Sunday, February 22, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2009
T-Plus 8 Hours!
Where did the time go?
I really wanted to write a post about how I had a couple binge days where everything I ate had a significant amount of sugar in it. Now that over a week has passed since then, most of the underlying emotions are gone. However, I can write that it happened!
My binge day started when I awoke to find my Grandmother's yearly gift of home made cookies sitting on the bookshelf next to my bed. I knew if I didn't eat them soon, tattoo day would soon be upon me and I wouldn't get to eat them at all. So I promptly had about six to eight of them for breakfast. ..Those oatmeal ones are kind of like a breakfast.. I proceeded to work at the tea store all day surrounded by baking. I ate: a nanaimo bar (almost pure sugar with this one), a fruit and chocolate scone, and a samosa with mango chutney. Needless to say, I went over the top. I'm salivating right now just thinking about the nanaimo bar.
Last night I went shopping for spreads and dip. Can't eat anything mayonnaise based anymore. Almost all my favourite dips contained sugar. I'm happily left with hummous and home made dips. Speaking of, I have TWO TUBS of plain organic yogurt to spoil with whatever flavours my heart desires! Any suggestions?
And in other news, I got the tattoo today. Its official.
May this be the first of a long list. No sweat for fashion, No factory meat, etc..
I really wanted to write a post about how I had a couple binge days where everything I ate had a significant amount of sugar in it. Now that over a week has passed since then, most of the underlying emotions are gone. However, I can write that it happened!
My binge day started when I awoke to find my Grandmother's yearly gift of home made cookies sitting on the bookshelf next to my bed. I knew if I didn't eat them soon, tattoo day would soon be upon me and I wouldn't get to eat them at all. So I promptly had about six to eight of them for breakfast. ..Those oatmeal ones are kind of like a breakfast.. I proceeded to work at the tea store all day surrounded by baking. I ate: a nanaimo bar (almost pure sugar with this one), a fruit and chocolate scone, and a samosa with mango chutney. Needless to say, I went over the top. I'm salivating right now just thinking about the nanaimo bar.
Last night I went shopping for spreads and dip. Can't eat anything mayonnaise based anymore. Almost all my favourite dips contained sugar. I'm happily left with hummous and home made dips. Speaking of, I have TWO TUBS of plain organic yogurt to spoil with whatever flavours my heart desires! Any suggestions?
And in other news, I got the tattoo today. Its official.
May this be the first of a long list. No sweat for fashion, No factory meat, etc..
Friday, November 27, 2009
Oversight! (delayed post)
T-Minus 10 Days
Thanks to a comment made, I've been lead to change my initial rules.. I totally left out the option of tree syrups! To those of you who say, "Tree syrups? I thought there was only maple syrup!", think again! Birch syrup is also harvested and added to food in Thunder Bay, and many other Northern locales. If you're lucky, you'll come across some one day. Like on the internet, right now. *wink*
Naturally occurring sugar totally produced in Canada! Why didn't I think of it sooner?
Thanks Pat!
Thanks to a comment made, I've been lead to change my initial rules.. I totally left out the option of tree syrups! To those of you who say, "Tree syrups? I thought there was only maple syrup!", think again! Birch syrup is also harvested and added to food in Thunder Bay, and many other Northern locales. If you're lucky, you'll come across some one day. Like on the internet, right now. *wink*
Naturally occurring sugar totally produced in Canada! Why didn't I think of it sooner?
Thanks Pat!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
T-minus 11 Days
Things I Will Miss Eating...
Today I think the only thing I ate with sugar in it was mango chutney. I had a samosa for breakfast.
At the tea store where I work, they do a lot of in house baking. This means I'm going to be around a-LOT of cookie dough I can't touch. I was extremely tempted by a small tinfoil-wrapped christmas chocolate on the counter. That moment fascinated me. It was right there, so close. I picked it up and watched it sparkle in the light until I was thankfully distracted by a customer. A year ago I would have picked up that little chocolate and popped it without a moment's hesitation. Sure it's bad, but hey, it's free. Though when it comes to those cheap little waxy chocolates, the sugar content is likely not our first concern.
I'm happy to report there is no added sugar in my favourite eight-vegetable juice blend! Though I know the contents are not organic, and probably pasteurized out the nose, I'm happy to have it around a while longer. My fingers are crossed that there will be an organic doppleganger one day.
I've only been keeping track of my sugar intake for less than a week, and I'm already noticing a difference in my energy levels. Where I would normally have ups and downs, I'm experiencing a sustained average. I should have started this blog sooner, so I would have at least a few posts where I'm whining about how tired I am. Then again, maybe not. XD
- Sweet & sour sauce (chicken balls will never be the same)
- Dim Sum (aka sweet bean paste)
- Ketchup & Mustard at the greasy spoon (though I'll have my own at home)
- Mango chutney
Today I think the only thing I ate with sugar in it was mango chutney. I had a samosa for breakfast.
At the tea store where I work, they do a lot of in house baking. This means I'm going to be around a-LOT of cookie dough I can't touch. I was extremely tempted by a small tinfoil-wrapped christmas chocolate on the counter. That moment fascinated me. It was right there, so close. I picked it up and watched it sparkle in the light until I was thankfully distracted by a customer. A year ago I would have picked up that little chocolate and popped it without a moment's hesitation. Sure it's bad, but hey, it's free. Though when it comes to those cheap little waxy chocolates, the sugar content is likely not our first concern.
I'm happy to report there is no added sugar in my favourite eight-vegetable juice blend! Though I know the contents are not organic, and probably pasteurized out the nose, I'm happy to have it around a while longer. My fingers are crossed that there will be an organic doppleganger one day.
I've only been keeping track of my sugar intake for less than a week, and I'm already noticing a difference in my energy levels. Where I would normally have ups and downs, I'm experiencing a sustained average. I should have started this blog sooner, so I would have at least a few posts where I'm whining about how tired I am. Then again, maybe not. XD
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
T-Minus 13 Days
Living in a central, heavily populated area of the country has a lot to contribute to my success in giving up all non-FTO sugar.
Though I have yet to look, I'm certain Fair Trade Organic sugar (FTO) is not available in Thunder Bay (home). Organic cane sugar is fairly common at health food stores, but FTO sugar is still rare enough to simply not be available in huge parts of the country. While living in Thunder Bay, I once ordered a 2kg bag of FTO sugar from a small company in British Columbia. The total cost for that bag was about $16. Yup. Eight bucks a kilogram. Bleached white sugar is usually $2/kg? Something like that anyway.
...
...(some time passes)
..
I just had a really hard time looking up the price of sugar online from a major grocer; just flyers and coupons and such.
I bet if we all had to pay $8/kg for sugar we'd eat a lot less sweets, no? I guess I'll see when the time comes. I guess thats the point!
I would like to add something. At this stage I've done very little serious reading on the Fair Trade movement and the sugar industry (if you would like to catch up with what I have seen, watch the documentaries I've posted to the left. They're pretty good intro to Fair Trade, and food issues in general). In this way I am a regular person. I like the idea of making the world a better place, was presented with an option to do so, and am enthusiastically pursuing that. There are all sorts of critics of the Fair Trade movement, that it shouldn't exist or that it is not fair enough! I am aware of these viewpoints and plan to explore all sides. You will learn at the same pace I do. I guess you could say: This blog is aimed at those who are curious about how it feels to change their buying/eating habits to cultivate the kind of world they want to see. Thanks for being here. ^_^
Though I have yet to look, I'm certain Fair Trade Organic sugar (FTO) is not available in Thunder Bay (home). Organic cane sugar is fairly common at health food stores, but FTO sugar is still rare enough to simply not be available in huge parts of the country. While living in Thunder Bay, I once ordered a 2kg bag of FTO sugar from a small company in British Columbia. The total cost for that bag was about $16. Yup. Eight bucks a kilogram. Bleached white sugar is usually $2/kg? Something like that anyway.
...
...(some time passes)
..
I just had a really hard time looking up the price of sugar online from a major grocer; just flyers and coupons and such.
I bet if we all had to pay $8/kg for sugar we'd eat a lot less sweets, no? I guess I'll see when the time comes. I guess thats the point!
I would like to add something. At this stage I've done very little serious reading on the Fair Trade movement and the sugar industry (if you would like to catch up with what I have seen, watch the documentaries I've posted to the left. They're pretty good intro to Fair Trade, and food issues in general). In this way I am a regular person. I like the idea of making the world a better place, was presented with an option to do so, and am enthusiastically pursuing that. There are all sorts of critics of the Fair Trade movement, that it shouldn't exist or that it is not fair enough! I am aware of these viewpoints and plan to explore all sides. You will learn at the same pace I do. I guess you could say: This blog is aimed at those who are curious about how it feels to change their buying/eating habits to cultivate the kind of world they want to see. Thanks for being here. ^_^
Monday, November 23, 2009
T-Minus 14 Days
This morning I walked into work, checked my schedule, and chatted with my boss about my recent trip home (Thunder Bay), and tattoo artist advice. While there I ate a samosa with mango chutney (something I'm going to have to give up) and a nanaimo bar (something I'm going to have to make myself if I want to eat one). Decided its time to get on that sugar-tattoo thing I've kept talking about amongst my friends for the last few months.
I chose a date: December 7th, 2009. I made my tattoo appointment with a charming fellow named Andrew. I originally went to check out another artist, but we got to talking, i found out that he had never tried Yoga before. I had never gotten a tattoo before. We decided to make it a productive week of it. Hes going to try yoga sometime before our appointment, and I'm going to get my tattoo done by him. Its going to be black cursive written on my back and say "No Blood for Sugar". Its a pretty big life decision I'd say, but I've been meaning to make this change in my diet for a long time.
After making the appointment I realized that I am actually going to go through with this. Then I spent a bunch of time creating and writing the first entry of this blog. I tried eating a sugar-free lunch (though I don't officially give up sugar until December 7th). I had an organic banana, a slice of whole wheat bread with some quebecois chevre, organic baby romaine, and local-organic green onion. Not bad.
Upon thinking about this menu description, I'm no longer going to talk about whether the rest of my food is organic or not. Its too much work, and the focus if this blog is sugar. Need to be concise now.
I chose a date: December 7th, 2009. I made my tattoo appointment with a charming fellow named Andrew. I originally went to check out another artist, but we got to talking, i found out that he had never tried Yoga before. I had never gotten a tattoo before. We decided to make it a productive week of it. Hes going to try yoga sometime before our appointment, and I'm going to get my tattoo done by him. Its going to be black cursive written on my back and say "No Blood for Sugar". Its a pretty big life decision I'd say, but I've been meaning to make this change in my diet for a long time.
After making the appointment I realized that I am actually going to go through with this. Then I spent a bunch of time creating and writing the first entry of this blog. I tried eating a sugar-free lunch (though I don't officially give up sugar until December 7th). I had an organic banana, a slice of whole wheat bread with some quebecois chevre, organic baby romaine, and local-organic green onion. Not bad.
Upon thinking about this menu description, I'm no longer going to talk about whether the rest of my food is organic or not. Its too much work, and the focus if this blog is sugar. Need to be concise now.
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