Day 15: Epiphanies

Yesterday I realized that our 8-week challenge covers Halloween.  Who's bright idea was that?  The holiday filled with candy, caramel corn, caramel apples, and other goodies is smack in the middle of week 7 of our challenge.  Of course, I'm not a big fan of much of the waxy candies that are associated with Halloween, but the idea of missing it is horrifying. Perhaps that is how I'll celebrate the holiday.  Instead of being horrified by zombie, werewolves and vampires, I'll be horrified about missing the gluttony of sugar. I'm sure sure it will not be as satisfying, but at least I'll have the appropriate holiday response.

The second great insight I had today involves ice cream.  After a lunch of wraps made with lettuce and a mixture of squash, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, spinach, and kamut, we were wanting a little something sweet.  We purchased some almond milk ice cream and some coconut milk ice cream last week, so we thought we might try a bit.  The almond milk brand was Amaretto chocolate chip and I found it to be cloyingly sweet.  The coconut milk version was a rich chocolate that was very good, although with a strong coconut aftertaste. In preparing to write my blog tonight, I decided to compare the calories and sugar of the two, along with a regular cow's milk vanilla ice cream  for comparison and the results were surprising. 

Of the three, the caloric counts were about the same.  For a 1/2 cup serving size, there are 130 calories in both the cow and almond milk.  Coconut milk ice cream had 150 calories.  OK, no huge surprises there.  We're not really worrying about calories, but I found it interesting.  The big surprise came with the sugar content.  Based on the taste I'd have bet money on the chocolate having less sugar than the other two.  Nope. (Quick note: this is why I never bet money.  I always lose.) The cow's milk ice cream had the most at 11 grams.  The coconut milk ice cream came in next with 8 grams, and the almond milk ice cream came in at a mere 6 grams.

I know what you're thinking. You are asking yourself why someone who is working to restrict sugar from their diet is eating ice cream.  In fact, why is she even buying ice cream in the first place? Sue me! (Which is a more polite expression than Bite Me, which my niece, KG, might have used at one point.) Defensiveness aside, I had less than 1/4 cup all together.  And, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would.  It really feels like I'm starting to shake the need for sweets all the time, and just a small taste amply met my sugar needs. (If you're keeping count, by the way, this is my 3rd epiphany in today's blog.)

That is about it for the revelations today.  It is still rainy and windy here in the lovely Pacific Northwest.  It is time to leave two full sized towels at the front door when I take the dogs out for our walks, as the big dog soaks up water like a 70 pound walking sponge.  The little dog shakes dry pretty quick, but the big one really holds the moisture.  Here's hoping the power stays on with all the wind tonight.  Sleep well!!!