[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Orema

Wow. Congrat’s, Gemme. You have been doing well! And I can feel the cold just reading your post. Brrrrrrrr.

At some point, please let me know if you’re substituting sugar or just decreasing it. If you’re substituting, would love to know what you’re using. I’m using a granulated and powered Monk Fruit blend that I like.

I'm just decreasing what I used to ingest but to be honest, I ate WAAAAAAY too much sugar. Women should have 25 grams or 6 teaspoons of sugar per day, total. Even now, with me paring down what I eat that is sweet, I'm over that figure but I've decreased my total sugar consumption by more than 2/3rds if that gives you any idea of how much crap I was eating daily.

Before, I "had" to have something sweet....dessert....every night and I did. Root beer barrels, ice cream, gummy bears.....you name it. And my portions were out of control....huge. Not everyone knows that sugar increases the appetite so the more you eat of it, the more you want. This is especially true for HFCS. That stuff is addictive and it's in everything just about.

Now, I still have dessert but instead of crap, I opt for naturally sweet things. Halos, honey crisp apples, prunes, tomatoes, blueberries and so on. The less of the sweet stuff I ate, the more sweet the natural stuff tastes as my taste buds adapt. I don't add sugar to anything so the sugar I eat is already in the food or drink.

You asked for cliff notes and I gave you an essay but I hope that helps!

I just came in from my walk tonight and I feel great. It's 30 degrees outside but feels like 22 with the wind chill. I prefer to go out with my face uncovered and by the time I come in, my cheeks are stinging but not in a bad way. I like the feeling and also the feeling of slight pins and needles in my cheeks as my skin warms up when I get back inside. I do not like the feeling when my thighs start to sting though as the cold penetrates my jeans. Stinging thighs mean it's time to come in, whether I am ready to or not. I still got a good walk in; about 2 miles.

Yesterday's "bomb" snowstorm was kind of crazy. First, it rained ALL day long....some places got 4 inches! Then it transitioned over to snow, which mixed with the rain to make frigid slush and not the kind that's fun to eat. Then the rain came back and then some snow by itself and then rain again and then it stopped. So, I got a bit of a workout last night at the end of work as I had to shovel the sidewalks and clear a path so people could get onto the property without slipping or falling. I wound up getting in 9970 steps yesterday. I would have walked around the living room or something to get to an even 10,000 but I got caught up in a trash TV show on Netflix and lost track of time before my pedometer clicked over at midnight.

Today was bananas at work. It was only a half day but I got in 10,000 steps in less than 5 hours. I did a lot of cleaning so I was up and down the step ladder and then I had to go salt and shovel the ice on about 20% of a 2 acre property leftover from yesterday's storm. We only got up to the mid-30s but it was sunny so the the snow on the roofs melted and the downspouts were shooting water out all day and making a mess. Tomorrow's going to be worse because the water on the ground that's spread out will freeze and it's all black ice. Luckily, most of my customers either wait for it to warm up during the day or are comfortable and knowledgeable on icy pathways but not all. All it takes is one lawsuit.

So far tonight I'm at 17,004 steps but I still have an hour or two before bed so I'll get more in before it's all said and done.