The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

cookie02

I made it through yesterday sugar-free so I managed three days in a row .  I was hoping for four but, after the rocky start, I'm very pleased to have three this week.  

Honey_Bear, how did Wednesday and Thursday go for you?  It's great that you're seeing the positive effects of all these changes on your skin.  Thank you for the tip about the mung beans.  I have those already so I might try it.  It's good to know that you don't need the fancy tilting jars for them to grow.  

Interesting to hear that hummus tastes good without the oil as I'd have never thought to try that.  If you are cutting back on oil, I can recommend using a splash of water instead of oil when you are stir frying.  For example, with fried onions or stir fry veg, I toast the spices in the pan, add the onions/veg (or both), let them heat up and add a splash of hot water.  The water stops the pan burning but the onions/veg don't get soggy as they're hot and the pan is hot so it just seems to help things cook quickly.  If I don't add water, I've found that the veg just wilts right down as I have to heat for longer and can't seem to catch them while they still have some shape/crunch to them.  I'm not sure if I've explained that very well!  It is much easier than it sounds and my family never noticed the difference.  Even when I do fried onions for burgers, no-one ever notices and I have some crispy onion fiends here so I'd be in trouble if that didn't work.  Like you said, all these things add up!  Well done on all your breakthroughs over the last two weeks, it is inspiring to see so much progress ⭐️.  

Looking ahead to this weekend, I plan to be sugar-free until this evening.  Tomorrow and Sunday will be 'regular' days and I don't have any official restrictions on sugar but I'm hoping to be fairly restrained so I can get back to sugar-free more easily on Monday.  I'm off today and I'm meeting a friend later.  Originally, I thought that this might change my sugar plan but I told my friend who knows that I won't be having any sugar until this evening.  It looks like it will rain so we haven't decided exactly where we'll be going but I'm determined to make the most of it and will just enjoy the break. 

Hope everyone is well and good luck with your goals for today 💪.  

Honey_Bear

Well done on the better latter part of the week after a shaky start Cookie.  There are some days (and weeks) when I just can't get my head around this Challenge, so every day we do manage to be sugar-free is a major victory and should be celebrated!

Thanks for the tip about stir-frying using a drop or three of water instead of oil.  Belovéd is the stir-frier in this house but I'm beginning to get my head around it.  I've been using waaaaay more oil than I needed for everything for years so that's being cut right back now for everything, but the hummus was the most drastic recipe by far.  It did have a hearty dollop of tahini in it so it wasn't totally oil free, but I didn't stir in the oil on the top of the paste before I dolloped it out of the jar so even that wasn't over-generous.  I still like it much more than with all the olive oil in it, and I could always swirl a bit on top if I felt like it.

So far so good today, and yesterday was fine.  I don't think I'm going to weaken tonight because I'm on a roll at the moment.  It was my turn to buy the chocolates this week, so I popped into the chocolate shop we use - it's a bit of a bu**er having an actual chocolatier at the bottom of the lane opposite the house, so less than 50 yards away!  The woman that owns and runs it has also given up chocolate for Lent!  How she's managing it with all of that temptation around her is beyond me.  She isn't even allowing herself any chocolate on Sundays, but did admit she went out for coffee with a friend earlier this week and forgot completely she wasn't supposed to be having anything, and only remembered when she got home that she shouldn't have had that brownie!  A woman after my own heart!

She happens to have a coffee cake in at the moment that I could, because it's not chocolate, have on Saturday.  I probably will too, because coffee cake is actuallly my favourite, mainly because chocolate cake is often so disappointing.  Not hers though, but she isn't making my favourite at all at the moment, so I'll settle for coffee cake quite happily. 

I am rather looking forward to this weekend!

Honey_Bear

It's Saturday and this weekend I've remembered that I'm allowed sugar today - hurrah!.  It was my turn to buy the chocolates so I went yesterday even though I'm very restricted in how many I can eat tomorrow, and while I was there I noticed the chocolatier has coffee cake, something I've never noticed there before.  I absolutely love coffee cake and haven't had any in years so I went back today and bought myself a slice and have just eaten it with a cup of tea, having looked forward to it for a full 24 hours. 

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind at all that they would make the best coffee cake possible but to my absolute horror - all I could taste was the sugar.  Nothing else, just the vaguest hint of mild, weak coffee and certainly not enough to make me ever want another slice of it.  My reaction:

1.  I'm gutted that something I've loved all my life is now not worth bothering with; and

2.  Delighted that I'm not going to want to bother with it ever again.

It's a real conundrum, that, but it just goes to show that if you cut back enough on sugar gradually your tastes will change and it will result in you eating less of it.  I've no doubt that it's because I went without any sugar at all for six days last week and then five full days this week that it was so noticeable.  In addition to that, the amount I ate last Sunday was minimal because I was eating dark chocolate and while I had a goodly dollop of marmalade on my toast for Sunday breakfast, I add as little sugar as possible to marmalade and jam when I make them so you can actually taste the fruit rather than just sweet stuff.  The net result is that although I did indulge last Sunday it probably wasn't a huge amount of sugar overall and that is now having a profound effect on my tastes. 

That's a really, really good thing, it was just that it came as a bit of a shock with the coffee cake just now.  It'll make things easier from now on though because I won't be quite so tempted.

Morning_walker

Hi, hello, catching up on the forum... I've taken a step backwards with my habits, but intend to get back on track this week. I'm planning to log in next weekend with an update  Looks like you've been making great progress, Honey_bear!

Hope everyone is well, and best of luck for this week. 

Honey_Bear

Welcome back Morning Walker!  I had a couple of weeks just before Lent where I could barely manage one sugar free day a week, so you're not alone taking a step back - I posted all the way through but honestly I felt a complete fraud.  However, I started this Challenge and the fact that it's tough and sometimes impossible,is something it's useful to remember.

Today I had about a teaspoon of marmalade on my toast which was lovely and I've just scoffed a slice of chocolate cake.  It's a lovely cake, but like the coffee cake yesterday - much too sugary.  I've had this cake before, well before I thought of this Challenge, and I had absolutely NO TROUBLE with it at all.  I'm really rather pleased that by restricting my sugar intake so strictly for two weeks (with a break last Sunday) I've actually achieved something I didn't think possible. 

I thought I might find it too sweet, so I split it in half and had half at lunchtime and half at tea time.  I could still feel the very slight indigestion from the lunchtime half when I ate the teatime half but as I can't have it tomorrow and I'm not about to waste any kind of chocolate I'm not disappointed in myself or sorry I ate the other half, but I won't need to ever again.  I don't want to go back to eating sugar every day and I really, really like not having any during the week any more, although it's not like I'm not tempted - I'm only human! 

I have the feeling that five days a week of no sugar plus the fact that I've radically changed my diet so I'm eating far, far more veg during the day and also fruit in the evenings as dessert, has been a real game-changer.  Some days I'm having more than 10, which is a HUGE improvement on what I used to manage.

Saving sugar for a weekend treat will be my thing from now on and I certainly don't intend to waste my new found freedom from the 'addiction' of sugar by eating anything that's less than 100% fabulous on High Days and Holidays during the week when I'm allowed to indulge myself. 

cookie02

Well done on your breakthroughs, Honey_Bear and great to hear how you're getting on Morning_walker .  

Honey_Bear, it sounds like you are seeing a major change in your tastebuds.  I don't think I'm there yet!  On Friday, I didn't eat any sugar but I had a cocktail that tasted very sweet to me.  I'd love to think that was my tastebuds changing but I think the drink probably was excessively sugary even for a sugar-eater.  After that drink, I didn't feel compelled to eat dessert and just counted that as my sugar for Friday.  

Yesterday and today have been ok as I've had a couple of cookies and a couple of lovely chocolates but it wasn't a huge amount (by my standards).  The rest of my food has been fairly healthy this weekend.  

Morning_walker, well done for having some sugary days but then trying to get back on track.  I think getting back on track is the key to success with this challenge!  Like Honey_Bear, I have had my share of sugary days and weeks but every meal counts and getting back on track and racking up those sugar-free mealtimes will all bring benefits over time.  Good luck meeting your goals this week 🍀.  

cookie02

I didn't think I'd be saying this but I've just managed my first sugar-free day of the week!  It was a struggle.  For some reason, I was feeling hungrier than usual and that generally signals doom when it comes to staying sugar-free.  Thanks to a combination of lentils, cheese and a couple of dates, I managed to get through the day.  

I hope everyone is having a great start to the week .  

Honey_Bear

Massively well done Cookie.  Sometimes it seems impossible and then somehow you pull through but it is tough, isn't it.  I find it harder to get back to being sugar free after a few days of indulgence - the longer I got without sugar the easier it is to resist but I think it takes some time to build up to that. 

It's the Stop Start thing that is really hard.  I didn't realise that until Lent.

cookie02

Honey_Bear said:

It's the Stop Start thing that is really hard.  I didn't realise that until Lent.

Thank you, Honey_Bear!  As ever, you are spot on re: the stop/start issue being the most difficult thing to deal with and it's one of the reasons why I reduced my Sunday sugar consumption so that Mondays are a bit more manageable.  I hope you are having a good start to the week!  By the way, it's great to hear that your low-sugar marmalade experiment worked so well.

Today, I'm hoping for another sugar-free day.  I have more dates, mini cheese and some nuts so plenty of snacks, if needed. Fingers crossed!  The sun is out and I'm feeling quite determined so I hope that sticks and I make it through today. 

Wishing all of you luck with your goals for this week 🍀. 

Honey_Bear

The trick for me to gett past the cravings trick seems to be having snacks that I actually want to eat.

I've sprouted seeds which are great in salad but don't cut the mustard when the cravings strike.  The cashew bars do, and a couple of dried figs do but my reality is that I've discovered I need to eat properly four times a day and never let myself get to the point where I want sugary things, the quick fix that strikes when my blood sugar is low.  I can resist sugar and filling up with cheese if I plan lovely things I enjoy eating, and have easy access to them.

Breakfast is either French toast or porridge with yoghurt and blueberries, and lunch is either pulse-based or a Buddha bowl with masses of green leaves, balsamic dressing and something filling like feta or goat's cheese, or falafel and/or hummus.  I often need something on toast around tea sometimes and that's when I have paté or peanut butter, and then it's a normal evening meal around 7.30 or 8.00pm.  We're veering much more towards fish or vegetarian food now and rarely even think of eating meat.  Very fortunately Belovéd and I like the same kinds of food so we've taken to meal planning over breakfast on Sunday, the only breakfast we sit down together at the dining table to eat because while he cooks three nights a week, he can't really be bothered with planning it.  It's working out really well.

There's a brown lentil and rice thing I've discovered that I absolutely love which you may enjoy as well.  When I've worked out which recipe works best I'll put a link up here.  I dollop a bit of yoghurt on it and it works really well when I'm out and about and need to eat - I've got a little lunch bag that fits an iceblock and a box of it perfectly.