Sugar Fast 2016 Update

I was looking at the calendar last night and realized I'm over halfway done with my sugar fast -- 3.5 weeks in, 3 weeks to go!

Overall it's going better than I expected. There are definitely some moments where it's SO hard to say no to something sweet -- donuts at church on Sunday, sneaking a bite of the girls' morning cereal, every night scooping ice cream for Rocky.

I didn't even allow myself to share in the snow ice cream
I made for my family on last Tuesday's snow day! 

The biggest thing that's helped? Having alternative snacks at-the-ready. I have my own cereal, my own fatty cashews and naturally sweet fruit. In the afternoon -- the hardest snacky time of the day for me -- I'm often just thirsty or in need of a protein boost (hence the nuts or a hard-boiled egg).

Yet I still feel like once I'm off this fast, it will be so easy to slip right back into my old ways. What's to stop me from indulging every morning noon and night again? I'm hoping I'll be able to allow myself a few things but still keep healthy limits. And that's going to take accountability, to my blog readers and my husband!

I'll need to set some tight boundaries for myself, like only allowing dessert/ice cream on the weekends. And actually measuring my sweetened coffee creamer instead of just using "a splash" in my cup.

Do you have any tips/ideas for good limits to set for myself once my full fast is over?

And since I missed doing a Lion's Tales post on Saturday, here's what I ate last week:

Day 18 - Saturday Feb 27
Coffee with heavy cream -- no sweetener!
Breakfast: Shredded wheat cereal with milk
Lunch: leftover homemade pizza
Dinner: Adobo chicken with rice and carrots - this morning I went to a freezer meal workshop with a friend who sells Wildtree, and I kept out a bag of adobo chicken for dinner

Day 19 - Sunday Feb 28
Coffee with heavy cream -- no sweetener!
Breakfast: Homemade bread (contains honey) with butter
Lunch: Potluck at church. I brought a pork and rice dish that I knew I could eat, and a good friend of mine brought frozen/slushy fruit that I devoured for dessert.
Dinner: Chicken tenders, roasted potatoes (with my new Wildtree spices), and celery & carrots -- Rocky and the girls had bbq sauce and ketchup for dipping, along with the ranch dressing that I used

Day 20 - Monday Feb 29
Coffee with heavy cream -- no sweetener, I'm on a roll!
Breakfast: Banana bread with butter (for this recipe, I used half whole wheat and half all-purpose, and omitted the nuts)
Lunch: Burger King chicken nuggets (lunch date with Ellie)
Dinner: Chicken tortilla soup, with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips

Day 21 - Tuesday March 1
Coffee with heavy cream and maple syrup (snow day...)
Breakfast: Banana bread with butter
Lunch: leftover chicken tenders and potatoes
Snack: Almond-flavored coffee with heavy cream and honey, hard-boiled egg, strawberry fruit strip
Dinner: Grilled hamburger with lettuce, mayo, mustard, dill relish, tomato (no ketchup)

Day 22 - Wednesday March 2
Coffee with heavy cream and maple syrup
Breakfast: Shredded wheat cereal with milk
Lunch: Roast beef, cheese, lettuce, mayo wrapped in tortilla
Dinner: Out to eat at a restaurant fundraiser, I had bacon macaroni & cheese with a side of fruit.

Day 23 - Thursday March 3
Coffee with heavy cream and maple syrup
Breakfast: the last of my homemade granola (need to make more!!!)
Lunch: Crackers, cheese, summer sausage, grapes
Dinner: Chicken and cheese quesadillas

Day 24 - Friday March 4
Coffee with heavy cream and maple syrup
Breakfast: Shredded wheat cereal with milk
Lunch: (out running errands) hard-boiled egg, peanut Larabar, cashews
Dinner: Homemade pizza (I don't put sugar in my homemade crust or sauce)

Day 25 - Saturday March 5
Coffee with heavy cream and maple syrup
Brunch while doing an Usborne coffee & coloring party at a friends' house, I avoided the beautiful muffins and scones and had the egg casserole and a plain bagel (probably a little sugar in the bagel, but oh well), more coffee with just cream
Snack: Hard-boiled egg, cashews, strawberry fruit strip
Dinner: Out to eat with with Rocky's parents, I had pork with mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus. There was a barbeque-type sauce on the pork that I KNOW had sugar (but I didn't know it came with the sauce until it arrived - guess I didn't read the menu all that well), but I wasn't going to ask the server about every single menu item before ordering...