Merry Christmas Eve

I️ sent these texts to a friend of mine today, kind of a pep talk for both of us!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

This may be as much for me as it is for you… the reality is that Christmas is hard when you are divorced, even when you have your kids. And it’s lonely as a single parent.

Make the magic happen for your kids, and I️t will happen for you, too! Focus of the positive and building new memories, not running from the old ones.

Trust me, there is always beauty and magic, even in the chaos and mess. Find I️t and embrace I️t and soak I️t in!

Enjoy your day!

We are spending the afternoon at church and then headed to a fun dinner tonight.

And I’m fucking exhausted!! 🎄🎅🏻

Sometimes, your crazy children make a huge mess of the house and your dishwasher leaks and there is water all over your kitchen floor and the vacuum is broken. And your asshole ex-husband comes over unexpectedly with gifts for the kids and gets them all riled up. Never mind, he already gave them everything on their Christmas list!!

And you send the kids out to play and sit down in the chaos and pour a damn drink…. before church.

And it’s 40 degrees outside and my son is playing in the sprinkler! We have to be at church in 2 hours!!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

But kind of laughing because what else are you going to do?!?! It’s messy sometimes!

Healthy… again

Back on the healthy wagon today!!  Kids are gone so cooking is not required!!

Coffee for breakfast.  Ok! Ok!  I can do better there!

Salad for lunch.  Yogurt with organic granola for dinner. 

Tons of water. 

I feel so much better today!!

Thank you for joining me on my journey!

-Sarah 

Cheat weekend … Never Again

I had a wonderful weekend with old friends this weekend. We packed up for a girl’s staycation.  I decided that I was going to have fun and not worry about what I ate this weekend!   

We stayed in a fabulous hotel, and lounged at the pool all afternoon on Saturday. It was incredibly relaxing and refreshing. We talked and laughed all afternoon and late into the night!!

We had a few cocktails and ordered greasy Italian food for dinner. We ate Sprinkles cupcakes straight from the box (we had no plates or napkins in the room). 
We had brunch reservations this afternoon at a restaurant which serves southern food. I was so excited to eat here! I ordered chicken and waffles. It was so delicious. 

Not too long after lunch, though, I started to have a familiar feeling that I have not had in months….  stomach ache, cramping and some dizziness. NOT GOOD!

We finished eating and I got home. My stomach was very upset. Something I have not experienced in a couple of months, but which used to be very normal for me. 

I lay down to rest and woke up with fever. I feel like I swallowed a beach ball. I have heart burn. It’s been 8 hours since lunch and I am stuffed and still aching!

I think my body had adjusted so well to my cleaner eating that I made myself sick by my food choices!  I remember that I used to feel like this a lot. Today, it kept me down; I’ve been in bed all day. 

I have been feeling so good and healthy and full of energy lately. This cheat weekend was NOT worth it. 

Back to clean eating tomorrow. 

Thank you for coming along on my journey!

-Sarah

Low Sugar Update

Y’all, it’s going great. I feel good. I’ve dropped a few inches. I have more energy. I’m happier. I’m loving this low sugar life!!

Cheat night

The kids are gone for a couple of weeks with their dad. That means I have some very rare alone time. I got about 4 inches cut off of my hair earlier today. 

It is a gorgeous summer evening in Texas. The breeze is blowing. It’s 8:30 at night and I’m sitting on an awesome patio enjoying some fresh air and having sangria.   A little Tone Loc playing. Usually, I’m fishing the bedtime routine with the kids and stuck inside the house until morning. I miss them like crazy. But this?  It’s lovely. 
I’m sure there is sugar in this beverage and it is so delicious!!  

Sometimes, it’s good to take a minute for yourself and relax. Breathe some fresh air. Be still. 

Thank you for coming along on my journey!  Cheers!

-Sarah

30 Day Sugar Cleanse

For the second consecutive month, I am doing a sugar cleanse.  Now, when you hear cleanse, you may have thoughts of expensive green juice, complicated diets, colonics and frequent trips to the restroom.

Honestly, that’s just way too hard for me.  I just want to be a little healthier, and help my kids be healthy and happy as well.  And, I need a little accountability!

Here’s what I do…  don’t eat any refined or processed sugar.  Now, I am not perfect, but for me, I define this as no sugary sweets or desserts.  We eat tons of fruit, and I know that sugar is added to many foods that we don’t even realize contain sugar.  But, I’m busy so I’m all about making healthy choices that are easy to define and follow for me and my family.

What do I do?

I keep a box under my desk at work with healthy snacks. Right now, I have almonds and crackers.  Going to the store today to stock up on more.  This week, I plan to take yogurt, cheese, and some fruit to snack on.  (Yes, these contain some sugar, but the overall health benefits outweigh the negative impact of the sugar.  Right?!  Remember, my definition is no sugary desserts and sweets.)

I stock my pantry and refrigerator with healthy food and snacks.  I’m just not going to buy the junk.  That way, it isn’t convenient.  I already freed my pantry and refrigerator for June so that’s already done.

Have you done this before?  What are some tips and tricks you have to stick with it?

Thanks for coming along on my journey.

Sarah

No Sugar… Week 1

Our first week of our no sugar food experiment went amazingly well!  I was incredibly surprised. I expected it to be filled with whiny, composing kids who just wanted ice cream or candy!

But, was I wrong. In fact, I saw just the opposite. 

My daughter doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth and eats pretty healthy so she didn’t notice much. She was more worried about catching up with friends after having been away for a month!!  

I feel great!  I have so much more energy. My mood has improved. I craved dessert so much, but I ate tons of fruit and almonds to keep full. It didn’t replace the hot fudge brownie sundae I was craving, but I was able to handle the craving with better choices. 

My sweet son…  he is like a new person, y’all!!  He was happy all week. Not a single temper tantrum, which typically happen daily.   He whined less. He was more focused and listened better. 

He was able to think and make good choices at home and at school. In fact, his teacher specifically stopped me yesterday to tell me that he had a great day on his field trip on Thursday. Y’all, THIS. HAS. NEVER. HAPPENED. His teacher has never complimented his overall behavior. Ever. 

It was a truly eye-opening and incredible week and this will be our new way of life. I know we will continue to refine it, but just removing obvious sources of sugar has made such an incredible difference for our family!

The kids were fine with it. My son asked for dessert every night, and I did buy some fruit popcicles for dessert after dinner. I’m sure they had some sugar, but a better choice than cakes or cookies. 

So, what did we eat?!

Sunday, we had a rib-eye steak with veggies. 

Monday, we had chicken and rice casserole (no canned soup in my recipe, I make a cheese sauce instead) with leftover veggies, and some fruit. 

Tuesday, I grilled hamburgers. We had veggies and fruit. 

Wednesday and Thursday were leftovers. 

For breakfast, we had fresh fruit, English muffins, and corn flakes throughout the week. 

The kids went to their dad’s on Friday and are there for a month. I’m hoping he keeps up the new diet. 

In the meantime, I plan to keep it up. I want to  try to eliminate some excess carbs next. I love bread and have carbs with most meals.   I also want to get better at reading labels on food and remove dye from our diet as well. It just makes sense for the happiness and health of my family.

Thank you for coming along on my journey. 

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!  I’m spending the day with the kids. We had a fun time at a parade near our home this morning, swimming later and cooking burgers for dinner. I really want ice cream. I bought real fruit popcicles for dessert, though!

Thank you for coming along on my journey!

-Sarah 

Welcome Home!

My daughter returned home from being at camp for a month. We are incredibly happy to have her home and love hearing all of her stories about her adventures at camp!

The kids came to my house yesterday evening and I wanted to have a delicious “welcome home” meal for her. Her favorite food is steak and has been since she has had enough teeth to eat it!

I went to the grocery store to pick up healthy food. We needed food for three meals each day and snacks. I try to buy food that we all like and will all eat. It looks like this.  

For a snack, I put out carrot sticks and cherries. For healthy snacks, I have found if I make it available, the kids will find it and eat it. If I tell them to eat some carrots, forget about it!!

I worked out a delicious menu of a no sugar dinner: ribeye steak, squash and veggies, and stuffed shells. No dessert. My son asked for dessert, but there was none to be had. He balked briefly. 

Here are the squash and veggies. 

Kids were awesome last night. No screen time at my house and no sugar at my house last night. They played and used their imaginations. 

I told my ex-husband about my plan since he has the kids for a few weeks after Friday. He, of course, said whatever we need to do for the kids.  He thinks it’s total crap, but I see how my kids react with too much sugar (and screen time). So, he said he would try it if I sent him a shopping list. He said he doesn’t think it will matter. His philosophy on life is to agree and/or apologize and then do whatever he wants anyway…. so, we’ll see. 

All I can do is control what happens in my home and try to work with him. I can’t make him cooperate, be honest or care. 

Today, I am off of work. Taking the kids downtown to hit the children’s museum and dinner. Packing healthy snacks for the road!!

Thank you for coming along on my journey!

Sarah

Family

Let’s be honest here… Life is wonderful and magical and delightful.  Life is also full of tragedy and heartache and pain.  It’s agonizing and amazing all at once.

My son is having a difficult time.  His behavior can be a challenge.  I worry about him ALL OF THE TIME.  He is a wonderful child – smart, creative, funny, kind, helpful, loving.  But at the same time, he can be impulsive and angry and disruptive.

My ex and I do not get along well.  Oh, we try to in front of the kids.  I try really hard to make it look like everything is fine.  We don’t co-parent as well as we could. The kids are onto it.  They know.  You can cut the tension with a knife.

WE MUST DO BETTER FOR OUR CHILDREN…  FOR OUR FAMILY.

It’s time for change… for all of us.

I’ve made a list of things I am going to work on in the next 6 months to help to improve our lives, our health and our family.  I started a “no sugar” diet for the month of June and I did okay.  I cheated some, but overall did well.  I have more energy, feel better and my legs and belly are a little smaller, too.  I’m doing it again for July.

1. Address my work commute.  My office and my home are too far away, and it keeps me away from home too long during the day.
2. Address our health and nutrition.  I have replaced all cleaners and skincare and cosmetics with non-toxic products.  Next, we need to focus on the chemicals and toxins in our food.  My son and I both have a sweet tooth so this is going to be hard!
3. Address the relationship with my ex-husband to allow us to co-parent better.
4. Address my son’s difficulty and anger.  Much of the above will help.

Thank you for joining my journey.

Sarah