Welcome to my little sugar experiment! Ok, it’s actually nothing crazy, but, instead, taking some wise advice from Caitlin, Gracie, and a few other bloggers and readers. The goal is save the sweets until after dinner.
My problem is once I start, I can’t stop. But knowing that a delicious dessert is waiting for me at the end of the day will hopefully help me hold off my cravings. It’s sort of like Cookie Friday, but on a smaller scale. Wish me luck!
Breakfast
Oatmeal is my forever go-to breakfast when I want to feel satisfied for hours.
This morning’s batch included chopped apples, soy milk, ground flaxseed meal, chia seeds, and a huge scoop of Teddie peanut butter.
I didn’t drink an iced coffee this morning because Mal and I are going out to Starbucks in a little bit. We have gift cards from Christmas that are burning a hole in our pockets!
My project for the day (besides avoiding sweets) is adding music to my new iPod Shuffle for the marathon. Our usual TNT Saturday run was moved to tomorrow morning, so I need to get it loaded-up ASAP. (None of us wanted to run on New Year’s Day!) I had planned to use my iPhone for the marathon, but its battery won’t last 4+ hours and the camera on it is really slow.
![_MG_6219_thumb[1]](http://carrotsncake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/MG_6219_thumb1.jpg "_MG_6219_thumb[1]")
Question of the Day
What are your favorite running/workout songs? What are the must-haves? Please help me load-up my Shuffle!
P.S. I’m giving away three boxes of Puffins over on Trading Up Downtown today!
144 Comments
More Than A Feeling by Boston. Guaranteed to be the best 4 minutes of your run…possibly your life.
AGREE! AWESOME running song!! Other favorites:
-“Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty
-“Dynamite” by Taio Cruz
-“Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen,
-“Move Along” by All-American Rejects
-“Ridin’ Solo” by Jason Derulo
My all-time favorite running song is “One More Time” by Daft Punk. No matter HOW tired I am, I always start running faster and with a smile on my face when it comes on!!
Sorry to overload you, but I LOVE running music and I can’t think right now of what to list here… so here’s a link to my faves: http://dorishinyblog.com/running-songs/
saving sweets til after dinner is a great, manageable plan. good luck!
my favorite workout songs right now:
– Flo-Rida feat Akon – “Who Dat Girl”
– David Guetta and Rihanna – “Whose that Chick”
– Diddy Dirty Money – “I’m Comin’ Home”
– Usher – “More” (<—- a must-download, GREAT for working out!)
– Aquene – "Free the Night"
– Matisse – "Better than Her"
Thanks for the shout-out, by the way! š xoxo
i find that if i wait all day to allow myself a sweet, i actually feel worse. i know you said once you start eating them, you can’t stop, but I usually feel satisfied if i have something sweet with my morning coffee after i work out. maybe just one cookie, or a small piece of chocolate. then i am able to avoid sweets all day, and maybe allow another small sweet after dinner. the morning treat usually curbs the craving throughout the day.
I love your new blog design! So adorable!
Saving the sweets till the end of the day will hopefully be a helpful way to go. I have noticed that my ability to control a complete sweet treat binge is all related to the sweet treat I am actually eating. I typically cannot practice control with anything that has processed sugar in it. However, 75% or higher cacao dark chocolate or dates seem to be my safe options for dessert.
Puff Daddy “Come with Me” really gets me moving
Hi Tina! What about rewarding yourself when you stick to your no sweets before breakfast? The reward doesn’t have to be (and probably shouldn’t be) sweets, but something else that you like and would be enough of an incentive. I learned that without incentive and accountability, it’s tough to break bad habits. Hope that helps!
stereo love! i like running my last stretch of my run to it, i need upbeat music š
I love acapella songs (glee has been great for that); I also have a really good remix of “died in your arms tonight” with rick ross et all (top gun song) that is so motivating
Raise my glass by PINK…it ALWAYS lifts me up when I’m running and getting tired!
I always save my desserts for after dinner. I’m full so I can’t overdo it, and it helps me turn down things throughout the day knowing I can look forward to a yummy treat later.
Anything by keisha…or Meiple by drake.
Also try europe…rusllana, or caramelldansen have some goodies.
Right now I love “Only Girl in the World” by Rhianna and “Six foot Seven foot” by Lil Wayne!
good luck with your experiment! sometimes this trick works for me too! just make sure you don’t crazy and eat a ton of sweets at the end of the day š
I have to have hip-hop music on my running playlist. Not sure how you feel about hip-hop, but a recent good addition to my playlist is All I Do is Win by DJ Khaled. The title itself motivates me!
And it’s not hip-hop but Mr. Brightside by The Killers is another fav.
Also, an oldie, 25 Miles by Edwin Starr – you can’t go wrong when the lyrics include “c’mon feet, don’t fail me now”!
One of my favorite running songs is Lose Yourself by Eminem. It always gets me going. I really appreciate you posting your struggle with sugar addiction. I feel like you are posting my own thoughts and its so comforting to know I am not the only one, and that bloggers who always seem to have it together health wise sometimes feel like I do! One thing that helps me mentally is to put things in perspective. When I am beating myself up because I couldn’t stop with the candies or the ice cream, I remind myself that I am actually incredibly lucky to have the option to overeat. So many people all over the world and even in the US are starving or not getting enough to eat. If eating a few too many cookies is my biggest problem, I should probably stop complaining. I don’t mean this to sound mean, its truly just something that helps cheer me up! Good luck!
Hi, Tina, and congratulations on the new design. It looks great!
I’m a little late, but I wanted to chime in and offer my thoughts on the “sugar issue.” A couple of things stand out to me…
Are you eating enough for meals and snacks? I’ve noticed that when I eat meals that are too light (or, as others have said, skimp on protein, healthy fat, or fiber), I’m pretty much guaranteed to crave sweets and/or overeat other foods later. This was a major problem for me last spring when I was training for a half-marathon. I keep a food journal, and so looking back, I know I wasn’t eating eating enough during the daytime enough to sustain my increasing activity levels. At night, I’d crave sweets after dinner and end up eating double- and triple-servings of trail mix, etc. I used to worry that if I ate more at meals, or had more healthy snacks, I would have “room” for treats. But instead, I found that my sweet cravings decreased and I was in control again–I could enjoy a sweet treat when I really wanted it rather than when my body/brain “demanded” it.
My cravings also increase when I get into a routine or habit of having a treat after a meal (or at any particular time/place/situation). It is possible to replace those “treat” routines with healthier ones, but it doesn’t happen overnight. For me, it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. Some of the things that have helped me get back into a more normal, once-in-awhile treat routine are:
1. Replacing some of my sweet treats with a fun new treat that is not sugary/empty calories. Key for me is to keep it exciting (I might splurge on a couple of new teas) and switch it up.
2. Replace some, but not all, of my treats. If I’ve gotten into the habit of having two or three treats a day, I’ll replace two of them. Start with goals you can achieve!
3. And sometimes, I just don’t keep sweets at home because having them available pretty much ensures I’ll dig in.
Anyway, I hope this helps, and good luck!
Oh, and my running playlists always include plenty of Muse!
Florence and the Machine- Between two Lungs
Shakira- Waka Waka Time for Africa
Anything from GLEE
I LOVE Waka Waka, the lyrics are so uplifting, as well as the song š
That is a great idea- it should work, because the body starts craving more sweets when it gets some.
For tunes: anything with Usher, Pink, Lady Gaga, Brittney, Flo Rida, and Beyonce get me going š
My one food “rule” is that I save the sweets for an evening snack. I like to bake, and if I have a pie or cupcakes in the kitchen, I’d eat them morning, noon and night unless I told myself to wait until after dinner. Also, if I have cookies or candy in the house, then I only eat one piece with meals or with my afternoon coffee, but never in between meals. I also try to go one day a week without eating anything sweet. I can do anything for a day!
I don’t know how you feel about Rod Stewart but “This Old Heart of Mine” has been on repeat on my IPod lately when I work out! It has a really good beat š
I love to listen to Paramore’s latest and previous albums when I run. I also love really old 311 and several Lady Gaga songs. I have sugar issues too but my biggest cravings come after dinner. I’m a little afraid to keep sweets in the house b/c I’m afraid of overdoing it every night.
What has worked for me is to cut down on carbs and increase my fat and protein. That way I don’t get those insulin spikes which can trigger sugar cravings.
Fave workout songs:
(I looove music and love looking at others’ ideas!)
Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix) – Phoenix
Monster – Kanye
White Flag – Gorillaz
Girl Talk (any of his mixes – new album’s free online)
Don’t Make Me a Target – Spoon
I Turn My Camera On – Spoon
Being a product of the 80’s, I like to workout to 80’s & 90’s music. Some of my favorites are “Dancing With Tears in my Eyes” by Ultravox, “Is There Something I Should Know” by Duran Duran, and classics like “This is Your Night” by Amber, “Ooh Ah Just a Little Bit” by Gina G., anything by C&C Music Factory, “Another Night” by Real McCoy, “Hole-Hearted” by Extreme, and “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue.
Oldies but goodies, lol!
If you eat less carbs, you will crave less sweets. Egg whites + eggs and fruit for breakfast, salmon/chicken + vegetables for lunch and dinner have like quinoa/sweet potatoes, chicken/beans and veggies. Eat less carbs and less fruit and your sugar cravings will dispappear! Not to mention, no grains + no sugar= energy through the roof! Lethargy, be gone!
There’s definitely something amazing about the comfort and satisfaction of a perfect bowl of oats. Which is why I ate one this morning even though it’s going to be 95 degrees here in Canberra today!
“What You Waiting for” by Gwen Stefani
“Watch Me Shine” by Joanna Pacitti (from Legally Blonde)
“Collapse” by Eminem
and since starting Zumba, “Waka Waka (Time for Africa)” is one of my faves.
hehehe, i run to ‘watch me shine’ from legally blonde all the time, glad to know there’s more of us š
Pink:
*Trouble
*Like a Pill
Walking on a Dream – Empire of the Sun… there is a good remix version too if you want something even more heart pumping!
I love some of the new Black Eyed Pea songs! And Deadmau5 has some really good tunes that you can kind of zone out to.
Catching up on your blog and am so glad you posted this- I’ve been looking to revive my running play list as well. Thanks! I love running to songs from the Run Lola Run sound track, as well as Stronger by Kanye West and a club mix of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Florence and the Machine have also been a favorite lately.