How's the Diet going?

So glad you asked!  I'm on Day 7, wrapping up my first week of success!  It's been challenging to find foods that don't contain any form of sugar...that means so high fructose corn syrup or anything!  it's tricky!  I've been making my own oatmeal, which I thought I liked, for breakfast.  Not having any sugar definately tastes less appealing!  I add some cinnamon and applesauce, and a little vanilla (is that ok?  not sure).  For lunch, sometimes I have left over supper and sometimes I have Kashi cereal and milk.  I've been eating apples and bananas and pears for day time snacks, along with tangerines and almonds in the evenings.  I've been making lots of new suppers, to Tim's delight.  He thought about joining me on the venture until he heard no sugar and no bread!  I asked him to at least eat what I cooked, so that I wasn't cooking more than one meal each night.  He agreed...he's less picky than I am about eating vegetables, but rarely eats fruit.  

This past week I've made a Taco soup, with lots of beans, tomatoes, and ground beef; Black Beans and Rice stir fry that was supposed to be enchiladas, but I added shredded beef, and offered Tim tortillas and I ate mine on a salad with salsa and cheese.  Last night we tried a VOILA! meal of chicken teriyaki.  I thought it sounded good until I saw that it had water chestnuts and pineapples in it, plus snow peas and julienned carrots.  Yikes!  But I tried it anyway, and it was actually good!  Who knew I would like it?  I also made a squash soup.  I bought several butternut squashes to cook up and freeze, and had seen some interesting recipes for soup.  So I thought I'd be brave and try it.  It, too, surprised me and Tim by being actually good!  I cut the squash in half and covered it with saran wrap and microwaved it for 20 minutes.  While it was cooking, I sauteed onions, celery, and carrots on the stove.  I added seasonings like 1 tsp curry, a pinch of rosemary, and maybe some garlic powder, salt and pepper.  I added 2 cups of chicken broth/bullion to the onions and heated it through.  I threw everything in the blender and pureed it, then put it in the crockpot to simmer.  Before serving, I added 1 3/4 cup skim milk to the mixture, heated it, and then served, sprinkling with parmesan cheese.  It tasted like Thanksgiving!  Sounds silly, I know, but it's true!

Above you see some cards I created of verses that were a part of my weekly reading for PRISM.  I want to stay motivated, so I printed these and am going to post them in my kitchen and places I'll see them regularly to be encouraged.  A few days before I joined, I was reading in Follow Me, a Bible study that I'm in, this thought:  Jesus is a leader to be trusted.  He is humble, meek, and lowly of heart.  He is self-giving and self-sacrificing in nature.  He has my best interests at heart..."Come meet me at the place where I humbled myself before you".  God was after more than salvaging our souls (at Calvary)...He revealed himself to be a safe leader that I can follow!  Imagine yourself standing before God's throne of grace.  Now place all those favorite and treasured things and people that you hold dear into the hands of Jesus.  As control passes from you to Him, what happens inside you?  Panic or relief?  Alarm or peace?

I read that, and was convicted of my fears of giving up sugar and white flour.  Do I trust Jesus to see me through as I make this life change?  According to my PRISM literature, sugar is the number one addiction in America today.  It is responsible for all kinds of health problems ranging from obesity and diabetes to bloating, gall stones, PMS, food allergies, cancer, joint pain, headaches and impaired immune systems.  Yikes!  Sugar has no nutritional value, is not necessary physically for life, and has become entangled in our psychological and emotional lives.  So, I'm looking at it as an addiction, like cocaine.  I had terrible headaches over the weekend (withdrawal?) but felt ok after that.  I've been pretty hungry at different times, especially the first 3 days, but that's getting better, too.  I'm allowed to have 1000-1200 calories, which is pretty low.  I've had a positive mindset, so I haven't been terribly craving what I can't have.  I've pushed the thoughts of giving in out of my head and concentrated on what I can have.  I've been completely surprised that I have succeeded for 7 whole days!  I don't think I gave in and have stayed in my guidelines.  Success is its own encouragement!  I'm going away for the weekend and I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to plan for eating.  We're staying at a hotel and I guess I should bring my own food with me just in case there isn't anything available that I can have.  I'll let you know how it goes.  OH, and I have my next meeting in the morning, so I'm looking forward to that.