Caroline Dines

Good morning. I am so glad it’s Thursday since it is my last work day before the weekend. I am also excited because this weekend I don’t have to pack, drive or go anywhere. Darin and I have plans to work on our Halloween costumes, sleep in, read, watch Dexter and go running. What do you all have planned for this weekend?

For the past couple weeks I have noticed a trend. I make commitments to myself about reforming my habits on Thursday or Friday and then by the following week I haven’t exactly stuck to them. I think this is a pretty typical pattern we all go through but it’s usually the reverse. Most people are “good” during the week and slip up on the weekends. Speaking for myself I have the hardest time during my work hours because the house kitchen holds the greatest tempations for me: desserts laden with processed sugar. I have decided to go cold turkey for one week since it has been hard for me to distinguish whether something is worth it or not worth it lately. So for the next week (starting today and ending next Thursday morning) I will be passing up any and all sweet treats created, donated, or bought for the house. This is going to be difficult I am sure but I feel it is completely necessary in order to reset my palate and cleanse myself of all the unnecessary sweetness I have come to expect each night. The only sweet treats I will be indulging in are of the fruit variety. I’ll be having fruit and yogurt (not fro-yo, mind you) for “dessert”. I know that it’s not good to deprive yourself of things and sometimes can lead to unhealthy binges at the end, but I know my body and I know my mind and if I don’t proclaim sugar off limits for a time period there will be no end in sight. I started this blog in order to keep my accountable and to help with my mission to life a healthy and clean food life.

The timing of this week is very much calculated. I wanted to begin on a Thursday since Thursday night is usually my hardest night since we have a volunteer who makes the most mouth watering desserts. Starting today I will have enough will power since it is day 1 to say no. My hope is that by next Friday when the week is technically over I will have a better understanding of what my body craves and I will be able to make a real decision on whether or not I want the dessert or not.

On to breakfast…

We are particularly low on groceries at the moment so breakfast was a bit thrown together but came out fabulous. I cooked up some real stove top oats using my stash of Grandy Oats from Maine.

I used just water to cook the oats but added a sprinkle of cinnamon, a dash of salt and a splash of vanilla. I found a single Macintosh apple which I figured would be perfect to cook up and add a little natural sugar to my oats.

The real oats were so much better than instant. I made enough for breakfast tomorrow so you’ll be seeing a repeat for sure. I think this going to be new breakfast, I’ll make up a big batch and separate them out into portions. These oats were so hearty and really did a good job of filling me up. The half an apple and scoop of cashew butter (no added sugar) didn’t hurt either in the fullness department. I couldn’t resist a sprinkle of unsweetened coconut just to add some more texture. I enjoyed my hearty bowl looking out at the ONE tree I have in front of our very city building. It certainly felt like fall, too bad it’s going to be 70 degrees today!