Ok, enough ranting for now. Today included a couple of things:

1. A timed mile

2. An “I don’t know what I want to do with my life” crisis

3. COFFEE

I went to the track first thing this morning for a timed mile. It’s been over a year since I did one. I also have done very little speed work lately, so there’s that. I was expecting it to feel terrible but it wasn’t too bad. Not as fast as I would have liked, but I’m also sore today (what’s new) so who knows how it would have gone. It’s fine though-a good starting point!

I was going to do a track workout, but my legs weren’t feeling it after the mile so I did a couple of laps of cool down and a few sprints.

Then, COFFEE. Track workouts mean a trip to my favorite coffee place I never go, since it’s on the way back! This cappuccino was amazing.

Then, breakfast was in the dining hall-banana pancakes with a bit of butter, eggs, and grapes.

Today I did something different-I spent my day phone less. It was exhilarating. Or maybe that was the caffeine…I was way more productive, although also somewhat lost. I was convinced it was a Wednesday…

Lunch was same old-same old. Grilled chicken with Greek seasoning from home last weekend, sage mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted asparagus.

After class today, I FINALLY got a haircut. My ends have been driving me crazy for far too long. Beforehand, I had some roasted carrots, a spoon of sunflower seed butter, and earlier a granola bar in class.

This is sort of embarrassing-after my haircut I DROVE to the gym. On campus. But I was already in my car, and I went to the far gym so…

I had to go though to practice my spin class one last time before tomorrow morning! It went really well, and I’m feeling pumped about my playlist!

Dinner back in my room was more wraps. One with salsa this time though, which was delicious! I just need some avocado now!

On the side, I had some sweet potato tortilla chips and persimmon.

And WHEW, now I’m ready for bed! I will say though, that movie really makes me want to cut out some more processed food!

Feelings on the food industry?

But here’s the plan. 

It seems the common denominator with obesity is highly processed food. A majority of the country has a damaged metabolism. So I’m going to go out and test this. 

For 4 weeks, my roommate and I are committing to eat only whole, unprocessed food.

This IS NOT a diet.

This IS NOT about weight loss.

This IS NOT a quick fix.

This IS NOT about calories. 

This IS about real food.

This IS about health. Long term health. 

And you know what? This IS possible. One of the main reasons I want to do this? To show that if two college students can do this, in the middle of midterms, with limited kitchen access can do it, then anyone can. 

But I’m a scientist, and I want cold, hard evidence. This is about transforming overall health. I’m going to take some data before and after the 4 weeks-but not just weight or body fat. I’m still working on what these will be-I would love to do a test of blood insulin levels, because that would be such a great indicator of metabolic health, and whether eating unprocessed WHOLE foods are a possible cure. However, I’m not sure how plausible it would be for us to get lab tests done twice in a month. 

We may try blood glucose tests-it should give a decent indicator of how our insulin is working (and if we are insulin resistant). We will probably do blood pressure tests as well. Another convenient test is that I have a 5k around the beginning of the 4 weeks, and another one around the end of the 4 weeks, so I’ll have somewhat of an athletic comparison as well.

So how are we defining WHOLE, UNPROCESSED food? 

(Some of this is a little arbitrary, but I need somewhere to draw the line.)

(Most of this is straight from “The Fat Chance Cookbook,” By Robert Lustig)

-no refined sugar

-no highly processed oils

-no weird ingredients

-whole foods 

-foods must resemble what they originally came from

-the fiber must not have been destroyed

-whole, non pulverized grains

-no restrictions on fruit, but less than 28 g (the daily recommend amount) of other added sugars, such as juices or dried fruit

-one special whole food dessert experience a week, with natural sweeteners, high quality ingredients, and still fitting into the daily sugar allowance

Why not Whole30? Doesn’t that cut our unprocessed foods as well?

The Whole30 seems like a great way to reset your body from junk, but the reality is, it’s just not doable for many people, especially those who are new to their health journey. If a person is just starting a healthier lifestyle change, cutting out all grains may backfire. By instead focusing on the least processed foods possible, we can get the nutrients and fiber necessary to restore health. 

*Note: I do consider myself an overall healthy person, yet I still eat a fairly processed diet, like almost everyone is our country. If cutting out processed food improves my health, it will almost certainly help the people who struggle even more with their health.

The goal of this 4 weeks is to prove that it is possible to improve health, without sacrificing life. We aren’t exactly cutting out foods or even drastically changing the way we eat-we are simply changing the quality of foods we will be putting in our body.

For example, take this morning’s overnight oats:

Blackberry chobani, chia seeds, almond milk, and instant plain oatmeal. How would I change this?

Quinoa stirred into chia seeds and plain yogurt, topped with some type of fruit mixture (we’re thinking frozen berries in a slow cooker-how amazing does that sound?)

Real food doesn’t have to be bland or taste bad. I intend on enjoying everything I will eat during the 4 weeks. 

This is also about the lost art of cooking-by making our own foods, we maintain a lot more fiber and nutrients (than processed), and can control exactly what we put into things. Plus, it is an experience. 

We are already brainstorming recipes, meal plans, and cooking schedules. I’m excited for this! 

During this time, I will also be discussing the biochemistry of food-what happens in our body as we break down food. If I’ve never heard of it, I probably shouldn’t be eating it. And it doesn’t count if the only place I’ve heard of it is in Chem lab!

I also realize that this won’t be easy. No more of this.

Or this.

(Yes, I did return to an amazing ice cream place.)

But back in the old days, people didn’t eat sweets every day, they were something for a special occasion-an experience. Hence why I’ve built in a weekly treat. We’re planning on making plenty and sharing with our friends. (Some ideas are homemade raw chocolate and a dense, nutrient and fiber packed banana chocolate chip bread.)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this-if you guys know of any other tests of general health, I would be interested in those as well (as long as the tests are within reason to do!)

And before I leave you, I want to share a few more snapshots from today.

This morning I ran 4 miles. I haven’t done much running lately that a)wasn’t intervals and b)wasn’t on the treadmill. Plus, I’ve been taking it very easy on the running front thanks to foot/heel pain. The good news is that my feet are starting to feel better, and my foot loosened up and felt ok pretty quickly. Another bonus-I swear I’ve gotten faster! I didn’t run with my watch so I can’t really say though. 

I also had my first Coupa cappuccino of the quarter.

It. Was. Perfect. 

I am still not sick of this lunch. The balsamic brussels are amazing. It’s amazing how much better flavored foods are!

In other news, I’m pretty sure I should not be eating Quest bars because they have nuts and my face is breaking out so much! I don’t know why I keep saying I should not eat them and don’t just stop. But to be fair, I’ve only had 2. 

This was dinner. After Crossfit, I had to run to the store, so I decided to pick up dinner. I briefly considered just having ice cream, but then decided that that was a bad idea, so I grabbed this veggie and hummus wrap, before consuming the above ice cream.

Delicious. 

Today was my Zero Sugar Day and it went well! I can’t wait to take you guys through everything!

The hardest part of my day to figure out was my early morning pre-workout snack. I had a difficult time thinking of anything without sugar. Granola balls? Nope. Frozen quick bread? Sorry. Even the oatmeal bread has a tiny bit, even though it doesn’t taste sweet. I decided to soak some oats in milk overnight. Here’s the thing. Cold, plain oats. Ugh. I had to add a little nut butter to make them at all edible, and I was only eating a few bites anyway! I guess I could have made banana oatmeal the night before, but I guess I was just being lazy. Truthfully, I can’t wait to get back to my granola balls tomorrow.

My morning workout was really good. I’m working on trying to use my legs when I row, and my legs were feeling tired at the end, which is fantastic. I opted for spinning over running as the last part of my workout, and that was a good decision. I hadn’t spun in a while, so it felt good! During my erg and spin, I listened to a radio show featured Dr. Lustig. Awesome, as always!

My workouts always take longer than expected. I cut my spin a couple of minutes short because I was worried about missing breakfast! See, here’s the thing about coming late to breakfast…the smoothie ingredients are pretty picked over. I put pretty much everything there in my smoothie, and it was an odd mix, but it tasted fantastic!

Frozen blueberries, grapes, milk, and an orange (peeled). Plus a hardboiled egg!

So what could I not have due to the challenge? Pancakes and waffles obviously. No cereal. None of the dining hall peanut butter; that stuff definitely has sugar (my own does not). No yogurt that wasn’t plain. Fruity yogurt is loaded with sugar! No bread. This may surprise some people. It’s nearly impossible to find bread without added sugars. The only place I’ve really seen it is Trader Joe’s, and maybe some loaves at Whole Foods. Needless to say it’s a rarity! 

I spent the morning studying for tomorrow’s Organic Chemistry midterm! Then lunch before class:

Greens topped with salsa and corn, grilled chicken, and brown rice. Plus a few berries. It’s possible that the chicken had some added sugar, but fairly unlikely, as I couldn’t detect any sweetness. I have seen pre-cooked chicken breast at the grocery before with added sugars though. 

So what didn’t I have? No salad dressing. Almost every salad dressing has sugar. I was planning on just mixing up oil and vinegar, but then I saw the salsa. No ketchup with my chicken. No bread (again). No tomato sauce. I challenge you to find any tomato sauce without sugar. I’ve found like one…ever. No sauces in general. Many have added sugar. No soup, I really have no way of knowing what is in it, and many recipes nowadays call for sugar. Obviously no dessert. 

After class, I ate a quick snack before practice. I was planning on an orange, but I had been thinking about that new almond butter all day. So, due to my indecision, I went with both. 

This stuff is unbelievably smooth!

Check it out!

It looks just like peanut butter, but it’s not! Craziness! I also realized that I haven’t really eaten a banana at my favorite ripeness for eating straight banana lately. This guy was perfect. Not too sweet, just at the point where there is not more green. Yum! Of course, for oatmeal or smoothie purposes, I’m fine with riper bananas. the riper the better for oatmeal! For sandwiches, I prefer them just a tad riper than this one is. Perfectly yellow!

And there’s my orange! I cut them a little strangely (small pieces), but they’re way less messy to eat this way! I also had a small handful of pistachios.

So what did I not have? No granola bars. No sugary nut butter. No dried fruit with added sugar. No chocolate cake. Speaking of which, when I came down to my dorm’s lounge, there it was, staring at me. The very cake that broke my sugar challenge. I laughed in its face and kept walking. No sugar for this gal today!

Practice was good today. I was in a double again, which is my second time. Even though the water was a bit rough, I still had a great row. I improved so much since the first time I was in a double!

Dinner today was from my room. So far, this is my favorite dinner I’ve made in my room, and I’ve made it once before.

Step 1: Steal cheese and spinach from the dining hall!

Step 2: Wash a bowl that really should have been cleaned a while ago….

This is what I came up with! It’s basically an egg scramble. I LOVE having liquid egg whites in my fridge. they can add protein to any meal, and they last forever! So here we have liquid egg whites, mozzarella, spinach, pesto and avocado. Yum!

While I prepared this, I snacked on some of this trail mix:

You better believe it has no added sugar! Which is awesome for trail mix! I also enjoyed half of a banana with peanut butter.

After a meeting, I returned to my room, only to realize that my cocoa powder somehow managed to dump itself into my clothes drawer. Now, I absolutely love cocoa powder (it’s my new obsession), but it gets EVERYWHERE. The problem with living in a dorm, is I don’t have a kitchen in my room. My desk is my kitchen. Cocoa powder is everywhere. Why do I bring up this incident? The smell as I was cleaning it up brought on a major craving for this:

Which, naturally, I took care of. Hey, I had an extra half banana lying around, right? 

So, today I proved that you can enjoy a day of great eating with ZERO added sugar! I actually enjoyed today’s eats more than a lot I’ve had lately! (That avocado-pesto scramble…mmmm.) Sugar is lurking in places you wouldn’t think of. Almost every processed food item has added sugar. Crackers, cereal, sauces. It’s everywhere! Dr. Robert Lustig argues that the addition of sugar into so many foods today is one of the reasons behind the obesity epidemic. So what happened? The problem is two-fold. Around the 1970s, the government’s health division began denouncing fat, saying it was the cause of the weight problem, as well as heart disease. As a result, they launched an effort to remove fat from the American diet. The problem? When fat was removed from processed food, it tasted like cardboard. So what did the food industry do? It added sugar instead! Yogurt is a great example. Non-fat, fruity yogurt has tons of sugar, without the fat. For those of you that cannot tolerate the taste of plain yogurt (I’ll admit, I’m not a big fan), have you tasted full-fat yogurt? It is way more tolerable. This is just one example. Tons of fat-free items hit the markets and sold like crazy under the veil of “health foods.” What else happened around this same time? High fructose corn syrup hit America. It was first developed in Japan, and soon after we got it here. So why was HFCS so appealing to food manufacturers? It was SO CHEAP. Much cheaper than sugar. As a result, they added it to EVERYTHING. Salad dressing, bread, pasta sauce. And it only increased their sales! For the record, HFCS and regular sugar are metabolized the same by your body, so one is not necessarily worse than the other. HFCS was simply cheaper, so manufacturers added so much of it in everything.

Sooo, we took the fat out of food, and replaced it with sugar. So, if fat is the cause of obesity/weight problems, and we reduced our consumption of fat, then why do we have more health problems now than ever? Hmmm…(Also, just a side note, the concept of saturated versus unsaturated fat was not well understood this initiative began.) Think about that for a moment.

On that note, I want to drive home the idea that it is possible to eat a sugar-free diet and still enjoy delicious food! Personally, I really wish the food industry didn’t add sugar to everything. I don’t need my bread sweet! Many Americans have simply grown so accustomed to the sweetness in everything, that we don’t even notice it. My friend from England was talking to me the other day, and remarking how sweet everything is here. Would you call bread sweet? You might if you had never had bread with added sugar before! I wish there were more options in terms of things without added sugar. While I hope to continue to limit sugar intake, I’m not going to continue zero sugar days. My pre-workout snack today? Blech. I’ll take my granola balls any day of the week! In fact, I can’t wait for one tomorrow morning!

What do you think about added sugar in food products?