Sugar-Free Day 2

Last night I went to bed very early with a splitting headache- not a dull ache,but a piercing, blurred-vision OUCH! headache; it was my first day of no sugar, and no sugar alternatives. And it was pretty clearly pronounced.
At 530 am my alarm range for my morning workout, and I hit the snooze button and went back to sleep, still with a slight headache, but mostly with a dizzy, foggy feeling.
Then mid-morning, at about 930 when I go to the gym for my break at work, I stayed in the office instead. I still had a headache, and the feeling that if I burned through any energy I had, I would be depleted and worsen my headache.
My appetite has been little to none over the last 2 days; I'm eating less at supper, and am making myself finish my afternoon meal of fresh vegetables and tuna.
So it's clear to me that my body is going through some changes. I haven't had any cravings, and have found the idea of diet pop, crystal light or other sweets entirely neutral. Just don't need 'em.
I've been eating according to my normal, clean schedule:
1/4c creamy rice or oats with 2Tbsp milled flax seed for breakfast
3oz chicken breast, 1/2c brown rice (no condiments)
1 vega shake
1 small can tuna, 6oz fresh carrots, peppers and cucumbers
3oz chicken breast/salmon/white fish and vegetables
I am drinking only water, and herbal caffeine-free tea through the day.
How about you? Are you cleaning up any sugar? Trying to stay away from aspartame, or other artificial sweeteners? Perhaps caffeine is your vice?

Sugar-Free Commitment

Oh! Woe! Work has pillaged the village and burnt the crops of my healthy little lifestyle I've had going for me. The last week, and the upcoming 3 more are the sprint of my year. Trying to schedule even 30 minute breaks in my calendar to hit the gym is impossible. So I'm doing more in the mornings before work- mostly yoga and cardio. The treadmill is a great place to get your readings done for grad class.
Worse though, is the reaction my body is having to the un-nutritious food I've been ingesting over the last 6 days. Handfuls of wine gums, jelly beans and jube jubes during the day, and wine with clients in the evenings. I've resurrected my sugar addiction. This weekend I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing, and my husband and I finished them all off the two of us.
My skin is breaking out, my eczema is growing in severity, my scalp is dry, hair frizzy and energy levels at the lowest I've felt in years.
So it's fall clean-up time. For the next 18 days, I'm am committing to a sugar-free detox. Not a diet, but a new habit to replace my sugar reachings.
So here is how it's going to work:
No sugar: cut out the candy and baking
No sugar alternatives (honey, agave nectar, fruit): no sweetening my morning oats with these
No artificial sweeteners (Spenda, aspartame etc.): no diet pops or crystal light
I've done this before, and gotten off a sugar-craving cycle so I look forward to doing this. And hopefully, this will help me survive this upcoming hectic work schedule. Tightening my nutrition when I know I can't get the time to work out will help maintain a physique I commit to having.

Image from www.realsimple.com

Happy in My Skin

Image c/o Barbara Goodwin of Wisdom Magazine Cover Art- This is her Feel Good mandala.

I've been feeling good lately-how about you? With the students back at it, my gym (located on a Uni campus) is packed. Last fall I enrolled in high-impact aerobic activity classes to avoid the gym rush. It suited my mood at the time, and re-established a reasonable workout schedule for me. I had only one class a day, so could only workout for a specific amount of time- it helped reduce over training.

This year I'm doing something entirely different, and it's suiting me perfectly for now. I bought a year, unlimited downloads membership from www.yogadownload.com. With their variety of 30, 45, 60 and 90 minute classes I can tailor every day depending on my energy level and time bank. I'm doing 30 min of a different yoga class every morning (great variety!) and 30 min cardio every weekday. On the weekends, I do longer sequences (60-90min) and take nice walks around the neighborhood with my husband. I'm weight training by doing yoga with weights, but am finding I'm maintaining muscle tone even by just doing vigorous vinyasa flows.

I'm getting happy in my skin again (check out this article from Yoga Journal to find tips to get happier in yours too!).