Sugar-Free PocaLoca?

(L)  While I am officially still off sugar I had what I am referring to as “the incident’ on Saturday night. I went out to dinner and I wanted a margarita. So, I found a “natural” margarita. No sugary syrups, just fresh squeezed fruit and alcohol. I decided that I could have one because technically there was no added sugar. However, it tasted very sweet. I couldn’t tell if it just tasted sweet because I haven’t had sugar in almost 3 weeks or if it in fact was SWEET. Anyway, I sipped less than half of the small glass before dinner arrived. I took a few bites of my dinner and began to feel like something wasn’t quite right. I made conversation hoping it would pass. It didn’t. Suddenly, I felt hot, shaky and ill. I seriously began to wonder if I was having an allergic reaction to something. I managed to get to the bathroom without leaving my dinner on the floor, but by then I was in a full sweat. After a few minutes and cooling off I went back to the table and let the family know that I needed to leave. While I felt better getting some air I definitely wasn’t well.

I have no idea what happened. I don’t know if the drink did in fact have sugar and I was having a ridiculous reaction to having it or if it was something I ate.   My oldest daughter chimed in with some helpful advice. She thinks I had a hot flash. I am pretty sure I am too young for that, but dear God I never want to experience whatever it was again.

The good news? I am not craving sugar. In fact, if sugar caused that kind of reaction I never want it again.

My back is still feeling great. I wake up every morning feeling much less like a 90-year old woman which is good news to my hubby because he wasn’t that into the older woman thing. I have also continued to get my 3 miles of walking in most days and I have added a running program on the treadmill just to be gentle on the back. So far so good.

I would also like to give a shout out to Colorado’s weather.  We have had weeks of blue skies and warm weather.  I will remember you fondly as we move into winter.  See you again in May?

And the weight? I have lost 3 pounds. I wish I could say I have lost more than that , but at least the scale is moving in the right direction.

(G) Is it weird that every time I sit, stand or roll over in bed the need to groan, wince or maybe cry a little accompanies those motions? OK good, I am glad that’s perfectly normal. It seems I may have pushed myself a bit too hard over the weekend.
It was an accident.
In keeping with my fun little challenge of taking a new fitness class each week, I attended Flex and Flow on Saturday. From the description it seemed a lot like a class I used to teach so i thought, “why not?” Umm, 90-degree room and 4,108 lunges and chaturangas later… OUCH!
So I woke up Sunday morning feeling, as you can imagine, like I had discovered some long-since forgotten muscles.
Being that this was the last “big” training run before our November 8th race, we headed to Clear Creek Metro Park. It was a gorgeous day but let’s just say that the terrain was a bit more extreme than I’d hoped.

We covered just shy of 14 miles and when I finally sat down that hurt as much as standing.

But this is the torture report so I knew you’d all appreciate it. So will I go back to Flex and Flow? YES! Will I go back to Clear Creek? Yes but this time I will take more water. What’s with these metro parks and no water fountains? Seems kinda like a staple but I guess not so much anymore.

Sugar
Thankfully I didn’t have an experience like Lowi. I am still sugar-free. Today begins Day #16. I will tell you now, I do plan to jump off the wagon for our 24-hour race because if there is ever a time you could use a little sugar boost it’s after 10-12 hours on the trail. I figure that’s OK at least according to the sugar math I am doing in my head.
But outside of that I am really appreciating being without sugar. It’s forcing me to be accountable about what I eat and don’t eat.

Weight
Sadly, I cannot say I have lost weight. But perhaps it’s because my scale has some sort of issue with consistency. I routinely fluctuate about 5 pounds even when I weigh myself the same time during the week. So I am done with that little tool. When my pants start to fall off I will be impressed although embarrassed at my wardrobe malfunction

100 miles
After our little adventure on Sunday, I hit 103 miles for the month. Happy, joy! I think it’s safe to say this is the last 100-mile challenge for 2014. But 2015, we’ll see!

Sunshine & Sarcasm,

Lowi & G