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We are now five months into 2024 and I am five months into my resolution for a year of no sugar. I can’t believe I made it this far without sugar. (I explain what “no sugar” means in this post .) Going five months without eating sugar is pretty great for me, but at the same time, I got over that a long time ago. It’s really only the first two weeks of the year that are hard. Once I got over those cravings and settled into my new normal, giving up sugar wasn’t hard at all.
It cannot be said that such moments are not difficult. There were about two separate occasions in the last five months when I was really tempted. One of those times is an emotional response. Eating is always an emotional comforter for me, and there were times when I was really stressed and wanted to bury my face in cake, or cookies, or ice cream, or something filled with sugar. And another time, because people brought an abundance of sugary treats to our Wednesday night meeting, and they all smelled so good. But both times, I got through it without giving in, and I was so grateful and amazed at my newfound self-control.
Just because I don’t eat sugary treats, doesn’t mean I don’t eat anything sweet. As I shared last month, I’ve added some fruit back into my diet. I don’t eat a lot of fruit because I’m still trying to keep my net carbs relatively low, but one fruit a day seems reasonable. I still enjoy my tea (sweetened with stevia) every day, which I will never give up. This is my favorite drink, and it goes a long way to satisfy any sweet need.
Also, a few months ago, I shared with you My new favorite electrolyte drink is LMNT (Also the book The Salt Fix points out that instead of getting too much salt, most of us get too little salt). If you missed that post, you can read about it here in my two month update. Well, since then, LMNT has come out with a new bubbly version of their electrolyte drink and oh, I love it so much!! Grapefruit is my favorite flavor, and I can’t get enough of it. I have to use a lot of self-control to only drink one a day, because if I had my way, I’d drink nothing but Bubby Grapefruit LMNT every day. 😀 Anyway, if you are looking for a delicious electrolyte drink without sugar and unnecessary ingredients, Check out LMNT, packets and the new bubbly drink – I love both types – but the new bubbly drink really helps satisfy my sweet tooth as well as any soda cravings. It’s an afternoon treat that I look forward to every day.
In addition to sharing my progress on my 2024 resolution, I’m also taking this time to share with you all what I’ve learned about health and wellness in general this past month. So let me share with you all the thing that has had the biggest impact on my well-being in the past month.
I follow a lot of doctors and health/wellness/fitness people on Instagram. (I still haven’t found a lymphatic specialist that I follow, but I’m keeping an eye out for her for those of you who ask.) Anyway, one of the people I follow is Dr. Tina Moore, until a few weeks ago, I only followed her on Instagram and never watched the long interviews she didn’t do with people on YouTube. But two or three weeks ago, I saw an interview that caught my attention, so I listened to it. And then I heard it again. And then I heard it a third time. It’s about how light affects our health and hormones.,
For a while now, I’ve been struggling to get through my days. The alarm goes off at 7:50 a.m. I snooze. Snooze again later. And again. And again. And then around 8:40 (probably later), I grudgingly roll out of bed, exhausted and dreading starting my day. I spent the morning doing the things I needed to do — get Matt up and on his Theracycle, write a blog post, get Matt off his Theracycle and into his recliner, make lunch, and eat lunch. And by the time I finish them all, I’m exhausted and fall asleep on my recliner as soon as I finish eating.
Then around 3:00 or 4:00, I start working, but I struggle to concentrate. I often take a “break” to scroll through Instagram, only to realize that 45 minutes have passed and I’ve wasted that time doing nothing. Then around 9:00 pm, I get energized and work till 11:00 pm. Then I wind down for the night (wash the brushes, put the paint away, put Cooper out for the last time, get Matt ready for bed, etc.), and then finally crawl into bed around midnight. We watch a show while I work on the computer for an hour and a half and then we go to bed around 1:30pm. At 7:50 am, the whole process begins again.
But after watching that video (three times), I decided to implement some of her suggestions, and let me tell you, it’s been life-changing! For the past two weeks, I’ve been waking up at 7:00am (without an alarm!). I get up and go outside, put my bare feet in the grass, face the sun, and soak up the morning sun (even on cloudy mornings) for at least 20 minutes. And then I go in and put Matt down in the morning, make some breakfast, and then start my day. And then every day at sunset, I turn off all the overhead lights in the house and put on blue blocking glasses.
Because I wear glasses, These were bought for me (affiliate link). But Matt rarely wears his glasses These are the ones I bought for Matt (affiliate link). And let me tell you, these things make one huge The difference! Within about 30 minutes of putting them on, I felt relaxed, as if my nervous system was bathed in calmness. And then I start winding down around 9:00 PM and I’m in bed by 9:30. We were still watching a show (we turned down the brightness on the TV in the bedroom), and I was still working on my computer (the brightness was turned down), and by 10:45, we were ready for bed.
These changes aren’t just about shifting my schedule two hours earlier in the day. If that’s the only difference, I don’t know if it’s worth the effort. But since I started doing this – getting up early in the morning, stepping in the grass, getting sunlight in the morning, turning on overhead lights at sunset and blue blocking glasses at sunset – I feel very different. I sleep very deeply at night. I feel rested and ready to get up and start my day. I feel energetic and focused throughout the day. By the end of the day on Saturday, I realized that I had gone all afternoon and evening without looking at my phone once. Scrolling through Instagram didn’t even cross my mind so I focused on working on my project.
Since I started doing this, Matt has noticed a huge difference in me. On about three separate occasions, he said, “I’ve been so impressed with you lately! You have a lot of energy and you’re working a lot these days! I told him I literally felt supercharged. I don’t know how else to explain it. Supercharged, is the only word that comes to mind. I look forward to the mornings (which never happened to me until now) and I look forward to spending 20 minutes in the sun with my feet in the grass and then starting my day. I want to tell you how different and unusual it is for me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a night owl who hated early mornings, and I think my health and hormones have suffered as a result. But I think I’m well on my way to fixing it now.
Even though Matt doesn’t go outside with me in the morning (we’re changing that starting this morning), blue glasses and turning off the bedroom lights at sunset have made a huge difference for him! He always struggled to sleep well at night. He struggled to sleep, or struggled to sleep. But after a couple of days of this new normal for us, he started falling asleep much easier and slept soundly through the night. I think it affects his health a lot too.
So with all that said, you’d think I’ve seen a real difference this past month, right? Well, no. 😀 I will be very honest with you. With all the things I learned and put into practice — salt fix, LMNT, early morning sun, shutting down at sunset, etc. — I feel like what I’ve really learned is how to enjoy any food I want without gaining weight. 😀 This wasn’t really the lesson I wanted to learn, and yet, that’s how it worked out. And that would be a great lesson to learn and put into practice if I had already lost all the weight I needed to lose and was looking to keep it up. But I still had 75 pounds to lose, so I was premature in putting this newfound knowledge and freedom into practice.
Bottom line is, I’ve gotten lazy this past month. I lost 1.5 pounds in the month for a weight loss of 27 pounds since January 1st. But in the month of May I was not really disciplined. I enjoy not having to really watch what I eat and the standard remains the same. I don’t need to exercise and the scale stays the same. And I think it’s because I get my circadian rhythm back on track and that helps stabilize all the hormones that do all kinds of important things in our bodies. And because one of those hormones is insulin, I’m able to relax a bit more with eating without watching the number go up on the scale.
But this month, I really need to get back into the swing of things. I need to get back into “weight loss” mode to reach my goal. I need to be more conscientious about what I eat and more diligent and disciplined in working out. This is the only way I can reach my goal. So here’s to a more disciplined June! (June is also my birthday month. My birthday isn’t until the end of the month, but I still don’t know what I’m going to decide about the birthday cake. It’s my favorite sugary treat!)
Anyway, I’ll leave you all with this January 2024 vs. May 2024 comparison.
Addicted 2 Decorating shares my DIY and decorating journey as I renovate and decorate the 1948 Fixer Upper that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and is unable to do physical activity, so I do most of the housework myself. You can learn more about me here.
