Blog Archives

Day Twenty-Nine 3/29/16

3/31/2016

I don’t have much to say. The month long experiment of no sugar and no flour is wrapping up and I survived. I plan to write some detailed blogs in the near future that will help you out if you think you’re crazy enough to try the same experiment in your life. I can promise that you already have an edge over me when I started. More to come.

What I ate today

I went to the gym for the 8th time today, reaching my goal that I set out for. Before heading that way, I had some eggs and kielbasa.
Over the course of a few hours after returning, I ate 3 bananas at different time. They helped to keep me from getting too hungry, but I also knew they were on the tail end of ripeness so I saved them from the black spots.
For lunch I was super busy, but my oldest son decided to make a pizza with cauliflower crust. He didn’t quite read the directions all the way through so the crust wasn’t baked before adding the sauce and toppings. It looked great coming out of the oven, but it ended up closer to a “pizza cauliflower lasagna” than a pizza. Still tasted pretty good though, so I’m encouraging him to make second attempt.
Dinner was grilled chicken with a side of wild rice and a side of corn. Great stuff cooked up by my great wife.

Onward to day thirty!

Day Twenty-Eight 3/28/16

3/30/2016

You might not realize it with all the stuff I’ve given up for my experiment, but I actually hit a different milestone this month also. This is the first time I maintained a daily blog revolving around a specific topic for a month. Sure I’ve always enjoyed writing, but this has helped me realize that daily blogging is a tough gig. How do I keep it interesting for you, the reader, and how do I keep thinking of fresh topics. The last thing I wanted was for my blog to be like my breakfast, just the same thing over and over every day. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading some of them.

Today I realized something good and bad at the same time. The good thing is that our entire family has shifted toward eating more fruit in their daily diet, “yay for change”. The bad thing is that we go through a lot of fruit in our house now and that stuff can be a little pricey. In fact, this is the first time in close to a year that we’ve run out of apples in the fridge. It’s a strange feeling that I can’t open the fridge and grab an apple. The bright side is that fruit season is almost upon us and the sales will begin to save us some money.

What I ate today

Small bit of Eggs and Kielbasa before heading to the gym for the 8th time this month. (High five for hitting my gym visit goal!)
A banana while I tried to figure out what I wanted for lunch.
For lunch I had probably the unhealthiest meal I’ve eaten this entire month, but it didn’t have flour or sugar in it. I purposefully have avoided white potatoes and leaned more toward sweet potatoes due to the higher fiber content. Today I found a bag of crinkle cut fries in the freezer and decided to bake them up. I put a decent sized portion on a plate, covered it with cheddar cheese, ground beef, and some leftover spicy chicken chunks and I was all set. Kind of a French fry nacho smorgasbord. It was quite tasty.
Dinner consisted of broccoli, sweet potatoes, and Italian sausages. It was all delicious and cooked by my amazing wife.

Onward to day twenty-nine!

Day Twenty-Seven 3/27/16

3/27/2016

Happy Easter everyone! I didn’t get a basket filled with treats today, and you know what? I’m fine with that. Don’t worry though, we didn’t neglect the kids and they still received a sweet or two in a modest basket for each of them. It’s not surprising that most of their candy is gone, so thankfully it wasn’t that much to start with.

We had a nice day today with the weather being wonderful for a few hours in the afternoon, so we went to the park and did some walking, Frisbee throwing, and just watching our youngest play on the playground. Spring is getting closer every day and it easily entices us outside for fresh air and some exercise. I think that’s why I think folks should start their “New Year’s Resolutions” in February and March. January is such a bleak month and Spring seems too far away. Starting my experiment in March allows me to catch another wave of energy once the weather starts warming up shortly after. This allows me to integrate new activities into my healthier lifestyle.

It’s hard to believe that I’m starting the final week of my experiment and I’m approaching thirty-one days of no sugar and no flour. I realized when talking with friends about it tonight that I took this on as one of the pickiest people you might know. I’ve never been a big fruits and vegetables eater and it’s been a struggle to not fall into a rut. It made me realize that you, the person reading these words right now, would have an easier time doing this experiment than I ever would. You likely enjoy a variety of fruits that could be eaten for breakfast as a smoothie or just raw, so it wouldn’t be eggs and kielbasa every day like me. You probably enjoy a wider variety of meats and vegetables, so the entire menu is open to your tastes, while I’m much more selective. This made me think why more people don’t give this experiment a try?

That’s the big question isn’t it? What is keeping you from trying something like the no sugar/no flour experiment? If you’re like the “me” from four months ago, I bet you can come up with quite a few good reasons it couldn’t be done. I came up with more than a few, like I wouldn’t have time to prepare meals, it would be too expensive, my kids wouldn’t be able to handle it, I wouldn’t have the willpower, I “needed” sweets to help me through stress, etc., etc., etc. I look back on those excuses I made months ago and realize that they were just that, excuses. In the end, I found my motivation and my wife found hers, not through some divine event, but because I set a date, made a plan, and decided I had enough of the aches, pains, and feeling crappy. This experiment has joined a recent string of challenges that I’ve set my mind to and overcome, which gives me the confidence and power to seek out the next one and do it again. My hope is that whatever challenges you face will be overcome also.

What I ate today

2 Bananas first thing because I had to run to the TV station and be interviewed for my INDYpendent Show.
Eggs and kielbasa when I returned.
A salad with cheese, black olives, and hot sliced pork tenderloin on top. For some reason I enjoy leftover meat heated up on a cold salad. I’m not sure if that’s weird or not, so let me know.
Easter dinner was comprised of Pork Roast, mashed sweet potatoes, and broccoli.
Late evening snack at our friend’s house was a bit of overdoing it with a cheese tray. Cheese chunks are like crack to me and it’s hard to put on the brakes. I had some Gouda, some kind of mozzarella cheese wrapped in high end bacon, (can’t remember the name), and even had some Havarti with Jalapeno, which was the hottest cheese I’ve ever had. In an effort not to gorge myself, I had some apples and peanut butter also, but I’m not sure if the cheese was just as unhealthy as the peanut butter was. Considering that was my dessert, I’ll try not to judge myself too much.

Onward to day twenty-eight!

Day Twenty-Four 3/24/16

3/26/2016

Day twenty-four has wrapped up and I wanted to share an observation with those of you following along at home. It will be difficult to describe, but after twenty-four days without sugar and flour, food has lost some of its meaning to me. Sure, I’m still hungry and I want to enjoy good food, but it’s almost like the tasty treats I used to obsess about are just a fading memory.

As I walk through the grocery store now, I don’t feel the same psychological pull toward specific cereal brands, ice cream, cookies, or other sugar laden treats. While it’s likely still possible for me to snuggle up with a package or oreos and a glass of milk, my brain doesn’t see the point any longer. Don't worry, I’m not going off the deep end here and vowing never to eat sugar again, but it’s like I can see the sugar “matrix” and I realize that foods that were important to me at one time, now don’t have the same impact.

A good example of this would be the holidays, any holiday in fact. If you’re like me, each holiday has become associated with a particular food or dessert; so much so in fact, that the food soon overtakes the holiday itself. I couldn’t imagine a Thanksgiving without thinking about homemade rolls and stuffing. Halloween time was when I craved a few bags of mallowcreme pumpkins and candy corn. Fourth of July was about brownies and cookies. Easter was about a solid milk chocolate bunny and some Cadbury mini eggs. Birthdays were about ice cream and cake. Maybe this thought process from over the years makes me a shallow person, but I can’t imagine I’m alone with these food connections. The pull of holidays and food is so strong in fact, that I have actually put off being healthy in my life because of the timing of a holiday. Sure I might have wanted to be healthier starting December 1st, but I would quickly talk myself out of it because it would be “too hard” with all the sweets around that I wanted to devour.

Now it’s different, like the mental link between the holiday and the food has been broken. My wife asked me what we should do for Easter today and I realized I hadn’t put any money aside for a special shopping trip to get a brown sugar glazed ham with pineapple rings, stuffing, roll mix, pie mix and countless other things that normally would be sitting in our fridge at this point. I even mentioned that I don’t have any desire to see my normal chocolate bunny and candy assortment in the basket this year. This isn’t because I have more willpower than the average human, (which I can promise I don’t), but because those foods just don’t matter any longer.

I almost feel bad for my kids because even though I don’t have an issue with them getting some sweets from the Easter bunny, he definitely won’t be bringing the typical haul. Of course, I ask myself if I should even feel bad about not feeding my kids a ton of candy? Does every holiday need to be etched into their brains with its candy counterpart. Do we “deserve” sweets just because of a day on a calendar and the mass marketing of candy companies? The “me” of two months ago actually suggested that our family should shift back Easter one week, so it wouldn’t fall in March when I was trying my experiment and then I could still have a solid chocolate bunny. Now I realize how crazy that sounds, shifting a holiday so I can celebrate it with chocolate. This is the power that sweets had over my life. Holidays were ruled by yummy treats and any good deal on them was a sign from God that I should stock up and eat up.

Again, it’s hard to describe my current mental state after so many days in my experiment, but it’s different. I’m at a point now where I’m addicted to the results I’m experiencing, as much as I was addicted to pizza and cookies. It’s like I’ve been deprogrammed from some candy cult and realize how crazy my previous beliefs were. My body feels better, my self-image has improved, and at times I think I actually feel weight loss, like it’s burning off and I’m watching it go. True, I started this experiment as a test of my mental state and addiction levels to sugar, but it’s become something else that encompasses my entire body after just three weeks. My thirty-one day challenge may very well stretch out for a longer period of time.

What I ate today

Eggs and sausage for breakfast. (I’m actually surprised no one has commented yet that they feel I eat too many eggs.) I did some research and think I’m still well within the safe threshold of egg eating.
After a workout at the gym, my sixth one if you’re counting along, I decided to have some apple slices and peanut butter. It’s a tasty treat, but I will admit that peanut butter does have sugar in it. I decided to only use a tablespoon of peanut butter and then heat it up so it was more on the liquidy side. This helped me stretch it out over one and a half apples. I’m pretty comfortable the fiber in the apples canceled out the minor bit of sugar in the peanut butter.
Lunch was left over pork loin from last night, along with the broccoli. I laid it all out on some Keenwah, (which I should start spelling right for as much as I talk about it).
Dinner was seasoned chicken chunks with cauliflower, along with a small bowl of applesauce, no sugar added, of course.

Onward to day twenty-five as I enter the final week of the month.

Day Twenty-Six 3/26/16

3/26/2016

Saturdays are tough, plain and simple. I’ll be honest with you, it is a challenge to have no sugar or flour when you are running from place to place and eating through your “approved” snacks to tide you over. Today we ran to the store, the movies, and then out to a restaurant with friends. Each situation presented unique challenges that were overcome.

Short trips are no issue, solved by grabbing a banana and hitting the road. The movies situation was a bit more interesting though because the film was during the time I typically had lunch. We brought in around two apples cut up and a bottle of water, which worked pretty well. Dinner was a challenge as we met friends at an Irish Pub with a menu heavily relying on fried or flour heavy items. I did the best I could think of and ate before heading out, but this was the first time during my experiment that I had been in this situation.

I thought it would be easy since I already filled up, but watching folks order their amazing appetizers and entrées was tough. Especially when you’re out with friends and everyone is happy to share a portion with you if you look the least bit hungry. Stephanie ordered a burger without the bun and a side of broccoli, which I had a bite of, but even that wasn’t the same. Let me just say that you will need to psych yourself up a bit if you try this experiment as someone who is always going out with friends to eat. Or at least make sure you pick places that cater to your restrictions with lots of options. In the end I survived and was happy I didn’t make an excuse not to go. You can only be a shut in for so long before you snap.

What I ate today

I pretty much was grazing all day today so it’s tough to remember exactly what was eaten and when. This is why I love eating on this experiment, I have no portions to consider and calories to count. Just pick the right foods and stay full. Of course, I tend to gravitate back to eggs when I'm in a pinch. I need more variety.

Eggs and Kielbasa for breakfast – a fresh batch today.
A banana
Salad with cheese and some leftover pork loin cut into strips and cheese.
Some more cheese.
Two apples sliced up
Some more eggs and kielbasa.
Applesauce

Onward to day twenty-seven!

Day Twenty Three 3/23/16

3/25/2016

I’ve mentioned in previous blogs about this experiment that I enjoy preplanning and setting myself up for success when I set out to do something crazy like this. Originally when I thought about my goals and personality, I had intended just to give up sugar and nothing else. As I continued my research on the subject, I realized things had to be more drastic and my start with sugar quickly included flour also.

But why, you might ask. First of all, everything I had discovered on giving up sugar strongly suggested you go cold turkey from any sweetners, artificial or natural. Continuing to eat those things, even if they don’t contain actual “sugar” will keep your body in a state of need for the sweet stuff. My goal wasn’t to simply substitute the variety of “sugar free” options out there for my regular food and then think I was really sacrificing anything. I’ve eaten a bag of sugar free candy before and I’m sure it ended up being just as bad for me.

Another good reason to get rid of the flour was that I didn’t have to bother looking at labels anymore. There was no need to analyze the ingrediant’s list to see what hidden sugars or other chemicals might be lurking in the package. Once the sugar and flour combo were out, I realized that I would be sticking to food that was very close to its original form. This helped me quickly and clearly identify what could and couldn’t be eaten, making things easier from a planning perspective.
Caffeine ended up going away due to the sweetener issue also. I’m a huge fan of Crystal Light teas and punch, but even though it was considered “healthier” than soda, it was still sweet and would impact me. I realized I was pretty much safe with just water, so I decided to challenge myself to up my water intake so I could help flush my system faster.

Giving up milk was simply a personal choice for my experiment. I enjoy milk and cheese and wonder if I could ever live without them. I also knew when I started the experiment that I would be leaning more heavily on cheese than typical. It’s difficult for me to eat a salad without cheese or have my eggs without sprinkling some cheese on top. I was worried that I would hurt my results if I ended up eating more cheese and was also drinking milk, so I had to pick one. Sorry milk, I just don’t love you as much as cheese.

I think you’ll agree that this was quite a bit to give up all at once and I’ll admit it was challenging. I do think that going for the entire combination helped me get through the craving time faster. You try it and let me know what you think.

What I ate today

Eggs and turkey sausage with light cheese.
3 leftover brats for lunch, along with a side salad. This was after my trip to the gym. Only 3 more trips to reach my goal.
Pork Tenderloin with a sweet potato and broccoli on the side
Some cheese chunks as a late night snack. (My day at work today drained my willpower).

Our youngest son has become obsessed with applesauce so it’s tough for me to even get some now. It does make me feel good though to have him ask for applesauce instead of candy or cookies.

Well, onward to day twenty-four.

Day Twenty-Five 3/25/16

3/25/2016

Today was our prep for Easter and all the good food that typically occurs on that day. Please don’t think of me as someone that loses the meanings of the holidays and just focuses on the food, so take a look at yesterday’s blog to get an understanding of where I’m coming from. We sat down with the kids today and had an “expectations” talk about what Sunday would look like. The two main points were what the Easter Bunny would bring and also what we would eat for dinner.

Here’s what I knew going into the conversation.

We wouldn’t be having the typical Easter morning with baskets filled with a variety of treats and each person receiving their “featured” treat. (Mine was always the solid chocolate bunny.)
We wouldn’t be having ham for Easter Dinner because it was a slippery slope. Once you get that sweet ham on the table, you have to position the mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, stuffing, and more around it. They all just seem to go together.
There would be no Easter pies or ice cream for dessert.

As we attacked the first area of concern, (the candy), I realized how lucky I was to have kids that love foods I don’t particularly care for. We gave them each the option to pick something just for them. One chose Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs, one chose Jelly Beans, and the other chose Sour Patch kids. Since it was their only item, they got the freedom to name the brand of their choice, which really only applied to the Jelly Beans. The specific brand was identified and would be secured for him. Again, I was lucky that none of those treats are my “favorite” which would cause me issue to be around.

With the dinner situation, we took an entirely new approach in an effort to create a special meal. Stephanie suggested a sirloin or some other steak like meat which I can’t recall at the moment. For you normal folks out there, steak might be a weekly occurance in your house, but it is quite rare that we eat it at the Graham House. I can really only think of a couple of times during our 8-yr-olds life that we’ve had steak. It’s not that I dislike it, but my reasoning would likely be a blog in itself so I’ll spare you for now.

Once you settle on steak, then your side dishes can easily be adjusted. Mashed sweet potatoes and cauliflower will make an appearance, along with green beans possibly mixed with some bacon. You can also justify a salad on the side. As for dessert, let’s just say we’ve reached a point where the kids no longer ask “what’s for dessert tonight?”. Our youngest considers unsweetened applesauce a dessert item now so we’ll likely roll with that. (On a side note, I don’t understand why they sell “sweetened applesauce” with sugar and corn syrup. Is the unsweetened not sweet enough for people? I’ve always thought the natural applesauce was sweet enough, but give me your thoughts.)

My family came to an agreement about Easter in around 10 minute’s time. No one had hurt feelings or said they felt unloved because they were just getting one type of candy. The kids, ranging from ages 8 to 18, are more understanding about what the experiment is trying to accomplish than I originally gave them credit for. Keep that in mind if you ponder doing something similar to this experiment, but think it will be too difficult because you have kids of various ages. Don’t let your perception of your kids reaction be the thing that keeps you from making a positive change in your life for you and them.

As for me on Easter, I should be just fine without my solid chocolate bunny this year and maybe next. Not being distracted by chewing the head off of a chocolate animal might allow me to focus on more important things that day.

What I ate today

Today I had the day off of work and so did Stephanie, so it felt just like a Saturday with running around doing errands and throwing my patterns off. This caused some erratic meals.

Grabbed two bananas on the way to the gym (visit 7). They were smaller bananas than typical.
Breakfast was the traditional eggs and turkey sausage. Easter has given me an opportunity to stock up on eggs because of the sale prices. Had some sharp cheddar sprinkled on top. This meal was closer to noon so it became sort of a lunch or a “second breakfast” as my hobbit friends may call it.
We were on the road with errands, so I grabbed another banana because they travel so easily.
It was around 4 PM when we got back and I was thrown off because I didn’t feel like leftovers or salad at that time of the day. I ended up with a second helping of eggs and sausage. Then I snuck some sliced cheese shortly after that.
Eating so late caused me to miss dinner and pushed it back to around 8PM. It was leftovers from previous nights as we try to minimize the amount of Tupperware items in the fridge taking up space. The chicken from last night, the last of the Quinoa, and a sweet potato. The sweet potato tasted perfect and I didn’t need to put anything on it all. Many places locally have them on sale right now and there must have been a good crop somewhere because it was perfect. Steph had prebaked it last night, so it just required a quick heating in the microwave to get nice and mushy. See the picture below.

Onward to Day twenty-six!

Day Twenty-Two 3/22/16

3/24/2016

People have begun to take notice that I’ve lost weight, something nice to hear after just three weeks. While I still consider myself “larger than life”, it’s good to feel that visible progress is being made. It continues to charge me up when folks are interested in how I have survived this long without society’s basic food groups. I try to make every effort not to be preachy, but I’m sure my excitement in discussing the positive effects of my experiment comes across a bit over the top at times.

I’ve started prepping my kids that I will likely extend this experiment another month. While they weren’t exactly thrilled, they are understanding of what I’m trying to do. I still plan to visit my doctor at the start of April and get my recent numbers from this year’s physical, which will allow me to do some comparisons for the month. Once I finalize the decision about April, I will let you know. I do plan to continue my blog along with my experiment so you can track my daily progress.

What are your thoughts? Did you think I would last for a month, let alone choose to tackle a second one? Let me know.

What I ate today

Eggs, sausage, with cheese.
Banana
Taco Salad
Shredded chicken on top of a bowl of Keenwah (I know that isn’t the right spelling, but that’s how you say it.)

I’m pretty sure my stomach as shrunk during this month. It doesn’t take much to fill me up now and my portions have definitely gotten smaller. We’ll see if that help’s accelerate results.

Onward to day twenty-three.

Day Twenty-One 3/21/16

3/23/2016

The Blame Game

I’m sure you’re nothing like this, but I used to find myself blaming others when I “cheated” during times I was trying to be ultra healthy. Maybe someone in the family brought tempting food into our house that I felt forced to eat or my wife drags me to an event filled with cookies and cakes that I had to eat so I could be polite. Either way, it was rarely my fault that I filled up on sweets, only to regret things later. These moments would domino until I was completely off my healthy lifestyle and back on the couch with a package of Oreos and a tall glass of milk.

On Saturday, my wife took our youngest son to an Easter egg hunt, you know the kind without eggs where they just toss candy everywhere and let the kids go crazy. He went into the fray with a jumbo basket and fought his way back with a good portion of candy bars and treats. When they arrived home, the basket went on the table where I had the pleasure of walking by it over and over. I could have easily grabbed a quick snack and no one would have noticed, but strangely enough, the temptation wasn’t there. It’s like my body has become desensitized to the “needing” of sweets when they are in my proximity. Mentally though, I still register when they are near and my brain tries to remind me of the good times we used to have with them, but that need fades as the impulses move down from my neck.

It’s almost like an out of body experience now where I can see everything going on, but don’t feel a need to participate. I could tell myself that my son wasn’t a bad person for wanting to go get free candy, and that he wasn’t trying to sabotage me by wanting to bring it home. I had nothing to blame him for, because the need to eat the sweets wasn’t there. I don’t want to say this mindset change happened because I gave up sugar and flour for my experiment, but I can honestly tell you that a month ago I would have been turning our kitchen upside down right now to find every last speck of candy in the place. I definitely had an issue with cravings after midnight.

So now my goal is to not feel “put out” by people or places that have sweets hanging about. This experiment has given me the power of choice and being able to choose what I eat and when. I won’t judge others if they want to eat sugary, delicious food. Unless of course they try to throw me off by offering just a small portion that “won’t hurt me”. Then I might get cranky.

What I ate today

Smaller than usual portion of eggs and sausage. I’m using some shredded Colby Jack now because I was getting burned out on sharp cheddar. This was my quick meal before heading off to the gym for the fourth time. I’m halfway through my workout goal.
A banana upon returning from the gym. This is strange because I’m typically an Apples kind of guy, but this month I haven’t really eaten them too much. Bananas seem to be where it’s at for me.
A fresh batch of taco meat and a jumbo taco salad for lunch.
Dinner was bratwurst with a large side of diced sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and onions. I picked out the mushrooms, because I’m not into fungus.

Today I hit my water goal for the first time in the past week. Over 100 ounces.

Onward to day 22

Day Eighteen 3/18/16

3/20/2016

I’ve had healthy spans in my life. My goal isn’t to ever give the impression that I lived the last forty years in a pit of sugary squalor, which I just escaped just over two weeks ago. Much like most people in the world, there were periods of time where I dedicated myself to “eating right”, giving up sweets and sodas, and participating regularly in healthy activities. These moments were challenging at times, but have added to my growth and ability to see the potential I have in overcoming challenges. Heck, ten years ago I actually completed a sprint Triathlon, which still amazes me today.

Now in this paragraph you might expect me to rant about the evils of our society embracing sugar, or the ease of obtaining non healthy foods, causing us to sway. You might even expect a paragraph about how eventually my life got busy and it just became easier to not exercise or eat right for a day, then a week, then a month, then a year. Even I am amazed that I’m not churning out an eloquent series of words about how the world is always against us, but this time I will overcome.
But the truth is, the world isn’t against us and the time, choice, and ability to be healthy is right there inside each of us. OK, please don’t give up reading this blog yet, thinking I’m going to get all preachy and try to have you throw your sodas away, I have a point to make that might still hit home with you.

Think back to a point when you actively decided to become healthier in your life. Maybe you counted calories, cut out sweets, hit the gym five times a week, or the hundred other things you could do. After a couple of months, you started to feel different I’m sure. You reached a point where you looked in the mirror and saw some changes in your body. You started walking a little taller because of the 10-15 pounds you likely lost and it seemed like some of the weight on your heart had lifted. When you left the gym or healthy activity, it’s like you could feel yourself losing weight and you embraced that feeling.

That feeling sustained you for the most part, but after three months, the rope of reality starts to tug on you and desperately tries to throw you off track. Maybe you get sick for a week and it throws you off. Possibly a vacation where you throw caution and eating to the wind, vowing to enjoy yourself and then “get back on the horse” once you arrive home, only to realize how tough it is to get into those routines once again. Maybe you are just tired of going to a party and eating the carrot sticks while everyone else is enjoying the frosted brownies. (Sorry, that last one is from my history.)

Now stop thinking about the moments you failed, and go back in your mind to that healthy point I talked about two paragraphs ago. That moment is happening to me right now after just 18 days of my experiment. I have reached a point in my quest that has typically taken months to reach, months of sacrifice, months of dedication, and months of sheer daily willpower. Yes, I made a change that many people will see as “drastic” in our society or impossible to achieve in their eyes, but I can say that it isn’t impossible if someone like me can tackle it. I have been able to shop for and eat regular food, I’ve eaten my fill and never felt hungry, I’ve never counted a calorie or measured a portion, and my body has adjusted. On top of that, today was only my second trip to the gym and it’s not like I’m doing the Biggest Loser marathon workouts.

Look, I can’t say for sure what will happen on April 1st when my experiment is officially over, but I can say this. Doing this experiment has put me in a place mentally and physically in less than three weeks, versus the 2 – 3 months it’s taken me in the past to reach the same point. The beauty of this is that with so little time invested for the results; maybe my willpower can still go for another month or two after this. Possibly at that point, my body and physical ability will be at a point where I set another goal based on where I am then, I just don’t know.

I raised the question in my first blog about what would you do or give up for a month for a big reward at the end, but let me adjust that. If you are at a point in your life where you want to be healthy, would you give up sugar and flour for one month if it meant you didn’t have to sacrifice your time and energy to reach the same place in three? How much is your cereal, pizza, soda, etc worth to you at that point?

In the end, I appreciate you spending your time reading my thoughts and following along with my experiment. I enjoy it when I’m told that I motivated you or someone to start down a healthy path. My biggest fear is that I’ll become “that guy” to folks. “That guy who did something you think you could never do.” “That guy that has so much more motivation than you do.” “That guy who is just crazy to try something like this.” “That guy who has tons of willpower and inner strength, which is why he could do something that I could never do.”

Honestly, I’m just “that guy” who decided to try an experiment because he needed to do SOMETHING. I’m “that guy” that ate 3-4 packages of Keebler cookies in the final days before starting this experiment because I needed to “work it out” of my system before giving everything up. I’m “that guy” that is no different from you and is now afraid of losing this amazing feeling in my body and mind after just eighteen days of giving up flour and sugar.
Be who you are, but understand that you are capable of amazing things. What would you give up for thirty days and for what reward.

What I ate today

Yes the same old thing, but I realized something interesting today. In the beginning of the month I relied pretty heavy on cheese on my food. As time passes, I find myself using less cheese and enjoying the main ingredients more. Either I’m getting tired of cheese, or I just don’t need it as much.
Salad for lunch. I really wanted to make another batch of taco meat so I could change things up, but I went grocery shopping instead and had no time.
Dinner was a chicken sausage bonanza. Almost like a stir fry, it had cauliflower, zuccinini, chicken sausage chunks, and various other things that I couldn’t identify. I had a sweet potato on the side, something I’ve come to enjoy just eating plain with no butter or seasoning. We just cook the sweet potatoes for a long period of time and then get all soft and tasty.

Onward to day nineteen.