I've decided...

That the no sugar diet is no fun. I made it to day 10 and I'm done. Technically, I did not make it. I had a Diet Coke yesterday afternoon (day 9) to try to garner a little more energy to make it through the afternoon with my 2 monkeys. But it was an interesting, self-imposed experiment. My life is much more fun with sugar (in moderation) in it!

Here is a picture of Michael at Easter brunch. Happy to have had some sugar too!

Groupon

I've been receiving Groupon e-mail's for well over a year now. 99.9% of them I just move right into the e-mail trash can. I'm not interested in cardio-kickboxing for $15 a class or eye brow threading. What catches my eye are the events. Groupon is great if you are new to an area, which we are every 3 years. I have found a couple of things to do with Michael and as a family through these daily e-mails.

For example:
Bounce U
Our Playroom
Sequoia Foodie Fest

Today, I finally made my first purchase through Groupon. The way Groupon (typically) works, is that once the daily deal is announced, you only have about 24 hours to cash in on the deal. So I just went online and ordered the tickets to the Sequoia Foodie Fest. The tickets would have cost us $20 at the door, I just paid $10 ahead of time.

So, we are heading to the Sequoia Foodie Fest in two weeks. I'm actually pretty excited about it because there are not many festivals in this area. There is also going to be a kids area that should be fun for Michael. I'm expecting the food to be pretty fabulous too. The central valley of California grows some of the best produce in the the nation, so I have high expectations for some fabulous food finds!

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Day 7 NO-Sugar!

I'm doing great! 7 days so far and no sugar. I feel great! Although the temptation is still there in the early afternoon! I have been drinking green tea to avoid eating any sweets. One addiction is traded for another. I wonder if anyone can actually say they have zero addictions. We all have at least one, right? Caffeine? Sugar? Sodas? Working out?

I will provide Chris's update to the no sugar diet: every day has become day #1 again. He can't pass up the Diet Coke, Coke Zero's, or the frozen fruit pops. I think he looks fabulous anyway. I was just trying to get him to try the experiment with me. No such luck, I guess.

The more I make sugar the enemy, the more food label reading I have been doing. As a snack the other day, I had an apple with peanut butter. I thought, PB is a good source of protein, I wonder how much sugar is in there. 3g. More than I thought there would be, for sure. So I started looking at more labels. Milk 12g! Wow!  So I Googled it. How many grams of sugar equal how many tablespoons of sugar. 14g=1tbsp. So (approximately) in every cup of milk you drink, there is 1 tbsp of sugar. Never knew.

Technically, I have not been able to eliminate sugar completely from my diet. I WON'T give up milk. I am not a fan of the almond or soy milk products. There is no substitute for good, cold, fresh milk. But, for all intents and purposes, I have given up sugar in the "sugary/sweets" form. Only 3 more days to go. Who knows, I may keep on going. I did get on the scale on day 5 and I had lost 1/2 lb. Which I think is a lot considering I am at my normal weight. Kinda crazy. But I feel good and have more energy. Maybe the energy is coming from getting a tad more sleep at night though. I did go to bed last night at 8 pm. I'm a real Saturday night party animal :)

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Spring Cleaning at our house

It has begun! Spring cleaning! I love cleaning out drawers, cabinets, closets and freshening up! I actually began my spring cleaning with my e-mail inbox. Every day I get e-mails from Pottery Barn, Gap, Edible Arrangements, and about 6 other random retailers. Today, I unsubscribed to (mostly) all of them! The only ones I left were Groupon and Living Social.

I've also cleaned out my chest of drawers. The closet is next. It is tough though. Usually, my timeline is 1 year. If I have not worn it in a year, it gets donated. But since I was pregnant for most of last year, it's hard to stick to that time frame. So I'm not sure how to tackle my closet. Any suggestions there?

I got the pantry in the kitchen cleaned out and restocked, which is always a great feeling! Now, if I could just convince Chris to get on board with his chest of drawers and closet too!
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Day 3 of the no sugar diet

I'm doing great. Chris caved. On day 1 and day 2. So he starts over again today. I don't think he is committed to this. He is just saying he will do it to appease me. Such a nice hubby...now get on board! The funny part about this is that I have never dieted in my life. I'll cut back on portion sizes and get more active. But restricting certain foods I have never done. So far so good. The hardest part of the day is when I am super tired and just want some caffeine or chocolate for a pick me up in the afternoon. Day 3 (almost) down, only 7 to go. I am thinking I'll just hold out and treat myself to a nice dessert on Mother's Day, if I can make it that long!

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New tech finds

I can't take credit for finding these great technology tools and ideas. All the credit goes to the Cool Mom Tech website. I actually discovered them on Twitter and I find myself checking out their posts everyday for updates on "the coolest technology toys for parents and kids."

Some recent posts that I've been excited about:
April 24. The Vimeo iPhone app.
April 23: Guardly
The 2010 Mother's Day Gift Guide at CoolMomPicks.com (which is also written by the Mom's at Coolmomtech.com).

They stay on the pulse of cool technology stuff. I don't have time to be searching the internet for the latest and greatest, these ladies do it for me! It's a great website, you should check it out!

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The 10 day sugar-free experiment

Maybe it was all the recent Easter Candy and cookies that have been around. Maybe it is me coming to my senses about how much I LOVE sweets and chocolate and could eat it every day.

We are deciding to take a stand against sugar (for 10 days at least).

Chris and I decided to give up sugar, sodas, caffeine, simple carbohydrates (like white bread and pretzels), and starchy foods for 10 days. I would include alcohol in this list, but we don't drink - so there is no need to include it. Basically we will eat only veggies, fruit, and lean proteins. We agreed that if we cave in then the clock will reset for 10 more days.

We are only 2 meals into this experiment and I'm already pining for some chocolate. I'll keep you updated on how we do! Wish us luck!