Sorry for the absence. It's been a crazy and busy weekend, but I'm back and ready to write again!
As I was writing the dates for this week's challenge, I was shocked to have to write "September"! Is anyone else amazed at how fast this summer flew by? School is back in session around these parts and every once in a while, I feel a nice "fallish" breeze. I love fall though so I'm excited for the next few months!!
So how did you do with last week's challenge? Starting a food journal can be a bit time consuming and difficult to get into the habit of doing, but it certainly makes you more accountable for everything that you eat.
I have a confession to make though...the challenges for the last two weeks haven't been very difficult for me. I eat breakfast religiously and am already in the habit of keeping a food journal. I know some of you have gotten into new habits with these challenges though, and I think they are very healthy habits to start or maintain. However, this week, we'll be doing a challenge that will be HARD for me. I'm actually copying this idea from bodyrock.tv found here. The challenge will be to go a week without SUGAR!! I'm not talking about natural sugars found in things like milk or fruit, but sugary sweets like cakes, donuts, brownies, soda and my ultimate favorite...ice cream (I would banish flavored dairy this week too, like anything other than plain yogurt and lowfat milk.) I do pretty well avoiding sugar during the week but I almost always splurge a bit on the weekends and enjoy my guilty pleasure (i.e. ice cream) a bit (or sometimes a lot!!) But for this challenge, I am going to do my best to avoid all sugary treats and snacks for 7 full days. So who's with me on this one? Do you think you can avoid sugar all week?
Talking Point: What is your favorite sugary treat? Could you give it up for a week? I am all about moderation and I don't believe in "banishing" any foods from my diet, but sometimes it's good to give yourself a bit of a challenge for a short while. I have a serious sweet tooth and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE me some good ice cream but I do tend to overindulge a bit much. I have a hard time stopping at just one bite!!
OK, so I'm not nearly at the point where I can go sugar free, but I am cutting way back on sugar this week. For instance, anything that is primarily a sugary food is off my list. I am a week late but I started my food journal yesterday. I'm going to check out that link in your other post, it looks interesting. I'm trying hard to get motivated now that Olivia has a more predictable sleep pattern and I have my evenings free to get a work out in.
ReplyDeleteOkay Dadra, I'm in. I couldn't start until today (Tuesday) because Ben's 40th birthday was this weekend and we had a huge Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. I couldn't resist having a slice (or two). But now that the celebrations are over (and we feel slightly ill from all the sugar and fat we've been consuming), we are committed to cutting out sugar for the entire week. Ben's original goal was to be totally fit and healthy by his 40th, but since that didn't quite happen, he is determined to get fit this year. Your blog is helping us both figure out what steps we can take to improve our health and fitness.
ReplyDeleteI do have a couple of questions about the sugar thing though. Do diet sodas count? What about other zero or low cal drinks like Vitamin Water Zero, Fuze Slenderize, Crystal Light, etc.? And what about things like honey, sugar-free jello, unsweetened applesauce, Cliff bars, and Kashi cereals?
By the way, I am still going strong on my chocolate-free year challenge. I have not had any chocolate as a treat for more than six months now. I wasn't sure I could last two weeks, but, as Forrest Gump would say, "I figured I've gone this far. Might as well keep on goin'...." Unfortunately, I haven't lost any weight on this challenge. It seems I can make up for the lack of chocolate with other fattening items.
Oh, and I was doing great on the food journal until this birthday weekend. Ben and I spent three days in Boone (in the Blue Ridge Mountains) for his birthday and did way too much eating. After awhile, it was too embarrassing to write it all down. I think I'll start over again this week!