Day 3, A Couple of Slips And Recipes

Not perfect, but not bad either... Yesterday, I accidentally had a cup of coffee with a spoonful of sugar. (My son brought it and he forgot about the sugar free challenge) I'm OK with it. I got over my "all or nothing" attitude.
 Today was another day and, since I made some Quince Cheese on Wednesday which is taking its sweet time to dry (pun intended:) ) I had to check it today, so I gave it a mini taste-test. I think that amounted to about a teaspoon of sugar again... :)
 On a positive note: I prepared Alex's Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples.  The only difference:
I peeled both as they were not organic. The result: delicious!

I make a similar "recipe" -

 Butternut Squash With Pears

1 butternut squash - peeled, seeded, chopped
2 Bosc Pears (or more) - peeled, seeded, chopped
1 tbs olive oil
Cinnamon (sprinkle liberally)

My friend tells me, apples are equally good for this recipe.

I just had this urge to try the above with some Carob powder... I think it would be good.:)

Evaluation

I started this blog with the intention to get into summer shape.

I have reached my ideal weight - I stopped drinking coffee, have not had dairy,  bread, sugar, corn, white potato, wheat flour for two weeks and I must say, I feel better. I started soy yesterday - have not had a problem with it.
Now I need to figure out which one of the above I should stay off.  I strongly suspect dairy and anything with yeast dough but time will tell. I have no problem staying off sugar:
I use unpasteurized honey, agave syrup, brown rice syrup or maple syrup for sweeteners when necessary. I'm surprised how easy it was to give up sugar. (White sugar has been a rare commodity in my house for the longest time.)
Larabar-style bars and balls have taken care of my sweet tooth.

I've been experimenting with Nori for snacks.
Today, I put together a neat one:
2 pieces of Nori stuck to a piece of Suzie's Whole Grain Rice Cake. I used a mix of olive oil and Brown Rice Syrup to attach the Nori. Brushed the top with more of the mix, sprinkled some black and white sesame seeds on them and baked them in the oven at 350 for 10 min. on each side. A lovely snack.:)

Moksha Challenge - cont.

This week's challenge -
be accessible. I think I gladly become accessible as long as I can access my sugar bowl :)
Just kidding.
I was OK - I slipped up a couple of times with the "no sugar" challenge but that is OK.  I was very much aware what I ate - most of the time.
The yoga portion went well:
I had a brief practice on Friday - and just a few poses on Saturday but I regard this as huge progress.
In fact, if I could maintain this on a regular basis I'd be satisfied.


Posture of the week is Dancer's Pose.
I used to get frustrated with it: initially, I could not get through step 1 - grabbing my foot.
I attempted it daily, during our month long hot yoga challenge...  I was drenched by the time we got to Dancer's Pose in practice and that elusive foot kept slipping out of my grasp.  I struggled to maintain my balance until one clever instructor said to me to hold onto something. Aha!  I got it. There was no stopping me from there on:) About 2 months after my first attempt, I could do it.  Not like the pose you see on DVD covers, but a respectable one for ME:)
I guess, that is acceptance - I accept my limitations, use a prop if needed. I accept that my pose is not picture perfect but it represents progress over the one I started with. (Does Flylady do yoga? :)  - her motto: 'Progress, not perfection' )
And, as I was processing the examples of acceptance, I happened to come across this gem.

More later.