Great State Fair

Last week I made a public announcement that I was going to go refined sugar free! I was completely jazzed about the endeavor and felt like I might conquer the world. One week later, it is time for an update...

I'm still on board! Amazingly, I am still excited for the journey and believe this might finally be the change that my stomach has been begging for for years! While I continue to find hidden sugar in everything under the sun, it has been easier to stay on track than I had previously imagined.

However, in the interest of transparency, there was one little huge, though conscious, flub up this week.

Enter the amazing, the wonderful, the sugar packed Iowa State Fair! If you are from Iowa (or the Midwest for that matter), you have heard of the number three tourist attraction in America. You have most likely also heard of the nearly 200 food stands and close to 70 foods on a stick that are every turn of the ISF. I grew up going to the fair yearly, eating the food, and showing cattle. So nothing (an appendectomy, a new sugar free regime) was going to stop me from keeping this tradition alive!

That is why I went into the day fully aware that I would be breaking my new sugar free rule...and it was glorious! Here is a list of all the gooey, salty, sweet deliciousness that Adam and I consumed. I'm not embarrassed. I'm from 'Merica!

ISF Food (both stick and not stick variety)

• Footlong Corn Dog -  both of us
• Cookies in a Cup - we shared 
• Deep Fat Fried Snickers - Adam's baby, but I had a bite
• Chocolate Dipped Key-lime Pie on a Stick - Adam
• Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Sandwich on a Stick - All Me! 
• Gyros - both of us
• Summer Shandy - one each...Large!
• Tootsie Rolls - Free! How can you say no?

Ok...maybe I'm a little embarrassed. And I paid the price when we got home. After sugar detoxing my body for a week and a half, there were some serious repercussions after that haul! I was sick until three the next afternoon! 

First beer post surgery! 

Nonetheless, we had a great night together. We signed up for free stuff at the Varied Industries Building, checked out the Butter Cow in the Agriculture building, commented on how funny dairy cattle are in the beef barn, found my name on the alumni wall, and enjoyed some of the best people watching of the year! I loved every minute of it! Plus, I got a night out with my handsome hubby. What's not to love?

We found my best friend, brother and myself on the ISU alumni wall! Silly Eduardo breaking us up...

Maybe next year I will pick ONE off diet delight at the Iowa State Fair. After all, Rodgers and Hammerstein let me know from a young age that, "Our state fair is a great state fair. Don't miss it. Don't even be late!"

 I wouldn't miss it for the world!