Solo sugarfree success

After 2 and a half weeks away, my husband is back in the country. It's fair to say I've missed him. So have the kids.

The days without him here were busy, as always. The nights were somewhat lonely. No one to chat to about the events of the day. Or no one to share the silence with. I knew food would make good company in his absence. And I'm going to be honest, I did eat more food than I needed to. Emotional eating is such a be-atch.

But.... the numerous boxes of chocolates (and I think there's a bag of marshmallows) in the top of the pantry remained untouched. In fact I didn't even consider opening them. Instead I found other ways to sweeten my solo time:

• I got my girly on. I'm not really a girly-girl when it comes to beauty treatments. But one evening I kept myself out of the pantry by soaking my feet in warm water and bicarb (great for softening the skin) then lathering them in coconut oil and wrapping them in glad wrap. Following some much needed exfoliation, I painted my toenails - (pink of course!). All the while I had a face mask on, and watched The Sound of Music. Can it get any girlier? 

• I made a delicious sugarfree thick shake (a number of times). A few scoops of sugarfree icecream from Lee Holmes' Supercharged Foods, mixed with some milk, a tablespoon of cacao powder and poured over a couple of ice cubes. It was a divinely decadent!! 

 

For sugarquitters - this chocolate sugarfree thickshake is heaven!

• I sold stuff on ebay! There ain't much sweeter than making money and decluttering!

• I'm bringin' berries back. Some sugar quitters put the veto on fruit altogether, but I subscribe to the idea that if fruit is the only source you get your fructose from, then one or two serves per day is ideal. I opt for blue berries because they are lower in fructose than other fruits such as apples. And well, they're just berry yummy! I love them with natural organic yoghurt.

Berries & Natural Yoghurt = Berry Yummy! Pardon kids bowl. Little bowl, makes portion seem big ;)

• I did, ashamedly, purchase a sugar free (sweetened with Stevia) chocolate bar on a couple of occasions.  Whilst the ingredients seems to check out ok, I think it still sets up a an emotional pathway - that when lonely, (bored or tired...) chocolate is a quick fix. The great thing about this sort of bar though is that it didn't leave me hankering for more and for me to buy 2-3 chocolate bars over the course of 2 1/2 loooong weeks is a minor miracle. 

I am still a bit apprehensive about these "sugarfree" products.

So there you have it - I am a sugrafree woman. Hear me roar.

Suddenly Solo and Sugarfree

My husband has just left the country for 2 and a bit weeks. This is not particularly uncommon. What is uncommon is that this time, I'm sugarfree. 

Usually, when DH goes overseas (or indeed just goes interstate for a couple of nights) I feel it is completely justified to fill the void with food. Sweet food. 

It's emotional eating at it's very best. 

After 12 hours or more with my two pre-school aged children and minimal adult interaction, I feel like it's my right. I deserve it! Or I might feel angry that I'm here and DH is somewhere fabulous (that "somewhere fabulous" is, in reality a pokey motel room and a laptop that nags him to keep working into the wee hours of the night.) Or I just feel downright tired. Or I'm so grateful for the silence at the end of the night that I just want to hear the sound of my jaw chomping on something delicious.

Emotional Eating is defined as the practice of consuming large quantities of food -- usually "comfort" or junk foods - in response to feelings instead of hunger. Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.

Shanghai Cowgirl

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Emotional eating can be brought on by depression, boredom, loneliness, anger, fatigue, anxiety, frustration and stress. All common buddies of mine when my husband is MIA (In fact, as I'm sure most mums can attest to, they come to visit most days, but at least when DH is around he's home before the shizniz really hits the fan).

There's the usual advice for overcoming emotional eating: have a warm bath, go for a walk, meditate, do some breathing exercises. Blah blah blah. 

I'm probably just going to tweet, facebook, blog (you may see a slight increase in my blog presence over the next fortnight) and do loads of online shopping!

And maybe a few indulgences of the beauty variety, like a dessert essence facial scrub from Lee at Supercharged Foods and a do-at-home pedi. Might be time to get my girly on!