Since some Pagans treat Samhain like a new year, I decided to do the same this year. I was going to get healthy again and I was going to start by cutting all added sugars and sugar substitutes out of my diet. I eventually had hoped to transition into either Paleo or Keto. I know a lot of people that Keto worked for, but as a Pagan, I appreciate the idea behind Paleo better. I hadn’t quite decided which to follow. As it was, avoiding added sugars was going to be tough enough.
I had a breakfast of eggs scrambled in butter and topped with some cheddar cheese. When I got to work, there was a large bowl full of leftover Halloween candy in the break room. I was proud of myself that every time I went in there, I did not take one. I didn’t even take one when I was sitting in there to eat lunch! Then I had a moment when I was just ravenous and I found an old ring pop in my work bag. I thought about it and then put it back. I was really proud of myself for how I was doing.
For lunch I had packed a few slices of grilled chicken breast, some spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, and some black olives. I was mostly distracted with work for the second half of the day.
After I went to my doctor’s appointment and found out about my bad cholesterol (you can read about it here). I got home to discover that my husband had cooked a particularly unhealthy meal tonight. It was broccoli sauteed in butter, baked french fries, and hot dogs. I checked the label for hot dogs and saw that it contained sorbitol, a sugar alcohol. I haven’t yet done the research to decide if I wanted to count that as sugar, so I didn’t. My husband offered me some bread to use as a bun. I looked at the package of “100% Whole Wheat Bread” and saw that the third ingredient was sugar. Also, no ketchup for my fries. Because sugar (well, high fructose corn syrup). At the end of the meal, my belly was full and I felt unsatisfied. But if nothing else, the trip to the doctor’s office had strengthened my resolve to eat healthy.
