Heavenly Homemakers

Hey my sweet sugar-free friends! 

And… Hey my sweet sugar-free wanna be friends! (Not that you wanna be my friends…you already ARE my friends…just that you wanna be sugar-free!)

For your Sugarless encouragement today, I have no theme…just a bunch of random thoughts…so try to keep up…and good luck with that:

Random thought #1:  Sometimes I get a craving for sugar so strong that I think that I just may not be able to stand it. 

During one such craving yesterday, I grabbed my husband’s arm and screamed, “I WANT SOME SUGAR!” 

He didn’t even flinch (which proves that I have these insane moments way too often) and he grinned sweetly at me and said, “Well, why don’t you go eat a little more dinner so you won’t be hungry?”

And I said,  “I’M NOT HUNGRY!! I’M WAY TOO STUFFED FOR MORE DINNER. I JUST WANT SOME SUGAR!”

And he said, “oh.”

Guess he decided that he couldn’t help me. 

Oh, but there’s a point here. I went into the kitchen and did some dishes or something, and within about five minutes, I only felt stuffed, and I did not crave sugar like I had mere minutes before that.

So, when you have what you think is an uncontrollable craving, just wait five minutes and it will go away.

And try not to grab anyone’s arm too hard.

Random thought #2:  Today is Justus’ birthday, and of course having a birthday = having a cake. So I was psyching myself up for this a couple of days ago, and decided that it wouldn’t really be hard to stay out of the cake, because really I’m not that big a fan of cake. 

Unless it’s chocolate. 

Or a cheesecake.

So, when given the choice of what kind of birthday cake he wanted, what does Justus come up with?

A Chocolate Cheesecake.

Are you kidding me?!

So now I’m praying a lot. 

And telling myself that as with other things that I miss and really like, this will not be the last chocolate cheesecake ever in the world. Although I will not get to have some of this one, there will be others. 

So who really cares about this one anyway? 

So there.

Yeah, I think I better keep praying.

Random thought #3:  While one is taking this NO SUGAR Plunge, one should not go to Walmart when one is tired. 

I couldn’t believe how hard it was for me to see all the candy and cookies. And I don’t even buy that stuff normally. Why would it be hard for me now?

And so I got a little grouchy. (but it’s okay, I was by myself and there was no one to be grouchy to)

So, I decided to buy myself some roasted peanuts, because that sounded like a good thing to snack on.

DID YOU KNOW that roasted peanuts have SUGAR in them, and bad oils too?! I had no idea that they roasted them in naughty stuff. 

Well, I’m glad I read the ingredients on the jar, but then I just got grouchy at the peanut roasting people. 

Don’t they know I’m struggling here?

So, I prayed for strength (and that I could forgive the peanut people), and I felt better.

And I went to the produce department and bought lots of organic green things that looked sooo good and made me feel very happy.

And I also looked at the store around me and saw all the abundance and variety and I was reminded of Char’s post yesterday…which leads me to…

Random thought #4:  You really should go read Char’s post from yesterday. She’s been doing a great job taking the Plunge, and her thoughts on it are inspiring and refreshing. It encouraged me to remember how much I have and how giving up a LUXURY like sugar should really be the least of my worries. So, go read it!

Alright people! Who’s with me?! Anybody new ready to jump in with us?! 

Everyone please leave comments letting us all know how you’re doing! 

And, uh, pray for me because I have to go make a chocolate cheesecake in a few minutes. 

Here we are…another day. 

Take a deep breath!

If you pulled it off yesterday (eating NO SUGAR)…hooray! You did it!!!!!!!

If you tried, but struggled and didn’t quite pull it off……hooray! You tried!!!

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to join us today…hooray! You’re thinking about it!

It’s a huge struggle! Just getting through one day is hard, when we are soooo used to eating sugar. 

Today is a new day. No matter how yesterday went for you or what your goals for yourself are, today is a new day. 

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Donna asked if I would share a few things about WHY sugar is so bad for us…you know to motivate us in that way. We know it’s bad, but if we hear some reasons, maybe our brains can catch up to our hearts on the matter. Great suggestion!

So, I pulled out my “Nourishing Traditions” book, written by Sally Fallon. Awesome resource! Everytime I read about sugar in this book (and many other things!) I am convicted about better ways to treat my body. As I shared with Donna, MAYBE I should read it three times a day….to convict myself constantly about abstaining from sugar! 

If you read Lilly’s comment back on Pt. 1 of this series, she reminded me of the fact that almost all foods have some form of sugar in them. I had written that I’m elliminating “all forms of sugar from my diet”. I was really just talking about the refined sugars and natural sweeteners (like rapadura, honey, etc.). I am not taking out carrots and peas and other whole foods that have “natural sugars”. 

So, that leads me to:  Foods such as fruit, vegetables and whole grains do have some kind of chemical in them that ends in “ose” which is a sugar. HOWEVER, those are whole and in an unrefined state. And because they are whole, they are linked together with all of their vitamins, minerals, enzymes, protein, fat and fiber….which mean that they can digest properly and our bodies can utilize them right away for good!

Kinda makes me want some broccoli…right now! 

On the other hand, when a carbohydrate is refined (such as to make whole wheat flour into white flour, or whole cane sugar into white sugar, or corn into high fructose corn syrup), the process strips it of alllllll it’s vitamins and mineral…thus leaving them empty. Empty calories.

Or, shall we call them “negative” calories. Because, when we eat them, they give us nothing that our bodies can use, so our bodies have to draw from it’s reserves (which are precious), and eventually we have nothing left in our reserves if we aren’t feeding it whole foods…and then we are left depleted.

Ah, I have felt depleted before, haven’t you? It doesn’t feel good.

Are you still with me? I have more information, like several pages worth…do you want to hear it? You may need to eat a spoonful of peanut butter or something while you read…just to keep you alert.

Okay, now. We have in our bodies a pancreas, and hormones from glands such as thyroid and adrenal. These guys work together in our bodies to regulate our blood sugar.

When we eat whole, unrefined foods, along with their proteins and fats, they are digested s l o w l y and the sugars from them enter our bloodstream at an even rate over a period of hours. 

But when we eat refined sugars, especially without the fat and protein, the sugar enters our bloodstream in a rush, making our pancreas and it’s friends kick into high gear to get our blood sugar levels acceptable. Eventually, this system is going to get worn out from doing this. 

(Picture a pancreas, all sweaty and exhausted, sighing from frustration at being unable to keep up and do the job it was created to do. Probably looks something like I do at the end of the day trying to keep up with these kids!) 

And, don’t forget about all the vitamins, minerals and enzymes we’re missing out on too when we eat these unrefined sugars. Not only is our sugar-regulating system all worn out from working 80 hour weeks, we’re not feeding it any vitamins, etc. to help give it energy. 

Alright, enough information for now. Chew on that for a while (while you chew on your broccoli). 

Are you ready for today?!?! It’s gonna be great! All those yummy, whole foods God made for us to enjoy! Enjoy them as He gave them to us! Whole and real!

Be sure to comment and let us know how you’re doing and what your goals are for today! We’re in this together!!!! 

If you want to jump in with us, be sure to let us know! The more the merrier!