5 months sugar free and I've turned into a sugar free, fat loving... NUTJOB

So it's been 5 months since I quit that white sticky addictive yucky shiz they call sugar.

I'm not surprised I have stuck to it because I feel fantastic. I'm not sure I will ever go back to the way I used to eat, knowing what I know now.

The food component of this household has changed dramatically. No more endless snacking on fruit. No more daily baking. No more more ignoring the cheese section at the supermarket. Lots of marscapone cheese, lots of cacciatore sausage, Haloumi, butter, full fat feta, coconut oil, bacon, pork crackle, cream, full cream milk, full cream natural yoghurt. We are going through so much butter and it's rocking my socks. It makes everything delicious. I want to scream. THIS TASTE DELICIOUS. And to the amazement of my neighbours, sometimes I do. 

5 months in and the hardest part to becoming sugar free is limiting the fruit intake. When you've been conditioned to embrace it your whole life, it's a hard thing to break. I still struggle with this but I know it will take time. It's strange to me now how I ration a banana. It's so high in fructose I finely slice no more than a quarter of it and add it to my yoghurt. 

I'm excited by food. Not scared of it. Cooked in duck fat you say!? No worries. Would you like bacon? Yes! Shall we cook those eggs in bacon fat? Bring it. Should I eat that bacon fat? YES! Would you like a slice of pavlova?..... Errrr NO.

Fat. GIMMEE GIMMEE....

I have indulged in the odd sweet treat at parties. But that's where it ends. My cravings do not seem to return. The sweet food is for the party and that is that. If I catch a nibble of some chocolate I am amazed. Why do they make it so sweet? The sweetness to me now is just excessive and I really do not enjoy the flavour. 

Now I get cravings of a different sort. Cravings for berries and cream. For cheese. For buttery popcorn. But I'm stoked. My appetite really has diminished. 

I've been quite surprised by the events of the past few months. I was never "into" this sort of stuff. I. I do remember however gasping at people with FULL FAT DAIRY IN THEIR TROLLEY. OH MY GOD.. YOU'RE GOING TO GET FAT PEOPLE! FAT!!! Turns out I was wrong.

And now I have become a little obsessed with it all. I'm on the net until all hours googling Coconut oil and reading about anything I can get my hands on. I'm stalking forums and reading Facebook pages on an hourly basis. I'm telling everyone. Debating the issue, being questioned. Getting easily frustrated with organisations such as The Heart Foundation who ignore the research on saturated fats and sugar and still preach the exact opposite. Listening to Professor What's His Name on You Tube.  I'm always curious as to why people would go on a  Low Fat diet (or as I call them Starvation Diets. Because all they do is make you hungrier).

I've turned into some sort of "alternative nutrition expert', dispelling the myths about fat and spreading the joys of a sugar free life to anyone who will listen and anyone who will not listen. They still look at me as if I landed from Mars. And that's ok. It will take time. One person at a time. 

I've done my job for nutrition in Australia. I have converted approximately 5 people to a sugar free life. There's only 18 million people or so to go.

Wish me luck?

Yibbee the kids are off to school! Bright Star Kids Labels Review

So the kids are going back to school soon and I am kinda glad. This place is a nuthouse. Seriously. It is not possible. NOT POSSIBLE. To have a clean and ordered home when you have 3 kids. I'm also kinda getting sick of hearing "Mum, where are we going today?". I'm also kinda sick of hearing them cry when I say "Nowhere". Their reciprocation of "NO WAY THAT'S TOO BORING" is driving me to a mild state of bonkers.

2012 will bring lots of new changes for us. I'm looking forward to a new routine, but also a little sad. I think I'll miss the mayhem. My Boy is off to Kindy and My Big Girl is starting Full Time Pre Primary.

Bright Star Kids asked me to review their fab range of labels. Bright Star Kids is a one stop shop for your kids name labels.

I'm always looking for funky kids websites that help me save time. Bright Star Kids is one of those websites.

When I was a kid, mum used to chip away at pencils with a Stanley knife and write our names on with pen. If she was lucky to not LOSE A FINGER doing this, it would take all afternoon. Sometimes she liquid papered stuff and then wrote our name over the top with a pen. Yuck. Oh things have changed since then. Now you can get specky name labels with pictures and colours and...

These kids have no idea how lucky they are.

Bright Star kids sent me a stack of name labels to try out.

The name labels come in compact sheets and stick on brilliantly. No more scrawling your kids name in permanent marker. They also come in a great range of colours, designs and sizes. Labels to stick on toys, lunch boxes, shoes, bags..... everything.

Let's not forget the Iron On Labels, which stick really well. It only takes 10 seconds to iron it on and presto, you're done. 

So there is no need to use the archaic methods of the 1980's to label your kids possessions. 

We labelled The Boys new bag, drink bottle, lunch box and used an Iron On Label on his hat.

My Boy is now ready for Kindy. I'm just not sure if kindy is ready for My Boy. Time will tell.

Hairdressers and the boofy factor

I very much like going to the hairdressers.

It's a nice way to sit in one spot for a few hours without being asked to wipe anyones bottom.

You might be lucky enough to enjoy a coffee and drink it all before it gets cold. You might even be lucky enough to engage in an adult conversation without being interupted. And if you're REALLY lucky your hairdresser might have those lovely massage chairs which may help you engage in a little midday siesta.

Up until now, I have not been regular visitor to the hairdresser. I used to cut my hair myself. Having very curly hair - it's actually quite easy to do this. You can't see any errors, the curls hide it nicely. It's not until now that I see so many grey hairs that I realise I need to go more frequently. I have vowed to go to the hairdressers and give those greys a seeing to. You know. To avoid confronting the fact that I am GETTING OLD. Which is actually quite devastating in itself.

That last part of the customer/hairdresser relationship - The Blow Dry makes me a bit ancy.

Let me tell you why. I have NEVER met a hairdresser who knows how to blow dry curls nicely. When they learn their skill and they undertake Curly Hair 101, I am pretty sure the manual writes that the procedure to dry curly hair is to make it as boofy as possible. Make it fizz and fuzz. Comb that curl right out baby. Think Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. But worse. Get the hair to fuzz out as much as possible and you have done your job.

I will never pay for my hair to be blow dried because I end up looking like Fuzzy the Fuzzball from Fuzzland. Dear Hairdresser - Frizzies are bad. Tame that curl, get the curls to stay together. It's not 1984 and I'd prefer I didn't look like I just rolled out of the nearest Rollerskating rink.

And what's funny is. They say "ta daaa". When they have finished and add "See. Not frizzy at all". And I'm like...... WHAT!! Are you for real? If that isn't frizzy, show me what is! Have you gone nuts!? Then I realise it's not their fault. They were brainwashed at Hairdressing school.

So I never have my hair blow dried curly. I always ask for them to blow dry it straight or just leave it. Which is kind of annoying.

Do you suffer from hairdresser anxiety. Do you tell your hairdresser when they've done a shitty job?