This week was confusing.
Its started with me immediately losing another pound.
Which of course gets me excited thinking, "Ooo, I bet I can lose two again this week!"
So I wait all week, eating well and slightly getting to the gym (once. Which is my going rate post Baby #2), being really good -- and then...
The pound comes back!
Hmm.
But right now, I'm hovering just on the edge of saying I lost that pound (again).
But I'm not sure I should claim it yet.
So I guess I have almost only 5 lbs left, but technically really 6 lbs left, to lose right now.
Its kinda annoying.
But I guess its still a step in the right direction, even if its a step forward-backward-forward.
In the same vein of weight-loss, is health and...
Ok, need to talk something out:
Food.
Can I tell you something?
I'm tired.
Tired from food?
Yes!
Ok. So I've been on this mission to figure out how to make homemade rice milk for J, because she can't have dairy, and we are spending a fortune on rice milk. (Its around $3.70 per half gallon, and she downs the stuff!)
When trying to make it,
the thing I didn't understand was how to get it to taste sweet without sugar, like the name brand does.
(They say: "The mildly sweet taste of our Rice Dream beverages comes from the processing of sugars in the rice itself.")
So I talked to people, googled to the ends of the earth, and figured out you need an enzyme to break down the rice into sweetness.
Ok, makes sense, now I just need to buy the enzyme and figure out how to use it.
Ok...so yeah, I can do that.
But now I'm starting to wonder...what does it really matter?
Does it matter if its sugar, or just broken-down-rice into what is basically sugar?
Does the body really care?
I don't know.
And the internet tells you that sugar is BAD! (I know. We all know.)
Then they tell you fake sugar is BAD! (Of course!)
Then they tell you stand-in, not-really-fake sugar is BAD! (Well, I mean, I think it is, but is it? Yes?)
Then they tell you...
And then they tell you...
And Its food....
so the longer you read, you find that they basically tell you everything is bad, in some way.
By the end of my exploring I feel like getting in a time machine to go live on a farm in the 1800s...but then again you couldn't eat all the health foods we have around now in our "Whole Foods" grocery stores and such, so... if you don't do meat, or dairy, or grain, or gluten, or whatever, maybe you couldn't actually do so well on that farm?
And what about those awesome apple pies that are sure (?) to be waiting for me on that farm?
So then, after thinking so hard, and just getting confused, I feel like just giving up this whole pursuit of health and getting those dang cookies I'm always taking about.
And wait a minute! I wasn't even reading this stuff for me and the pursuit of health, I was just trying to figure out how to save some money on our grocery bill.
So back to the rice milk quandary.
Ok. So if the brand name breaks the rice down into a sweet taste, isn't that going to be processed in your body the same as if I just add a pinch sugar to rice?
Is the company doing this just so they can say "We don't add sugar", when really its just sweet carbs? (And that's all your body knows anyway?? Right?) I don't know!
And I'm sure that bacteria in your mouth that cause cavities would enjoy either sweetness, right? Its not just sugarcane-sugar they are after. Right? I think!
So if I'm ok with J having the store bought rice milk, shouldn't I be ok with not having to become a scientist, and hunt down an enzyme, do a ton of attempts at different ratios and cooking times? And instead just adding a table spoon of sugar to a large portion of rice milk and call it a day?
I'm honestly still confused on if the answer is yes.
Because my brain is just not that good at this stuff.
I feel like in the long run it would boil down to, its all pretty much the same.
But maybe I'm wrong.
I can hear you thinking, "Why not just leave the sugar out?"
Well, because... its pretty discussing without it.
And that's coming from someone who went 9 months without ANY sugar. I learned to like natural sweetness and how to enjoy things that aren't sweet at all. But I find the rice milk, without any sweetness at all, to be just gross. (I think it tastes like dirty water.) And if my two year old is used to store bought stuff, she's not gonna go for it.
Its really not that much sugar. It comes out to about a 1/2 tsp a serving. But it makes a big difference, in side by side (store to homemade) taste tests.
I've thought about honey, but I get nervous about using it since J has weird allergies. Also I've read honey is more prone to cause cavities because it clings to teeth more than plain sugar -- extra sticky.
I've thought about stevia, but a huge part of me wonders if stevia is just the next aspartame -- in 20 years will they shake their heads at us and say, "Why did they think that was a good idea?" I don't know.
Maple syrup -- so expensive, also worry about the cavity issue since its sticky like honey.
I've even tried using raisins in the homemade rice milk, to get some natural sweetness -- um gross -- it became raisin-milk. I tried to use it on my oatmeal, because I'm a grown up and I can handle it... seriously, couldn't finish my breakfast, and I tried!
So I think I'm down to just using a pinch of sugar.
Do any scientists/foodies/health-folk have any thoughts for me on that subject?
Anyway yeah.
Food.
Its exhausting!
I know basically what's healthy and what's not.
But someone is always going to make you feel like you don't know enough, and you are making bad choices. (Because there is no one set "right" way to eat. Some people say "primal" diet (lots of meat), some people say NO meat. And there are many, many more battles like that.)
And honestly I just don't have it in me to be perfect all the time (after I figure out what "perfect" is).
I got a comment on an older post recently telling me to eat the way I know is good for me. (Not processed, low carb, high protein, lots of veggies, no sugar.) But it just kinda depressed me, because I don't want to not enjoy life. I like me some cookies, sometimes. I know I talk about cookies all the time, but really, in my normal life (pre babies, and all things VBAC) I don't eat them very much at all. Its just when I know I can't eat them its all I think about. So I can't take a vow of sugarlessness -- I'd waste the rest of my life thinking about sugar! I did no sugar for 9 months --- and that was long enough. I might do it again if there are more babies. And that will be long enough again. (And I bet you that I will spend my first month as a momma of three, eating cookies because I can! And I won't care if I don't lose all the weight that month because of it! I will be happy! And overall, I think I'll be healthy.)
I was really excited that I caught this segment on the Today Show (I hardly ever watch grown up TV anymore) but they went inside Joy Bauer's (I don't watch the Today Show enough to know this, but I think she is a regular nutritionist for them) home kitchen and she talked about how they treat food in their home. I loved it. It was just well rounded. Lots of healthy, with a dash of fun. I think I want to be her. I don't think I want to be a swears-off-stuff person. I think I just want to aim for overall good, while still enjoying being alive!
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