I Burned the Bacon

Friends!!! Happy New Year! Oh, how I have missed you. I am so sorry to have been away for so long. I have so much to tell you, but I don't want this post to be long enough to stretch to the moon and back (but maybe to the Equator and back). So, I will try to give you some highlights today and sprinkle in the updates over a more regular posting schedule. How's that sound? How have you been? Did I mention I missed you?

There has been so much change in my life since the last time I wrote. Let's see...

• I completed the Sugar Experiment and was a champ! I continued it for about 6 months and felt the best I have ever felt (made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years with out cheating on a sugary treat once. Not once!)
• I got a good grade on this sugar project I was doing for my Nutrition class
• I started Grad school in Education
• Stopped Grad school in Education
• Changed directions for Grad school and am now taking prerequisites for a degree in Dietetics and Nutrition
• Got a new car
• Got a new job
• Moved to my favorite part of town
• Completed a triathlon
• Completed several 5K races
• BECAME AN AUNTIE!!!
• Became a Paleo diet follower
• Became an Online dater (have mercy)
• Became a published photographer 

And somewhere along the way amidst all of this, I fell off the sugar-free wagon. And when I fell, I fell HARD. My old eating habits returned and my car started driving itself to Braum's for a large Mix w/ Reese's and M&M's (drool). My excuses that "I am just so busy, I don't have time to cook." and "I am too exhausted to cook." and "blah blah blah" were taking over and I simply slacked off. This Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years were not sugar-free for me. In fact I can recall sitting in the recliner at my parents' house with an entire bag of iced sugar cookies and eating them...all. So, here I am. Starting anew. I'm washing my produce and new stainless steel cookware and starting over.

It's a new year and I am starting this sugar-free diet again. This time I am following a different plan. I am following the 21-Day Sugar Detox (21DSD) by Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites (http://balancedbites.com/2012/12/the-biggest-21-day-sugar-detox-begins-on-january-1-2013.html). I have been reading their material for a few months and really enjoy their approach. They simplify things. I like that. Simple. It's nice.

Day 1 = Jan 1: I was doing really well until... I burned bacon. I seriously freaking burned bacon. What??!! I love bacon (you really don't understand how obsessed I am). This doesn't happen to me. Is this a bad sign? It looked like hazardous waste on a plate and smelled even worse. I probably should have ionized the air in the house and worn a Hazmat suit to carry it outside to cool off. It was laughable.

I really thought this new year was off to a horrible start until it ended with this beautiful surprise. Heck yes:

I am happy to be back to the writing world. One thing I should mention if I haven't before: I do not consider myself to be a doctor, nutritionist, registered dietician, or the like. I am working my way toward those credentials and am learning as I go, and share what I learn and the awkward things that happen to me along the way.

Happy New Year to you and please... Don't burn the bacon, please.

-With One L