sugar detox {week 2 recap}

We are in the home stretch! Today marks the beginning of week 3 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox.  We are both still alive and have not died of sugar withdraws - thank goodness. If you have been following the journey of Lean and Sarah on the 21DSD, then you know that last week we gave ourselves some goals to work on.  (We both like goals, it gives us something to work on!)  

Week 2 was a very slow and laid back week for me - much needed after the previous week - so I found it really easy to focus on the goals, be conscious and take time to enjoy food. On the other hand, Sarah - the PhD student - found week 2 much harder than week 1, with a combination of being more tired and the excitement of the challenge of the detox wearing off, it by far harder. 

{week 2 goals}

• Be conscious of food choices - think about how you feel and what you feel your body needs (not what your eyes want).
• Sit down to eat. 
• Take small bites and put the utensils down while you are chewing - and really chew!
• Take time to eat.

• All in all, we need to be conscious, mindful and slow down!

{be conscious, be mindful}

Sarah:  “I found it hard at times to maintain mindfulness during busy days and being stressed out, not having much time to eat in the first place, and with the expectation that I slow down, take my time, focus on my food.  Forcing myself to slow down, and to focus on the moment ultimately made me more conscious of not only my food, but how often I am not paying attention.  Making time to slow down during the day also made for a less stressful afternoon.  Taking time to really pay attention, engaged with and smell, feel, taste the details of my food, I left the meal feeling more satisfied."

Leah -I also noticed I paid more attention to the meal components and amounts, making sure it was enough food to sustain me or not too much to overfill me. I definitely had to do a lot of self-talk to keep myself mindful. My habit of mindlessly grabby food out of the fridge and standing in front of the fridge and eating was way less this week -go me! I also was super impressed with myself while cooking. I often snack on food mindlessly while cooking leaving me too full to enjoy the delicious meal – not this week. It is such a fantastic feeling to have an appetite to sit down and really enjoy the meal I just created. Whodathunk?!

{sit down, slow down and enjoy your food}

We both noticed that when you are more conscious in slowing down and making time to makes for a little less stressful day (afternoon especially), but you become much more engaged with the smell, feel, taste the details of my food.  As a result, we both were left much more satisfied. Taking time to eat, your body is able to really feel when you are full.  I really noticed that I was eating far less in between meals. This was probably a combination on not mindlessly eating, but also being more mindful of what is in my meals.

Not only does sitting down and slowing down to eat give you time to enjoy your food, but it allows you to have a peaceful moment in the day. Sarah and I both really enjoyed this aspect and noticed that we often forget to just have a moment enjoy the simple things in life.

Sarah said it well "I hope to continue this goal into next week [and beyond] and continue taking some time to just sit, and enjoy the fruits of my hard work, that of course are ultimately done for me to begin with, so why not continue to enjoy them?"   

So really, why not? Why not make it a daily practice?!

{favorite grub of the week}


Leah - obsessed, I mean really obsessed with the Gratifying Green Smoothie I posted about last week.  It is just so tasty in filling. I have had it for breakfast at least 5 times over the past week. It keeps me full until 1 - amazing!!

Sarah - She has enjoyed microwaved sweet potatoes as a post workout snack. Her favorite meal of the week was: Slow Cooked Cilantro Lime Pulled Chicken with Paleo Enchilada Sauce - I think we may need the recipe for this one!