The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

Honey_Bear

I'm still aiming to eat 20g of protein three times a day and still finding that it means I am now much, much less tempted by sugary things the rest of the time.  Belovéd still delivers a chocolate biscuit, but only one, at 4.00pm with my mug of tea and I just can't bring myself to go all virtuous and tell him to take it away again. 

Last night he cooked a lovely pasta meal for us which we both love but has very little protein in it, so I suggested we both have cheese afterwards with an apple and some grapes.  I think I'm probably eating far more healthily than I have for decades but I still don't have a lot of energy.  My leg muscles are still painful but that has a lot to do with the broken ankle apparently - the chap I saw on Wednesday says that part of the healing simply can't be rushed, and to take it slowly.  I very much fear I didn't do that on Wednesday and Thursday which explains why I feel so grim today. 

I'm going to self-refer to a physiotherapist and see what else I can do to sort this problem out because it's not going to get better on its own.

I've eaten a lot of Brazil nuts today, no chocolate though so I'm pleased with that, but I will be having a m@gnum tonight because it's Friday - yay!

How did everyone else do for the rest of the week?

Makingabobor2

@Honey_Bear I bought one of those pedal machines to help my leg muscles, really made a difference. Also magnesium is good for muscles. Maybe take a supplement. Also Epsom salts contains magnesium and you can put it in your bath....or just in a bowl and soak your feet if you are trying not to have baths to save money, like me. 

Morning_walker

Hello all, I decided to rejoin the challenge between now and the end of the year as I'm trying to cut out sugar again. I have now been advised to cut down for medical reasons, so that's my main motivation. I also have Covid just now and can't taste much, so this is a good juncture to cut out chocolate as I can't taste it anyway. 
I've also watched some videos recently about the neuroscience of changing habits and have in mind that it takes 30 days to reset your dopamine receptors. So, I'm calculating if I can get through to the end of this year sugar free it will be easier from then on. 

Honey_Bear

Welcome back Morning Walker.  I'm sorry to hear about you having C19.  Is it your first time?  I won't ask about vaccinations but whether you had them or not, or it's your first time with it or not I rally hope you recover fully very soon.  You are always welcome, and good luck with staying off the sugar for the rest of the year. 

I had the other half of that bar of dark chocolate with another half dozen Brazils yesterday and it really is a great combination for me.  I have a decent sized nut stash which I've yet to decant into the jars I want to keep them in, which I must do today.  I'm finding snacking on protein / nuts really helpful when I get the munchies between meals.

Morning_walker

Yes, first time with Covid-19. I'm vaccinated and boosted...

Thanks for the welcome back. Brazils and dark chocolate sounds great!

Honey_Bear

Good-oh, and I hope you recover really soon.

I've been fairly abstemious today, with the one biscuit at tea time and a m@gnum after dinner, so I'm quite chuffed with myself. I'm making myself drink more water and turn the light out earlier so I get a bit more sleep before midnight as well as upping the protein.  None of those can do me any harm and may do me some good, so it's worth a try.  I think I've recovered from the over-exertions of Wednesay and Thursday, so I'm going to try and take everything a bit more slowly and see how it goes. 

@Cookie02, are you okay?

cookie02

Hello all, how is everyone? 

Welcome back @Morning_walker.  I hope you have a speedy recovery and that this challenge helps you with your sugar and health goals.  I've also read that it takes 21/30 days for something to become a habit.  I think I'm a bit slower than that but I do believe that the long-term nature of this challenge has definitely changed my tastebuds and I hope that it works for you too.  

@Honey_Bear, I am well, thank you!  I'm also pleased to report that my final work trip of the year is now done  .  Unfortunately, I indulged in pointless conference sugar on Sunday and yesterday (reindeer cupcakes).  These were more of those treats that look amazing but taste horrible.  Well done on being so restrained, even during the weekend, Honey_Bear!  How is your week going so far?  I hope your ankle is improving. 

By the numbers: 0 sugar-free days so far this week.  Yesterday was a washout for me thanks to the Disappointing Cupcakes.  I came back today but I had one of their mince pies before I left.  Another mistake as I've had supermarket ones that tasted better.  I'm hoping to be sugar-free from tomorrow until Friday night.  

I've just updated my food spreadsheet for the last couple of days and, based on my notes, it looks like I had less protein than I did last week.  I was filling up on random snacks so I'm sure that contributed to my sugar cravings.  It probably didn't help that I had to travel on Sunday. It always makes me a bit grumpy when I have to sacrifice my weekend for work and that tends to lead to extra sugar...  With hindsight, I should have planned around all of this but I was hoping the whole thing would be cancelled.

Making, I have also read that about magnesium too. I've never tried it though!  

Hope everyone is having a good week.  Good luck with your goals

Honey_Bear

Glad to hear you've finished your work trips away for the year Cookie.  It's always difficult to eat healthily on the road, and because most of us have a bit of a sweet tooth a lot of people serve cakes and biscuits for snacks.  Even a single day of that in an unfamiliar environment would be enough to tempt most people off the straight and narrow - two or three days of it, and staying in hotels which should feel like a treat often doesn't when it's work related would be enough to get me reaching for a rock cake, which I've never tried because they sound scratchy on the throat. So I totally get why you've had a few days when there were cake incidents. 

For my part, I think the protein thing is working.  I've stocked up on cottage cheese and have half a tub for breakfast, lunch is a feast of things Belovéd doesn't particularly like (todays was a very lemony home made smoked mackerel paté and oatcakes) and dinner will be a sweet and sour chicken recipe I found on the internet which is a whopping 67g of protein per serving.  I'm going to check back and see when I started it.

I've had a couple of days when by rights my legs would normally have been giving me real gyp by the end of the day and certainly first thing in the morning but amazingly I've been painfree both days.  It's taken several weeks of focussing on protein, this may not be a permanent improvement, but I'm taking this as a real positive because I can't tell you how fabulous it's been the last couple of days!  I'm having a rest in the afternoons because that helps too, but being painfree and able to get things done in the morning and a bit in the evenings is amazing.

I can honestly say it's helping with the sugarfree thing because I simply don't get the same level of cravings.  I enjoy the biscuit mid-afternoon with my tea but other than that I just think my blood sugar levels are high enough not to send me scratching around for something to fill me up.  I feel satisfied, and that's lovely after years of thinking carbs were what I should build my meals around, now it's protein with carbs as a filler because they're important too. 

Other than that biscuit with tea - no sugar yesterday or Monda/y.  Hurrah!

Honey_Bear

My first post about protein was on 6 November and while I haven't managed at least 60g on the occasional day, it's been at least three times my old protein intake for about 24 days.  If I'm right about the leg muscle pains being related that means it took three weeks to have an effect and my reading around the subject said not to expect any improvement for a couple of weeks. 

The tiredness thing (apparently know to doctors as TATT - Tired all the time - which a lot of patients complain about, including me!) may also be a lack of protein in my case.  I've certainly been able to haul myself out of bed earlier in the mornings and get cracking, and it's been a very, very long time since I've wanted to do that.

The broken ankle may have been a real blessing in disguise, in that I spent over eight weeks researching things on the internet that interested me rather than just trying to keep going.  What I found out about various things has certainly been a catalyst for change and that seems to be going rather well for me at the moment.

Honey_Bear

I saw a physiotherapist yesterday about my legs and she's quite puzzled about what I've told her but has made some suggestions for exercises, which I will do, but she's adamant that I must be gentle with them and not push too much and she suggested two mineral supplements, both of which I'd tried, one of which I'm still taking. She's also flexing the anke for me because she thinks there's more to be gained there.  I'm pleased. 

Still doing the protein thing, still not getting cravings for sugary things and not even chocolate.  I am now convinced the two are related and I'm not going back to the way I used to eat.  Cottage cheese is s godsend.  Paté is wonderful stuff, and can be homemade - and I've got hold of a cheese-making kit and cottage cheese will be the first I try.  Every little helps.  Brazil nuts are a godsend too when I get the munchies which are not the same thing as cravings and I think I've confused the two in the past. 

So, after 15 months of using self-discipline alone to cut down on sugar, turns out all those cravings were probably a dietry need and much as I love love love chocolate, I can resist it fairly easily if I eat enough protein because that was what my body needed - more protein.  I can balance that with fruit and vegetables and there are plenty of those I really love.  I feel so much better, and can do more but I'm not all the way to where I want to be just yet so I'm carrying on with this Challenge because what I've discovered so far along the way are that minor adjustments of the right things can have a marked effect on my health, and I've still got quite a way to go with that.

I will admit to still having that one biscuit a day but at least I don't feel the need to scoff handfuls of them, or finish the packet when Belovéd isn't looking.

How's everyone else done this week?