Well, the long stretch of Holidays is finally OVER. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, My Anniversary, Adam’s Birthday and Valentines Day… It’s been fun, no doubt. But, whew, these past 3 months have been filled with a lot of time in the kitchen which means a ton of food and even more sweets. So you know what that means? It’s time to break the addiction… Put down the bag of sugar, throw the candy in the trash and pour bleach all over it (that way it can’t be pulled out of there – I know, that’s sick). Something has to be done… I can’t decide – Do I dare go Sugar Free for the next 3 1/2 weeks because I have to be in a bikini? Or do I start out small and cut out daily desserts? I’m not sure which one is more realistic. My body has been trained (by me of course) to “need” chocolate after dinner or to have that cupcake on the weekend. I know a little here and there is fine but my mindset was set on “I exercise and eat healthy for the most part so why not indulge?” My 1 cupcake turned into a cupcake a la mode…and then adding toppings to that. That to me is over indulging. I work to hard to sabotage it with a night like that. Here is an example of the sweets I had Sunday night and Monday:
I’m getting a stomach-ache just looking at these pictures! When I have a little I just can’t seem to stop… It’s my addiction. I want to have better self-control and discipline and save calories while doing so. With that said, I think I will start off with no processed foods, no refined sugar and no desserts after dinner! I’m going to start Wednesday morning and aim for 10 days. If I can go longer, perfect 
Last week I did the 7 day Vegan challenge – I was SO impressed with myself for sticking with it — until Sunday night at 7pm. I mean really, I couldn’t hold out FIVE more hours!?!?! The next day I was pretty disappointed in myself but tried to see the positive in the fact that i lasted 164 hours…and then patted myself on the back and ate a cookie. Here is how I would review my 7 days as a Vegan.
The Good
- I tried new foods and looked at the labels of EVERYTHING. I got a feel for how many items are really made with animal products.
- My stomach was a lot flatter, less bloated and my abs were more defined. It could also be because I’m lactose intolerant and I had completely cut it out of my diet?
- Overall I felt fine…No extreme side effects
- Vegan desserts are just as yummy!!
The Bad
- Eating with others who are not Vegan was difficult! As my boyfriend sat there and had a steak I wanted one, and I rarely eat steak…
- People were extremely confused as to why I would go Vegan for a week and would look at me like I was insane.
- I had A LOT of cravings… But I think it’s because in my mind I was being deprived of something. On a normal weekly basis I rarely eat meat but now my body wanted it EVERYDAY.
- I felt like I was on carb overload.
- Planning your meals takes a lot of time and reading labels (good and bad) while google searching every ten minutes becomes exhausting.
- I felt on edge… Extremely irritable.
My Conclusion
Will I go Vegan? Most likely not… Will I be making some changes? Absolutely… I don’t think I fit into a category of a certain eating style. I eat what I like, what my body craves and I’m not one for restrictions. I kind of felt like I was on a diet… If you know you can’t have it, you are going to want it and I hate feeling that way! Veganism is also expensive.. Sure, you could head over to Peta’s website and eat all of the processed foods they promote but I wouldn’t do that in my normal life so I’m surely not going to do it as a challenge. I will continue to eat meat, dairy products and seafood when my body craves it – I will also continue to make sure I know where it came from. Buy locally! Hats off to all the Vegans out there! It takes a lot of work and passion and I admire that for sure. I loved the challenge and will continue to keep a couple of Vegan meals in my diet. Also a BIG THANK YOU to my mom who hopped on the Vegan challenge bus with me all week – It’s great to have someone who supports you
OK, I’m sure you’re thinking – enough babbling for one day.. Onto the eats.
Valentines Dinner was still part of Meatless Monday so I enjoyed some spinach and ricotta ravioli with vodka sauce while my mom, grandma and brother had spaghetti & meatballs.
I LOVE Vodka Sauce. I rarely get it because it’s triple the calories but it was a special occasion! For dessert we all made our own strawberry shortcakes
and since we had leftover strawberries I decided I should make the most purchased gift on Valentines Day for a little extra wow factor.
$2.50 for me to make 12 of these…Do you know how much Godiva charges for ONE? $8.99! 12 x 9 = HA, no way on earth. Do you know what else I could buy with $110? 3 things at whole foods! Just kidding Way too much… Maybe I will do a post on purchasing over buying pre-bought and the money you can save by doing so?
We had a great dinner, an amazing dessert and I even got some great gifts. We are big fans of LOVE.
After reading all of your posts on Valentines Day it looks like everyone had a wonderful day.
Tuesday was a little more low-key… The girls and I stayed in the house ALL DAY long.
Breakfast: 1 egg + 1 egg white on sandwich thin w/ half of a sun-dried tomato basil laughing cow cheese wedge
Lunch: Vegetable Lentil and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
The girls and I were so busy cleaning, making dinner, dessert and a special picture frame for their parents as a surprise I actually forgot to eat lunch… So not like me!
For their dinner we had to be creative and find things around the house.
Just kiiiidding, no garbage plates. We made a chicken, broccoli, cheesey brown rice casserole for dinner.
and a Butterscotch Banana Creme Pie for Dessert!
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Looked so good! However I didn’t try anything because I had my mind-set on ONE last thing before my attempt at being Sugar Free.
Tasti D-Lite! I ordered the s’mores ice cream with mini pb & choc chips… Would you believe me if I told you this was 100 calories? It’s true… I wouldn’t lie to you. I left there looking like this.
Before I go Sugar Free I wanted to share with you two sweet recipes… Don’t worry, I’ll still bake – just going to take the healthier route for a while…
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies – I’m sure you have all seen these floating around blog blog land but if not go check out The Picky Palate for the recipe. These were so sweet I couldn’t even finish an entire one! Yeah, that just happened.
Hufreakingmongous, scrumpdiddlyumpcious and if there is anything better than a chocolate chip cookie its gotta be one that’s stuffed with an oreo!
Also the Funfetti Cake Batter Bark I made was super easy, festive and can be used for any type of holiday!
Funfetti Cake Batter Bark – adapted from Jess
Ingredients
- 12 oz Ghiradelli White Chocolate
- 6 oz Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate
- 4 tbsp Funfetti Valentines Day Cake Batter
- Heart sprinkles
Directions
- Melt dark chocolate in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.
- When melted pour onto parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Spread to desired thickness
- Freeze for 20 minutes
- Melt white chocolate in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.
- When melted add 4 tbsp of Funfetti mix and whisk until the lumps are gone.
- Let sit for 3 minutes
- Remove dark chocolate from freezer and layer with white chocolate batter.
- Immediately add sprinkles and freeze for another 20 minutes.
- Break apart and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Funfetti does it again
I also found out that I won another giveaway! Woooohoo! Two things in one week? I must have a horseshoe stuck to me… Kate over at A Healthy Passion is sending me a 50 count box of Stevia, one jar of liquid Stevia & a superstar recipe book! I’m so very excited to create some recipes! Thanks again Kate!
Happy Wednesday everyone… I plan to get back in the gym and start my sugar-free week (10 days) off on the right foot. Wish me luck…I’m DEFINITELY going to need it! If you have any tips for me…let me know – All of the Vegan tips you girls posted really helped!
QUESTIONS: Have you ever gone Sugar Free? Do you ever over indulge and feel as though you need a cleanse? Is dessert your weakness?
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
My favorite place to eat out is somewhere that’s unhealthy… If I go out to eat I am going to order something I wouldn’t normally make at home so it’s a treat. My favorite would have to be the Japanese Steakhouse – You get sushi, soup, salad, fried rice, appetizer, main course, veggies, bean sprouts and the best yellow sauce in the world all in one meal. They also offer fried ice cream for dessert…. Score.
Day 19: Something you miss
If it’s someTHING and not someONE then it would have to be being in high school. You really never know how good your life is until it changes. I didn’t have to work, I never worried, everyday was spent with friends and I was built like J.Lo when my diet consisted of mac&cheese, bags of utz chips, mcdonalds and never stepping foot in a gym. Ohhh the good old days!
Day 20: Nicknames
I have a lot of nicknames… Lyss, Lyssi, Sissa, Shisha, LB, Princess, Punkin, Nickel, and Punky to name a few. None of them are inside jokes or secretive…Pretty self explanatory!
I ended up with this… I almost didn’t wear it and chose something I brought. Typical. In the end I was rushing to get ready so I ended up telling my boyfriend to choose and threw this one on. I never got a full length picture of the dress on me!
But you guys get the picture…
Followed by a small bowl of penne w/ marinara
and for my main dish I ordered Chicken Marsala which I loved..
Dessert was tiramisu but somehow I missed out on it. Whomp.
The bride looked SO beautiful. They both looked so calm and relaxed which was nice to see because I could tell they were feeling some last minute stress the night before.
The room had a romantic feel and was absolutely gorgeous.
I was also proposed to that night…
by a 5 year old. So cute.
Every detail on the cake was amazing! I somehow missed out on this dessert too. WHO AM I!!?!?!?!
Proud girlfriend right here 
I loved my rent the runway dress. I will definitely order again!
We left around 12:30. It was definitely a long but fun day.
We picked up some crumb cakes for mothers day…and a snack or two for ourselves. First one being a lobster tail.
The second being a cupcake…But not just ANY cupcake. A PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE.
To.die.for. and I almost died when I took the first bite out of it and my boyfriend accidentally knocked it out of my hand while riding the public bus onto the floor. I was almost in tears because I could feel my blood sugar crashing and I needed to eat something and now that perfect something was on the floor of an overcrowded dirty bus. Oh well… I got over it pretty quickly and ate the half that didn’t fall on the floor.
Unfortunately I ended up getting really sick at the restaurant, sweating, shaky and started losing my vision so I had to leave and wasn’t able to eat it. I was so embarrassed but there was nothing else I could do. My boyfriend and his parents brought it home for me and I did split it with him later and it was really good! I now know to never wait so long to eat again. Not pretty!
He only made one minor change. But it was a perfect comfort meal for a girl who wasn’t feeling so hot.
