Happy 1/3 of the Way Eve...

to No Sugar, No Soda Valentine's Journey!!

Oh if only it was this easy!

Do you know what today is?  It is 1/3 of the way eve, No Sugar, No Soda to Valentine's Day!!!  Tomorrow when most of you will probably be reading this it will be January 15, 2011 and you would have been following this crazy idea of No Sugar, No Soda for 15 days.  You thought you could not even do it for one day!!!  Yea for all of you!!!  I know there are those that are struggling, but I think in some ways we all are.  For me, not so much with the whole sugar and soda thing because as Kathy brought to my attention (Gee Thanks Kathy!!!  <g>  Hugs) just because you give up one thing does not mean you can eat whatever you want.  And yes that is what I did.  As I stated yesterday, it is all a learning process.  I feel for me, it is more to break habits and addictions than anything.  I know what I SHOULD be eating, but other things just seem more appetizing.  And yet, when I eat them was it really all worth it?

One thing I have noticed is that I don't snack or munch as much as I used to.  Part of it is because I don't have it with me to munch on.  But trust me when I do, I EAT IT ALL (see yesterday blog about Strawberry Cremes).  Tonight my choices for dinner were: have a sandwich ( I really wasn't in the mood for one), have a pizza (I really wanted a pizza and so Pizza Hut was on my mind), or go to the store.  I drank some water, and didn't feel as hungry but still needed to eat.  Then I spotted it!!  A small can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti I picked up the other day to see if I liked it. So I tried it and it was okay, but probably not a staple on my shopping list.

The first thing I thought when I began to eat it was tomato sauce and tomato sauce.  Both Pizza and Spaghetti have a tomato saucy part of it so I was hoping it would fill me up enough tonight so I would not think about the pizza. Well, it did something! I am okay with not going to get a pizza or heading to the store tonight. For me this is all a mind game, and I have got to keep telling myself and tricking myself how to go about all this.  I know if I even let myself "slip" once and have a small piece of candy I am a GONER.

When Kathy found some good stuff in the AARP Magazine (ha ha it pays to get old!! I am saying ME not you Kathy) I had to check out their site and found something interesting on how to cut calories.

1.  Don't drink a calorie, eat one!!  Loved this!!!  Instead of having Apple Juice or Orange Juice eat an apple or an orange.
2.  Drink a glass of water when you are hungry.  I try to do this, because I have heard if you are hungry it could mean you are really just thirsty.
3. Rehydrate with water.  Yeah we all kind of know that!!!
4. Eat regularly.  Yeah we kind of know that too.
5. Replace oil with applesauce when baking.  According to ehow.com you substitute straight across the board.  So if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup Oil, use 1/2 cup Applesauce instead.  Also this is for oil based substitutes, not for butter or margarine.  Oil is considered a liquid, butter and margarine are not. (That is what the article said.  I am just the messenger not the Sugar or Recipe Police!!!)

I really liked the first two ideas and am going to put them to use for me. It is amazing sometimes how we forget that all those little things add up to big things.  And because I am doing a lot of little things, I hope it results in the big thing which is a smaller me and a healthier me.  It's hard.  I remember a story I heard and try to remember when my road seems so long and there is no end in site.  If you are driving from California to New York at night, you need to use your headlights.  You may only see a couple hundred feet in front of you at a time, but you know if you keep on that path eventually you will get to NY.  So it is with this journey, we can only see so far down the road but hopefully this will remind us to keep going and eventually we will get there.

What are other small changes you have done?

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Happy 1/3 of the Way Eve to No Sugar, No Soda!!!