What I Learned from My Month Without Sugar

I might have been happier before I saw this picture and 
knew how much sugar is in Thanksgiving dinner.



In the past month, many people have asked me why I was going a month without sugar. The answer I generally gave? “For a challenge”. The real answer is a little longer.

Last year, two of my friends from college shared their “30 before 30" lists and I noticed that they both included one particular goal in common. They both wanted to go for one month without sugar. They inspired me to develop my own “30 before 30" list, and I decided to add it to my list as well. I didn’t really give much thought to this, but thought it sounded cool.

Flash forward to September of this year, as I’m reviewing my list to see what remained to be done before my birthday in December. My first impulse was to just ignore this item and not even try. I didn’t think I could do it even if I wanted to. In fact, I challenged the possibility that anyone could do it. I messaged my friend Jodie on Facebook to see if she had attempted this item from her list, expecting a negative reply. Instead, she informed me that yes, she had done it several times, and it helped her lose the pregnancy weight.

Ouch. What was I going to say? “No, my body really needs sugar to support all of this weight I gained during pregnancy...”  It was on. I wanted to do this before the holidays, so I jumped right in. I limited myself to eliminating refined sugar. Here are some of the things I learned during the past month:

-First, sugar is in everything. Reading labels is essential because it is in seemingly healthy items too. Almost all of our cereal, our balsamic dressing, even our natural peanut butter had sugar in them.

-Cravings for sugar supposedly go away after 2 weeks. Not true for me. Constant craving went away after about 10 days, but then cravings came and went throughout the month. Some days I was glad I was doing this no sugar thing because I felt I didn’t need it. Some days I thought it was the stupidest thing ever and I was irritable because all I wanted was a brownie with walnuts or a slice of apple pie. I suspect hormones have a lot to do with why we as women crave what we crave and the timing of our cravings.

-My lifesaver was a smoothie made with frozen bananas, unsweetened almond milk, and cocoa powder. I'm not sure I could have gotten through some days without this pick-me-up!

-I have a big fear of failure. I had many dreams in which I unthinkingly indulged in dessert and then felt horrified that I had fallen short of my goal.

-I have a food addiction, like most Americans. I love flour+sugar. It makes me happy. It also makes me fat when indulged in too often. At the same time, baking and sharing is part of how I nurture and connect with other people, and I don’t think I need to give it up permanently. There do need to be limits, however, and I have been thinking a lot about what those limits should be in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. When I return to eating sugar, my new goal is to only indulge on the weekends or special occasions.

Conclusion: I  can't say that giving up refined sugar improved my mood. I may have felt more stable on average, but I also felt irritable a lot. Going without refined sugar did help me lose weight. So far, I’ve lost over 40 pounds since I gave birth about 3 months ago. I have more I want to lose, and I hope that my new sugar limitations will serve my purposes well.

Summer Highlights

The last time I blogged, summer was just beginning. Now it's (more or less) over!  I can honestly say that it has been a summer unlike any other. Here are a few of the highlights of my summer, beginning where I left off: with tomatoes.

We got so many tomatoes from the garden this year! Here's a picture of one early harvest:

 

 The tomatoes would become salads, like the one below (with basil, peppers, and garlic from the garden, and olive oil, chevre and sea salt from the Farmer's Market):

And, more recently, when we had too many tomatoes to eat them all fresh and wanted to store some for later, we experimented with homemade sun-dried tomatoes on the dehydrator:

 We got an unexpected first harvest of golden raspberries (since we didn't expect any berries until next summer on our still-young raspberry canes):

 

  One fun aspect of maternity leave was having a few (very few) opportunities to experience things that go on during the week when I'm usually stuck at work. For example, the Capitol Farmer's Market, which was scenic and delightful:

 

  Another rewarding aspect of maternity leave was having an adorable baby (see below). This, by the way, was my #30 on my "30 before 30" list. I didn't do much else on the list this summer; this item was a full-time job! :-)

 

 

 Finally, I couldn't let summer end without making a peach pie. We're headed to Apple Hill this weekend, ready to usher in fall with some apple picking! 

5 weeks left!

I only have about 5.5 weeks left till my due date, which is, of course, making me feel like I need to make a pre-baby bucket list. Quick, time to go to the movies and eat at nice restaurants and go on spontaneous trips and... all that other stuff you don't have time for with a newborn. Of course, we're also bracing for the medical bills too, so that keeps our spending in check.

Just wanted to do a quick update with some more items from my "30 before 30" list.

#5 Read 30 books - So far I am on book #21 of 30, "Fever" by Mary Beth Keane, a fascinating historical fiction piece about Typhoid Mary. It is the next selection for our book club. Speaking of which..

#21 Host 5 book club meetings - I have my third one scheduled for June, a week before my due date. Assuming the baby doesn't come early, that should be fun!

#20 Invite 12 people/families over for dinner - We have done plenty of entertaining this year already and have had many people over! Even more are coming this weekend for Memorial Day.

#9 Participate in 3 service projects - Finished this one. I was able to participate in two drives for a local crisis shelter and a huge, amazing project beautifying a series of run down, neglected neighborhood parks in South Sacramento. This last one also qualified for...

 

#8 Beautify a public space. (Picture below of all the participants in one parking congregating for a project kick off.)

#26 Try 3 new types of food- Bet you thought this would be the first item I finished, but I've actually only tried 2 new types of food so far: Russian, and, more recently, Salvadorian. I enjoyed the pupusas and trying Salvadorian horchata, but the pineapple tamale (pictured below) was my favorite. I think Turkish may be my next (and last) one (although I admit that all Mediterranean foods seem very similar to me)!

My First Quarter Progress

Just wanted to include an update on my 30 before 30 list! I haven’t forgotten about my list and am chipping away at it, despite having my first baby shower last weekend and going out of town this weekend for Easter.


Here’s what I’ve done so far (or will within the week):

#6 Go to 3 new places. Going to Big Sur on this trip, which is my second new place after Bolinas.

#14 - Go on a road trip! Driving down to Southern California to visit family and then back up through Big Sur! Blog post to follow.

#19 Take 12 self-portraits. I’ve been taking weekly pictures of my pregnancy, so I’ve already met this one.

#18 Sing in public 3 times - done! Last week in church I sang for the third time, before my diaphragm can shrink too small to get any sound out.

#28 Write a biography of my grandma’s childhood - done! I loved learning more about her upbringing in Portugal in the 1920's and her family’s immigration to America.

#10 Do something with the retreat in our house. The conversion to a nursery is almost complete!

Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn

I'm quite pleased that I have been making progress on my "30 Before 30" list despite being a week away from 6 months pregnant. I've been fortunate to enjoy good health and decent energy levels so far. It turns out that my list, instead of being a distraction from preparing for the baby, has been a great way for us to make the most of our time together before the baby comes.

When I was making the list, I remembered a friend several years back telling me about a hike up in Auburn that ended in a waterfall. Since I had always wanted to go, I thought I'd throw that on my list.

This weekend the weather was to be gorgeous with highs in the low 70s, and I knew this was our chance to get outside and enjoy it. The drive up to Auburn took about an hour from Sacramento and took us through some pretty ranches and this hill covered in daffodils:

 

The hike itself took us through rolling green hills that contrasted with red soil trails and early spring wildflowers:

About 45 minutes into our hike, we arrived at a nice overlook on the hidden falls. It overflowed into a rather still wading pool area that looked like, come summertime, it would be a fun place for kids to splash around in.

Just in case you suspected me of handing my camera off to a more vigorous hiker to get the previous shot, here is another one proving I actually did hike my own self in and back:

After the hike was over, we stopped for lunch at Tsuda's Eatery in Downtown Auburn, which boasted great sandwiches and nice ambiance.

I'd like to return and explore of downtown Auburn. I'm fascinating by towns with history behind them. Walking to the cafe, we passed what looked like the beautiful remains of a decaying cellar.

And one of the best parts about Northern California in early March is seeing cherry trees in blossom. Tell me, is there a more stunning sight than a tree covered in those pale pink blossoms? Here's to early springs and lots of hiking in the future!

Dickens Fair and Russian Food

I haven't posted in some time for a variety of reasons. Reason #1: the first trimester of my first pregnancy hit me hard and I slept during most of my free time for October-December.

Reason #2: I was so thrilled to post on my trip to the Dicken's Fair in late December, only to find out that the Blogger Ap was less than efficient at importing the numerous pictures I took from my cell phone. I spent about an hour trying to make it work and then became so discouraged that I had to take a break from blogging in order to re-group.

Now it is early January, and I wanted to share just one picture from the amazing Dicken's Fair. This San Francisco Bay-area event is held every year during the holidays and constitutes a sort of Disneyland for book lovers. My husband smiled as I wandered around in awe, saying things like, "Look, there's Ebenezer Scrooge and a shackled Jacob Marley!... A Christmas ball with waltzing lessons!...Ooh, roasted chestnuts and Cornish pasties!... Look, an antique bookseller, and there's a shop selling real corsets!" (At over $200, I don't think I'll be lacing one up anytime soon, not to mention they aren't too maternity-friendly.)

In this picture, actors depict Christmastime at the Dickens' family's home, complete with roast goose dinner on the table and a cozy gathering in the parlor:

We loved the Fair so much, we can't wait to return next year. Mark that one off my list of activities to accomplish this year!

Another item that I checked off my "30 before 30" list relates to the goal of trying 3 new kinds of food. I'm a fairly adventurous diner, so I had to think hard on this one. One of my ideas involving a venture into Russian/Ukrainian food as found at the local restaurant Firebird. They serve a plentiful lunch buffet, where I started with a chunky, hot bowl of borscht topped with cream sour cream, then moved on to an overwhelming array of hot foods and cold salads. I walked away from Buffet Round One with the following heaping plate:

My "30 Before 30" List

Hi. This is me, during our recent trip to Ashland, Oregon. My birthday is coming up before the year's end. When that happens, I will commence my 30th year of life. Inspired by several of my friends who have done "30 Before 30" lists, I decided that I would do the same and come up with my own 30 projects I want to accomplish before my 30th birthday next year. I feel comfortable sharing almost all of them - 29, to be exact. Not bad!

At first I felt indecisive about how to share them with other people. A note on Facebook with my close friends and family... who would probably quickly forget about them? Posting them silently on a wall at home where no one would know if I failed to do them? (Not enough accountability, I decided.) Finally, I decided my blog would be an acceptable place to share them with the world because I hope to share the results of these goals in this particular format over the next year. Some of these may make sense to you, some may only make sense to me, but that's ok. Ready, set, go!

1. Save up for Spain.

2. Practice yoga 52 times.

3. Bike Davis.

4. Hike Auburn trail.

5. Read 30 books.

6. Go to 3 new places.

7. Grow 3 new kinds of plants in the garden.

8. Beautify a public space.

9. Participate in 3 service projects.

10. Do something with the retreat in our house.

11. Attend a food festival.

12. Attend the Dickens Fair.

13. Attend the Cherry Blossom Festival in SF - April 13/20.

14. Go on a road trip.

15. See the Chinese New Year Parade in SF - February 23.

16. Go for 30 days without sugar.

17. Befriend someone new.

18. Sing in public 3 times (small groups, duets or - gulp-solo)

19. Take 12 self-portaits.

20. Invite 12 people/families over for dinner.

21. Host 5 book club meetings.

22. Attend the temple 12 times.

23. Connect with our neighbors once.

24. Read the entire New Testament.

25. Learn to use circular needles and knit 3 items.

26. Try 3 new types of food.

27. Can 3 food items.

28. Write a biography of my grandma’s childhood.

29. Donate (amount censored) to a charity besides church.