"Sugar, she's got the power, soothes my soul for half an hour, half an hour...."

These have absolutely been the craziest few weeks.  The snowpocalypse is never ending!  Last week, we lost power for 2 days and we have an all electric house.  Combine that with 20 degree nights, and yeah, that was hell on earth.  We were terrified of pipes bursting (despite constant running water), and we learned that we're able to sleep in a 49 degree house.  Not something one really wants to learn!  The power went out last Wednesday at 6:45 am and came back on Thursday at 8:35 pm.  I am so relieved that didn't happen when I was recovering from surgery.  My husband's parents were more than willing to have us stay over, but we just felt more comfortable knowing what was going on with the house at night.

Needless to say, I could have completely messed up my diet during this time.  Instead, I lost another pound!  This soft diet has been very helpful.  Naturally, I could have eaten some really bad things, but I still chose not to.  In fact, I just had my heaviest meals in 2 weeks today, and my stomach is crying right now.  We got lots of exercise with shoveling snow and walking around in 10 inches of snow.  I didn't snack at all, but my meals were certainly substantial.  I don't think it's really going to affect me though, as I realized what has been holding me back and kept me on a plateau for months...

SUGAR

WHITE SUGARY SNACKS

I didn't realize I had such a sweet tooth.  The soft diet has kept me from cookies and other useless sugary snacks.  I'm ok with ice cream...for some reason, I think the milk keeps me full with a half cup.  Donuts and pastries are just evil for me.  I love cake products so much, it's not even funny.  And if I may pat myself on the back, my homemade cupcakes are decadently amazing.  

I was ok staying away from crunchy Doritos and chips.  I tend to count out my serving sizes, and then I have to put the bag away.  The more I stayed away from addictive sweets, the more I didn't crave them.  When I got back to work, I tried a couple lemonade Girl Scout cookies and chewed very carefully.  My body started telling me "more...just one more...come on..."  It freaked me out.  You may say, Well DUH, but I didn't realize what an addictive substance white sugar is.  I read about organic and raw sugar, and while they're better for you in terms of being chemical free, they still break down in your body the same way as regular white sugar.

I don't plan on banning sugary products altogether, but I certainly plan on cutting them down big time.  I realized that I get hungrier with more cravings when I eat those snacks.  My trainer has always said that carbs with no protein is just the worst thing for me and my body chemistry.  She's always told me that if I must have a donut that it should be immediately eaten after lunch or dinner so my blood sugar doesn't spike.  If I eat nothing but carbs for breakfast (sometimes that would be a donut or two), my appetite and mood will be off for the rest of the day.  I crash very hard with just carbs.  In fact, I don't know how I did so much shoveling this morning after having Trader Joe's French toast with syrup.  That's probably why I overcompensated with lunch and dinner.  However, the only snack I had was a little Coke, and it tasted gross and syrupy.  High fructose corn syrup is so evil, but we all know that.

I figure I need to start cooking again, and while I will still bake decadent treats, I want to be able to make other healthier and more natural options as well.  My best friend directed me to this cool website called My Whole Food Life, and the recipes look really good!

So, I'm down 48 pounds and SO close to my second goal.  I'm excited to be this close to 50 lbs down, and I'm fitting into clothes really well.  We went to a one night Broadway revival concert on Saturday, and I looked FABULOUS in my size 16 dress, if I do say so myself.

I changed into strappy black heels a block away from the theatre.  Considering we walked about 6 miles in the city, I'm sure as hell glad I made the sensible decision!  It's worth it to drag extra shoes with you in a cute satin bag (hidden in the plastic bag).  But look, I have ankles!  Holy crap, right?  

Another NSV is that I can look down and see my toes, even with my stomach pushed out.  I can't tell you if there's a full pedicure going on, but I can tell you that toes exist.

I also finally shoveled snow for the first time in 3 years.  My husband was kind enough to spoil me for 3 years, but now I'm at a point where shoveling is good for my cardio!  Now we have 2 snow shovels.  

Check out the LAYERS!!  That Game of Thrones Lannister shirt never even fit this well on its own in the summer!  And for fans, look, my coat turned me into a Wildling.  

On that note, my husband is definitely not doing the traditional flowers and candy thing for Valentine's Day this year.  Flowers tend to make me sad because they die, and candy is just the worst thing for me now!  So, he bought me half of the new Game of Thrones Pop Figures and gave them to me early.  

We collect all of them, so this is genuinely exciting for me!

I will probably have more to say on the sugar topic another time, as the manager of my gym lent me the past August issue of National Geographic all about sugar and why we can't resist it.  In the meantime, I'm just working on controlling my cravings and not eating for the hell of it during these cabin fever winter storms.