Greetings and Welcome to Sugar Me Green!

While eating dinner last night and discussing my latest adventure to good health (and in my case, weight loss) my husband suggested that I blog about my journey.  My reply, "Yeah right, because anyone else wants to hear my struggles!"  Well, here I am.  And you want to know why?  Because I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Oftentimes I think I'm all alone in what I'm experiencing but then you strike up a conversation with someone (a friend, stranger) and the next thing you know, they are feeling the same way!  At that point you realize you really aren't alone and it's great to have someone to share your ups and downs with.  

So, here I am, sharing my journey with you.  Let's start with a little back story.  I have struggled the last few years (is 12 a few?) with constant shifts in my weight, or more honestly  consistent weight gain.  In a quest for weight loss I have tried Weight Watchers, Livestrong, food diaries, the cabbage soup diet, the "drink two 'drinks' a day and eat a sensible dinner diet, the eat everything diet, the eat nothing diet (just kidding on that one) and everything in between (or at least it feels like it).

Since bringing my daughter into this world 12 years ago, we began walking the path of organic eating.  In the last several years, that has become more relevant as well as learning more about nutrition and the foods we eat.  In learning so much, my husband was constantly telling me "sugar" was my mountain to climb.  Well, tell a woman to give up sugar and you just better watch out!  Not sure who would want to live with me when that happens.  Did he really know what he was saying?  Did he really want to be part of that wrath?  Of course, I wasn't ready to do that, until now.

This January I experienced a panic attack and felt I needed to get my health together whether or not it was just in my head or in my body.  After having a wide array of blood tests, the naturopath I met with had some concerns with my iodine levels.  This seems to point to the thyroid but I don't have any of the "symptoms" that go along with it so we just focused on how to add more iodine rich food to my diet.  Okay, that's a good start but I was surprised that she didn't have much to say about my weight.  While I'm not extremely heavy, my BMI does register at "obese" so if nothing else, I have concerns about my weight.

Moving on...  So I'm having this discussion with my massage therapist and she tells me she's studying Ayurveda nutrition.  She tells me that our gut is strongly connected with our brain so my feelings of panic or worry could actually be connected to my digestive system.  Hmmm, haven't heard that one before.  In the meantime I met an acupuncturist who, just from looking at my tongue and answering a few questions, said I have "chi spleen" and should look into healing my digestive system.  Okay, now that's two different people discussing my inner workings saying they really aren't working.  After filling out a food diary and answering several pages of questions I meet back up with my massage therapist.  She recommends the (wait for it...) Sugar Control Diet to help reset my system.  Of course she did!  And yes, I did come home and tell my husband he was right.  Doesn't happen often so I thought I'd go ahead and let him bask in the glory of it.  Yeah, so now I'm ready to do this.  I'm three months into the year and have seen my weight continue to climb.  It's time.

Now, to the real point of this blog.  To walk alongside me as I venture into the unknown of a new world without sugar.  Well, I'm told after the first two weeks (heaven help us all!) we'll see where to go from there as far as what I can start adding back.  Oh, I failed to mention what I am allowed to eat...meat, eggs, soaked/roasted nuts, and vegetables (NO carrots, potatoes, peas, corn or beets).  The NO list is fun...sugar, honey, maple syrup, (basically any sweetener of any kind), beans, grains (ALL), dairy (except I can have cheese) and fruit.  Yeah, who wants to live with me now???

Okay, so now you know the story.  If you're interested in sticking around...I'll be taking you with me on how it's going so far.

Ciao!

Heidi aka Green Girl