Going No Sugar

Last month Mike, Trish and I went on a strict no sugar diet. (I hate that the word diet implies a desire to lose weight. I use it to mean "eating plan.")  The rules we followed were fairly strict- no sugar, no added sweeteners, no artificial sweeteners, no honey, no fruit, no starches (bread, flour, potatoes, corn, sweet peas, rice, etc), no peanut butter. It was 21 days of strict eating. We went into it because we all had some poor eating habits, and some dependence of eating something sweet as a pick me up. I honestly thought," this will make me not want candy, but that that's all I (might) get out of it."

I was so wrong. I learned so much about food in general and processed food in specific. It completely changed the way I think about everything I eat. I learned that there is sugar in everything. Every. Thing. All those bottles of condiments, dressings, sauces, soy sauce, salsa, mayo. All of it. There is sugar in roasted almonds. There is sugar in most lunch meat, bacon, sausage, ham, jerky. Most yogurt, even plain yogurt. It was a long 3 weeks of reading labels. We ate a lot of salads and grilled chicken. Some days two meals a day.

I learned that even though  I thought sugar didn't really affect me, that I was so so wrong. That mid-morning "low sugar" shaky crash that I was just attributing to not eating "enough" breakfast? Completely gone. Even if I was hungry, it was just a localized feeling, not a full body faintness. In general, so long as I ate meals, I stayed on a more level keel. Also, I never thought of myself as someone who was regularly bloated or had um, digestive issues, but when I returned to eating sugar, specifically bread and pasta, I was suddenly aware of just how they make me feel and make my body react. While I was following the diet I didn't realize how well my body was working, but it was abundantly clear after eating pizza and cake at the boys' party last weekend.

Things that people said would happen, but didn't: My skin isn't magically glowing and clear. I didn't suddenly feel less tired/have more energy. When it was over and I had some Easter candy, it wasn't disgustingly sweet. I did want much less of it, but it wasn't shockingly sweet to me.

What I really truly didn't expect? That I'd lose 8 pounds. That it would linger, that I'd hold onto a lot of the new habits. That I'd consider doing it full time (with a few modifications, I'll get to that.) That snacking would be SO hard- every snack I ever relied on was out, leaving only nuts, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, carrots, and cottage cheese. These get really old, really fast. Especially if these are also what you eat for breakfast. That I would absolutely cringe when I tried to drink a soda afterwards.

As for doing it again- we are still working out how we want to approach it, but I think all three of us are going back to it, with some modifications. For example, I'm going to allow sweetened coconut milk in my coffee. Small amounts of fruit. Sugar Free peanut butter. Granola with a low sugar content. I'm going to "choose well" at restaurants, but not worry too much about being perfect. I'm going to allow beer. I'm going to look for sugar free options for sauces, but I'm not going to disallow soy sauce for having sugar. I'm not going to eat candy, pastries, fries, pizza, or bread with every meal. I'm going to allow myself a "fancy coffee" if I ever happen to be in a town with a Starbucks. When the local ice cream place has "coconut" for the flavor the day, I'm going to have some. I realize that some people just live like this, which is my goal. I'm realistic. I know I can't maintain it forever, but if I could make it my normal that would be terrific.

Now if I could only get my running routine back...

The Good, the Really Good, and the Should Have Been Expected Bad.

First, the Good news- the angiogram showed no blockages, no heart damage. The cardiologist said, and this is a quote, "his heart looks fantastic. I wish I had his heart."  No stent. They were able to go through his wrist for the angio instead of the groin and he was released last night.

Second, the Really Good- the positive stress test last week was a false positive. He heart is no worse off than it was  years ago, he did not have a heart attack, etc. His cholesterol is fine, seems the problem will be mostly hypertension. (I wish we weren't going to have to pay a billion dollars (after insurance) to find this out, but YAY.  Yes, it's a warning, yes Mike is taking it, please, no more lectures to him (OR ME.) Good grief people, we KNOW.

Last, the Should Have Been Expected Bad- between last night when he came back to the hotel, and this morning when I drove us 3 hours home, I got sick. I feel like total crap. I took a 3 hour nap and woke up feel much the same, like crap. Hey! Mike's healthy? you held it together for a week and shuttled patients and kids around? Great job. Here, let's break your immune system now. Blergh.  Not sure yet if I'll be back tomorrow for Random Friday or not.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts, it was greatly appreciated by us both.

Update on the heart patient

Mike was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon under order to REST all weekend. While his natural inclination would be to go to work, someone hid his truck keys. And her car keys. Whoops!

My mom group friends kept my kids for a while Friday morning so I could visit, and my husband's brother's wife's sister watched the kids on Friday afternoon so I could go spring him. Today my brand new friend JoAnn brought us dinner.

We have no more details on what happened or why, but hopefully Monday afternoon we will know more. There is not a cardiologist in Pierre (if you needed more proof of how small this town is), so the doctor here has to consult with Mike's doctor from Rapid city.

And unrelated but also upsetting, last night I dropped my phone and shattered the screen. That turned out to be my breaking point and I completely fell apart. With any luck it'll be repaired on Monday. It still works, but I can't shove it in my pocket or anything.

And that's where we are now!

Heart Attacks, ICU, Exercise.

• On Wednesday Mike tried to have a heart attack, literally. He's still in the ICU. We're hoping he gets sprung this evening.  He feels fine physically and is bored and irritable, and not really himself. (EDITED TO ADD: He came home Friday night.)
• I have barely even been to see him, because I have no one to watch the kids during the day. I am tired and stressed. If you have a friend whose husband is in the hospital, the first question you should ask is "Can I watch the kids for you?" I do not understand people.
• Today I'm going to clean the living room and bring the exercise bike back into the house. You know, the one he bought after his first heart attack.
• So if you're thinking you are out of shape and should get healthy? Today's a good time to start.
• This is a great collection of Children's Book Week posters on Pinterest. (This was the only thing I marked to share before all this happened.)

What I Read This Week and other Bookish Thoughts:

• It's been another week of comfort reads. I'm gonna have to stop calling them "comfort reads" and start just calling them "reads" soon.
• In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind. This was a reread. It's still one of my very favorite books.
• Promises in Death by JD Robb, almost done with this one. This one has a lot more humor in it, joking between Roarke and Eve. While it is funny, it seems almost out of place for them.