Launching a new diet

As if cooking for my diet wasn't a challenge in and of itself, I've decided that we need to eat even healthier (and by we I mean Eric). I require a diet pretty high in carbohydrates and protein just to maintain my weight. Too much "diet" and I lose weight and really can't afford to. Not back to pre-pregnancy weight but I'm within 6 pounds or so of it and I'm ok with that.

Our problem lies with our collective sweet tooth. My husband is a very busy man. He works full-time, goes to school part-time (online), volunteers some times a few nights a week at church, and trying to spend time with his daughter on top of it all. Time is a valuable commodity. And there is no time to exercise like he needs to. Poor eating and little exercise equals weight gain equals potential health problems. We both like our sweets: pop, kool-aid, cookies, ice cream, brownies, ect. Its been a particularly bad week for us in the sweets department and I feel the need to make a drastic change (we can't afford to keep buying him new clothes).

So I hit the internet. Why does sugar make people fat? I learned all sorts of things about sugar I didn't know. All the types and what it does to the brain and the fat cells. I realized there is something to this no HFCS fad and I think a 30 day test is in order.

Starting in July we are going to attempt a low sugar (esp low fructose) diet. No pop, no koolaid, no chocolate, no icecream. This is not going to be a sugar free diet by any means. The body needs sugar to function properly and besides that, it would be darn near impossible to do. We also avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague as well, that includes the newly popular but natural stevia. Planning on replacing after dinner sweets with a fruit sweet smoothy (and a fruit that is low in fructose) and other creative replacements. To make this very clear to anyone who may wish to comment on this post. We are not health nuts. No matter how good it is for you, we will not eat tofu, kale, or a variety of other foods that are on everyone's diet list. Carbs have to stay, as do meat protein and some sugar. This is going to be more difficult then going gluten free and that was pretty hard. Because this is something we want to do, not something we have to do. The temptation to cheat is great. I really want to see how it effects Eric's weight after a month. But its not just weight, its energy level too. They recently added a gym to Eric's building downtown and its free for him to use so he lifts a few times a week with a co-worker. He tries to get out for a run once a week as well but his still healing ankle limits that.

So that's the plan. Hopefully we see some good results and try to keep it going for the long run!