lately. Was happy about the bottle money until I made a turn out of the parking lot and dipped the car into a giant pothole/ditch. Crap. Scrapes on my car. Knew Jay would NOT be happy. So much for a planned good day.

Headed back to work and ate a quick lunch of rotisserie chicken & salad. Added some sesame seeds which tasted awesome with the balsamic vinaigrette.

Work day slogged on for a bit. A Young Life kid dropped by with his camp money and form. Hurray! Got about 9 kids signed up so far. Popped by the bank after work to deposit the money and headed home.

Jay wasn't home which gave me some time to get some stuff done. We are driving to Edmonton on Saturday morning to stay the night and come back on Sunday. Due to the fact that my usual road trip snacks range from pringles to massive amounts of candy, I decided I should make some treats for us to munch on.

Made Banana-Apple Cookies - with crushed almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, and other various things in. They tasted ok....uh I def missed the whole sugar part. Jay got home and thought the cookies were great. We had a "talk" about the car. That wasn't fun. Dinner involved a bit of grazing here and there. Started with carrot fries. Then bacon-wrapped asparagus. And finally a proper meal with salad and ham. 

After all that and watching the first half of Katy Perry's Part of Me movie - decided I need some fake icecream. Frozen banana, vanilla extract, and cream. Lots of cream. Didn't want it to go to waste - right?  And yes I'd already had an apple for breakfast, a bit of apple whilst making the cookies and now I was having a banana. Def broke a few rules but stuck to the plan sorta. It's getting trickier as I get more cocky about things I suppose.

 And so now I feel pretty tired. It's 11:50pm. Gotta get up sorta early to leave for Edmonton tomorrow. Feeling like super tired all of a sudden. 

Day 5 = Success (minus too many apples)

Day 4 - 21 DSD - Goodbye to Jimmy Joe (the squirrel)

Day 4.

Woke up this morning feeling refreshed.
Planned breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Actual breakfast: Plain full-fat yogurt with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract. Not gonna lie - it wasn't really good. Maybe I put too much in or too little. Not sure.

Work was..well it's work. Again, it's a super quiet week with no students and missing staff so it's seemed extra slow all week. I grabbed a green apple for early on but realized I should have grabbed other snacks. Was getting too confident in myself I guess.

Planned lunch: Left-overs - Lettuce Beef Wraps
Actual lunch: Left-overs - Lettuce Beef Wraps

LOVE this whole making planned meals thing. It's so convenient to have left-overs for lunch. Can't believe I just got through by winging lunch each day. Granted there were definitely days that I skipped breakfast and lunch because I didn't have a planned meal. Not a good idea.

A funny thing happened at lunch. My dog, Sadie, is avidly obsessed with squirrels. You just mention "squirrel" to her and she will run to the nearest tree and look up. So there have been 2 squirrels frequenting our porch lately and Jay decided to let her out to pursue one. She chased it up the wall in a split second and we thought we'd seen the last of it. Jay popped his head out to check on her (having tied her leash to the post) and to his surprise, the squirrel was sitting on the 2nd floor porch, its two little paws on the railing just staring at Sadie. And she was staring right back. It was like the squirrel was planning his attack. He turned and looked at us and then went back to the stare-down. I decided right then and there that we should name him Jimmy-Joe.

I popped back into the house and finished doing my dishes. Decided to say goodbye to the two loonies so I stuck my head out the door and called out, "Bye Sadie! Bye Jimmy Joe!" It was just then that I heard a grunt and realized my neighbour was peeking out his screen door with a cigarette. "What's that?" he asked. I grinned and said, "Oh sorry I was saying goodbye to the squirrel. I named him Jimmy Joe." He seemed to take it all in stride as I explained the situation and after a few pleasantries, we said goodbye. I was only slightly ashamed of being caught at saying goodbye to a squirrel. It was more amusing to me than anything.

Headed back to work with a couple of coco-nana balls. Yum!
The afternoon was tricky. Tried to distract myself from getting distracted by cleaning my office. It helped. Somewhat. Finished off the day and headed home.

Planned dinner: Rotisserie chicken and something
Actual dinner: Rotisserie chicken and salad

It's funny. I love the taste of rotisserie chicken so much - I felt like we were doing something bad by eating it. But I looked it up and a couple different 21 DSD recipes mentioned it so I was floored. Jay made up a yummy salad with mushrooms, spinach, peppers, cheddar cheese. I made a homemade dressing (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and black pepper) - umm delish!

For some reason after dinner I had MAJOR sugar cravings. Like I just wanted chocolate and candy! I ate a coupe coco-nana balls and they helped stifle the craving. Went and met up with a couple Young Life leaders to connect at Tim's. Wasn't tempted at all by the sight of donuts. Amazing. Sigh. Though I know I haven't come across my weaknesses yet (aka movie popcorn, pringles, gummies, icecream). But still here's to hoping I can stay on track.

Am proud to call day 4 a SUCCESS!

Day 3 - 21 DSD - The First Big Test

Day 3. Uhh definitely slept through both my alarms. That was not part of my plan.
Had a really strange dream about a bear chasing me. I have had dreams about being chased by a bear on several occasions. Ever since my Mum came to visit and said she hoped to see a bear. The months leading up to her visit, I was plagued by nightmares of bears chasing me, bears chasing my mum, etc. Thankfully the only bear we saw was when we were driving. Anyways I digress..

So back to Day 3.

Planned breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs
Actual breakfast: 1 scrambled egg and a green apple

Felt like I'd been hit by a train (or what I assume that feels like). Managed to shower, get ready for work, let Sadie (my dog) out, inhale a scrambled egg and ran out the door with a green apple in hand. Made sure to take some almonds in case I got the chocolate cravings. It's not that I eat chocolate all the time by the way, it's the fact that several people at my work have offices designated as the chocolate offices and usually on a slow afternoon, I make an appearance in one or two of those offices. Shameful, I know.

So I was super tired at work but the almonds and drinking lots of water seemed to help.

Planned lunch: Leftovers - Zucchini with ground beef and tomatoes.
Actual lunch: Leftovers - Zucchini with ground beef and tomatoes.

Getting into this pattern. Making enough dinner to serve as lunch the next day. Lunch was really delicious. I think from now on when I want to make pasta dishes I'll just use zucchini or squash instead. Has the same consistency as pasta but way better for you.

Finished work and came home. Jay got groceries - love that man. Had a little bit of a headache but drank quite a bit of water and it went away.

Dinner plan: Garlic-Lime Steak Wraps with Guacamole
Actual dinner: Garlic Beef Wraps with Guacamole

So I start dinner and realize our BBQ is out of propane so will cook the beef strips in the frying pan. I make some guacamole using the lime, avocados, and cilantro and when I bring up my beef recipe I realize I need 2 more limes for the marinade. Darn it. Oh well. I'll just cook the beef in chilli powder and garlic and omit the lime part. Adding a dash of black pepper and chilli powder every two seconds makes me feel like a real cook, lol. Still, they turn out really yummy! Added some green and red peppers, and tomato to get some veges in!

Now - here comes the first test. I decided since I'm gone this weekend (to Edmonton), it would be fun to have a Young Life girls hang out. Inevitably I KNOW there will be sugary sweets/probably delicious baking/junk food. AHHH this sucks. But I WILL resist! Blogging is keeping me accountable. I think I'm going to attempt a banana ice cream recipe before I go - maybe to take. Frozen bananas, vanilla extract, cream, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Apparently it tastes like ice cream. As the kinda gal who normally snubs her nose at anything other than Marble Slab or Kawartha Dairy I'll have to pretend that it's real ice cream. So that's the plan - will touch base afterwards to let you know how it goes...

Ended up running late so I didn't have time to make "icecream" before the hangout. Yet I somehow made it through the night without snacking on a single chocolate, chip, or cookie! Funny enough it seemed to help that we played the game "Apples to apples" as it made me focus on healthier things.

Get back home and Jay and I watch a movie. I decide to make banana "icecream" . Not actually icecream, but apparently you can get the same consistently. I blend frozen banans, vanilla extract, some whipping cream, milk and unsweetened cocoa powder. UNBELIEVABLE! It tastes just like icecream - banana flavoured of course! When I get off this sugar detox I'm going to experiment with strawberries and other flavors! Jay loves it too!

Day 3 = SUCCESS!

Day 2 - 21 Day Sugar Detox - A Grumpy Husband

Ok - Day 2. No biggie. Just gotta be prepared.

Woke up. Tried a taste of the coco-nana balls I made last night. Coconut flakes, mashed banana and unsweetened cocoa powder. They're actually pretty good!

Breakfast plan : 2 hard boiled eggs
Actual breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Feeling great. Sorta got a back ache but I think that was more to do with carrying Sadie (my heavy dog) over a mud patch yesterday. Won't do that again!

Headed to work with a couple bags of sunflower seeds, walnuts and celery sticks. It's spring break so the day lagged on. With no one around the office, time really stretches out. The last thing I want to do is find myself chocolate hunting in the lazy afternoon hours.

Lunch plan: Leftovers
Actual lunch: Leftovers - Lemon chicken, chorizo meatballs and assorted vegetables. YUM!

Headed back to the office. After lunch I felt SUPER tired. Texted Jay to let him know that if he was experiencing it - that it's normal. Made it through the day without snacking on chocolate. After eating walnuts and sesame seeds, I had no desire for chocolate.

I arrive back home to find Jay passed out on the couch. Guess I was right about the tiredness thing. He wakes up irritable (not an entirely new thing for Jay but for his sake I blame it on the sugar detox).

Dinner plan: "Fettucini Zucchini with Meat Sauce"
Actual dinner: "Fettucini Zucchini with Meat Sauce" - can't believe I've stuck to the meal plans so far. I know it's only been 2 days but STILL for me - that's a big deal! It actually feels like it's been a week ha. Going to be a long haul - this whole sugar detox thing!

Funny enough, Jay is acting like he has PMS. Grumpy and irritable. I just laugh at him and read him facts from the sugar detox guide about how that's normal. Apparently he has had mad sugar cravings all day today. He mumbles that dinner tastes "ok" and yet helps himself to plenty more. I point it out and he protests he's hungry. Secretly I know my dinner meal is AWESOME.

Our Young Life committee meeting is tonight. I don't want to deal with sugar cravings so I don't buy treats. It's 9:47pm, everyone's left and I've got a thumping headache and am craving cheese. I eat a small piece but the headache's still here. Sadie looks as tuckered out as I feel.

Peacin' out. G'night.

Day 1 - 21 Day Sugar Detox - Muffin Disaster, Meatballs & a Successful Dinner

Day 1 21 DSD

Breakfast plan: Coconut Muffins
Actual breakfast: Nothing

So this morning I got up at an early-ish time, all prepared to make "Flour Coconut Muffins." I was really excited for this. My thought was to make some for hubby and me for breakfast and freeze the rest for future yummy snacks. Opted for substituting coconut oil for olive oil and adding coconut, vanilla and cinnamon for the "sweet" muffin. Mixed it all up, popped it in, cleaned up my kitchen mess and waited excitedly.

BEEP. All done. The muffins hadn't risen, in fact they were in the same shape they'd started in. No matter, it was about the taste. Popped a bit of one in my mouth. Ummm. This couldn't be right. Took another small nibble. Uhh. No mistake. These muffins were AWFUL. I'd followed the recipe to a T but they didn't look anything like the photo. And they were distinctly AWFUL. I posted a photo on fb and made a comment about how awful they were and how I was going to try and trick Jay into eating one.

Jay comes out of the bedroom looking for a towel. I ignore the towel question and hand him a muffin, smiling broadly. "Try one of my muffins!" He takes a bite and chews it slowly. I can see he is trying to form a smile but it comes out like a pout. I laugh and say, "Kinda gross eh?" He manages to swallow and grimaces. "That's really salty. Uhh I'm gonna puke." Better than I'd hoped for.

I stare at the muffins and an idea forms. Jay finishes his shower and I make my proposal. "Jay, I think we should put the muffins in a basket and give them to our neighbours. We could put a little note that says, "This is a token of our appreciation for the weed and cigarette smells that drift through our windows everyday." Jay says I'm mean so I post my idea to fb and ask for votes. My mum agrees with Jay along with another friend, but I get four comments in agreement with my prank. I won't do it. But it's the thought that counts. I've lost my appetite for breakfast and it's getting on to 12 anyways. Jay has an egg to clear his pallet of the muffin taste and I decide to wait for lunch and make something tastier.

Snacks: A green apple, 2 hard boiled eggs, & some celery and nut butter

For snacks, I opt for a green apple whilst my 2 eggs boil. Not especially hungry but decide to send the raspberry pie I made yesterday off to work with Jay so that we won't be tempted. Part of me thinks he will give in at work but when I voice that thought, Jay protests. Will see. 2 eggs down and a promise to write some articles. Decide I'll procrastinate and create this blog first....

Lunch plan: Chorizo Meatballs & Spinach
Actual lunch: Chorizo Meatballs & Spinach (way later than I'd planned - about 4pm)

Jay got back and wanted a late lunch. Made a Chorizo spice mix - with chipotle powder, paprika, garlic powder, sea salt and black pepper. Added that with some apple cider vinegar to some ground up pork and popped it in the oven. 30 mins later + a spinach salad = deliciousness. Really spicy to me, Jay doesn't think it's that spicy.

Got a few left over for lunch tomorrow. Yay!.


Was having mad sugar cravings so ordered Jay to take the cinnamon hearts to work to give to the guys along with the pie. They're probably going to get a lot of sugary donations as we discover what tempts us too much.

Am going to head out for a walk whilst it's still sunny and hope that helps a bit with the sugar cravings. Writing about lunch certainly has helped. I think it's self-motivating to write how well you're doing.

Dinner plan: Lemon Garlic Chicken & Asparagus
Actual dinner: Lemon Garlic Chicken & Asparagus

Dinner was delicious! Finally warm enough in this cold climate to use the BBQ! Day 1 = SUCCESS!

Why this blog..

Hello to anyone out there who has stumbled across this blog...

I love writing and figured it would be quite fun to chronicle my first attempt at the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I've had my fair share of mishaps in the kitchen due to my absent-mindedness and with this detox it requires a lot of planning and regular thought out meals - both of which are not my forte. And there's the whole - lay off sugars bit - which is also not my specialty. So all in all I think it will be quite funny to document this whole thing...

Here goes...