21 DAY SUGAR DETOX

Here goes NOTHING.......

Removing sugar from your diet is the fastest way to lose fat and increase your energy.
When your blood sugar is out of balance it causes depression, causes you to store sugar as fat instead of using it for energy, causing you to have highs and lows in your energy, and leading to diabetes.




The RULES are simple for the 21 day sugar Detox
1. Remove all sugar and simple carbohydrates from diet for 21 days in a row.
2. Remove all foods from the “avoid” list, and eat only foods on the “good” list for the 21 days.
3. If you “slip-up” and eat a food from the avoid list, then start from day one again


Can you handle it? Wanna try it? (I will supply all lists here on the blog, but you can visit my FB page for greater tips and encouragement)
FB PAGE - FAIRLYFITMAMA

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Detoxing

Hi, my name is Jamie and I am a sugar addict.
There. phew. that feels better.
I need a detox. I need to kick this addiction. I need to become the me that I am supposed to be. Stronger, healthier, less tired, and NOT dependent on sugar!

According to Dr. Oz, "Sugar is the new controlled substance. The average American consumes up to 31 pounds of sugar a year, and a diet high in sugar can cause diabetes, obesity, and many other health crises. Our excess intake of sugar, from the white stuff on the table to the high-fructose corn syrup hidden in packaged foods, is not only making us sick, it’s making us fat and aging our skin."

If you can't get going in the morning without a sugary coffee, need a treat to boost your energy in the afternoon and have tried and failed to cut down on eating carbs, then you could be a sugar addict. 
It's no secret that too much sugar is bad for our health. It is recommended that we do not consume more than 70g of sugar a day for men and 50g for women but many of us are exceeding this.

Research shows that habits (ie my 3 day potty training, sleep training, beginning a workout regime, etc) form in 3 days...bad ones AND good ones. Based on that idea, a sugar detox should not take longer than that! 

In a LONG, hard, three days... I WILL be sugar free! I WILL be victorious! I will be healthier, happier and freed from my sugared prison! 

THREE DAY SUGAR DETOX PLAN

DAY ONE
Breakfast: Three scrambled eggs
Mid-morning snack: Nuts
Lunch: Grilled/Poached Chicken Breast with mixed baby greens and 1/2 an avocado
Afternoon snack: Sliced peppers with two tablespoons of spinach hummus
Dinner: Edamame, baked salmon with stir-fried broccoli and mushrooms

 

DAY TWO
Breakfast: Three eggs scrambled with sauteed spinach
Snack: Nuts
Lunch: Tuna salad
Snack: Sliced peppers with hummus
Dinner: Pork tenderloin, sauteed Brussels sprouts and mushrooms with lettuce salad and avocado

 

DAY THREE
Breakfast: Three-egg omelet with shrimp, sauteed spinach and tarragon
Snack: Nuts
Lunch: Grilled turkey burger with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, and sauteed mushrooms, plus kale chips
Snack: Sliced peppers with hummus
Dinner: Baked cod over bok choy and mixed greens

 

Drinks allowed over the three days: One cup of unsweetened black coffee per day, unsweetened green and/or herbal tea in unlimited amounts, minimum 64 ounces of water a day

For a more IN DEPTH detox:  21 Day Sugar Detox

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Sleep Training withOUT tears

I miss sleep. a lot. I don't mind the occasional wakings from a bad dream. Even the child up before the sun, I wouldn't mind... but both... simultaneously... and daily. I AM TIRED. I am tired of waiting to finish the cleaning and laundry and chores and work until all three of my little angels are sleep, just to be stopped before I finish to feed and rock a baby back to sleep, finally let to finish only to be awaken twenty (give or take) after I finally lie down and close my eyes and then every hour for the remainder of the night until the blasted sun wakes another child....UGH. That's IT! I am ready to read Samuel Jackson's rendition of "Go the F@#$ to Sleep".

When I read about the Cry it Out method, all I can think of is an overtired mom sitting cross-legged in the corner covering her ears and eyes with her hands, sobbing just praying for everyone to go to sleep. 
In my house its not the going to sleep thats a problem, that part is a breeze. its the staying asleep that we struggle with. There is always an initial complaint, but usually by days end, all parties are tired enough to resign to their bedrooms without excessive disagreement. The little guy puts up the hardest fight, he just wants his mommy to hold him just a little bit longer...

Teaching your baby to soothe himself to sleep and sleep through the night doesn't have to mean letting him cry it out (CIO). If you don't like the idea of leaving your baby to cry alone – or you've tried CIO methods and they didn't work for you – you may want to consider a more gradual approach that involves fewer tears. I cannot bring myself to letting a little one cry for longer than 3-4 minutes without beginning to sob myself.

On baby #3, I am still reminding myself that each child is different and what works for one child might not work for another. Figuring out an approach that's right for your family could take some trial and error.

Generally speaking, those who favor a no-tears approach over CIO methods consider leaving a child alone and crying to be unnatural, unkind, and a betrayal of the trust your baby is developing in adults and the world around him. In my opinion, its obvious that child and parent develop a bound well before birth and the complete trust a child has for his/her parent is a sacred bond. Bedtime offers an opportunity to connect with your child by developing quiet, cozy nighttime rituals and by quickly responding to your baby's requests for food and comfort.

Pediatrician and attachment parenting advocate William Sears devotes an entire chapter of The Baby Sleep Book to a critique of CIO approaches. Another no-tears advocate, Elizabeth Pantley (author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution), believes that CIO techniques can give your child negative associations with bedtime. Sleep experts who support the CIO approach disagree, stating it isn't traumatic for babies to cry alone for short periods of time with frequent check-ins by Mom or Dad – and the end result is a well-rested, happier child with no excessive need for dependency on comfort bedtime.

Practical tips for finding a no-tears solution

• Parents are urged to keep sleep logs, nap logs, and night-waking logs. 
• Encourage your baby to get plenty to eat during the day. He'll learn that daytime is for eating and nights are for sleeping. And he'll be less likely to wake up hungry in the wee hours.
• Establish a regular nap schedule. A consistent sleep routine during the daytime helps regulate nighttime sleep.
• Put your baby to bed on the early side, such as 6:30 or 7. Don't fall into the trap of keeping your baby awake so he'll be more tired. An overtired baby may actually have a harder time getting to sleep. Some experts say babies who go to bed earlier sleep longer, too.
• Make changes slowly. If your baby's on a later schedule, don't suddenly move bedtime from, say, 9:30 to 7 o'clock. Make bedtime a little earlier each night until you reach the time that seems best for your baby.
• Find a soothing bedtime routine and stick to it. I like our routine of a bath, then a book, then a lullaby, then bed, at the same time every night.
• Develop some key words, to signal to your child that it's time for sleep. It could be a simple "ssshhhh" sound or a softly spoken phrase like "It's sleepy time." Repeat the sound or phrase when you're soothing your child to sleep or back to sleep so he'll associate it with bedtime. I use a different phrase for nap than I do for bedtime, "Time to snooze" and "Little one, rest your head, it's time for bed"
• Create a comfortable sleep environment that's tailored to your child. Some babies need more quiet and darkness than others. Recordings of soft music or nature sounds or the sound of a gurgling aquarium can be soothing. Make sure the sheets are cozy (warm them with a hot water bottle or a microwavable heating pad before laying your baby down) and that sleepwear doesn't chafe or bind. Younger babies may sleep better when swaddled. Don't overdress your child or overheat the room. Of course this comfortable sleeping environment varies from child to child.My 1st liked a night-light and soft music, my 2nd silence and darkness, my 3rd static sounds and muted to no lights. 
• Don't respond to every noise your child makes. Learn to distinguish a real cry from a sleepy whimper. If you're not sure, it's okay to wait for a minute outside the door so you won't disturb him if he's actually asleep.

Many question which methods works best....Truth be told, no single sleep strategy is effective with every baby or even for one baby all the time.

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Meditation

In order to curb some of the behaviors the "bug" has been exhibiting, I have decided to start introduce him to yoga and meditation to relax him before bed.

With his cast on, we'll start with some REALLY easy stretching and avoid the broken arm and once he's in his pj's and in bed, we will do a bit of visualization before letting him say his prayers and go to sleep.

"Let's go on an adventure... But instead of rushing up and out the front door, we'll take a journey into our imagination, a beautiful place in our thoughts. Lying on your bed, stretch you legs out to a comfortable position, resting easy like a doll, gently close your eyes. Although you are staying still and lying in your bed, imagine standing up and walking right out your door onto the beach. Feel the sand between your toes and smell the gentle ocean breeze. Hear the waves crashing slowly onto the shore, and the birds gentle chirp in the sky above you... Find a nice comfortable spot on your imagination beach to sit and watch the waves crash, the birds sing and the sand circle you..Now, nice and relaxed, drift to sleep."

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ADHD & Med Free

Once you discover your child may (or has been confirmed) to be afflicted with ADHD, the whirlwind CONTINUES! I would say begins, BUT knowing a child with ADHD, the whirlwind had begun YEARS before the diagnoses.
I am a FIRM believe in our natural world, for hundreds of years people survived the SAME afflictions we have today WITHOUT medication, of course this was either because the medication did not exist or the diagnoses did not. REGARDLESS, we survived!
I do NOT like any medication, I find that our bodies were constructed to fight off, pain, discomfort and to some extent illness. I am not a radical-naturalopathic-hairy-hippie-femisnist-christian-homeschooling mom,, . I do vaccinate my children when necessary, Tylenol them when they are ill, and feed them junk WHEN I want too. I just don't take ANY medications myself, or have them prescribed unnecessarily to my family.
We plan to manage our son's ADHD medication free. And here is the plan....
Give shorter lessons and more of them, which makes it easier for children to stay focused. Focus is so limited at this young age anyway!
Acknowledge even partial success and extend approval generously. We have a marble jar that is WONDERFUL!
Compliment even in mid-assignment to encourage continued focused performance.
Make corrections with a light hand. Instead of “try harder next time,” try – I see how hard you tried. Keep up the effort. It’s really paying off.
Lots of smiling, make eye contact with child, or pat him on the back.
Alert child’s attention with phrases such as “This is important.”
Break down longer directions into simpler chunks.
Allow physically hyperactive children out of their seats for FREQUENT movement.
Compliment a child, publicly, at least once daily, on some organizational or attentional task or effort.
Take a moment or two once or twice daily to speak privately; give a two-second pep talk, mention something positive you happened to notice regarding his work, behavior, self-control, focusing, etc.
I am also planning a somewhat Buddy system for cooperative learning both at and above level.

I will not make excuses for him, but rather encourage him strongly to manage his own behaviors and succeed despite the challenges ahead.

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