Our Sguar Free Journey

It all started back in June when we were trying to decide what to watch one night.  We had heard of the documentary, Fed Up, and decided to watch it.  Little did I know how much my life would change that night.  A very long story short, we felt compelled to try to cut out sugar from our diets.  Once of the most disturbing facts is that the recommended amount of sugar for an adult is 6-9tsp per day (4-7tsp for children, I believe) and we often consume up to FOUR TIMES that amount on a DAILY basis!  So after looking at different blogs and Pinterest, we found an 8 week program called "I Quit Sugar" by Sarah Wilson.  We looked through our schedules and were somehow able to carve 8 weeks of our lives to cut out the white (and brown!) stuff.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we cut out all sweeteners, as well...this includes honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.

The jist of the program is weaning off sugar (and processed white flour) in the first two weeks, completely cutting out all sugar (including fruit) in weeks three through five; adding low fructose fruit back in during week six and seven, and then by week eight, you've survived!  Note: the reason Wilson promotes a fruitless 3 weeks is so that your body can truly detox and your palette can be reset so you know what "sweet" really tastes like.  It is allowed back in during week six and thereafter. 

Let me just say that sugar is in nearly  EV-REY-THING!!!!!  Oh my word, it was a challenge to find edible things that didn't have sugar as an added ingredient.  But, we prevailed.  It took awhile to get acclimated, but I somewhat found a groove when it came to shopping.  It was a mindset change, and once we found things we liked, it was ok.   The hardest part was breakfast and snacks.  Fortunately, the kids were able to eat plain oatmeal and plains Cheerios.  Rylan enjoyed plain yogurt and coconut granola in addition to oatmeal and Cheerios.  I'm amazed how much the kids now enjoy carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers now.  We also ate a lot of nuts for snacks.

I originally didn't tell the kids what we were doing.  I didn't want to fight or argue with them, but Reagan continued to ask why we were eating the snacks we ate instead of "normal" snacks.  I finally explained to him that we were not eating sugar because sometimes eating too much of something can make our bodies sick.  He seemed to understand and accept that answer, and he was totally fine.  He didn't complain much throughout the process; he only wanted to eat fruit and syrup on pancakes again :)

My overall feelings of the past 8 weeks are mixed.  There were a few things I expected to happen.  First, I thought my palette would be affected more.  I definitely am more sensitive to sweet things, but not as much as I anticipated.  For example, in a venti drink, there are 5 pumps of syrup - I couldn't handle that much; I can only handle 1 pump.  Anything more is too sweet.  So that's a positive.  Second, I also still crave sugar and if I eat something with sugar, I don't feel crummy like most people who've been through this program do.  My body doesn't seem to notice a spike in sugar and respond poorly.  On the positive side, we are eating more vegetables and I know that eating less sugar is good for our kids' growing bodies. 

The bottom line is that we will mostly likely continue to be sugar (or nearly) free at home, but we will consume in moderation at social events.  Our desire is to keep the kids away from the white stuff as much as possible, but not deprive them as kids.  We realize after the past eight weeks that sugar is literally in all "kid friendly" items and depriving the kids of EVERY treat will just backfire in the future.  So our goal is to allow them small amounts so that they can know the taste of something too sweet. 

Kyleigh's 3rd Birthday

Kyleigh turned 3 exactly three months ago.  Yes, I'm a little late on the post about her birthday.  I have no legitimate excuse; just got busy doing other things and felt too wiped at the end of the day to write about it.  But, I didn't want it to go past 3 months ago, so here I am writing her post!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Kyleigh!  First, at the end of May, since my parents were in town, we had her bigger celebration with the Lehmanns and Sue.  I gave Kyleigh the option of Minnie Mouse or Curious George as her theme and she surprisingly chose Minnie Mouse.  That was lucky for me because I found some super cute DIY decorations for Minnie :)  Kyleigh was thrilled to open her gifts (some Minnie themed!) as well as eat her cake.  What 3 year old doesn't love being spoiled?!

Her birthday cake

Cupcakes for everyone

Minnie Mouse Dessert Plates

I surprised Kyleigh with donuts from Mariano's that morning before heading out for the day.  On her actual birthday, Kyleigh chose to go to the Shedd Aquarium.  We walked around the general area, but she wasn't that into the fish.  Both Ryan and I were surprised because she always wants to read fish stories and see Mimi and Papa's fish in their backyard.  She was more excited to eat the picnic lunch on the grass overlooking Lake Michigan and then chase the birds around.  After coming home from the Aquarium, Kyleigh opened her birthday presents from us and she picked her birthday dinner.  We then treated her to DQ for dessert!  All in all, it was a good day and she seemed to really enjoy both celebrations!

So serious!

She loves ice cream!

12 Weeks of Summer: Week 11

Well, it's the last week of summer before school starts!  I can't believe it.  With a constant stream of visitors and plenty of things to do, we had a great summer.  Even though this is post is named Week 11, it's the last week of my little activity stick pulling because we didn't officially start pulling until the second week of summer, which is why my weeks are thrown off a bit.

Week of 8/17:
Monday: Swimming Pool with Alvarado's
Tuesday: Picnic with the Lehmanns
Wednesday: FireZone with Wilczek's
Thursday: None
Friday: Harley Davidson Museum
Saturday: Lambs Farm
Sunday: Chicago Botanic Gardens

We had a very full week, especially since the Levesque's arrived on Thursday!  It was the perfect week to end the summer.  The kids loved all of the activities, especially FireZone and Lambs Farm.  Of course they enjoyed the swimming pool and picnic, too.

12 Weeks of Summer: Week 10

Despite having a super busy week of work, I managed to get some activities accomplished!

Week of 8/10:
Monday: none
Tuesday: Pool with Preschool friends
Wednesday: Ice cube painting
Thursday: Barrington Library
Friday: Play Red Light Green Light

Of course, the pool was a big hit on Tuesday.  The kids really enjoyed the ice cube painting, but I won't do it again unless they are naked.  It made a huge mess and fortunately, the stains on their clothes came out.  The Barrington Library was AWESOME!  I can't believe it's taken me 3 years to get there.  They have a light wall, a slide, and tons of things to play with.  The kids had a great time.  Red Light Green Light was a calm game for a busy Friday.

12 Weeks of Summer: Week 9

We technically didn't pull any activity sticks this week because Uncle Brandon, and Michelle and our cousins were visiting.  But just because we didn't pull any sticks doesn't mean we didn't have a great time and fun adventures for the week :)

Week of 8/3:
Monday: nothing - picked up the family from the airport
Tuesday: Lunch at Pilot Pete's
Wednesday: Downtown - Maggie Daley and Millennium parks
Thursday: Picnic at Twin Lakes and then the Cubs vs Giants game
Friday: none

This was our most exciting trip to Pilot Pete's.  Our table was right next to the runway and it was active!  We saw two or three planes land and take off and one helicopter.  The kids were in awe :)  Maggie Daley park was also a hit!  The slides are huge and there are just so many places to play and run around.  Each adult was assigned to a kid so we wouldn't lose anyone (Jacob was considered an adult for this!).  I mentioned to Reagan early in the week that we would go on a picnic with his cousins and he wouldn't let me forget it.  So we squeezed a quick visit to Twin Lakes for playing and a picnic.  Then the kids took the El to the Cubs game and we all had a great time watching the Cubbies win :)

12 Weeks of Summer: Week 8

I fell off the bandwagon and just haven't updated our activities for the last 3 weeks.  So here ya go!

Week of 7/27
Monday: Indoor Picnic
Tuesday: Picnic and Water Show at VBS
Wednesday: Playing with the water table (Jumps n Jiggles closed)
Thursday: Eagle Park
Friday: Twin Lakes with Friends and Lunch at Daddy's work

The kids were really bummed that Jumps n Jiggles was closed on Wednesday.  Mom didn't do her homework and took them there just to find out it was closed.  The kids took the disappointment well and then enjoyed playing in the water table at home.  We also did an unexpected lunch at Ryan's work Friday afternoon after playing at Twin Lakes with the Lehmanns and G's.

12 Weeks of Summer: Week 7

We are already over half of summer!  I can't even believe it.  Some days it feels like time is flying, other days I can't wait for school - and a normal routine - to start.  This was kind of a crazy week for us, so the kids didn't get to pick as many activities.

Week of 7/20:
Monday: Blue and Red Park (Willow Park)
Tuesday: Palatine Library Play Area
Wednesday: Anderson Park with the Grand's
Thursday: None
Friday: None
Saturday: Blueberry picking/ice cream/tractor riding/running through sprinklers

We spent over an hour at Willow Park on Monday.  It was a beautiful day; although a little humid. I thought for sure we would run into Reagan's friends there, but it was just us for that hour and we had a blast.  Rylan discovered the creek and wanted to go near it.  Brought me right back to the days of Kyleigh like that.  Thursday was crazy busy with errands all day.  Friday, I was supposed to have a work meeting, but that was cancelled last minute.  Plus, we drove to Michigan to visit the Barretts.  They, of course, had a blast picking (and eating) blueberries and the ice cream.  Riding the tractors at Erin's parents house is always a blast as well.

Only a few weeks left of activity picking.  They are still having as much fun picking as they did during Week 1 :-)