Day 19: Aww, nuts. (31 days without sugar)
The question of the day is, “What do I want to eat?”
I’m finding this week that I’m less obsessed with having something sweet to eat, and more observant when I’m actually hungry. This is good. This is what I wanted. I wanted to really feel how my food affects my body, my mood, my energy levels.
My energy has definitely leveled off without the sugar- and in a good way. I feel alert upon waking, steadily energized throughout the day, and ready to go to sleep at around 9:30 or 10 pm.
But I’m having a hard time deciding what to eat.
I actually haven’t had any bread or pasta at all this month. No crackers, tortilla chips, rice cakes or pretzels (other than a few Wasa sourdough crackers earlier this month). I did make a batch of brown rice last weekend and ate it a few times this week, and we’ve had oatmeal for breakfast some days, so I wouldn’t say I’ve been low carb, but definitely much lower carb than my typical diet. And it feels good.
This month, for breakfast, it’s either steel cut oatmeal, or vegan sausages and “just egg,” which is an egg replacement made out of mung beans. It’s a weird “food.” I don’t know that it’s something I should be eating regularly, but for now, it’s helping me get through the month of March without granola or homemade muffins.
Lunch (which I’m generally not even hungry for until 1:30) is either leftover dinner, or a salad with lettuce, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes, and maybe some tofu or olives. Today I also had some hummus and celery.
And I’m digging the lower-carb vegan dinners I’ve been exploring this month. Sofritas, curries, cauliflower mash, broccoli and tofu with tahini sauce, yummy stuff.
But it’s hard to figure out what to have for a snack. You know, when you’re suddenly hungry and you need to eat something NOW that requires little to no preparation.
Lately, it’s been peanuts. Or macadamia nuts. Or almonds. A handful of nuts goes a long way. But I’m getting a little bored with that. I used to go for a chocolate protein bar, or a granola snack, or some chips and salsa. I’m missing the variety. I guess I could skip the snacks altogether, but that seems boring!
Overall, I don’t really know what I want to eat most of the time. So, I’m just eating to satisfy hunger and get nutrition. It’s doing the job. I feel good, so I’ll keep going through the rest of March, and then figure out what I want to bring back into my diet in April.
What are you enjoying on your sugar-free adventure?
~Cheryl
