September 26, 2011

Hey, hey - it's Monday.  Love the freshness of a new, starting week.   I gained a pound and I know it is directly related to insufficient water consumption over the last two days.  On Saturday, I was driving home and chose NOT to drink so I had to stop less times and was not about to drink 10 cups of water past 6 PM.   Yesterday, was church and a church picnic.   I didn't get home until 6PM and didn't want to use the park restroom facilities, so I opted not to drink again.  I made great food choices, but isn't it amazing that just that one factor starts to add weight back to my body.   :)   Fresh week - back to hydration all day.  :)

It was amazing to me to see how people at the church picnic LOADED their plates with food and sugar items.  OMGoodness.  I never paid attention to that until yesterday, as I did the same thing.  NO wonder I was "plump."   :)   At least 10 people walked up to me and said, "I never saw you eat."  Didn't know I was being watched.  :)   I did eat prior to the picnic and went refueled, so I was not hungry and feeling deprived.   I am switching my confession from, "I can't have that" to "I really prefer fruit - I love it!"   Am I still trying to convince myself of that?   YES!   But if I say it enough......

I still fight in the area of sweets though - went by the table three times and checked out the goodies.  Somebody made a pumpkin pound cake with a rich caramel looking icing - I felt that tug.  :(   How dare they!!!    Oh well, I did finally eat a few pieces of fruit and it helped.   It felt really good though to leave the picnic without feeling guilty.   Somebody say AMEN!

As we enter the fall, apple season - let's be creative with our recipes.   I was thinking almond pancakes with stewed apples would be YUM!   Stewed apples are easy - slices of fruit (with or without the skin), water, cinnamon, and xylitol.  Boil until water is evaporated.  (all phases)  BUT, for phases 3-4, you could add a tablespoon of real butter while cooking and make some almond pancakes and top with those apples.   YUM!   Or you could make some sugar-free maple syrup with water, xylitol, 1 tablespoon of butter, and maple flavoring.  Boil until thickens and serve with pancakes.   Your family will love this!   Or, if you need a dessert, stew your apples and while they are cooking take heavy cream, add some xylitol and beat at high speed to create whipped cream (cream needs to be VERY cold for best results).  Serve over warm, stewed apple for a yummy, fall dessert.   :)   

Just remember though.......sugar free doesn't mean calorie free.   You can't consume as much as you want and still not throw your scales down the toilet in the mornings.   Nice scales, nice scales.  :)    We are breaking free of obesity and the lust of our eyes.   You can say NO as often as you need to.   Yes, you can!

Choose life and eat to live,

PK