The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

Honey_Bear

How did you do Cookie?

I think I was so thrown by another stratospherically high blood pressure reading I had every incentive to stay off the sugar because losing weight = lowering blood pressure, so I didn't even feel tempted to eat anything sweet, plus which I'd had a small handful of nuts at 3.00pm just because I was dealing with them and there were some I'd kind of pulverised in my nut-cracking enthusiasm. 

The good news is that when I checked on the instructions again on how to take BP I'd done absolutely everything wrong so it wasn't surprising it was so high.  I've done it properly this morning and while it's still high it's slightly lower than I had any reason to hope, so I'm much happier.  I've also weighed myself - 67.7kgs, so I've definitely lost a whole kilo.  I'm very, very happy with that because I now know exactly what I've got to do to get the flab off fast.

So, with that in mind, I'm not going to beat myself up if I give into cravings today for sugar because I've already had two sugar-free days, but if I can get through without indulging it would be three days in a row and that would be an amazing achievement.  It's not something I intend to stick to for the rest of the month, but when it happens I'll regard it as a bonus.

Jazee

Well, I didn't have my sugar free day yesterday.  A combination of DH buying me some sweets and the fact I hadn't prepped any fruit salad so that's a job after lunch today.  

Honey_Bear

Commiserations, Jazee.  It's so easy to slip and give in to temptation.  I hope you enjoy prepping fruit salad so it's there for next time when temptation rears it's head.  It's so hard to say No when someone gives you a gift; you know they mean well and it's generous so we succumb.  I always do in those circumstances, which is why I'm so glad Belovéd is on the same track as me with this Challenge.  

cookie02

I made it through yesterday afternoon and, by some miracle, I have just made it through today sugar-free   I think this was a side-effect of today being so busy that I didn't get much time to think about food!  It's good to hear that your BP is lower, Honey_Bear, and great news that you've lost a kilo  How did today go for you?  

Jazee, I hope you had time to prep the fruit salad today.  We all start again tomorrow!  I'm not expecting to be sugar-free tomorrow but I'm going to try to keep it to a low-sugar day.  

Honey_Bear

I say Cookie, that's marvellous!  Well done, and keep up the good work.

As I was sugar-free unexpectedly yesterday I was in two minds about today, and thought if I could make it through a sugar-free Wednesday I'd be doing really well, so I had a small handful of almonds at 3.30pm to stave off the cravings and allowed myself three handmade chocolates tonight to celebrate going through Monday, Tuesday and right up to 9.00pm on Wednesday completely sugar-free, not just added sugar free.  No mayo or tomato ketchup or anything, just proper food - that I didn't think I'd be able to do at all, so I'm delighted.

Let's see how tomorrow goes.  I'm not holding my breath.

in_need_of_direction

Surprisingly I managed my sugar free day yesterday thanks to the apple I grabbed as I left for work.  I wasn’t getting lunch until around four so would have been totally derailed if I’d been without the apple.  I also stuck to water and tea instead of my usual diet cola.  I’m hoping to step up to two days from Oct and think it’ll be Tuesday and Thursday. 

Continuing to be so impressed by everyone’s efforts here.

Jazee

I made the fruit salad but DH also bought me a cake. Trying again today!

Honey_Bear

Well done for grabbing the apple, In Need, and having the determination to make it enough until you get a proper meal and particularly well done for avoiding the pop and sticking to tea and water while at work.

I'd comiserate with you Jazee, and I do feel for you, but then again ... cake.  Mmmmmhh.  He probably doesn't mean to derail you, but it's easy to see how spectacularly quickly we can be thrown off course by someone's kindness and generosity.

I was out and about in town today after my usual Thursday morning job and found myself dialling home to see if Belovéd would like to share a steak pasty for lunch.  That is so wrong on so many different levels at the moment - I completely forgot!

I succumbed last night and had three handmade chocolates after dinner, but that was all the sugar I had yesterday so I'm a very happy bunny.  I may be fooling myself a bit; I've been having a B3n3col yoghurt with my porridge the last couple of mornings and I rather fear there is sugar in that, but it's a lot better for me than shovelling on three large spoonfuls of Greek or Yeo Valley youghurt and a pile of sugar or dried fruit as I used to do.  I'm picking the battles with myself I can win.  It's working, I've dropped another pound, so that's three so far.  It won't continue at that rate but it's amazing what cutting out all added sugar and fat can achieve in a few days.  I don't intend to ever go back to eating the amount of fat I used to because it's just as bad as sugar for me and my blood pressure really, really shouldn't be what it is.  There's no excuse, and I'm finding a Mediterranean diet suprisingly straightforward and delicious.  Fortunately Belovéd does too, and made a wonderful paella last night for us.  I could take a lot of this.

in_need_of_direction

On the plus side, you were sharing a steak pasty

Honey_Bear

Thankfully, In Need, I realised what I was doing while on the phone to Belovéd, so I never got that far!  Just goes to show, though, how quickly someone can forget they're supposed to be eating healthily when they see something tempting in front of their eyes.  The lesson from that - I must not walk past pasty shops.  Tricky, living in Plymouth!

I have sinned, though.  For various reasons my stress levels went through the roof last night and the cravings for something sweet just wouldn't stop.  I needed sugar and was kind of obsessing about it from the moment I got a text at about 3.30.  I can't explain it any other way.  I had a biscuit with my tea at 4.00pm,  but I stopped at one so that's a massive win on a Thursday, although I could have had a handful of dates because one of the reasons I was in town was to buy dates and that was successful.  (Sainsbobs were pretty much out of them but I found a big bulging bag in my favourite health food shop.) 

The real sinning was after dinner.  I brooded on that bit of news we would rather not have had until after dinner and then let rip a bit on marzipan, which I don't particularly like, and some plain chocolate to ease it down.  So, I can honestly say that was a stress reaction, and learn that in times of stress I will turn to sugar to aleviate it, and I'm happy knowing that.  The really hard decision is whether or not to have a magnum tonight after fish and chips.  It's not a healthy meal but it is our normal Friday night meal and I love it.  I rather think I might let temptation win over because I don't want to be so strict with myself I end up abandoning a regime that is already producing huge gains for me but would be highly restrictive if I were to try to stick to it seven days a week.  I'd fail immediately if I tried to do that.

There is one aspect of it though that I'd really appreciate some thoughts and ideas on.  My fave chocolate, other than those handmade ones, are MaIt3zers, T3rry's chocolate orange and mint A3ro.  Having been reduced to raiding Belovéd's marzipan in an emergency, would you think it would be better to get some chocolate that I actually like for emergency sitiuations, or not?  If it's there I might find it too easily tempting but I can't pretend there won't be other stressful days and I may just as well enjoy the stressbusters if I'm going to eat chocolate when times are testing.  There are bound to be other curved balls lobbed my way but I am inclined towards scoffing a whole box, a whole orange or a whole big bar in one sitting, so it's a risk.