The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

cookie02

Thank you for your support, Honey_Bear.  I ended up having sugar on Thursday but it was just one square.  As you said, comfort eating helps sometimes and, while I didn't follow the challenge properly last week, the challenge definitely kept me from spiralling out of control so I'm very grateful for that!

Thank you for the ideas on how to manage Christmas.  I'm going to be thinking about that more so that I have a plan for getting back on track afterwards.  I will give myself more flexibility during my official time off but I don't want to get too carried away!  I might adopt your idea of having one treat per day.  

Honey_Bear said:

It's annoying not knowing what my weight is doing at the moment because I can't weigh myself but it doesn't feel as though I'm putting any on.  I hope not because doing this Challenge means I had stopped putting weight on and did lose a bit at one point when I cut cheese out as well.  I think the food Belovéd is feeding me is rather better than the food I'd choose for myself but I hope I don't have to deal with a massive weightgain when the plaster comes off, hopefully in about four week's time.

Fingers crossed, Honey_Bear!  It sounds like you are eating very healthily so, at a minimum, hopefully your weight has remained stable - you never know, the scales might surprise you once you're able to check again.  I don't weigh myself often but I can tell when my weight is ballooning, also from how my clothes fit.  If you're feeling well -aside from your ankle, of course- and your clothes are comfy, these are probably good signs 🤞.  

Sugar-wise, I'm going to aim for my 4.75 days this week to try and get back on track.  I'm also planning to change some of my healthy snacks this week to see if that helps me stick with my sugar-free goals.  

How is everyone?  Pollybear, I hope you are doing well with managing the chocolate cravings.  Morning_walker, have you been having success with your challenge too?  

Honey_Bear

Well done, as always, Cookie on last couple of weeks which were so trying to say the least.  I'm seriously impressed with how abstemious you've been through all the stress.  It takes a lot of self-discipline at the best of times but those weeks weren't the best of times for you.

A neighbour's friend broke her ankle at roughly the same age a few years ago, pre-Covid, so yesterday when I saw her I could at last ask someone yesterday who I have a lot in common with a lot of questions about how she coped and managed.  She still feels a lack of confidence about her balance and I have to say it's something I realised immediately after the accident.  It was such a surprise to me when it happened that I have been aware it's going to be a while before I can forget it happened and just get on with things.  While it's twinging with pain I can't forget it but at least the pain relief regime I'm on is more effective with my ankle than it was with my wrist and I never give my wrist a second thought although it was very bad for weeks.  I'm hoping that's how the ankle will pan out after the physiotherapy starts in earnest when the plaster comes off.

I ate the second half of a bar of chocolate in the morning and had dessert but other than that didn't go overborad.

Today being a public holiday there will be chocolate.

On reflection I very much fear, clutching my stomach, that I have actually put on quite a tyre around my midriff but there's not much I feel the need to do about it yet.  I'm aiming for 3.75 days this week.

How are you getting on Polly Bear and Mornig Walker?

cookie02

Thank you for all your support, Honey_Bear!  This challenge has been having a hugely positive impact for me and I really appreciate it.  It might sound crazy but knowing that I will be reporting back here does make me stop and think whether I really want that sugar.  Clearly, sometimes, the answer is yes 😉.  Still, just thinking of the last week, I know how much more I'd have had without this challenge.  All of these small steps and sugar-free meals/days are really making a difference to how much I have overall and I'm really grateful for that.  I'm also relieved to report that I had a sugar-free day yesterday.  I know it was a Bank Holiday but I hadn't had any sugar-free days since before all the hospital madness kicked off so I really wanted to try and get back to sugar-free yesterday.  It was tough but I'm hoping that it will help me stick to being sugar-free until Friday night.  

I hope that you regain your confidence with the help of your physio, Honey_Bear.  As for the weight, I think this is a case of hoping for the best but knowing that you've made inroads with your weight before and, if needed, you will definitely be able to do that again.  Well done for your restraint with the chocolate this weekend!  All these tiny steps really do add up.  

I hope all of you have a good week ahead and that all of you achieve your goals 🏅.  

Pollybear

I have managed not to have chocolate for over a week now but only by not taking any money with me when I get the newspaper.  I subscribed and have vouchers so I just put the voucher in my pocket.  I've also managed to resist biscuits, sweets and cakes for the same time.   Not by any special means and I know I will "fall" again in the future but I can only take it one day at a time. 

It does get a bit dull though!

Hope everyone is coping this week.

Pollybear

Why is it that you can eat an apple which probably has more calories than a single biscuit and never want to binge?   If I have one biscuit it's only a matter of time before I have six.  It seems unfair!   But chocolate is still my worst problem.

Honey_Bear

Ah Polly Bear, the eternal question.  Because biscuits have considerably more sugar than apples and we're pre-programmed by nature to absorb as many calories as we can to cope with future shortages of nutrition.  It's a biological drive and the food companies have learned how to maximise our consumption by spending billions and billions for decades on research to get us to eat more and more, so we do.  Once we've got into the habit of eating lovely things it's really, really hard to be self-disciplined enough to close the packet after one. 

Cheap sugary foods are the food manufacturer's dream and although I've never bothered to measure it in terms of square footage, I already know that as inviting, bright and colourful as the fruit and veggie section of the supermarket is, it's nowhere near the size of the sections devoted to food with sugar in them or other junk foods.  The fact that all of our local supermarkets have an entire aisle devoted to crisps never ceases to appall me.  Take a basic potato - and let's be honest, there really is only so much potato a person can eat - slice it thinly and fry it, salt it, flavour it with chemicals and there really is absolutely no limit to how much I want to eat.  (Except ... in my case crisps give me indigestion so I don't any more, but the argument still stands.)

I can buy an entire packet of biscuits for as little as the price of an apple, as well, if I go for the budget ranges.  I'll then be eating palm oil as well, so as far as I'm concerned that muck has gone waaaaaay beyond the point of being 'food' and is just junk.  We are now pretty careful about what we buy, but chocolate is magical stuff and 60plus pages into this Challenge and a year on I'm still struggling with it.  I thought it would get easier but I'm not sure it does.

Pollybear

I like crisps but I can't ever remember eating more than one packet.   Whereas there seems to be no limit to the amount of chocolate I can eat in one go and I never feel sick - unfortunately.   The only way I can control it is by not buying it.   And that only works some of the time.

Honey_Bear

I used to be able to eat any amount of crisps but would try to limit it to two bags at a time.  The only time I let myself get away with more was when I was at a party and someone very generously put out bowls of the things.  Such a disaster because I could gorge myself.   I have zero self-control it seems.

I think you're right about just not buying the stuff so it isn't in the house.  If it's here I desperately want to eat it, if it's not I wouldn't normally let myself go down to the corner Co-op to buy some and I most certainly can't with this ankle!

Pollybear

If it's in the house it's calling to me.  My husband can eat one or two squares of chocolate and can have stuff in the cupboard for weeks.  I try to get him things I don't like otherwise they just play on my mind.   Obviously there are time I overlook the fact that I don;t like it and eat it anyway but luckily not too often.  I hate nuts and he likes them so wholenut or fruit and nut is usually the way to go.

Honey_Bear

cookie02 said:

Thank you for all your support, Honey_Bear!  This challenge has been having a hugely positive impact for me and I really appreciate it.  It might sound crazy but knowing that I will be reporting back here does make me stop and think whether I really want that sugar.  Clearly, sometimes, the answer is yes 😉. 

Exactly this, and thank you for putting it so succinctly. 

I had a chocolate biscuit on Tuesday and today with my afternoon tea, and a friend baked blueberry muffins and gave me one for dessert tonight after dinner.  It's the having to confess that stopped me from having more than one biscuit at a time, but I could never have said no to Richard's muffin, could I?  It would have been rude.

There's no doubt that it's harder to go back to No Sugar after a few days indulgence.  I really should have learned that by now but it seems I never do.