Sugar-Free: By request, I'm starting this update by blogging about my no-sugar-experiment. two weeks ago I decided to quit eating sugar. I mean totally. I check the labels of anything and don't eat it if there's any kind of sugar added. This means I can't eat most crackers, sauces, spreads, prepared foods, canned goods, etc. It never ceases to amaze me how many things have sugar in them, that you wouldn't think would have sugar. Bread! Meat! Cheese! No wonder the American consumption of fructose has gone up 1000x in the last 40 years. So anyway, I've had to make all my food from scratch (which is good to do anyway, but who has the time on a regular basis?) and forego my regular infusion of chocolate and sweets. In fact, this is part of why I started this. I need sweets after every meal. I get intense cravings. And, come on, who doesn't crave chocolate at regular intervals throughout the day, but I felt like it was getting out of control. Perhaps a result of my breastfeeding two babies, but I figured my body can't need all that sugar. I'm pretty much exclusively breastfeeding 35lbs of baby, which amounts to something like 140 oz of milk a day, and yet my "baby weight" persists, determined as ever to hang on. So I thought maybe it was my love handles asking for the sugar, not my boobs. It was worth a shot to see if it made a difference.
This was not the only reason. Jared recently gave up sugar for a month when the babies were born. He read an interview with Steve Nash that he had given up sugar and was more energetic and even-keeled and athletic because of it. Jared cut it out and did become more energetic, even-keeled, etc. He also lost 10 lbs right away (he was also playing soccer 3x/week, which couldn't have hurt). The other big reason is that I'm a little freaked out by the prevalence of cancer in young people close to me. My husband. My sister. Other friends. Who knows what the reason is for so much cancer these days, but the American sugar intake has risen at roughly the same rate as the American cancer rate (I think, anyway), so it's on my list of suspicious possible culprits, along with pesticides, chemicals in our water, preservatives and other unnatural things we eat, additives in childhood vaccines, contaminants in plastic bowls and cups, air and water pollution, cell phone waves, too much corn in our diets, hormones in our beef, and secret government conspiracies (obviously, I think some of these ideas are more feasible than others). And I wanted to see if I could even do it - a feat which Jared seriously doubted was within the realm of my own power and self-discipline.
It's been a good experiment, and was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be, for a few reasons. Reason #1: Trader Joe's sugar-free chocolate covered almonds. They use inulin as a sweetener, a natural vegetable fiber (don't eat too many of these at once. trust me on this.). #2: Medjool dates. So sweet and delicious. #3: A few great recipes for treats that use alternative sweeteners. I made really great breakfast granola using pureed raisins as the main sweet ingredient. Apple crisp using stevia and agave. And chocolate fudge balls using honey. There were more that I didn't even try, but I plan to get around to.
So it's been good. Do I feel better, more energetic, more emotionally stable, skinnier? Meh. I really WANTED my life, energy, digestive health, emotionality, physique, immune system and everything else to improve, but so far there's really no noticeable difference. But I feel better about eating less sugar regardless. This has been a good chance to get some treats and sweets into my repertoire that don't use so much cane sugar, so that's good. I plan to continue using as little sugar as possible. Except not over Thanksgiving. All things be damned at Thanksgiving.
Other exciting events in the Engstrom lives:
-Trajan (aliases: The Trajanator. Toot-aloo. Li'l Traj. Brickley. Brickles. Happy.) sleeps like crazy and spends his rare awake time smiling and laughing and charming everyone in the room. He's super interested in anything he can get his hands on to play with. He's not that interested in rolling or bouncing or standing, but loves people and toys. He wants to know how the world works and is very involved in figuring it out. He did roll over once, purportedly, but hasn't repeated the experiment. He doesn't eat much, compared to his brother, and has the figure and feel of a baby monkey - the one who clings effortlessly to his mother's fur, and weightlessly rides her wherever she goes. As far as I can tell, there is not an ounce of "babyfat" on his body, much like his sister Seville was. He's photogenic and charismatic, and a clear favorite of his bigger sister, who always wants to play with him.
-Oswell (aliases: Ozalicious. Noodle-Roo. Oz. Ozzie. LuvvieBunns. Squeaky.) is more like a luscious little Roly Poly Snuggly Buddha-bellied baby. He weighs 12 oz more than Trajan (despite the same height and head circumference, and smaller birth weight). He is making us concerned that he will eat us out of house and home. It seems that my body has tapped out at its current milk supply and it's not enough for him. Though I have some great milk-producing supplements, they cause me quite a bit of personal discomfort, so I'm not sure I can torture myself to keep taking them to the level that would produce to Oswell's demand. Though I have all the obligatory feelings of inadequacy as a mother, I remind myself that your average mom starts supplementing with solid food when her baby weighs, oh, say, 12-15 lbs or so. So there is no shame in being unable to sustain 35 lbs of baby from breast alone (right?). We are starting to give him extra formula bottles now and again, and he is sleeping a little better. Oswell is really into rolling over, bouncing, and all things "my-cool-new-body." Where Trajan wants to know how the world works, Oswell wants to know how he himself works, and he's certainly getting it down. He rolls over the instant you put him in bed and then cries to be turned back over again. It's a long and tedious exercise getting him to sleep, but he's very cute about it so all is forgiven.
. Seville is in preschool now, doing big girl stuff. She has accepted purple into her catalog of colors she likes (so she has two now. pink and purple). She loves to play with her brothers, even though all they do is smile at her. She says funny things all the time, and as every parent, I wish I wrote them all down. Some favorites that I remember:
"Mommy, sometime, when the moon is up, we should buy the moon a present. We should buy it some stars. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots [...] of stars!" She also told me I could make it come down by playing it music, and then we could release the stars from their ribbons. I should hire her to write my songs.
"my face starts to look like a raisin whenever I poop" (sorry, Seville, to preserve that for posterity, but it was too funny).
"I don't wanna die..." which commenced in a conversation about dying and how your body stays here but your spirit goes to heaven. And no, you're not going to die anytime soon, but when you do, there will be lots of people in heaven who will be so excited to see you they'll put their arms around you and give you a big hug... "but... would they have arms?"
Putting two and two together one day, Seville informed me that peanut butter is made out of pee, nuts, and butter.
Pictures from this Fall:
This was not the only reason. Jared recently gave up sugar for a month when the babies were born. He read an interview with Steve Nash that he had given up sugar and was more energetic and even-keeled and athletic because of it. Jared cut it out and did become more energetic, even-keeled, etc. He also lost 10 lbs right away (he was also playing soccer 3x/week, which couldn't have hurt). The other big reason is that I'm a little freaked out by the prevalence of cancer in young people close to me. My husband. My sister. Other friends. Who knows what the reason is for so much cancer these days, but the American sugar intake has risen at roughly the same rate as the American cancer rate (I think, anyway), so it's on my list of suspicious possible culprits, along with pesticides, chemicals in our water, preservatives and other unnatural things we eat, additives in childhood vaccines, contaminants in plastic bowls and cups, air and water pollution, cell phone waves, too much corn in our diets, hormones in our beef, and secret government conspiracies (obviously, I think some of these ideas are more feasible than others). And I wanted to see if I could even do it - a feat which Jared seriously doubted was within the realm of my own power and self-discipline.
3 comments:
wow. i never get around to doing things like reading other peoples blogs. i can't even keep up with my own. i love reading this though. you have a great style and it is so fun to hear about the details of your life. it is pretty amazing that you have so much of it documented. Good for you!
I did the no sugar thing in high school and never got sick! A benefit...but I'm not sure it outweighs all the delicious foods I gave up. (She says as she coughs). We sent out Valentines cards this year but we didn't have your address. We need to get it. I'll have Jon talk to Jared. Can we come visit you sometime? We miss seeing you!
Post a Comment