Blog Archives
Getting Reacquainted and a Week Without Dairy
Oh, hey… I know you, don’t I? I mean… you look preeeettty familiar.
Oh, that’s right! I used to write here, and you would sometimes read and comment on something insightful or awkward I said surrounding fitness. And then… I just stopped. No need for apologies, though, right? Everyone loses touch every now and then. The summer apparently got all kinds of busy for me, and honestly, after picking up about eight new classes to teach, barring work, I just couldn’t talk about health and fitness any more than I already did. But, really, I love what I do, and I can’t complain, and now I’m ready to rekindle this Internet relationship we had. I’ve really missed you terribly.
So now that we’ve exchanged our pleasantries, I want to get down to business. I’m starting a new challenge for myself and anyone who wants to join. Remember wayyyyyy back when, when I was doing the ‘Week Without’ series? Like this one, and this one, and THIS ONE (thought I was going to die, and despite knowing exactly what ‘literally’ means, I’m still using it for this case). Well, I’m trying a new one: dairy. Now, before anyone gets up in arms about this, please realize that I don’t think dairy is the devil. I looooove me some dairy, especially Greek yogurt and half & half in my coffee, and I think it’s a great source of protein, fat, and calcium. However, a few months ago, I was following an eating plan that was a little bit stricter than my usual, and I actually felt great. Among many other things, the menu didn’t include dairy. Now that I’ve relaxed my eating a little, I’ve added Greek yogurt and a little milk back into my life. I still feel good, but I really can’t help but wonder if I wouldn’t feel just a little bit better if I tried to cut it back out for a bit.
So as an experiment of sorts, starting today, I’m not consuming dairy for seven days. The exception will be my protein shake or Shakeology, since they both have whey protein (dairy-derived) in them, because sometimes I’m crazy busy, and this is super easy to pack. And I don’t do soy protein because of the phytoestrogens or rice/hemp protein because it makes me gag, so no, there’s not a substitute. Either way, that means no Greek yogurt (goodbye, Fage 2%!), no milk in the coffee, and no cottage cheese. I don’t anticipate this being tremendously difficult, but I am curious about the effects it will have on my energy levels and how my body feels. If you want to join in, let me know, and I’ll report my results back next week!
Have you ever cut dairy? Did you notice any changes — positive or negative? Are you a non-dairy person to begin with? Spill!
Quick Post and ‘Sugar, Sugar’ Sweet Tooth Fighters!
Hi guys!
Just a quick check-in to tell you how excited I am at the response I got for the 21-day sugar challenge! Lots of people wanting to be a part of it, and a few more who are on the fence, but I bet with our success we can persuade them, right?
I survived Day 1, but not without a little struggle! I’ll give a more detailed recap post on Friday, but I want to introduce you to the other folks who want to join me in slaying my sweet tooth:
Lisa
Domachie (and her BF!)
Leah (who created the awesome graphic you guys can snag for your blogs if you have ‘em, to let everyone know you’re doing the challenge!)
Did I miss anyone? Any additional brave souls who want to hop on board and nix the added sugar? If so, let me know! I’m excited about this!
Sugar, Sugar
So, I’ve told you all before that sugar and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship. I love it, but it makes me want it more and more, all while making me hate the way I feel. On Leah’s plan, I was able to kick the sugar habit for the most part, but sometime the cravings are pretty bad, and sometimes I still do give in. Mind you, it’s not as bad as before, but sometimes… it’s not pretty.
So in an effort to kick my sugar cravings to the curb fo’ realz, I’m going to challenge myself to give up added sugar for….
21 whole days.
They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit, so here goes! I figured the day after Halloween was the perfect time to do this since the sugar temptations aren’t EVERYWHERE I TURN, but also because it doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy some of my faves come Thanksgiving Day (which is one day, not 5, remember), like sweet potatoes covered in butter and brown sugar (mmm).
I know I’ve done the whole ‘week without’ thing many times (like here, here, and OMG here), but I guess now I’m trying THREE weeks without! I’ll be giving you guys updates along the way, and I’d love it if other people wanted to join me! The goal here is to feel better and maybe drop a few lbs, but this is not a weight loss challenge. I’m trying to save my sanity and my smile from too much satanic sweetener. I just want to extract this sweet tooth I’ve had for so long!
So here are the official details:
1) 21 days exactly. November 1st to the 21st (or all the way to Thanksgiving if you’d like).
2) No ADDED sugars. So if something was sweetened by something other than nature, I won’t eat it. Fruit is fine (but not to excess!), and sugar in plain dairy is A-OK too. I don’t really eat artificial sweeteners other than the occasional diet pop (YEP, POP. I’m from Michigan), but for the sake of the challenge, I think we’ll cut that out too. I’m sure it isn’t helping any more than the real thang. (Disclaimer: I may chew a piece of SF gum here or there, but everything else is out.)
3) Weekly reports (if not more often) of how I’m feeling, how I’ve been fighting the cravings, and if they’re finally dying a slow death, never to come back. And if I’ve lost a little more weight, of course I’ll brag tell you about that too.
This is really just a continuation of what I’ve been doing on the YNC plan, but I’m going a little more hardcore, and I’m just going to have to grin and bear it. And maybe hang up little Post-Its reminding me that I don’t actually, physiologically NEED chocolate.
What do you guys think? Want to join me? Any other guidelines you think I should add? Spill!
[Edited to add: Leah over at Your Nutritionista joined me in the challenge and created this awesome graphic for people to use as a sign of our solidarity against sugar! (I love how dramatic that sounds now, ha).
SO if you're planning to fight the good fight with us, snag this guy and link back to us so that when I give my weekly updates, I can give a shoutout to you guys, and you can let us know how you're doing as well!]
