Let me first start off by saying that NOT exercising isn’t a good thing, don’t get me wrong. However, I will be brutely honest with you and tell you that right now, this momma is busy. I maintain a home of 3 growing boys who all go to different activities during the week AND I maintain a full-time business at home. I really just don’t have a lot of time. I mean, can you relate? Us moms usually find that we want to take care of ourselves but we are always last on the list– we take care of everyone else before ourselves.
You might recall, last month I was approached by a company called NorCal Healthy Solutions (No prescriptions, no pre-packaged foods and not an exercise program, see more about it here) and they were very interested in having me do a review on their products– uh, YES! 
This really kick started it for me this was a sign that it was time to get my stuff together, devote the time needed and stop being sad about my thighs “touching” 
Side note: These are pants that I eventually made holes in the thigh area because of my thighs rubbing together. This eventually happens to all.of.them. I am so over it!
You might be thinking.. okay, Josie– get off your lazy butt and do something about it! For the last 5 years, I have given every ounce of effort that I could into exercising– I tried to eat healthier, But I also suffered from aggressive depression, which leads to a lot of emotional eating for me. Sadly, only things like chocolate, little Debbie snacks and foods packed with sugar made me feel “better”. Of course, that was only a temporary solution so I would eat more and more. To the point where I grew an addiction to sugar. Sugar addiction is REAL ya’ll.. I didn’t even think this was possible until I started paying attention to what I was eating thanks to the NorCal Healthy Solutions meal plan. Check out their plans.
Not only did I receive awesome natural supplements to keep me from overeating– The first 21 days, I successfully detoxed from sugar and refined carbs just by watching what I eat. Can I tell you what this did for me?? detoxing from sugar was a HUGE thing for my body. I literally lost 10 pounds the first two weeks because of this. It also made me aware of how much sugar is in the food we eat… its EVERYWHERE! You might be thinking: I’m not really a sugar person, but I am not happy with my weight. I can’t say that the reason you aren’t happy with your weight is because of sugar (I’m not a doctor of course) but you will be surprised at how much sugar you eat in a day that is added to foods that we think are “ok”. Example: How many times have you picked up a juice from the fruit section thinking “This is good for me, I’m going to buy it and drink the entire thing! woohoo, I just got my entire serving of fruits and veggies” — wrong Did you know that according to the American Heart Association, women are suggested to have just 25 grams of sugar a day?
Here is an example of a popular “health juice drink” that claims to have no added sugar. Yes, some of this sugar is from the fruit– however, MOST of this sugar is the added fructose in the apple juice, plum puree and the other ingredients they label. Check out this label below: 53 grams of sugar! That is over double what a woman should have in one day. Yes, one could argue that you are getting a lot of sugar because of the fruit–however, this particular company recently went through a lawsuit and settled to pay 9 million dollars to consumers (remember that settlement check you applied for?) AND they agreed to remove the “all natural” from their labels. So, if this sugar was all “healthy sugar” then why would they agree to remove the “all natural” from their label?
This post is not to bash companies– its more just to make you aware. Things that you don’t realize as unhealthy for you, could be the reason for why you are suffering. I dare you. Start paying attention to what is on the label of your favorite foods and calculate how much sugar you actually take in your body a day.. it might surprise you. Its not just these fruit drinks.. its everywhere. Look at the baby food pouches that we use to give or toddlers. Anything that lists “Juice concentrate” in the ingredients most likely has added sugar. Could you imagine just feeding your child a straight spoon of sugar? uh.. no.
It was very clear that my body was addicted to sugar after about 1 week. I had headaches, I was very irritable and my depression was coming back full force. In the process of changing my eating habits, I learned that I had a bad yeast-overgrowth going on in my body, which REALLY explained why I was craving sugar so bad. Yeast feeds on sugar, it’s how it grows.
So here I am, 35 days of no sugar, dextrose (another name for sugar), fructose, galactose (more names for sugar), cane sugar, honey and artificial sweeteners. I have also given up gluten by choice and I am eating well and losing weight daily. I make a meal plan to help accommodate my new lifestyle and eat lots of yummy foods! The best part is that I am never hungry and I still get to eat yummy desserts like pictured below (thanks to a lot of research, I found several GOOD natural sugars and I can’t even tell the difference!) In the last month, I have made a few changes to my diet but the sugar was probably the hardest. Now that I’ve detoxed– I no longer have cravings and I feel SO good. Yes, I have to make most of my meals– but its the small sacrifice that I am making to lose weight while still being a working, crazy, busy mom. My next goal is to eliminate added sugars from my kids and hubby’s diet. I believe its a strong factor into some behavioral issues we have.
Please let me say that I’m not telling you what to eat, I am just sharing my personal experiences. I am still going to post deals and finds for you that I might not agree with because honestly, its why you are here. First and foremost, my job is to help you save money.
I’d love to hear, have you eliminated sugar?
The post How I Lost 20 lbs In a Month Without Exercise. appeared first on Southern Cali Saver.
