The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

cookie02

Honey_Bear, the nectarines would still be good for you, even with the tiny amount of sugar - it's definitely a positive move from the chocolate.  After you and Making were discussing protein, I thought I'd try it today as I'm really desperate to get back on track but seem to have lost my way a bit.  I have turned into a food monster lately, it isn't just with sugary things, it's with everything!  Today I had an egg and toast for breakfast and another egg and some homemade chicken soup for lunch.  So far, I'm not craving anything.  I haven't even had a date and I feel full.  It's getting to my normal 'danger hour' and I don't think I'm going to be craving sugar today but we'll find out very soon!  I think I might need to avoid IF for now and experiment with having protein for breakfast and lunch and see if that helps me to get back on track with my sugar-free days.  Thank you both for inspiring me and glad your legs are improving, Honey_Bear!

How are you doing, Hazel, Pollybear & @leftatthetrafficlights?  Hope you are meeting your goals this week too.  Is anyone else experimenting with protein now?  

Honey_Bear

cookie02 said:

How are you doing, Hazel, Pollybear & @leftatthetrafficlights?  Hope you are meeting your goals this week too.  Is anyone else experimenting with protein now? 

^^^ Wot she said - how are you all doing?

Cookie, it's a measure of how desperate I am to get back to normal life after struggling for years with comparatively good health but never actually feeling well.  I don't ming aging, I really don't, but this leg business and the lack of energy is driving me mad now that I can just about walk again.  I've just had a protein-style lunch which is abnormal for me and wanted something sweet to finish it off (it's my main meal today which is unusual, normally that would be in the evening) and realised those cacao bars have 3.9g of protein in 35g of food  - Result!  That's a really high proportion for something that's not made from animals.  I have been known to eat two when I'm craving sugary things but it was a job to finish one after the beef thing with Persian rice.

I'm making sure I'm getting at least five fruit and veg a day as well because it would so easy to ignore that but that would be a step backwards, but boy do I feel full.  I gave myself that excuse while I scoffed the nectarines!

Makingabobor2

Well it looks as though the extra protein is helping us all. I also had egg for breakfast and another for lunch. Was only intending to have 1 today, but bought some this morning with one broken one in the box, so had to use it up. Might have to not have any tomorrow, as 1 a day is normally my limit.   Pleased to say I have not had the apricot jam today....or even the toasted teacake. However, I do have to confess to a square of 85% dark chocolate.....apparently its good for my bones & we should all have a square now and then. So considering I don't have sugar in my coffee, or anything like that. I think I'm not doing too bad today. Shepherds pie & veg for tea, made with mince turkey, but not sure how much protein there actually is in the mince. 
 Still onwards an upwards. 

cookie02

I'm sorry to hear that you've been struggling for so long, Honey_Bear.  It's good to see that things are improving now that you've increased your protein intake.  Let's hope this continues and that your energy levels continue to increase! 

Well done for skipping the apricot jam and tea cake yesterday, Making!  Re: the turkey mince, I read a recipe which gave the protein level as 34g for 112g of mince.  I think that's a pretty good amount.  I'm not sure which brand chocolate you're eating but the 

I'm pleased to report that I've finally had a breakthrough with a sugar-free day yesterday!  Today, I increased my protein again by eating and egg, cheese (small amount) and mackerel and I've managed to stay sugar-free so far.  If I can get through a little bit longer, I will finally have achieved two days this week...  Tomorrow, I hope to stay sugar-free until the evening and then I'll relax the rules for the weekend.  I would love to make it 2.75 sugar-free days this week.  I can't tell you how motivating it was to finally make it through yesterday sugar-free.  Thank you for all your advice and encouragement

So, I wrote this post yesterday evening but I must have forgotten to hit 'post'.  I'm hoping to be sugar-free until this evening so we'll see how it goes.  I'm happy to have had two sugar-free days this week.  2.75 will be the icing on the cake!  

Good luck meeting your goals today 🍀.

Honey_Bear

Marvellous news on the apricot jam front Making!  I think we're on to something here with increasing our protein consumption, so feeling fuller, and then not being so tempted because we're feeling peckish.  I'm so glad something's working for you, whatever it is.  One square of 85% chocolate really doesn't have any kind of sugar content that I'd worry about - it probably has less than a tangerine, gram for gram.

I'm so glad you're back to racking up some sugar-free days Cookie.  It's most unlike you not to be able to resist for days at a time so you must be very frustrated by not having a clear run at most of the week at the moment.  Congratulations on getting a couple of days racked up already this week and hope that today goes smoothly.

It's been a very busy week here and I've been out and about, walking about, with a limp but nonetheless walking without the boot.  I meant to wear the boot on Wednesday evening but couldn't find the padded liner in time so went without and had to walk a mile home which was totally unintended.  I paid the price for that yesterday but today I feel a lot better.  I think this is going to be the path to recovery - doing too much unintended, rest, improvement, rinse and repeat.

I'm still monitoring my protein and I can honestly say I'm truly shocked by how little protein I've been eating for years in comparison.  It's a real struggle to get it up to around the 65g of protein a day and yesterday I know I only managed about 45g but I simply couldn't get it above that.  If we need 55g just to maintain our bodies in a healthy way it's no wonder I've been feeling tired all the time and having leg muscle problems.  The excellent news is that having walked that mile home I didn't have the same pain as of old so I think I actually have found the cause of all that pain and the remedy, which is such a relief. 

Increasing my protein has 100% definitely decreased my cravings for sugar which shouldn't come as a surprise but it kind of has.  That hasn't stopped me indulging in a couple of brownies from the fridge, half a nectarine which had that tiny amount of sugar added when I cooked them and a chocolate, but most of those were because we had friends in and it definitely was a High Day celebrating an achievement of Belovéd's. 

The brownies were an aberation but they're now finished so I won't be tempted again.

If anyone happens to have a packet of vegetarian sausages in their fridge or freezer could they let me know how many grams of protein they contain in 100g of sausage, or the net weight and protein percentage?  I took a friend out for brunch yesterday and had two as part of my meal but the information is difficult to come by.  I've seen estimates on line that vary between 7g and 47g! 

Pollybear

From the Asda website, two Linda McCartney veggie sausages = 15.5g of protein.   Other products are available

Honey_Bear

Thank you Polly Bear and well done for finding it.  I searched for a bit but all the sites I found were quoting calories which doesn't interest me at the moment.  That's exactly the information I was looking for - I have no idea what brand they were but I'm going to work on the basis that they're all fairly similar.  (It's an excellent café so I know they'll be using good veggie sausages.)  That puts yesterday's protein up to 52 grams which is a lot better.

cookie02

I had cake yesterday and today but it's all good as it's the weekend!  Aside from a piece each day, I didn't have any other sugar, even when we went out.  I think the protein is helping as I have been choosing high/higher protein foods each day, including when we ate out.  

I'm hoping to be sugar-free tomorrow and I'm going to try and focus on increasing my protein to see if this works long-term.  How has everyone been getting on?  

cookie02

I didn't achieve my sugar-free goal yesterday but it wasn't as bad as it could have been! I was at an all-day meeting and I'd forgotten to pack any date bars but I found a nut-and-seed bar in my bag.  It had a very thin layer of dark chocolate...  Ultimately, I didn't buy any brownies or cake so I count that as a win from a sugar and MSE perspective!  Today, I'm working from home and I'm the only one working from home today so I hope that means I will have a sugar-free day.  

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

Honey_Bear

Thank you for keeping going Cookie, and I'm so glad you found that nut bar in your bag!  A thin smear of chocolate on the only food that's available isn't something I'd worry about, although I'd have noticed it and been irritated with myself for not planning ahead in a more organised way.  You're doing amazingly, so well done for keeping going and being so careful over the weekend.

I really struggle to get more than 50g of protein a day which I think is still less than the minimum we're supposed to eat and that's disappointing me, but in a way it's also quite a relief.  It would seem that I've been getting somewhere around the 15g a day for years, thinking I was eating healthily because most days I manage at least five fruit and veg. I've mentioned that I've been really struggling with a lack of energy for years and that must have been a factor, but there's another factor I'd under-estimated as well - I haven't been getting enough sleep.  For the past few days I've been switching my light off earlier at night and been sleeping well, but this morning I slept through until 8.30, despite Belovéd getting up and cracking on.  That's not normal for me, and what's obvious is that I've been struggling to keep up because despite thinking I was looking after myself, I haven't been.  My foot and ankle are sore from doing too much yesterday so I'm going to be a lot gentler on myself for a few days.

This Sugar Challenge has thrown up all sorts of issues that I didn't realise were affecting my well-being, and it's one of the most pro-active things I think I've ever done.  I'm so grateful for everyone who's along for the ride because it means I've got all of your helpful suggestions as well as your support, which keeps me going.  There is no doubt that if I allow myself to eat a lot of sugar I simply don't have the capacity to eat as much of the food that I should be eating, so cutting down on sugar has helped, and that's been a conscious choice over the weekend.

I didn't go mad but I did indulge, just not as much as I usually do and I have to admit I am still having one biscuit with chocolate on it at teatime with Belovéd every day but I have no intention of letting that morph into two on weekdays.

I bought a lot of nuts while I was in town on Friday, and have a choice of pistachios, brazils and almonds to snack on and that's making a big difference.  I can reach for a small handful of them if I feel the need to munch on something, while reassuring myself that they're bulking up the protein intake. 

So, over the next few days I'm going to just let myself get a lot more sleep and do less on my feet while this right foot is a bit swollen and achey.  I must have been a bit too gung-ho for it at this stage of my recovery, although it's helped me identify exaclty where and what the problem is.

Onwards and upwards!