I went to Cyprus!!!

We have just got back from Cyprus!! (Monday actually). It was incredible...the shadow had a few days off School so we took off outta here into cooler climates. The weather was perfect!! Absolutely amazing.
The Shadow, husband and I watched magical purple-skied sunrises, admired and made wishes with the glorious full blue moon, ran riot after dinner along Larnaca beach, got locked into public toilets...twice....partied in Ayia Napa (does drinking coffee in the afternoon count?) and I watched in awe of my little human as he got so excited he could barely breathe at a water park. I was proud of him for conquering some of his fears...I.e whooshing down a big flume and squeeling to go faster!
It was fabulous...did I stay off the sugar? Nope. How about gluten? Whoopsie...I had all the things I shouldn't have had. But I did eat lots of salad!! I was a bit like 'argh' at first but then I thought 'f' it...I shall deal with it when I get home. And I did. Yesterday I was totally groggy but today I feel ok....so there...no regrets just happy memories of an awesome time away with my family...eat up!!

Day 22....

I have made it past the 3 week mark!!

To celebrate my 3 weeks of no sugar I was delighted with my first lot of sugar cravings...can you believe that?! A few times throughout the day I had moments where I felt weak. It was unusual as I haven't had any cravings until yesterday!! I got through it and didnt touch da sweet stuff.

I did however have some gluten free oats yesterday. I made sweet potato and mushroom burgers. The recipe asked for oats and my first attempts WITHOUT the oats would not bind together and would break and fall apart even after I had cooked them....so I used oats and they came out much better, although in my opinion they tasted better without the oats! Did it contribute to cravings? I dont think so, but I was super bloated last night.

This morning, I heated some left over pancakes for my shadow, I cannot lie...the smell!!! Omg...it was divine!! I just kept saying, 'these smell so delicious'  neither the shadow or husband got what I was talking about. I think my sense of smell has changed!

I still had some cravings today but I keep reminding myself of how awful I felt only a few weeks ago and how far I have come in the last 3 weeks....I feel a bit antisocial as I have already turned down 3 takeaways, a couple of vanilla soya lattes and lots of sweet feedings from my shadow...but right now this is important to me!

The 16th day

I am shocked to see that I haven't updated in a week. I had quite a busy week as I am currently volunteering at the shadows School twice a week, plus I dealt with a flood in our villa and a vomiting child....and a husband that was away most of the week. It can get busy and quite full on. I spent most mornings preparing food for myself and that can  take up quite a bit of my time too (totally worth it), so by Friday (the first day of the weekend here) I was ready for a rest!
I was feeling good though, and avoiding sugar, I believe, gave me the energy to deal with the week. The afternoon slumps are pretty much gone and the foggy brain has improved. I admit, Friday, was a bit of 'drag my feet day'  even though we all went for a little bike ride in the morning which was lurrrrvvvvellly.
I also went out with friends on Friday night. I had 2 glasses of red wine, felt quite pissed!! Oopsie....but had a fabulous, sweaty night dancing with friends out in the desert heat.
Saturday, although gasping for water all day, I woke to a rank tasting mouth that lasted all day and craved sugar a little bit too....Lesson learnt. I dont particularly need to drink to have a good time, but I did fancy a tipple that night...

So I am continuing and enjoying the journey. It is a relief to have some food addiction freeness and not be continuously thinking about what sugary substance is lingering in my cupboards in the evening for me to devour. The fat intake is still high and I believe that this has contributed to the sugar relief. I hope I have found a balance. I have still not eaten fruit (except grapes in wine heheh) to be honest I am a little afriad to taste anything sugary as I don't want to go back to the sugary 'mess' that I was only a few short weeks ago...

Is it really day 9?

Wowers. Day 9! No fruit, no refined sugar, no soy and day 7 of no grains!!

Why no soy? I am on the fence with the pros and cons of soy. I have read good and bad stuff about it...and having had it for 12 years, why not see what happens if I eliminate it?  Secondly I drink an almost daily soya latte from a coffee shop, I definitely don't want the dairy version, another plant milk alternative is not available so I just sluurped away. But with cutting out the sugar, I assumed the soya milk would be loaded with the stuff so thought 'what the heck' I'll drink tea instead!!

So what do I eat!?? I would say I am eating a lot of plants! A lot!! I have found some great alternatives....spiralising courgette is one idea for a pasta/spaghetti, cauliflower rice is another and more recently I have learnt about the burger alternitive using one of those giant flat mushrooms...what are they called???!!
For example, tonights dinner is a bolognaise, made with a mushroom mince, (mushroom, carrot, garlic and onion, finely chopped in a food processor or blender) with a tomato salsa and cauliflower rice (sautéed with garlic and kidney beans.) Yummmmmy!! Ok, I admit, it can be a bit time consuming but making bulk and eating it the next day for lunch makes it worth it. I also like that I know what I am putting into my body and being more aware of the rubbish that is out there. AND I actually do really love to cook.

How am I feeling? I have been on a bit of a rollercoaster of emotionas this weekend and some of my unpublished posts may just remain unpublished. It's been a tough weekend and am wondering if, the holistic therapist in me, thinks this is a type of body healing process of all the foods I have eliminated. If it is, then I didn't handle it very well and should have just gone on a deserted island until I was feeling myself again. Today I am feeling much better.
Physically though I feel good and the afternoon slumps have actually kinda gone. And I dont feel so foggy headed like I used too :-D