Sugar, free food and being happy

I haven’t had much to say lately because a) it seems as though my effort to lose weight has resulted in me being able to stabilize it….. which I’ve decided is much better than trying to maintain and gaining weight! b) I don’t think my life is very exciting right now but I’ve decided – screw it – im going to blog about random crap if I feel like it and stop worrying whether it is boring/has a point – haha! Sure most of it might be to do with food, but that’s ok, I’ve realized I’m not the only one who is a little obsessed with it!

I love good food and coffee and after a little rebound from strict dieting for so long I am re-learning to enjoy what I like in moderation. I’ve decided to be happy and put an end to self imposed misery and if you read the link in my last post – my attitude has been purely narcissistic! Skwigg put it beautifully in this post about focusing on behaviours rather than numbers. If I am happy, I will make good choices, enjoy training and my weight will settle naturally.

So, back to food ;P I work in the city and instead of browsing around at clothes like other normal girls, I went to check out the newly refurbished Coles that people are raving about. I even served myself when I bought a pkt of Nescafe cappuccino sachets. I figured I would save some money and sugar/milk by drinking them instead of buying cappuccino’s – addict!!

On my way back to work I got handed a free sample of Sultana Bran ‘crunch’. I’m such a sucker for free stuff and I used to LOVE Sultana Bran in high school But I checked the label and would you believe its 28% sugar!!? A whopping 12.8g per measly 45g serve. Think I’ll stick to my oats, where I can make 30g go a long way :)

Gone is the fat free craze and the focus is well and truly on sugar, keeping your blood sugar and insulin levels stable and using the energy from carbohydrates more wisely. Life is a lot simpler when you eat mostly unprocessed food I think, and don't have to worry about reading food labels and added sugar. At first I thought that artificial sweetener was a god send but lately I have made an effort to cut back on the amount of Splenda I’ve been using on my oats and on natural yoghurt and have noticed that when its not super sweet how much more satisfying it is, ie you don’t feel like you could immediately eat another bowl! Perhaps there is some truth to those theories that artificial sweetener can cause you to overeat (if you are not conscious and careful!)

Do you agree that you can ‘decide to be happy’? I know a lot of people who are chasing happiness or will be happy when they lose x kg, get a new job etc …. Why wait? We all have a lot to be grateful for and happy about RIGHT NOW.