Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

I Quit Sugar {Book Review}

I Quit Sugar
Your Complete 8-Week Detox Program and Cookbook
by Sarah Wilson

About the book:

A New York Times bestseller, I Quit Sugar is week-by-week guide to quitting sugar to lose weight; boost energy; and improve your looks, mood, and overall health, with 108 sugarfree recipes. 

Sarah Wilson thought of herself as a relatively healthy eater. She didn’t realize how much sugar was hidden in her diet, or how much it was affecting her well-being. When she learned that her sugar consumption could be the source of a lifetime of mood swings, fluctuating weight, sleep problems, and thyroid disease, she knew she had to make a change. 

What started as an experiment to eliminate sugar–both the obvious and the hidden kinds–soon became a way of life, and now Sarah shows you how you can quit sugar too:
* follow a flexible and very doable 8-week plan
* overcome cravings
* make food you’re excited to eat with these 108 recipes for detox meals, savory snacks, and sweet treats from Sarah Wilson and contributors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Curtis Stone, Dr. Robert Lustig (The Fat Chance Cookbook), Sarma Melngailis (Raw Food/ Real World), Joe “the Juicer” Cross, and Angela Liddon (Oh She Glows) 

I Quit Sugar makes it easy to kick the habit for good, lose weight, and feel better than ever before. When you are nourished with delicious meals and treats, you won’t miss the sugar for an instant.

“When I quit sugar I found wellness and the kind of energy and sparkle I had as a kid. I don’t believe in diets or in making eating miserable. This plan and the recipes are designed for lasting wellness.” — Sarah Wilson

I’ve been dabbling with not eating carbs and sugars over the past few months so when I saw this book up for review, I knew I wanted to read it.

One of the first paragraphs I read said this:

I was eating three pieces of fruit a day, a handful of dried fruit, a teaspoon or two of honey in my tea, a small bar of dark chocolate after lunch and after dinner, honey drizzled on yogurt or dessert.

This was her “too much, obviously addicted to sugar”.  Fruit and a teaspoon or two of honey?  Are you serious?  Right off the bat, I was irritated.

Firstly, I just can’t for the life of me deem fruit bad in my mind.  God created fruits and vegetables for a reason, for us to consume. For years and years we’ve been told the health benefits of fruits. They reduce risk for heart disease, protect against certain types of cancers, reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

Secondly, Wilson says all fruit MUST go.  But then a recipe of “Sweet Green Meal in a Tumbler” has grapefruit, lemon and green apple in it.  What in the world?  Talk about confusing people.

Overall, I wasn’t really impressed with this book.  It makes me sad to say that because I really really wanted to like it and to gain tons of knowledge from it.

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided this book to me for free in exchange for this honest review as part of their Blogging for Books program.

Allowing God to Write my Story {and accepting it}

I woke up and rolled over to find my husband not there.  Once I crawl out of bed and feel the temperature in the room, I instantly know where he is.  Often times he is driven to the couch by a sweltering hot room {and a wife that likes to snuggle}.  I head down the steps to double check and sure enough, there he is on the couch.

I took a slight detour before going back upstairs and I headed to the downstairs bathroom.  The one where the scale lives.  I sleepily turned the light on and pulled the scale out.  As I stepped onto it, I whispered a tiny prayer, “Lord, I’ll accept whatever it says”.  Nothing can make me fold in on myself quicker than an unkind scale.  I’ve learned over the past year this tiny prayer, though only six words long, makes a huge difference in me.  I glanced down and to my dismay, saw the same number I’ve seen time and time again.  Stepping off, and slightly frustrated, I climbed the stairs and headed to the shower.

Now I have a confession to make, for some reason I adore speaking to the Lord while I’m in the shower. For me, it’s my quiet peaceful place where I hear His voice. Is that weird? If it is, please don’t tell me, because I sure do love my alone time with Him while I wash my hair and shave my legs.

As I began my shower, I also began my God talk time. “Lord, I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I’ve faithfully, for the past month, not had a single carb or bite of sugar. Why does my scale not move like others? Please Lord, I can’t do it on my own. Let me follow You”.

In that moment, His answer was so clear. Right now my answer is no. And in that same moment I knew I had to accept it.

I don’t know what His plan is for me, but I must be brave enough to follow it. I must have the strength to accept His no. I have to know that God hasn’t abandoned me, He is growing me. His no isn’t a punishment.

God grows those He loves through difficult times. And He loves me. And He loves you. And since He does, He walks with us through difficult trials. And I am here to tell you, this weight issue is one of the biggest trials I’ve ever faced. The beauty of the Christian life isn’t that we’ll live trial free, but that we’ll have the hand of Jesus through the trial. 




The Loving Kitchen {Book Review}

The Loving Kitchen
Downright Delicious Southern Recipes to Share with Family, Friends, and Neighbors
By LeAnn Rice
About the book:

The Loving Kitchen is a collection of comforting recipes straight from the kitchen of popular food blogger LeAnn Rice. 

You know the feeling you get when you’re an overnight guest in someone’s home, and you awaken to a hot-off-the-griddle breakfast? Or when a coworker brings in a pan of her famous brownies to celebrate your recent promotion? Doesn’t it feel great when dinner at the neighbors’ house includes multiple courses of scratch-made recipes and conversation that lingers beyond dessert and that last cup of coffee? 

For many of us, these are the moments in which we feel most loved. That’s the idea behind The Loving Kitchen. Get your family’s day started right with LeAnn’s fluffy Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, or a bowl of Almond Coconut Granola and yogurt. Keep your favorite sports fans fueled through the entire game with hearty servings of Hot Sausage and Spinach Dip, or toss together a Grilled Chicken and Berry Salad for lunch with your dearest girlfriends. 

Want a signature dinner you can serve on those special occasions? Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Orange Cranberry Glaze with Creamy Smashed Baby Potatoes is the perfect meal to celebrate a milestone. LeAnn’s sunny narrative and ideas for bringing people together will remind you that the best meal you’ll ever cook is the one you prepare as an act of love.

If there is one thing this Mama loves doing for her family, it’s cooking.  It’s one of the ways I show them love and just how much I care about them.  I have to admit though, I’ve worried on occasion that my way of showing them love is actually the wrong way.  Nonetheless, I sure do enjoy it!

Now if you know me, you know I love me some Paula Deen. Butter, mayonnaise, gooey cakes and fried chicken sounds right up my alley. So I’m deffo not going to hate on the unhealthier recipes in this book. These recipes are easy to follow and my fam loved them!


This book reminded me a lot of Paula. The tone of it is very down-home, which I loved. LeAnn shares her take on many Southern classics, like fried chicken, grits, BBQ, and sweet potatoes. Her writing style is casual and sprinkled with humor (and y’all know I love humor), like she’s talking to you right across the kitchen table. She makes you feel like you’ve known her forever. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a new book. This will definitely be my go-to cookbook.

What I loved the most y’all was the love and heart in this book. As I said above, I show love through cooking. In this book, I could feel the love and comfort that she associates with cooking for people. She gives the reader assurance that your meals don’t have to be perfect to show that love to your family.  And I assured me that I’m not the only one that shows my love that way. Whew, no need to keep stressing over it.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.