There's No Stopping Now!

This past week was definitely one of the highlights of 2011 for me. Finally, after weeks of organizing and a wee bit of stressing about getting things done, the big day was upon us. No, I didn't get hitched, but I did get to be part of a fantastic celebration of local food on PEI. Myself and a gang of other people here on PEI that are passionate about local food hosted an event called A Local MEAL. It was intended to be a celebratory event where 'food folk' shared stories, attendees mingled and everyone enjoyed a delicious, free sample of local foods. I blogged about it on our website, check it out here. It was such a success (we had standing room only and estimates of over 200 people in attendance!) and the energy was so positive, that I feel I can't stop now! The good news - there are endless opportunities to get involved in local food development here on PEI. The not-so-good news - I still have a day job!

Today marked Day 15 of my 'sugar reduction' plan. I've stayed true to my plan not to eat sugar before 8 pm and continue to find this quite easy to do. I've taken a couple of desserts 'to go' (both were apple crisps), but generally my after-eight treat is less indulgent. My second weigh-in was on Sunday and I was not that surprised to see my weight hadn't changed since the previous week. The week had been filled with events including A Local MEAL, a girls' night, and an afternoon pub meal that I'd not anticipated. I managed to avoid sugar until after 8 in all cases, but had other foods in excess that I shouldn't have. I paid for it on Saturday night after my pub meal - I shared a mediterranean chicken wrap with Luke and we shared the serving of sweet potato fries. I felt nauseous for the next 4 hours. In any case, I'm not going to worry about the lack of weight loss this past week, it was an adrenaline-filled, stressful and celebratory week.

I decided that this week I needed to up the ante on my road towards sugar elimination. This week I tasked myself with choosing one day on which I'd completely avoid refined sugars/chocolate. So the only sugars I could consume would be from fruit or other natural sources. I chose to conquer this challenge today. It's 11.12 pm and I've resisted sugar! Yay me!

In case you're wondering what I'm eating, here's a run down of what I had today:

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs with spinach & tomato
Lunch: 4 oz of chicken breast and garden salad with no dressing or low-cal dressing
Snack: Green apple
Dinner: 3 egg omelete with 2 slices of bacon, sauteed veggies and a garden salad
Snack: Whole-wheat tortilla w/Tbps of natural PB and 1/2 a banana

Yesterday, this is what I had:

Breakfast 2 boiled eggs
Lunch: 4 oz chicken breast with salad
Snack:1.5 cups of grapes
Dinner: 1.5 sausage (low-fat Island Taylored) and salad
Snack: Hot chocolate with marshmallows + a peanut butter ball (unexpected, Luke put this under my nose!)

I'm feeling pretty fantastic about the way I've been eating lately. I know it's not 100%, but I'm ok with that for now. I've lost 20 lbs since I got home in June, the vast majority since September and I've been kicking up my strength training lately so am starting to feel like I'm getting back into shape. So, again, it seems there's no stopping me now!