The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

Honey_Bear

See you when you get back Morning Walker; you will be missed.  I hope the intervening time goes well and good luck with cutting down on chocolate.

Ah Cookie, well done on being incredibly virtuous earlier this week and I hope you did considerably better than me for the rest of it.  I've eaten either something sweet or chocolate every day this week and although the bars are smaller than the 200g ones I used to socff every day I've eaten two of them this week - half on Thursday and the rest of that one and another 100g one on Friday.  Hopeless. Sugar on raspberries, a teaspoon of honey on my yoghurt on Friday morning because there were no blueberries.  Absolutely hopeless. 

EXCEPT:  We all make slip-ups, and I was exceptionally tired during the latter part of the week and that 's when I'm at my worst.  I did not pig out every day, I didn't put on a ton of weight so I know I wasn't doing anything really stupid, I cooked up a another batch of that rice and lentil thing, I invented a mushroom pate recipe that blows my mind, learned how to eat chia seeds the previous lodger left behind, and bought a mass of fruit and veggies when I went shopping, fish and not much else  foodwise; in other words - no more junk food.  I'm really pleased with that change in my diet, and I've noticed that since I started junking the junk I've been in a much happier frame of mind. For about two months now I've felt positively cheerful and for someone with a history of depression that's felt amazing. 

I was so unsure of it that I didn't want to mention it before but if improving my diet is responsible for lightening of load, so to speak, that's just fine with me.  If it's just co-incidence that's okay too because it really does feel different.  I thought when I gave up booze I was supposed to get a moodboost but it never happened which was disappointing but never really bothered me because not living with a habit that was gradually making my life worse was enough, tbh.  

And I turned 66 and received my first state pension payment.  What's not to like?  Two bars of chocolate, a bit of sugar on my raspberries, one m@gnum and a scant teaspoon of honey over five days are  not the end of the world.

Monday being a bank holiday is not going to be sugarfree, so back to it with hopefully a bit more success on Tuesday.

cookie02

Good morning!  

Morning_walker, well done for your achievements this week, it sounds like you are gaining momentum with your quest to cut down on chocolate 🏅 .  Good luck with your work and also with prioritising your health - so important, especially now!  This challenge will be here whenever you are ready to check-in and share ideas, progress and encouragement .  

Honey_Bear, reading about your experience with fizzy drinks is really interesting, thanks for sharing that.  I think that the drinks got much sweeter at some point.  I tasted one a few years after I stopped and it had gone from being a drink that I found incredibly refreshing to a hideous artificial-tasting syrup.  I have a feeling that if it had tasted like that when I first drank it, I might not have become addicted to it!  I also remember drinking my favourite fizzy drink in Prague on holiday and it was so much sweeter there that I couldn't finish it (and this was while I was still drinking them for breakfast!).  I went to Prague for work the following year and I tried again and it was awful.  I mentioned this to a colleague and they showed me the drinks machine.  The coffee etc came with sugar by default and you had to press a button if you didn't want sugar!  This sugar-heavy policy extended to fizzy drinks where the recipes from the global players were much sweeter to cater for the local market.  I have no idea how much sugar must have been in those if even I thought they were too sweet back then 😱.  

Sugar-wise, on Friday, I was sugar-free.  This was my first-ever sugar-free Friday since joining the challenge.  Of course, I had sugar at various points last week so it wasn't a 'five days in a row' breakthrough but it was definitely an achievement as Fridays are the most difficult for me.  To make it even better, I didn't realise I hadn't had any sugar until I finished my food spreadsheet.  This means that I didn't even *want* any sugary things on Friday (which is itself a huge achievement for me, as it means that I turned down dessert without thinking about it).  Yesterday, I had sugar but I feel pretty good about that too as it was a slice of loaf cake and I only had the one slice (again, without actively trying to restrict myself).  I'm curious about how today will go.  Since it's the weekend, I don't have any official sugar-free goals but I try not to let myself eat too much sugar during the weekend as it makes Monday that much harder.  I haven't decided whether to treat tomorrow like a regular Monday, or to give myself some flexibility due to the Bank Holiday.  I'm going to see how today goes and decide on that later.  

I hope everyone is well and that you're enjoying the weekend! ☀️ 

cookie02

Sorry, I only saw your last post now, Honey_Bear, even though your last post must have been there when I posted yesterday 🙊.  I think you're right that your shift to healthy eating and your happier mood are connected.  This could be to do with a natural increase in dopamine thanks to reducing the amount of processed sugar in your diet. If you search 'dopamine diet', you will see that this is along the lines of what you've shifted towards naturally.  It's great to hear that this challenge is having such a positive effect for you.  As for the little treats last week, you are right to count the wins - some weeks are more sugary than others but as long as the general trajectory is downwards, that's the main thing!

Thanks to my family, I have discovered M@gnum bites.  I'm guessing this is a new product as I don't remember seeing them before.  I normally have the minis but I think I like these even better (they have a better chocolate/ice cream ratio 😋).  I'm not sure if this is helpful info to share here but they are smaller than the M@gnum minis and I can definitely see myself having them as a treat on days when I really want chocolate and ice cream but want to keep my sugar intake low.  

Honey_Bear

Huge congratulations on your first sugar-free Friday Cookie, and sorry for not saying so earlier.  It sounds like such a small step in comparison to being sugar-free for four and a half days a week to five but it's actually a giant leap in terms of self-control.  Massively well done.  I'm seriously impressed.

I was feeling a little bit down on myself and reluctant to post because I have definitely allowed myself to over-indulge this weekend with chocolate and didn't want to have to admit it after also failing every day last week.  Also, our absolutely favourite shop ever has been sold and deconstructed from the lovely handmade chocolate shop and chocolate café that it was to ... an ordinary café.  I know it was just another shop, but actually it wasn't.  I'm going to miss the woman who ran it; she used to have a restaurant we also loved, so that relationship has been 25 years in the making and she's retired, so that's it.  All her fabulous food is gone to us forever.  So sad for us, so pleased for her!  It may actually help me because it was having a couple of her chocolates every evening after dinner that started me on this disasterous chocolate every day habit.  Anyway ....

M@gnum bites.  I'm going to have to resist them for the moment because we've stocked up a bit on the real thing and any more temptation in the fridge will be disastrous for me, but should I happen to see any while I'm shopping I imagine some will find their way into my shopping basket somehow. 

I've been abstemious today because I felt so cross with myself for being so self-indulgent and have managed to get to this point of the day without chocolate, even though technically I could have some.  I rather think I'll crack and have a m@gnum after dinner but that's it for the week - I'm eshewing the sweet stuff for a few days after that.  I'm pleased with today after the past 10 days or so.

I need to get back on track.

cookie02

Honey_Bear said:

I was feeling a little bit down on myself and reluctant to post because I have definitely allowed myself to over-indulge this weekend with chocolate and didn't want to have to admit it after also failing every day last week.  Also, our absolutely favourite shop ever has been sold and deconstructed from the lovely handmade chocolate shop and chocolate café that it was to ... an ordinary café.  I know it was just another shop, but actually it wasn't.  I'm going to miss the woman who ran it; she used to have a restaurant we also loved, so that relationship has been 25 years in the making and she's retired, so that's it.  All her fabulous food is gone to us forever.  So sad for us, so pleased for her!  It may actually help me because it was having a couple of her chocolates every evening after dinner that started me on this disasterous chocolate every day habit.  Anyway ....

That is sad news about the chocolate shop and cafe, Honey_Bear/  I remember you mentioning this shop before, obviously it was very special.  Still, you never know what will come in the future and the owner might even decide to start something new, or you may find somewhere even better.  

I know what you mean about being reluctant to post on bad days.  I make myself post anyway as I think it also reminds me of the progress we're making.  This is real-life - if it were that easy, we wouldn't be doing this challenge!  I just looked at my tracker and I had a similar sugary week at the start of April where I also thought I wouldn't get back on track.  If the days are looking hard again, maybe consider going back to just having a specific sugar-free meal for a couple of days and work back up from there.  I don't know if that will work for you but that tends to help me get back on track.  You have done much harder things than this and you will make it!  If you eat sugar this week, eat it, enjoy it, don't feel down about it and definitely don't feel like you can't post if you want to.  I appreciate all your encouragement, especially on the sugary days hope that posting on those types of days will help you too.  Remember, you are still having far less than before and you know you can do this!

Today has gone a bit better and I'm going to declare today a sugar-free day as I don't intend to eat anything else now.  My goal for this week is to remain sugar-free until Friday evening.  Fingers crossed! 

cookie02

Yesterday, I managed to stay sugar-free 🎉.  Today will be more difficult as I have a celebration dinner later - right now it's 50/50 for whether I stay sugar-free or not. 

By the way, I'm reading a book called 'Feel Good Food' by Joe Wicks.  The start of it actually covers the link between our moods and what we eat and that reminded me of Honey_Bear's earlier comments about feeling happier since starting this challenge.  Personally, I have noticed huge benefits to my skin since starting this challenge.  As someone who has suffered from eczema and rosacea most of my life, my skin hasn't had any major flare ups since I cut down sugar.  Even better, my face doesn't have that tight, sandpaper feeling but feels like normal skin now, even my family and friends have noticed the difference!

I hope everyone is having a good week.  Fingers crossed for a sugar-free day today!

Honey_Bear

Well done for yesterday Cookie and good luck for the rest of today.  I hope the dinner goes well and either way, and whether you cave or not, you've got at least a couple of days under your belt this week and if you don't weaken tonight you'll have a third; if you do you've still got 2 and three quarters of a day.  (If not three plus because I can't remember about earlier in the week.)

I didn't comment on your post about dopamine which was rude of me.  I'm intrigued at how often people like Andrew Huberman and other scientists in that area mention in and I'm struggling to get up to speed on it.  It has a particular resonance for me as my mother had Parkinson's and I've got as far as understanding:  dopamine = good quality of life, lack of dopamine = bad quality of life, so anything that boosts dopamine levels is welcome in my life. 

There are a number of health areas I'm dabbling about with to improve at the moment in a kind of half-hearted uninformed way and whatever works makes such a massive difference that I'm trying to incorporate it, or them, as the case may be. 

Tim Spector's books about the gut biome were an advance on a book I read by Giulia Eneers called Gut a few years ago and had been thinking about ever since so I think I was just ready to hear what he had to say.  What I'm absolutely certain about is that I really, really needed more fibre in my diet, and that starting the day with any carbohydrates just doesn't work for me at all.  I'm currently packing all the fruit and veg I can cram in to what we eat, and eshewing as much of the processed stuff as I can, which is a massive improvement on what we were doing, although both of us would have said we ate a healthy diet before. 

The sugar thing is my own version of how to build a healthier way of eating and I'm incorporating Envers' and Spector's ideas at the same time.  It seems to be working for me in ways that I had never, ever thought could work.  Certainly the mood thing is a complete shock and a very welcome one - so Yay Dopamine!

Tuesday and Wednesday were completely sugar-free I'm delighted to say, but today I've been experimenting in the kitchen and have had to taste what I'm doing, so it's been a bit of a fail.  However, what I've discovered is brilliant.  I'm a bit useless at chocolate work and although I have tempered chocolate in the past successfully today I managed to seize it, although I knew immediately what I'd done so it's not the end of the world and I'll have another go tomorrow.  I bought far too many tangerine / clementines last week and now that we're on our own chocolate-wise I'm keen to perfect a new creation of chocolate covered tangerine slices.  You'll be pleased to know that, seized or not, they're 100% fabulous and it's a great way of cutting down on the amount of chocolate I'm tempted to eat.  The sweetness of milk chocolate completely removes the sourness of the sometimes disappointing tangeries and significantly reduces the amount of chocolate I want to eat. 

So today, a fail but worthwhile in the long run.  They won't keep for more than a few days in the fridge but I'd rather make them myself for the weekends than eat something expensive that isn't that special from a supermarket.  Fortunately for me I've got quite a good stock of cheap and cheerful budget chocolate that works perfectly.

This evening after dinner it will be a lovely big ripe mango which is about as sugary a piece of fruit as exists, but that's okay because - fibre.  I will not be doing it the Huberman way and eating it peel and all.  Maybe one day, but not today.

cookie02

Well done on your sugar-free days, Honey_Bear!  The chocolate tangerine slices sound lovely.  I wonder if you could freeze some?  They sound like they'd be delicious as a type of frozen dessert.  

Honey_Bear said:

I didn't comment on your post about dopamine which was rude of me.  I'm intrigued at how often people like Andrew Huberman and other scientists in that area mention in and I'm struggling to get up to speed on it.  It has a particular resonance for me as my mother had Parkinson's and I've got as far as understanding:  dopamine = good quality of life, lack of dopamine = bad quality of life, so anything that boosts dopamine levels is welcome in my life. 

There are a number of health areas I'm dabbling about with to improve at the moment in a kind of half-hearted uninformed way and whatever works makes such a massive difference that I'm trying to incorporate it, or them, as the case may be.  

You weren't rude at all - I remembered your comments as the exact topic came up in the book I'd just started reading!  I wasn't expecting much but I've picked up a couple of ideas so far and might experiment with some of these this weekend.  

So far, I've managed to be sugar-free today.  It's Friday so I plan to enjoy dessert later but I had a big lunch and it has kept any cravings at bay so far.  

I hope this has been a successful week for everyone and that you have a wonderful weekend .  

Honey_Bear

Ditto to you Cookie; have a great weekend.   Also ditto about lunch - we went out for a very short hike this morning and had a pub lunch which we only do very, very rarely and it's one of the things I'm working on doing more often because we need less work and more play in this household.  We live on the border of Devon and Cornwall and we never go anywhere so this year I'm aiming to make sure we do.  Today was a new beginning because it wasn't my birthday it was just as a quality of life jaunt during which I told Belovéd my plans for this summer.  I think he was a bit stunned I'd got as far as I had with the planning, but he's fine with it.

So far today no sugar, but if I make more chocolate tangerine slices I can't guarantee I won't do a bit of quality control!

cookie02

Hello! My weekend wasn't too sugary so I'm fairly happy with that.  This week, I plan to be sugar-free from now until Friday evening.  We have a family birthday on Friday so there is zero chance of that being sugar-free (nor should it be! 🎉).  

Today, I have mini cheese, dates and pumpkin seeds ready as snacks.  I ran out of time to make lentils and I haven't spiced the pumpkin seeds either.  I might try and toast them a bit later but think I'll have to skip the lentils this time as we will have more food than normal in the fridge due to the upcoming birthday celebrations.  

Honey_Bear, your plan to get out more is a good one and it sounds like you will have good weather this summer too.  That is a lovely part of the world.  As someone who lives in a much more built up area (all the way South, in Greater (!) London), I will be cheering you and your OH on.  Even in the midst of the concrete jungle, there are some lovely surprise spaces to find so I've no doubt your adventures will even more fruitful!

How did the weekend go? The chocolate tangerine slices sound very tempting and a nice balance between healthy and a chocolatey treat at the same time.  

Hope everyone is doing well and having a great start to the week .