The Healthy Eating Plan...

pumpkin spice creamer

Well it's been one week since we decided to really buckle down and start eating healthier.  We have been trying to basically eliminate most sugar and really limit our carbs, our fake stuff, and eat more real, clean, organic and healthier food.

We have had some failures and some successes.  I'll tell you about the failures first.

One of my first missions was to eliminate my coffee creamer.  This is a problem for me because I need to avoid dairy in the mornings because I'm a little bit lactose intolerant, especially on an empty stomach.  So I can't just use milk or half and half.  There's a bunch of weird stuff in non-dairy creamers, so I set out on a search to find the healthiest substitute I could.  First, I made this pumpkin spice creamer with almond milk.  It was disgusting.  Almond milk is disgusting.

Then I tried coconut milk creamer (So Delicious French Vanilla Coffee Creamer) and it's pretty good on its own, but once it's in the coffee it just doesn't sweeten it enough for me.  So I have been using a little coconut creamer and a little real maple syrup....and a little fake creamer too (shhh).  Baby steps, people.  Baby steps.

I tried a few other recipes from that same website (The Gracious Pantry).  All the recipes were just awful (honey almond cookies, gingerbread oatmeal...).  I've basically decided that if we ever make, like, a lot of money, we are gonna march our little hineys to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods and buy frozen meals and things that are pretty much made.

Here are some winning snacks and things we liked.

Low Sodium Sea Salt Pita Chips (Trader Joe's):  These were such a yummy snack for me and very filling.  SIGH but I need to find some hummus or something to go with them.  Gross.

Homemade Clif Bars:  I tried substituting 1/4 cup of maple syrup for the honey, and WOW, it knocked out the weird honey taste that I don't really like.  So good!

Corn Tortilla Chips and Salsa:  John's favorite snacks

Melange a Trois Pepper Mix (Trader Joe's):  Frozen, julienned peppers that were so cheap and easy to add to basically everything.

And I love having this protein bread I got at TJs as a nighttime snack!  With nothing but real butter on top.  I wouldn't really like it with a sandwich.  But maybe someday...

Steel Cut Oats are really yummy but kind of WEIRD.  I like them with just a bit of cinnamon and of course, maple syrup.  I guess I need to eventually cut back on maple syrup.

I've been drinking chamomile tea at night with local honey...and maybe some syrup...

I drank tea without sugar or sweetener!

I think I'm supposed to drink green tea on this diet.  Not sure...not sure I'm convinced it's magical.

Thank God for Trader Joe's.

The kids are loving this new style of eating.  They are hilarious.  They love that they can have fruit or veggies basically whenever they want.  They're shocked that I let them have so much honey drizzled over their fruit.  Josiah was hugging and dancing with the jar of honey in the kitchen.  They just can't get enough.  And are loving veggies more than ever.  It makes me realize their sugar addiction was really more about me and my self control than it is about them.  I'm so glad the tantrums are at a minimum as they're not getting so upset about being denied sugar!

John lost 8 pounds.

I have only had one can of Coke in a week!  And I had a Coke at a restaurant too.  :)

I really did feel better when I had lower sugar days, and didn't crave sugar unless I cheated.  I didn't lose any weight of course, but that's no surprise.  ;-)  We didn't cut out cheese and dairy but I did cut back a good bit.  Baby steps!