I'm sweet enough

Well it's been more than a week since I gave up sugar. Obviously it's impossible to not eat sugar at all. So maybe it's more accurate to say that I have cut out refined sugar. My co-workers thought I was setting myself up to fail by being too strict. It's not like I'm cutting out fruit because it has sugar in it. I'm just cutting out junk. I actually gave up sugary crap once before and felt much better for it.

So far things have been okay. It was a tough work week, with lots of adrenaline rushes, no time to eat and a heck of a lot of police action- so I pretty much couldn't have chosen a worst week to quit chocolate and sugar. But I did really well. I'm half way through the second week and feeling strong! I learned something too. The more sugar you eat, the less sensitive you become to the sweetness. I had a slip and made myself a hot chocolate last night, but I couldn't even drink it! It seemed so sickly sweet that I didn't want it. Before nothing was too sweet for me.

I also said goodbye to the pump of vanilla flavouring in my soy americanos at Starbucks. Shannon told me it could be done. She was right! At home, there is no more agave or honey in my morning coffee either. I don't notice that big of a change in taste. Previously when a barrista skipped the vanilla flavouring (sugar) I could hardly drink it.

The only disappointment: I had sort of expected my mood/energy level to remain constant throughout the day. I still have lows, and just don't have the skyrocketing highs. Oh well, I'm better off.

Lunch Box

Okay I admit it. I'm blogging up a storm because I'm avoiding something I don't want to do. I had planned to go the pool today and swim laps but.... I don't want to get in my bathing suit. Gah! It's raining so I'm not going for a walk along the boardwalk. I'll go use the depressing bunker/gym later today. Picture it: a small windowless cement room with a 7 foot ceiling crammed with exercise equipment. The ceiling is already low, but for some reason they added a huge ceiling fan in the middle. Even I have to duck going under it. Clausterphobics couldn't hack it in there.

Wait, this post is about my lunchbox. I'm oh so in love. I bought the above lunchbox minus the bag and water bottle. Its actually fun to pack my lunch. Although I can cook at work and eat anything I want out of the pantry, I don't. It's a Celiac's worst nightmare. The cross contamination is everywhere! The kitchen counters are butcher block; wood absorbs gluten and passes it on even after bleaching. Communal living means too many hands are touching the food. Food prep is done with gloves and following food safe, but those precautions aren't nearly enough to keep me gluten-safe. Prison food is high carb, so it's not surprising that my clients continue to eat carbs afterwards. I can put tofu in the fridge without putting my name on it and know with absolute certainty that no one will ever touch it. My food preferences are nothing like my clients or even most of my co-workers who seem to survive on Mr. Noodles and Wonderbread!

Unfortunately my lunch bag got contaminated with roast beef blood, so I was in the market for a new lunch bag. Luckily I remembered my old favorite blog "Vegan Lunchbox!" The mom who wrote it has mostly moved on the other ventures, but she used to pack her son's lunch in these lunchboxes and post pictures of his lunch. It was genius! She was creative and got her son to eat so healthy because his lunch looked good. Since the Canadian dollar was almost at par, and Vegan Lunchbox had a discount code, I ordered one for myself! Everyone who sees it comments on it. If you are interested, I have a link to her blog on the right. On her site she has a link to the company that makes the lunchboxes Laptop Lunchbox, be sure to use the discount code!

Withdrawl

At work I talk a lot about drugs. I'm not a drug and alcohol counsellor, but helping clients work through their addiction and encouraging them to stay clean is a big part of the job. Talking about recovery is a big part of the process. Too often the clients that don't talk about staying clean are already using. I'm always amazed to hear what people can overcome and see how much courage it takes to change. It's always easiest to stay they same, challenging ourselves to do something new can be tough. How can you live a clean lifestyle if you've never lived it, and commonly you're parents didn't either. Recently at work we were talking about how treatment centres ration sugar and serve decaf coffee. It's not uncommon for addicts to create a pseudo-high by getting a sugar and caffeine buzz. This got me thinking- I'm admittedly a chocoholic, but I think that I'm really a sugar junkie. A sell my soul for Swedish berries kind of girl. I love the zing I feel after eating something sugary. It's a sure-fire pick me up, but the crash is depressingly spectacular.

So I decided that if my clients can kick a 20 year crack addiction, I can kick sugar. Currently at day 3. There is no chocolate in my house, and I know this. For some reason I keep mindlessly looking in my secret chocolate hiding place. The hiding place was taught to me by my Nana. Her theory was if chocolate is kept in the freezer it will have to thaw before it can be eaten, and by that point, the craving will have passed. This theory was inherently flawed, I have no problems eating frozen solid chocolate!

The tricky part is the places that sugary treats hide, like cereal. Haven't we all learned that breakfast during the work week consists of cereal? The rest of the meals don't have such monotony for me, so why be boring with breakfast? (slap chop?) The best part is that I have a jumbo bag of gluten free corn pops in my cupboard, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with those. Although yummy, they don't satisfy for very long. I knew that I needed to find breakfast alternatives so I went off to my local Choices. $80 later I had one bag of groceries. sigh.... Groceries is one area I allow myself to not budget- gluten free vegetarianism isn't cheap. But even for me this seemed a shocking price. I picked up some Agave. It's a natural sweetener, sweeter than sugar so you use less and in theory doesn't give a sugar zing. At 3 times the price of honey, it will be used sparingly. I also picked up some Lara Bars. They are naturally sweet date bars. The ingredients are so simple dates, peanuts, salt- that's it, but so yummy. So I'll feed the sugar cravings with more natural sugars as they have a lower GI (glycemic index) and therefore don't affect blood sugar like sugar/corn syrup/high-fructose does.

I also thought I could fill the cravings buy drinking more tea. I really like tea, but tend to only drink it at home in the fall and winter. I probably have 15 types of tea on hand right now, obviously I must like it. I wonder why I only have 2 types of coffee although I drink it much more frequently? I picked up a extra spicy chai tea to add to the collection. I have a vague plan of switching to decaf coffee and drinking tea instead. Tea makes me feel good, and I secretly think tea drinkers are cooler than coffee whores.

Wish me luck. If you see me licking bags of sugar in the local Safeway then you know I've failed.

One of those days

Sometimes I really get sick of helping people.

I like it even less when I can't help someone because they aren't ready or because they're living in denial.

My ears are shut off, I don't want to hear anymore.

I'm not solving any more problems right now. If I had a closed sign, it would be posted.

I don't want to hear about you. I am surrounded by people who talk about themselves.

Okay, my rant is over. I feel better, tomorrow I'll be back to optimistic Hilary who has nothing but time to listen.

We're all thinking the same thing

Hottie of the Game

Well! I wasn't sure if the Canucks would have enough heat to make it through one more game. Thank goodness they did, because hiding in the ranks was this hot francophone! Steve Bernier. I'm not sure if he's a bad boy like O'Brien is, (Google O'Brien, he's been getting into lots of trouble in Vancity) but he made the cut tonight. Fingers crossed for game 6!

Holy Hot Damn

Hottie of the game. Shane O'Brien. Did he play tonight? Why watch the game after finding this picture? Let's be honest, he should stop wearing shirts immediately. This post is totally for Sarah who claims she won't watch hockey until they play shirtless. A brilliant suggestion.

Return of the Hottie

Well given the Canucks' latest performance, we need a change. Shave your playoff beard, change your lucky undies and wash your socks. I think you should all ask yourselves what you can do to turn things around. My part is to bring back the hottie of the game. Oh Kevin.... When you google him, the second most often sought after info is if he is married. So how could I not pick Kevin Bieksa as the hottie of the game?