#bgdiets

If anyone knows busy, it's me. 

Maybe. 

I take that back, sort of, considering I have a really odd lifestyle in general, doing college ministry and all. 

However, my 3 jobs keep me pretty busy. I still function within the context of a college schedule because I work with college students. I feel like I'm being redundant. 

To the food part. 

A lot of my meetings and small groups and ministry happens in the evenings. I would say 2 or three evenings a week are filled with responsibility (that I love), so dinner becomes a thing that I eat hastily, or skip altogether. And because these events keep me out late, I tend to stay up late, causing me to want every ounce of sleep in the morning before I have to be somewhere, so I have formed a bad habit of skipping breakfast.

*GASP*

And lunch means nothing to me, but usually I'm hungry so at least I bring food along, grab food to go, or eat a late one.

All in all, I would say I'm a terrible eater when it comes to 3 meals a day because of my crazy odd schedule.

Anyway, when you chose to eat healthy, you naturally become more intentional about getting the right amount of food each day, at the right times. Your body needs it! So here are some tips I've picked up along the way:

Grab and Go: If you don't have time to prepare breakfast, then make sure you have fruit! I love a good apple on my drive to work. Or pear. Or grapes. Or strawberries. I know that breakfast is so important because it jumpstarts your metabolism for the day, ensuring that you will be hungry a few hours later for lunch. Grab a pack of peanuts for a mid-morning snack!

Lunch: Always pack a lunch. Don't give yourself the option to buy food while you're out. And again, lunch doesn't need to be a big affair. Make yourself a good sandwich with lots of spinach on it. OR a spinach salad and bring some balsamic vinegar in a tiny tupperware to add in when it's lunch time. Other lunch time faves of mine are: carrots, cucumbers, hummus, tortilla chips, a piece of fruit, assorted nuts, or a leftover meal to heat up from the night before. Eat it while it's fresh!

Cook Cook Cook! My dad always says, "You make time for what you want to make time for," and he's totally right! If you REALLY want to eat healthy, I suggest just starting by eating at home. Cook! You're going to naturally make healthier food at home than that fast stuff restaurants pump out for you in 20 minutes or less. Plus, if you have leftovers, THAT IS WONDERFUL! And if you're one of those people that "doesn't eat leftovers," YOU ARE TERRIBLE. Go to therapy.

Shop the way you wish you ate: This month, I bought a bunch of protein and fruits and veggies, with a few garnishes (coconut milk and salsas) to help me along the way. Nothing more. No sugar. No dairy. No grains. NONE.

And lastly,

Learn to say no: Trust me, after a while it gets easier. Learn to give yourself pep talks. Mine sound like this, "Bridget, do you remember Skinny BG? She misses you! You remember your bank account? It loves when you don't eat out. So does your body. Remember sugar and how it did nothing good for you except momentary happiness? YOU CAN DO THIS BG. YOU ROCK. YOU WANT THIS MORE THAN THAT JIMMY JOHNS SUB. YOU WANT TO LIVE A LONG LIFE. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, AND CAN DO ALL THINGS!" 

Sorry. Got carried away.

But, I just want to say, you make time for what you want to make time for. There are ways that you can prepare for busy weeks, have the people around you help you out, even if it is just to remind you, and maybe take time to write a blog about it! That helps me! And the more you say no, the  easier it gets to live without the things your body is addicted to! 

No sugar, no dairy, no grains until the 24th.

18 days. No big.

Except that I will mostly be eating fruit, vegetables, and meat. But I don't mind. It's a new fun challenge!

Let's back up for a second though.

For the past five days, I ate relatively normally. I had sugar (but not like I used to...), I had a cheeseburger and a big chipotle burrito, and a milkshake! People asked me, "how's sugar?!" and I answered, "It's good, but I can't handle a whole lot of it." I found myself having a hard time with sodas, getting full faster, and not craving some of my favorite sweets. My mindset was still with that last week of no sugar- not wanting it anymore. And my body didn't really want it either. 

So the only two things I REALLY enjoyed were iced coffee and my piña colada lollipops. And what a relief that is! I just made my grocery list for the next two weeks, and I'm excited! It's going to be an adventure figuring out how to eat only meat and veggies, with the schedule I have. But I believe in myself. And, I want to be able to lose more weight. My clothes already fit better, and I want to keep it up!

Another goal I have is to exercise at least every other day, if not everyday of this next 2 and a half weeks. 

I have 20 minutes before I will indulge in a little sugar-spree. And then eat like normal for a few days before I put myself under an even more intense 2 (ish) weeks of food-fasting. I'm excited.

But for now, I can celebrate.

I lost nearly 6 pounds off of sugar this month. My hope is that in the next 5 weeks I lose another 6. It's SO POSSIBLE! 

I also feel great. My cravings are basically gone, I'm sure my palate is used to natural and more savory flavors now. I think I've prepared my body to lose more weight next month.

But don't worry everyone, I won't go crazy these next few days. I'm not going to gain the 6 pounds back. No way no how! 

My favorite sugar substitute was having a piece of toast with organic peanut butter and organic honey on it. But, I got sick of that fast. This month I didn't totally avoid sugars found in things like sauces, salsa, and carbs. But I will make sure to on my next diet.

Sugar free. Dairy free. Grain-free (avoiding carbs).

So this is essentially going to be a lot of meat and veggies. I wonder how my body will do on enough meat/protein to sustain me! I think I'm going to try and exercise more this next month too. 

I've got the diet thing down. When I really want to do it, I can easily set my mind to it and get healthy! But it's not the same for exercising. So, I'm going to try and make it a more regular thing!

Starting tomorrow with my roommate Megan's hip hop dance exercise class.

=)

Thanks for following this journey with me everyone! It ain't ova! 

I know my brain is addicted to sugar. Even after three weeks, there is a battle in my brain, sending signals to my body that cries out for my sugar fix. In the last few years, there have been a lot of studies toward the war against sugar. I do believe that cutting out table sugars and added sugars can significantly increase my health.

As I grow increasingly more aware of what food does to my body, my conviction to eat healthier grows as well. I know that after this month is over, and even after October, I will be onto another life changing path, one with less sugar. Slowly but surely, I will train my body to be used to a very limited amount of sugar.

While I'm still here, only 3 weeks into my sugar fast, I have to do things to help my pitiful addicted self. One thing I did was chew gum. When I have a cleansed palate, it helps me not want to wash my mouth with sweet creamy goodness. Another tip I've heard before and works on me is to light a sugary smelling candle. I have this pumpkin-y vanilla one that is so delicious to just smell.

Oh yes. And I got back on the scale today. I've lost 5 pounds! I can tell in my core, and I'm hopeful to lose another five in the next month! Woop!

Here's a video that helped me understand more about sugar's toxicity. 

I say no. 

To everything. To my cravings. To my desires to cheat, even just a tiny tiny bit. I start collecting things for my sugar days coming up. I incentivize my obedience to the no sugar thing. In a little over 2 weeks, I will have had my pick me up, and then started (very seriously), my no sugar/dairy/carbs for most of October. 

WOO.

But I also let myself dream a little:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahjampel/classy-no-bake-desserts#4cszx8d

Yesterday, I wrote that my appetite was waning, but I actually think that it was because I didn't kickstart my metabolism with a good breakfast. I had a little fruit, but not a ton. 

This morning, I had a pear and then scrambled eggs with salsa on a bed of spinach. And I was hungry at the normal times and I ate well! 

...So I celebrated Friday with a Hawaiian pizza. Haha. I promise (myself) that I will be eating better and better and better! The past few nights I've been staying up late reading amazing books and I have to wake up early, so I have been lacking those crucial REM cycles and healing sleep hours. So I think I have a mild cold, not to mention my sunburn from doing outreach out in the sun on campus. I don't need to list my other justifications. This is why I do my own diet. Because I do what I want. And I won't feel bad about it.

Plus, I felt/looked thinner today. My roommate Megan even verbalized what I hoped was true! 

I'll weigh in on Monday. =) 12 days in! These days are slipping by. I can't believe I've made it this far. I've only had like 3 not super serious thoughts to give up or cheat today. And obviously I didn't!

The craziest thing about today was that I didn't eat a lot at all. And I wasn't dying. I didn't eat the most amazing foods, but I liked today. 

I really think in the next week I am going to start to see results! Yay for no sugar! Soon to cut out carbs...

Guys! This works. 

I still wish I could eat powdered donuts. But I'm okay. The more days my mind is away from sugar, the easier it is to say no. 

Day 3 of my Sugar Free month has come to a close and I am actually happy with my eating habits today! I went (unintentionally) vegetarian! #noregrets

And now, I will share my day with you, in meals:

Breakfast (I am proud I actually had one!): - Rice Chex with Almond Milk

Lunch: - Chipotle Sofritas Burrito (I couldn't finish it, I never can...). But it was my first time trying Sofritas- the new tofu option- and I was satisfied. 

Afternoon fruit smoothie Fun fact! I am a smoothie queen. I have years and years of professional smoothie making experience. 

Dinner: By this time, I wasn't super hungry. The first half of my day really drained me, oddly enough (I blame the sun), so I didn't feel super hungry. I ate cucumbers with balsamic vinegar, one of my favorite snacks. Then I made guacamole from my last, perfectly ripe avocado. And corn chips for that, of course!

And that's it. Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but I'm small as it is, so it doesn't take much to fill me up. It's just my constant desire to be drinking an iced coffee or AZ iced tea or a Vanilla Coke that does me wrong. 

Tomorrow, I'm going to talk about the benefits of cutting out sugar on a personal level and health level.

Current weight: Guess what? 143lbs.  How long is this gonna take, Body!? Probably 2 weeks, is my guess. 

Oh! And I forgot the actual news! I got a free 30 day trial (via Hulu) on this website called Daily Burn that customizes workouts according to your skill level in exercise. And you can even pick the amount of time you work out for! So for the next 28 days I'm doing different 30 minute workouts! It's free! I might as well take advantage! This is going to make exercising so much more motivating for me! And you know me, I love things in 30 day increments!