THE END OF A LOVE AFFAIR WITH SUGAR {part 2}

{Confused? This post is number 2 in a series. You can read post number 1 right here.}

As I researched all sorts of ailments unrelated to my sugar intake at all, I began having tiny suspicions that eventually led me like a trail of breadcrumbs to a site that explained everything.

I was startled to learn that sugar stimulates the same brain pleasure receptors as drugs like heroine and morphine. Stopping my sugar intake was mimicking that of drug withdrawal! If sugar is addictive to that extent, it must've truly been doing awful things to my body! The website went on to list indications of a detox/withdrawal that matched my strange conglomeration of symptoms exactly: cravings, headache, flu-like symptoms, cold sweats, anxiety, irritability, and extreme fatigue. 

Finding this information acted as validation that a sugar detox was the right thing to do. I continued to eat as natural and healthy as possible, took vitamins, and avoided sugars and refined carbohydrates (like white rice, flour, and most cereals) that have the same effect on our body as sugars.

But sugar is so addictive I was apparently relying on it for daily energy and mood boosts. This became especially apparent at the end of the day by powerful cravings for treats to comfort and reward myself for surviving stressful, hard, tiring days at work. Ice cream, cereal, cookies, pastries, a candy bar...these "rewards" have been more frequent than I'm proud of. 

Then there are the awkward social situations. Friends serving pie, neighbors dropping by with treats, Halloween parties, and the teacher's lounge I had to avoid for an entire day because of the pile of soft, frosted sugar cookies on plate in the middle of the table. 

The next Relief Society activity is entirely planned around everyone bringing a favorite holiday treat to share! I guess my stalk of celery and I will be sitting home that night. 

Then the dreams started. Of frenzied binges on cookies. Or of a magical tree with innumerable streamers hanging long and bright from its branches. The tree was the scene of a party. People milled through the streamers, visiting each other, and enjoying the countless sugary desserts tied for the taking to each strip of color. It was beautiful.

A vision of the tree of life, I tell ya.

But in all seriousness, this no-sugar-thing is totally working. Within ONE week, my most serious health issue cleared up completely. Like, after five whole months of bleeding and years of irregularity, I felt my cycle correct itself. Other effects of my new eating habits include: better sleep, clearer skin, a disappearance of some poochy stomach bloating that I thought was normal, and an overall feeling of good health.

So now that I have been off sugar for about a month and I can see it's benefits, the BIG QUESTION is: 

Am I doomed to avoid sugar for the rest of my life? 

I doubt it. Or I should say, I hope not. 

It's not a practical way to live. No one would ever know what to cook for me...the crazy 'health nut'. And what about the fact that every holiday is somehow tied to sugary treats? That would mean no more birthday cake, no more Christmas Eve chocolate fondue, no more conference morning french toast, no more New Year's Martinelli's, and no more Halloween cookies monsters. What else is there to live for?! 

Okay, I'm just kidding. Don't answer that. 

But I have decided to be strong until Thanksgiving. To give my body time to undergo a proper detox. This doesn't mean I'm going to let it all fall apart after that...not now that I am aware of sugar's  powerful hold on me. I'll just be more aware and moderate. Maybe I'll allow myself a slice of pumpkin pie (Or now that I think about it, I believe my aunt makes a sugar free pie every year). It might be helpful to see if my body can handle a little bit, just around holidays, without going haywire again. An experiment. 

Well, there's my sugar shpeel. I appreciate the encouragement from post number 1. Your support helps. It's still a daily fighting battle, and sharing it with all of you kind of forces me to be even more accountable. I'll keep you updated and maybe blog some of the healthier recipes we've been using lately. Please share any ideas you have...especially for snacks! When cravings hit, my go-to snack has been an apple with natural peanut or almond butter, but I fear this will get old real fast.

Also, thank you to Ellen, whose own journey with infertility and a sugar fast was an answer to prayer. This post was the push that initially got this ball rolling. 

THE END OF A LOVE AFFAIR WITH SUGAR {part 1}

Sugar. White flour. Processed Food. 

So apparently, this stuff is bad? Yeah, whatever. Blah, blah, blah. Everyone's doing it...and most importantly, I love it too much. Sugar literally fills my bones with warmth and happiness to the very core. Pathetic, I know, how much I'm NOT exaggerating. But it's true. 

Sugar is my drug of choice.

However, I recently took on the challenge of a healthier lifestyle to correct some health issues I have struggled with for years. The deciding factor being that these issues are impacting our fertility...something we are not so cool with. I have been to doctors in the past only to be deeply dissatisfied. Test after test is conducted before the doc basically tells me he doesn't know what's wrong. Then he slaps me with a huge bill and a prescription that either a) is experimental, or b) makes me so gut-wrenchedly uncomfortable that I don't even end up using it (as if my body/soul/the Lord were literally warning me it wasn't right.) Still, something had to be done.

Not wanting to visit another doctor again unless I had to, I did my own research. I prayed. I fasted. I talked to others and listened to quiet heavenly promptings. The thoughts that kept coming to me always revolved around the combination of sugar and stress. Sugar and stress. And sugar, sugar, SUGAR.

So grudgingly, with many complaints, but with the loving support of my husband, I cut sugar completely out of my diet. I'm talking COLD TURKEY. 

My meals now consist of ingredients from a list of things like: 

• brown rice
• eggs
• wheat tortillas
• fish
• almonds
• cheese
• natural peanut butter
• chicken
• black beans
• garbanzo beans
• sour cream
• fruit
• And lots and lots of vegetables. 

Every week, I make veggie grab bags filled with celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, peas, and baby tomatoes. Then I easily take one with me to work or on errands to snack on all day long. 

Eating the healthy food has not been a challenge. Luckily, I've always enjoyed my vegetables and consciously tried to include them into my diet. The challenge lies in the fact that I always combine my health food with LOADS of sugar. 

I don't usually drink soda (except for an occasional root beer with pizza), and I buy raisin bran instead of Captain Crunch...but I adore my cookies. My Moose Tracks ice cream. My brownies. My muffins. My candy. My hot chocolate. My pancakes with syrup. My birthday cake with frosting. My apple juice. My cinnamon rolls. My banana bread. My dessert pizzas. My hostess fudge rolls. And my blessed maple frosted doughnut (Should I even need to remind you of the time I actually wrote poetry in praise of doughnuts). And many items that I never considered to be junk food have a surprising amount of sugar: yogurt, granola, and "healthy" cereals, just to name a few. 

Not having sugar has been a lot harder than I anticipated. 

A living hell, actually. 

After about 3-4 days I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. I had the strangest headache. The cold I thought I had beat hung on with a vengeance. And I felt so devoid of energy by lunch time all I wanted in the whole world was sleep. Being an elementary teacher is exhausting, but the fatigue doesn't usually hit me until my drive home. The busy-ness and adrenaline keeps me motivated and moving until the end. But that day, I sat in my classroom feeling listless and ragged. I stared at my expectant students with zero desire to even stand to address them. 

Later, after collapsing on my couch at home, I continued to wonder what the heck was wrong with me. At the risk of sounding dramatic...was I dying? In genuine fear, I knelt down and prayed with fervor for the knowledge to understand what was wrong and for the tools to correct it. 

I stood up and went straight to the Internet to research. 

What I found shocked me. 



{As this post is getting reeeally long, I though I would break it into two parts. The second one is scheduled to post in a few days. See ya then!}

BEAT THE BLUES

Whether triggered by a lousy event (like your husband being away on business for two flippin' weeks), hormones, or seemingly nothing at all...we've all felt it. That glum, depressing haze where nothing and everything is wrong all at the same time. I've learned to recognize it the moment it appears: my getting restless, overly self-critical, overwhelmed over nothing, and just plain sad. 

Hopefully, none of you are feeling down these days, but maybe someone out there can benefit from a few tricks I've learned to to prevent the blues from spiraling into something long term. And a reminder for myself couldn't hurt either.


1. Upbeat Music
 There is just no hangin'-around-feeling-sorry-for-yourself with Michael Jackson rocking out in the background. Favorite tunes instantly energize me out of a slump. And I highly encourage singing (and dancing!) along.

2. Let the Sunlight in
Open you blinds! Draw back the curtains! And if it's warm enough, open those windows all the way. The sunshine, fresh air, and an open feeling lifts moods. Sitting in a dark, closed-off house will only make things worse.

3. Exercise
It's all about the endorphins, people. Why not take advantage of the body's natural, safe, self-produced morphine-like euphoric? These endorphins are produced, among other ways, through physical exercise. Another benefit is the self esteem boost as your hind parts lose inches.

4. Get Out in Nature
Go take a walk! Nature seems to have a calming impact on my psyche. God's creations in all their forms are simply beautiful. To see nature doing its thang puts life back into perspective and reminds me who is really in charge of my crazy life. 


5. Bring Nature Indoors
Who says you have to wait for your man to buy the flowers? Go pick out a bunch of your favorites and display them in a vase where you spend most of your time in the house.  If you can't afford the  big, beautiful bouquets at the flower shop, go for a $3 bunch at your local grocery store. The added happiness is worth the expense in my book.

6. Make a To-Do List
This gives needed structure and motivation.Write down everything you hope to accomplish in the day...even as simple as brushing your teeth or making the bed...and then stick to it.  Drawing a line through it afterward will make you feel so purposeful. And go ahead, add something to the list after you've done it, just for the satisfaction of crossing it off!


7. Clean the House
Cleanliness invites good feelings. Try setting the timer for 10, 20, or 30 minutes and cleaning like mad until the timer buzzes. Those few minutes of putting things in their proper place and wiping the counters will make your house a happier place to be.


8. Rearrange the Furniture
Stir things up! There is something about a little bit of change that is just...fun. Try putting the dresser on the opposite side of  the bedroom. Rearrange the decor on the entertainment center. Or put that arm chair in a different room entirely. Maybe I'm crazy. But a fresh view in my house has worked for me!

9. Purge
Clutter will only make you feel stressed out. Do you really need five wooden spoons? Thirty-six pairs of shoes? Seven years worth of Parent magazines stacked in the corner? Gather twenty-five items from around the house that you can donate. Then put them in a box, drive to Goodwill, and get rid of it today!


10. Dress Up
I lived with an aunt who would put on her Sunday best on days she was feeling down. Makes sense. I'm not going to feel great about myself if at 5 o'clock I'm still in sweats and yesterday's makeup. Take a hot shower (which is happy enough as it is!), put on a favorite outfit, and apply that lip gloss. It mentally prepares you to tackle the upcoming day.

11. Be with People
When you're all alone, it is easier to feel sorry for yourself. Stop moping around and call up a friend, go to that weeknight church activity, join a book club, visit family, or even treat yourself to ice cream...anything to remind you you're not alone in the world. Or the only one with problems.


12. Do What You Love
What's your favorite hobby? Personally, jumping in to an activity that gets my creative juices flowing makes me feel alive and invigorated...whether that's photography, drawing, decorating, teaching, or arts and crafts. 

13. Turn to God
I know that when scripture study, prayer, and worship is a priority in my life, I feel better able to bear any unhappy burden weighing me down. There is no greater source of strength and comfort than through the reality of the Lord's atonement. 

MUMMY ACTION WORDS {kid's craft tutorial}

So excited to share what my third graders did last week to display in the office. 

I wanted our display to have a fun Halloween touch to it, but still be educational.

I found a tutorial on how to make garden wire mummies on Pinterest, and the rest just kind of clicked and hit me like a lightning bolt. Mummy action words!

I found the wire at K-Mart in the garden shop for about 6 bucks. We needed two packages for the whole class.

Each mummy's framework was molded into the basic outline of a man.

Then I used the cheapest Wal-Mart muslin I could find and ripped it into inch-wide strips.

With an occasional dot of hot glue, we wrapped the bodies tightly with the fabric. 

We decided our mummies needed googly eyes too.

Then the class brainstormed action words they might demonstrate with their mummies. 

Their creativity blew my mind.

They were so excited to bring in all of their props from home.

Then we arranged them in the display case for the whole school to enjoy.

And enjoy they did.

This I know because the glass doors are always covered in heavy fingerprints. 

I don't thinkmy kids will ever forget now that verbs are action words. 

Just enjoy the other examples...they were all so cute I had a hard time weeding any out!

Dance.

Hang.

Swim.

Ride.

Sit.

Love. 

(Hugging a sheep?)

Hide.

Climb.

And my favorite: escape. 

We put this mummy on top of the display case instead of inside it. :)

FALL DECOR 2012

We built these shelves to put on the dining area wall. I love the shelves. 

This is my first attempt at trying to style them. Arranging a bunch of pointless knickknacks makes me feel foolish somehow...it almost looks to me like clutter.

But this is how it will stay for now. 

I made the garland over the window several years ago. 

I covered a plain, thrift store grapevine wreath with craft moss I already had on hand. 

I filled an old pickle jar with small autumn-y items.

I tried to pull off a dipped paint look on a squash I knew we'd never eat. 

And Leftover metallic leaves from the garland went in the glass bottles.

Those are the shelves.

In the kitchen, I tried for an autumn look with a mini wreath...

And stacked pumpkins...

The great room didn't get much fall decor. 

That was pretty much it, until I felt inspired on a walk with Andrew, Moose, and CC (yes, CC follows us on our walks). 

A few autumn branches in a vase was statement enough. 

Now, this display is not mine. But it was too fun not to share. This blogger was able to create an autumn theme using the Wizard of Oz as inspiration. Seriously, go check out his post for more pictures and explanations. 

That lion kills me.