Challenge #3

This weekend finds me down at the lake house once again. There is something soothing to me when I top that hill and the lake stretches out in front of me. Even with the fall winds taking the final leaves from the trees, the lake just has a certain beauty about it. It’s such a different place in the fall; very little traffic, lots of quietness, bare beaches. It’s great.

And what do you think I did once I unloaded the car? I made me a cup of coffee – with sugar! J It was wonderful! Seriously though, I can’t imagine cutting out sugar entirely from my diet. For one, I’m so conditioned to having sugar in the foods I have eaten my entire life that it doesn’t even seem possible to go completely sugar free. Even some of the things I find that are ‘good for me’ have some form of sugar in them. For those who have taken that step of cutting sugar from their diet, I would love to know how they do it every single day. Having said that, I don’t intend to go on a spree of eating spoonfuls of sugar straight from the bag, but I’m still going to need to use sugar if I drink coffee and I’m ok with that. But I will continue to check labels more than ever to see where our food producers are hiding sugar.

Thanksgiving is next week and I am SO excited to have both girls (and sons-in-lawJ) and all 3 grandbabies coming to our house! Usually I have a menu planned out weeks in advance and I make out my grocery list well ahead of time but as of today all I know is we are having turkey and dressing.  I would like to find a recipe for a new dessert that’s not so heavy; maybe a fruit cobbler or something. If anyone has a recipe to share, I’d love to hear it!

As far as a challenge for the upcoming week, I’m going to keep it simple and realistic. Good thing we got the ‘no sugar’ challenge out of the way before Thanksgiving! J 

Challenge #3- Eat Breakfast Every Single Morning –  And NO, a Diet Coke and a Donut doesn’t count as a breakfast. You know who you are! J  I can’t start my day without breakfast but I know there are others that don’t eat anything at all until much later in the day. I don’t have to give you the speech about how important breakfast is do I? J Believe me, I know how crazy mornings can be but eating a good breakfast can be quick as well as healthy. I’m a big fan of smoothies made with fresh or frozen fruit, some ice cubes and a little almond milk or orange juice. You can literally whip up a smoothie in a matter of minutes and head out the door. Or maybe you only have time to grab a banana before sprinting out the door. If you have a few extra minutes in the evening, cut up some fresh fruit and put it in a Tupperware container and stick it in the fridge. The next morning grab a plastic fork and your fruit and head out the door! Give your body something REAL to get the day started out right! Challenge yourself this week~ Your body deserves it!

*Thought for the day*

We never know the love our parents have for us – until we become parents ourselves. ~

Henry Ward Beecher