It’s so pretty outside!!!
At least here in Boston. I hope it’s pretty outside for you too. It’s so pretty here, in fact, that I did some yoga-ish stuff out by the river yesterday. The crisp temperatures are perfect for keeping you cool when you start working up a sweat.
All while the leaves are starting to change and I am starting to realize that getting out of bed in the morning becomes exponentially more difficult.
I haven’t shared a full day of eats in a while, so let’s look at that for this wonderful What I Ate Wednesday!
While we’re at it, I want to talk to you about sugar in my life lately. It’s present (that’s for SURE), and sometimes I feel like it’s present a little too much. I don’t hide the fact that I am head over heels for the dining hall desserts and that I have one basically every day.
breakfast // dorm oats: rolled oats with vanilla protein powder, banana, cinnamon, and pb
I don’t eat dessert because I feel like I “deserve” it or because I feel like I need to prove that I’m not afraid of dessert. At this point in my journey, I eat dessert because it’s delicious.
lunch // roast beef, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, roasted veggie, honey mustard sandwich on whole wheat + pear
Needless to say, I’ve noticed that my dessert intake has been rather indulgent in the past few weeks. I should make it clear that I am not guilty in regards to the calories/sugar/fat from the desserts. Rather, I am aware that I’ve been eating a lot of sugar, and I dunno…as a health-professional-to-be, I feel inclined to do something about that.
snack #1 // cinnamon rice cake from a stash of communal snacks in the Catholic Center
I somewhat consciously try to avoid processed sugars throughout the day when I’m walking, dancing, learning and such. However, I still do eat quite a bit of sugar overall throughout the day (often in the form of bananas…)
snack #2 // banana with peanut butter
I try to keep my sugar sources pretty wholesome for the most part. That being said, I don’t obsess over it. I mean, some of the sauces that the dining hall uses for their savory dishes probably have just as much sugar a cupcake, but it’s guatever.
dinner // Creole chicken (like a sweet BBQ sauce) with rice + side salad
With all this in mind—my higher consumption of desserts lately and my fairly high consumption of sugar (from wholesome sources or otherwise) throughout the day itself— I decided to take a break from all desserts for five days last week. I challenged myself to not eat dessert from Monday-Friday (I kinda cheated on Friday during retreat…so Monday-Thursday).
dessert (last night, not last week) // carrot cake a la mode
It was obviously challenging some nights, but I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself. I know that during my recovery, it was dangerous to deny myself sweets because there was a good possibility I was avoiding sweets because of calories. But these days, I have NO FREAKING CLUE how many calories I’m eating every day, so I’m just eating what feels right for my body. Some days that includes dessert and others it doesn’t.
post-dessert // some pineapple at a night event
Instead of eating dessert all last week, I still ate some cottage cheese with granola and more banana (I know, I know). Arguably, I was consuming just as much sugar in eating a concoction like that as I would be in eating dessert.
post-dessert part two // a couple fried plantains with honey
So I guess, in my mind, my dessert fast last week was to lower my sugar intake, but in reality, my dessert fast was more about challenging my self control. The wonderful thing about all this is that I feel comfortable challenging my self control in regards to food again. I’m not worried that I will start having disordered intentions in avoiding certain foods.
late night snack // spoonful of pb
I feel one step closer to that elusive 100% recovery, if that’s possible.
To clarify, the eats I just showed you were from yesterday, so I wasn’t on a dessert fast. I only did the dessert fast last week. 🙂
*DISCLAIMER: It has taken me a long time to get to this point at which I feel comfortable and healthy avoiding certain foods for a short amount of time. If you have a history of an eating disorder, please be honest with yourself in making these decisions.
Hope your day is sweeter than my three-part dessert last night!
So tell me:
Have you ever fasted from dessert for an extended period of time?
Do you prefer sweet foods over savory foods? I do indeed. If that wasn’t obvious.
Does anyone else eat bananas like insanity?
What did you eat yesterday?
Daily Moves and Grooves 
That’s funny – I’m actually doing something like this right now and was planning on writing about it next week. I noticed that as soon as I went back to school, my sugar consumption totally spiked. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. People are always giving you free food on campus and of course I’m going to eat it! But then it turned into me seeking out ALL the sugar and devouring it and then feeling really physically awful afterward. Basically, I’m doing it as part of a conscious overall effort to take better care of myself.
It’s really excellent and shows how far you’ve come in your recovery that you feel okay thinking about and challenging things like this!
That’s great that you are aware of your sugar consumption for the sake of feeling your best! Thanks for your kind words, Ellen ♥
I love sweet stuff probably waaayyy too much. 😃 Breakfast for breakfast, lunch and dinner, please! And not savory breakfasts, either. Ever since I went on an extreme, high protein, low carb diet, where I had an egg white “omelet” for breakfast every day, I haven’t been able to face savory breakfasts. ☹ I think it will probably take me eating something that’s being served by someone else before I can appreciate that again. Right now, I’m accepting that I’m not ready for that yet. I have savory stuff for dinner all the time, and lunch maybe half the time. 😜
Breakfast all day would be totally okay with me too 😉 Oh man, I can only imagine the aversion you have to egg white omelets now. Glad you’ve found other things to eat for breakfast that make you feel happy!
I think it all is about where your mind is at, and there’s nothing wrong with trying to tweak something because you want to feel better! I notice during times I try to avoid anything at all, I just want it more, so it doesn’t really work for me. But I do notice weeks I unconsciously eat less dessert type foods I feel better physically. I just try to accept it’ll be different week to week, day to day, and roll with it. PS can I please come eat at your dining hall?! How is it so good when my dining hall in college was so horrible!?
So true. I just ate dessert every day this week, because that’s just what happened. Not mad at all.
COME VISIT ME! ♥
This is great, Alison! I don’t think there is anything wrong with giving yourself these little “challenges,” or being aware of something and seeing what its like to change it up, especially if you are feeling confident in your recovery and your reasonings and your ability to do it safely. In fact, its just more ability for you to see and prove to yourself how far you’ve come. And, as you said, you are very aware that you may still be taking in the “same amount of sugar,” with your other choices, and so its not just about that . This all being said… I hope that carrot cake tasted EXTRA amazing this week. 🙂
Thanks so much, girl! The carrot cake was indeed extra special 🙂
I eat wayyy too many bananas! I can’t help it – they are too good and I crave them all the time. I am definitely a sweet lover and I let myself indulge in smaller treats like a couple pieces of chocolate or a cookie because I will just crave it more if I try to eliminate sweets altogether. Speaking of sweets that carrot cake looks delicious!
If there aren’t at least 2 bananas in my dorm at all times, something doesn’t feel right… haha!
Sweet sweet sweet for me!!!!!!!!! And I completely understand what you’re saying! Challenges are always good to keep growing
Have a great one Alison and thank you so much for your SWEET 😉 text! Love you!!
I totally understand what you mean, and I don’t think I’m quite actually to the point of food freedom as much as you are, but I am still relying and trusting the Lord for this journey. I usually have a dessert every day, but I guess I don’t feel like it’s too much? Yet, I do have to challenge my self-control, because I don’t really have a restrictive mindset very much anymore, so I just kind of slap my hand when I go for the 5th handful of m’n’m’s when I know I really don’t want or need them. 😀
Trust me, I still have something sweet and sugary every day, but it’s not always necessarily “dessert” food. Like maybe a bowl of raisin bran (with the sugar-drenched raisins, haha!).
Every once and a while (often on Monday) I realize that I’ve had an excess of sugar over the last couple of days and it’s nice to take a couple of days off just to remind my body that it doesn’t need it!
I like how you only take a couple days off just to feel better but not as a way to “compensate”!
It’s so refreshing the perspective you have on sugar and eating in general. I have had and still have trouble with a controlling/restricting food mindset, and reading your posts is always very encouraging to me on the path towards food freedom!
We used to go without desserts every Christmas season and give the money we would have spent on desserts to a charitable organization reaching out to the hungry or homeless or less-fortunates of the world. Then we mostly stopped eating desserts, so we haven’t done that in a few years.
I very much have a sweet tooth for sure. I am not as crazy about bananas out-of-hand as I once was, being altogether too picky about ripeness. But more and more lately, I’ve been eating them in things, and I’ve been craving them and changing recipes to include a banana element. 😉 Mostly salads yesterday…lunch was a California club salad, and dinner was a taco salad (with guac!! ❤ ).
That is such a cool thing you did every Christmas! It really is amazing how much little bits of food every day can add up. I love that idea of giving that money to charity.
I think sugar may be my favorite food group… is it a food group? I consider it one. I love how mindful you are Alison. I think it is vital for anyone with a disordered past to reevaluate everyone and again to check in with yourself. Also, the sugar in bananas is probably (not scientifically inclined whatsoever so I could be very wrong) the best possible sugar you could have. Don’t fret about those desserts too much sweet girl. 🙂
I’d say sugar is a food group 😉 I also agree (without any scientific backing) that banana sugar is the best sugar!!
I definitely prefer sweet over salty. No question. A combo of the both is good too 🙂 And are those banana chips from trader joes? Those are my fav!
Sweet and salty ahhhh. The BEST! I’m not the biggest fan of banana chips actually, but my mom loves them, haha!
Sweet > Salty – ALWAYS! I absolutely love bananas, too. I have been eating a ton of them recently. I sprinkle cinnamon on top and then slowly eat with a fork and a tbsp or more peanut butter. I actually just enjoyed for a pre-breakfast 🙂
PB with banana is a snack that will never ever get old. Add cinnamon and it’s perfect!
I have an intense sweet tooth so I totally get you on the sweet vs. salty debate. Glad to hear you’re at a point in your recovery where you can comfortably challenge yourself like that. That carrot cake a la mode looks gooooood, by the way.
It was gooooood carrot cake a la mode 🙂 Thank you, Kaylee!
Recently, this has been an area of concern for me as well. It’s not so much I have been eating too many desserts but if I don’t treat those daily sweet tooth cravings, I definitely notice I cannot stop thinking about food or sweets until I satisfy my craving. I do not want to binge so I make sure to honor my natural sweet tooth every day, even if it is just a big spoonful of one of the many nut butters I have with fruit and yogurt. Dessert should be allowed whenever you are feeling it and I am glad you are taking care of yourself ❤
It is definitely important to honor your cravings. A lot of the times I want some cake or cookies or ice cream, but sometimes I truly just want some more wholesome sugars. Sweet nonetheless, but a little more bang for my buck nutrition-wise 🙂
That pistol squat though….
This actually came at a really good time- Unlike most people in my family, when Im stressed, i eat. I also eat a tonne of sugar which meant skittles by the packet and it’s mindless. I definitely know it’s not a craving but it’s just not particularly healthy. I think your in the right frame of mind to make these decisions and honour a craving VS a desire.
I am totally a stress eater too, and I think it’s just as important to realize when I’m stress eating as it is to realize when I honestly just want a cookie. Of course we both got that stress eating gene. We’re twins.