One Hundred Days with No Sugar

I knew today would be challenging, but I was braced for it.  I had three desserts to sidestep. I was one pound up, which was no surprise.  Fluctuation happens.   I fasted for most of the day, and kept fasting when the rest of my family had strawberry croissants.  I had a moment of "Maybe they're okay," but checked the label.  Sure enough, strawberry jam was in them with sugar as the first ingredient.  No problem.  I felt strong. We went to dinner at my brother's house, but I had to make dinner for the kids before we left.  I had purchased a Costco cheesecake and some no-sugar-added cherry pie filling to go on top.  I had thought I could at least have some of that, but I had been forgetting about dinner at my brother's.  So, I instructed my one non-sick child on how to serve that, and left it behind. Dinner at my brother's was good.  I had made our mother's rolls, and I had three, which probably surpassed what I should h...

People.  I have lost nine pounds doing this. In fourteen days. I did seventy minutes on the elliptical this morning, after doing abs and some weight-lifting.  Came home to that result.   I was so excited I weighed myself again after my shower, just to make sure it was true. The hardest thing today was choosing treats for my kids that would not tempt me.  I came up with strawberry-filled croissants for gospel study and a cheesecake for dessert.  Yes, those tempt me, but I will be able to handle it.  I'm prepared.  I also purchased sugar-free cherry pie filling to go on top of the cheesecake.  I can have a couple of spoonfuls of that for my dessert. Too late, I remembered that I will be eating dinner at my brother's house tomorrow, and not with my children, so I will not be able to brace myself ahead of time, and I will not be around for the cheesecake eating, anyway. I had two fried eggs for breakfast, leftover tuna salad for lunch, ...

For an unknown reason, my knee started hurting in the night.  Deep, unignorable pain like I'd had when it was injured.  I wrapped it and moved to the couch and eventually went to sleep, but when I woke up, it was kind of late.  I decided to put off going to the gym until after the children went to school, as I had a half day off. My thinking was that, by then, the swimmers would have gone home to go on with their days.  I guess I think everyone works nine to five. But when I got to the pool, a man was in each of the three lanes.  The man in the closest lane was swimming to the end close to where I was hanging up my towel.  I asked if I could walk beside him.  The lanes have two sides, and it is possible for two people to swim past each other in each lane.  Usually, swimmers do not have to share, but sometimes all the lanes are occupied.  What is a problem for me that is not a problem for the swimmers is that I really do not want to g...

I woke up this morning about five-thirty, and, even though I was still tired, I knew I should get up and get to the gym.  So I did get up.  Somehow, it took me an hour to get out of the house, so I only had forty minutes for the elliptical.  Nevertheless, I did exercise vigorously and burned almost one-tenth of a pound, according to the machine.  As much as I wanted to be able to report that I dropped another pound and got down to the --2, it didn't happen. I had servicemen coming to my house today, and I wasn't sure what time they would be coming, but I used my intuition, which worked well.  I had just finished my face and hair after my shower when they knocked. I thought maybe I would get back to the gym, but that didn't happen, either.  When my children came home from school and saw me there, they had things for me to do and places for me to take them. I made a nice lentil soup for dinner, which was perfect, since I was home to dump vegetables and ...

I was restless in the night and went to the couch.  I wasn't awake enough to go to the gym and work out, just awake enough to do the five-star Sunday Sudoku until it put me back to sleep.  It was cold in the living room, so I made myself a calorie-free peach tea to warm me up as I worked it. I woke up again too late to go to the gym.  I danced and did abs, while trying to get my children to get up, too.  Between missing the gym workout and yesterday's hamburger, I was back up one pound. My jacket felt a little bit looser as I put it on than it did last time I wore it. I took potato salad and a tomato with me for lunch.  Thanks to the potato salad, all the Easter eggs were finally gone, and I got to have two fried eggs for breakfast this morning.  They were delicious.  We had an office-wide staff meeting, which started as soon as I arrived at work.  My neighbor at the table pointed out that there were treats.  She had a half-eaten chocolate do...

I went to the pool early, hoping to avoid people; however, two men were swimming when I got there.  I like the close lane, partly because it's easier to get in and out of, and I don't want to get my head wet.  One of the men was in that lane, but as I struggled to climb over the divider to the next lane, he kindly said that he was finished and getting out.  The other swimmer didn't bother me at all, and got out not too long afterward. I hoped to do a full ninety minutes today.  I once Googled how many calories are burned walking in the water, and the answer was 567 an hour.  Of course, it would vary depending on size and speed and technique.  But I hope that being in the water for 90 minutes burns around 800 calories for me. Ninety minutes is enough time to get bored, believe me, and so I have learned to vary what I do, to provide both variety and better exercise.  I am too short to walk the whole length of the pool without drowning, so I walk to the s...

I did fifty minutes on the elliptical, and some and and some weight-lifting. I was late to the gym. However, some is better than none. The fifty minutes still burned more than four hundred calories. I am down seven pounds. I felt a little better in my outfit than I otherwise would have. I caught a glimpse in the mirror, though, that reminded me I'm still quite a bit rounder than I want to be. So. Tenth day. How am I doing?  Have I lost a tenth of the weight I want to lose?  I sure have--more than that. Yet, I know I could go get into my Easter candy and undo it all. I won't do that. I had the rest of the Spanish rice for lunch, and some more melon for a snack. My children were not home again tonight, and my husband was still asleep, so I cooked a frozen salmon burger and ate a whole tomato for dinner.