Year Two, Day 361: No Sugar! No Salt! No Mercy!

What a glorious day!  Sun is shining. Skies are blue. Birds are singing!

I really should have gotten up early for my vigorous walk. But I had trouble sleeping last night. Much coughing!

Today is Monday. So I made sure and got my weight and measurementa before I headed to my office job.  I also filled my
"Hydro Flask" with hot water and two tea bags. One black tea, and one "Organic India Tulsi Sweeet Rose" tea. Apparently Tulsi is "Holy Basil" which is "an herb with healing properties that relieve stress and protect the immune system". https://organicindiausa.com/organic-india-tulsi-sweet-rose-tea/

Magical, healing properties aside, I love the flavor of this tea!  The problem this morning was that I did not even get to sip it until 11:30 a.m. So busy was I!  Like a race horse when the starting gun fires!

But I like being busy. It makes the time fly. And I feel needed!  Love feeling needed. 

Today is Monday. My stats day. I was hoping to see the scale budge a bit. I tried kicking it. That didn't help.

So...

I am going to make some small changes this week. First of all, with my coffee and tea drinks. I love tea. And thankfully, I enjoy it black. But with coffee, it feels more like a treat. And I do not enjoy the taste of coffee unless it is sweet and creamy. 

I googled "low calorie Starbucks drinks" and was pleased to find a lovely website called "Wake The Wolves." They have an article about healthy Starbucks drinks.(http://wakethewolves.com/healthy-starbucks-drinks-secret-menu/).

I am a little nervous here. They suggest not adding sugar to your coffee, but instead using cinnamon. They are healthy young adults, concerned with their daily intake of sugar. 

According to the American Heart Association:

"The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily discretionary calories allowance. For most American women, that's no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar. For men, it's 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons." 

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/Nutrition/Added-Sugars_UCM_305858_Article.jsp#.WRC9Gu7yvcs

Then they posted a chart of typical favorite Starbucks drinks. YIKES!!!!

STARBUCKS FAVORITES – SUGAR NUTRITION FACTS

drink	size	sugar
Mocha Frapp	Grande	61g of sugar	(14.5 teaspoons)
Mocha	Grande	35g of sugar	(8.3 teaspoons)
Latte	Grande	17g of sugar	(4 teaspoons)
Strawberry Acai Refresher	Grande	20g of sugar	(4.75 teaspoons)

 http://wakethewolves.com/healthy-starbucks-drinks-secret-menu/

YIKES!! That is a lot of sugar!

Ok. This week, I am first of all focusing on sugar. I am going to start logging the sugar grams along with calories.I also am guilty of too much added salt. I do love me some salt! I used to joke, that I need one of those salt licks that guinea pigs have in their cages.

Seriously.  

Off to Google I go. BRB

Ok. The American Heart Association recommends "no more than 2,300 milligrams (mgs) a day and an ideal limit of no more than 1,500 mg per day for most adults." https://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/how_much_sodium_should_i_eat

Apparently, because so many Americans eat prepackaged, processed foods, our average daily intake is more than 3,400 mg a day!  Yikes! I am afraid of what my daily intake is. Very afraid. Luckily I blog.  And track. And obsess. I will conquer!

And to sweeten the pot (there I go with food analogies again!), the American Heart Association has a downloadable "Sodium Tracker". Sweet!  ww.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@fc/documents/downloadable/ucm_448279.pdf

Ok, on that note, here is my daily sugar, sodium, food, mood and exercise log.  Oh and my daily stats too.This is a lot of work. But I am one determined menopausal woman!

Stats: May 8, 2015

Mood while blogging (5:45 p.m.) 6

Weight: 192.6

 Neck:    13.5"
Chest:   40"
Waist:    37"
Hips:      44"
Thighs:   22"

Biceps: 13"
Calves:   16"
Ankles:   8.5"

Food Log

11:00 a.m. 2 packages Quaker Instant Grits 200 cals, 620 mg sodium, 0 sugar

11:30 a.m. Black tea (0 calories)

 2:30 p.m. : Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt (Boston Cream Pie)  80 cals, 45 mg sodium, 7 g sugar
1 T honey and 1/2 t minced ginger (For my cough.  Home remedy given to my by one of my student's moms) 64 cals, 17 g sugar

 4 p.m. 1 bowl beef pho at Pho Vietnam. 400 cals, 384 mg sodium
5:40 p.m. Venti Passion fruit-white iced tea, unsweetened, 0 cals!, 1.5 ounces raw almonds 250 cals, 0 mg sodium!, 2g sugar; 1 stick string cheese 80 cals, 280 mg sodium, 0 g sugar.

Grand Totals:
1,074 calories
1,329 mg sodium
26 grams sugar (about 6 teaspoons)

Yay me!!
Exercise: the usual 2+ miles walking. Plus, I plan on some yoga tonight before bed. Hopefully it will help my sleep.
P.S. I got a free drink at Starbucks today. And I did not give in to temptation! No dairy, no sugar. Woot woot!

I was blessed to have lunch with my son. He is a pho lover too. No matter how old my kids get, I always get supreme satisfaction from watching them eat heartily. Especially pho. It is a family tradition.

I also was happy to see my favorite, handsome, charming bus driver, "D" today. He smiled and called out my name as I boarded. But the bus was packed; we didn't get a chance to chat. But just seeing "D" brightens my day.

But the highlight of my day is my food log today. It feels so amazing to achieve a goal. It will be interesting to see if counting the sugar and sodium content in my diet will make that stubborn scale budge, this nagging cough disappear and my mood brighten.

I am a living experiment!

And now on toy next piano student, walking in the sun, catching some much needed vitamin D.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

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