Remember the 12 week challenge? The one Darling Husband and I entered? The fitness and lifestyle change challenge? Well, last Friday night we had the 'Night of Champions' which is the night when all of the 100 entrants and their partners get together and the winner of each club are announced as well as the 'Grand Champion'. We thought that Darling Husband might be a contender for club champion as he did extremely well but when all of the club champions were announced and Darling Husbands name wasn't mentioned we weren't dissapointed as they were all such deserving winners.
But then came time to announce the Grand Champion. Now, both Darling Husband and I thought that the Grand Champion (GC) was chosen from the winning club champions so we were really interested in seeing if our club champion made the grade but weren't expecting it to be either of us so weren't paying as much attention as we probably should have been.
At the start of these challenges, as an entrant you have to write a testimony, a reason why you're doing this challenge and what you think you will gain from it. At the end of the challenge you write another testimony as to how you've changed since embarking on the challenge. Both testimonies are read out as the grand champion is revealed. This is where it gets funny.
They start reading out the testimony..
Speaker: "I am the Father of five children.."
Darling Husband:" Oh hang on, this could be me!"
Me: "Shhh...I'm listening!"
Speaker: "I have a desk job and when I come home from work I sit on the couch..."
Darling Husband: "Umm, I really think this is my testimony."
Me: "SHHHHH! I can't hear what he's saying!"
Speaker: "Reads out the rest of the testimony."
Me (to Darling Husband): "Oh my goodness! I think that's you!"
Darling Husband: "Thats what I've been trying to tell you!"
And yes it was indeed my Darling champion Husband who took out the Grand Champion prize. I am so proud of him and even a week later we are both still in shock! We've both become health fanatics which is so far from where we both were only a year ago. It does get hard and old habits die hard but all in all I think we will be following this path forever now.
If I get game enough I'll put up some of our before and after pics. They're quite astounding!
Showing posts with label Sugar Free Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sugar Free Me. Show all posts
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Challenges Ahead.
On Monday I embark on another 12 week gym challenge. 12 weeks of hard training, food/alcohol depravation and lots of sweat and tears, hopefully no blood!
I have done one of these challenges before, I actually blogged about it last year. It was hard but I loved it and I got some great results. So now I am doing it all again and it starts on Monday. I will be training 6 days per week with three weight training days and three cardio training days. My PT wants me to have a rest from running and just maintain the level I am currently at. Six weeks in to the challenge we will reintroduce the running and ramp it up towards the end.
I don't think I will keep a separate blog for this challenge. I am having a hard enough time keeping up with this one and Jonah's autism blog. But I will put results in here as they come through.
Oh and I almost forgot the best part!!! Darling Husband is partaking in this event too! He has a different trainer to me but he's going to join in the challenge. It's a race between us now lol. We're both doing it for our health but we're mainly doing it for Jonah. We need to know that we can get through this, that we can rise above the pain and exhaustion and keep going. Because then we know, no matter what, we will always be able to keep going for Jonah.
Come join in the fun and cheer me on!
I have done one of these challenges before, I actually blogged about it last year. It was hard but I loved it and I got some great results. So now I am doing it all again and it starts on Monday. I will be training 6 days per week with three weight training days and three cardio training days. My PT wants me to have a rest from running and just maintain the level I am currently at. Six weeks in to the challenge we will reintroduce the running and ramp it up towards the end.
I don't think I will keep a separate blog for this challenge. I am having a hard enough time keeping up with this one and Jonah's autism blog. But I will put results in here as they come through.
Oh and I almost forgot the best part!!! Darling Husband is partaking in this event too! He has a different trainer to me but he's going to join in the challenge. It's a race between us now lol. We're both doing it for our health but we're mainly doing it for Jonah. We need to know that we can get through this, that we can rise above the pain and exhaustion and keep going. Because then we know, no matter what, we will always be able to keep going for Jonah.
Come join in the fun and cheer me on!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Sugar Free. Easy as can be!
So, I am now about11 days sugar free and this has been a lot easier than last time. I don't think I had any real cravings or withdrawals this time. It's all been smooth sailing.
I had forgotten how much sugar affects my appetite. When I have sugar in my diet I eat so much more, I'm never really full and always find myself foraging for food lol. When I am off sugar I actually find times when I need to remind myself to eat. I eat so much less now, I can feel the food in my stomach and get full so much quicker and after much less food.
I still get cravings now and then for chocolate or cake but it's just a "Oh that would be nice," kind of craving and not a "Give it to me now or will kill you and step over your cold dead body to get to it!" kind of craving. There is a difference lol.
My darling little nephew is doing well. He has had his operation and is on the long road to recovery but he is in the best hands and is doing well. He will be in for about a month. BIL and SIL finally got to cuddle him yesterday.
Ok, just a quick post today. I went for a run this morning and I am starving!! Time to eat....sugar free of course :P
I had forgotten how much sugar affects my appetite. When I have sugar in my diet I eat so much more, I'm never really full and always find myself foraging for food lol. When I am off sugar I actually find times when I need to remind myself to eat. I eat so much less now, I can feel the food in my stomach and get full so much quicker and after much less food.
I still get cravings now and then for chocolate or cake but it's just a "Oh that would be nice," kind of craving and not a "Give it to me now or will kill you and step over your cold dead body to get to it!" kind of craving. There is a difference lol.
My darling little nephew is doing well. He has had his operation and is on the long road to recovery but he is in the best hands and is doing well. He will be in for about a month. BIL and SIL finally got to cuddle him yesterday.
Ok, just a quick post today. I went for a run this morning and I am starving!! Time to eat....sugar free of course :P
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A week or so ago...
I was waiting to see if my baby has Autism. There has been an update on that here....
http://kickingthewolf.blogspot.com/
This is Jonah's blog which I want to keep separate from this one so please feel free to head on over there and have a look around :)
OK so, when I last posted I was also awating the birth of a brand new nephew, he was due in for days time. I am proud to say that baby Otis arrived yesterday and he is just gorgeous. Unforuntately Otis was born with a hole is his diaphragm and some of his internal organs have moved into his chest cavity. This was not picked up in the scan and was totally unexpected.
He's doing well, has been transfered to the childrens hospital and will have surgery tomorrow or the next day. He looks a lot like his cousin Luke when he was born and I can't help but want to pick up that boy and squish him good!!
Luke is loving school and is doing so much better than we expected! He has mastered all of his 100 magic words and is now well into the next set! They get 100 words divided up onto coloured sheets and learn each set before moving on to the next. It starts with the Golden words and he learned those two days after he got them. That was the pattern, every time he would get a new set of words he would know them all two days after. He's just hooting along!
Sam is not coping as well without Luke home but he's doing ok. Sam, the child whom I said God gave me because He couldn't handle him, has turned into the most quiet, placid, Angelic little boy. I cannot believe he is the same child lol. He is so quiet, sentitive and just so loving. He doesn't destroy the house any more, thankfully, and he is such a joy to be around.
I think God knew that there would be no Mummy left if he gave me Sam as he was and Jonah together! :P
Now, that sugar thing. I am thrilled to say I am still off the sugar and hope to be for a very long time. I just cannot cannot cannot eat it. It goes straight to my mid section and I can't shift it! Plus, it makes me feel downright awful. I sleep poorly, I can't concentrate, my skin goes terrible and I generaly feel lethargic and foggy headed when I am on sugar.
I am so happy to be off it again. I have also told people that I will not be joining them for dessert when we are out. My birthday was the last hoorah and that's it!
I am starting another 12 week challenge at my gym and have been doing a running programme for the past 7 weeks. I have made some great gains but I still need to shift some kilos so I don't feel like I'm running with a weight vest on when all I am wearing is a T shirt lol. I shall keep you all updated on that one!
OK, nuff from me.
http://kickingthewolf.blogspot.com/
This is Jonah's blog which I want to keep separate from this one so please feel free to head on over there and have a look around :)
OK so, when I last posted I was also awating the birth of a brand new nephew, he was due in for days time. I am proud to say that baby Otis arrived yesterday and he is just gorgeous. Unforuntately Otis was born with a hole is his diaphragm and some of his internal organs have moved into his chest cavity. This was not picked up in the scan and was totally unexpected.
He's doing well, has been transfered to the childrens hospital and will have surgery tomorrow or the next day. He looks a lot like his cousin Luke when he was born and I can't help but want to pick up that boy and squish him good!!
Luke is loving school and is doing so much better than we expected! He has mastered all of his 100 magic words and is now well into the next set! They get 100 words divided up onto coloured sheets and learn each set before moving on to the next. It starts with the Golden words and he learned those two days after he got them. That was the pattern, every time he would get a new set of words he would know them all two days after. He's just hooting along!
Sam is not coping as well without Luke home but he's doing ok. Sam, the child whom I said God gave me because He couldn't handle him, has turned into the most quiet, placid, Angelic little boy. I cannot believe he is the same child lol. He is so quiet, sentitive and just so loving. He doesn't destroy the house any more, thankfully, and he is such a joy to be around.
I think God knew that there would be no Mummy left if he gave me Sam as he was and Jonah together! :P
Now, that sugar thing. I am thrilled to say I am still off the sugar and hope to be for a very long time. I just cannot cannot cannot eat it. It goes straight to my mid section and I can't shift it! Plus, it makes me feel downright awful. I sleep poorly, I can't concentrate, my skin goes terrible and I generaly feel lethargic and foggy headed when I am on sugar.
I am so happy to be off it again. I have also told people that I will not be joining them for dessert when we are out. My birthday was the last hoorah and that's it!
I am starting another 12 week challenge at my gym and have been doing a running programme for the past 7 weeks. I have made some great gains but I still need to shift some kilos so I don't feel like I'm running with a weight vest on when all I am wearing is a T shirt lol. I shall keep you all updated on that one!
OK, nuff from me.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Hectic
Everything is just so hectic. I've pretty much fallen apart but I'm busily putting the pieces back together again. Looking back on the past month I'm quite suprised I got through it. I'm tired, fed up, worried, stressed, busy, uncertain and nothing will change in the near future. That in iteself is quite daunting.
Darling Husband and I have decided that we will do nothing, absolutely nothing that will cause any added stress to our family. We've been quite ruthless about accepting and declinging invitations to places and events that might cause added stress, even though they're meant to 'give us a break.'. People just don't understand that even dropping by for a catch up quick coffee or a catch up can be a stressful event these days. My home is my sanctuary right now and it's all I can do just to keep things running smoothly here. Having to entertain and accomodate visitors is just a bit beyond me at the moment. I know people thing 'but it's only us' and that they'll help themselvs to coffee etc but I'm just not comfortable plodding around in my pyjamas in front of guests and there are some days where I don't actually want to get out of my pyjamas!
I fell well and truly off the sugar free bandwagon, skinning my knees and my pride in the process. I've made a concious decision to get back on that wagon and that started today. I am much better when I am sugar free. Going back on it at least had the benefit of proving to me that I just can't eat it. I felt dreadful, my skin again turned horrid, the weight I lost came back on and my energy levels fell through the floor.
But I can't stay and wallow in self pity, it's too lonely here. I think I've had my sook and my scream and shout and now it's time to pick up, dust off and get moving. Thanks to anyone out there who is still following along this blog. I heart you muchly xxx
Giving up Sugar (again)
Day 1: Going well so far!!
Darling Husband and I have decided that we will do nothing, absolutely nothing that will cause any added stress to our family. We've been quite ruthless about accepting and declinging invitations to places and events that might cause added stress, even though they're meant to 'give us a break.'. People just don't understand that even dropping by for a catch up quick coffee or a catch up can be a stressful event these days. My home is my sanctuary right now and it's all I can do just to keep things running smoothly here. Having to entertain and accomodate visitors is just a bit beyond me at the moment. I know people thing 'but it's only us' and that they'll help themselvs to coffee etc but I'm just not comfortable plodding around in my pyjamas in front of guests and there are some days where I don't actually want to get out of my pyjamas!
I fell well and truly off the sugar free bandwagon, skinning my knees and my pride in the process. I've made a concious decision to get back on that wagon and that started today. I am much better when I am sugar free. Going back on it at least had the benefit of proving to me that I just can't eat it. I felt dreadful, my skin again turned horrid, the weight I lost came back on and my energy levels fell through the floor.
But I can't stay and wallow in self pity, it's too lonely here. I think I've had my sook and my scream and shout and now it's time to pick up, dust off and get moving. Thanks to anyone out there who is still following along this blog. I heart you muchly xxx
Giving up Sugar (again)
Day 1: Going well so far!!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Slipping!
I slipped. I ate sugar, just a little bit but eat it I did. It's amazing how just one taste will get you back to craving it again.
We'd gone out and I hadn't planned my eating. I should know by now never to do this as I always end up in trouble. We've just been so busy with Jonah and I have again put myself last. I had eaten a really good breakfast (vegetable omelete) but suddenly it was 4.30pm and I was getting dizzy. I hadn't eaten another thing ALL DAY! That is so unlike me, I am a firm believer in six small meals a day and I usually only miss one, if any.
So here I was in Coles, about to crash into a hypo. I felt that familiar disorientation feeling and started to sweat profusely. Classic hypo symptoms. What I needed was sugar and now. Problem when you are having a hypo is that your brain is starved of sugar so you don't generally make wise decisions. This was no exception!
I went to the lolly aisle and grabbed chocolate. Chocolate is full of sugar but it's medium GI so it doesn't get into your blood stream fast enough. I should have gone for the jelly beans.
The chocolate didn't work fast enough and I was getting worse. At least my brain had enough sense to go for the next best thing after jelly beans, juice! I grabbed a large breakfast juice and drank it without coming up for air. I knew now that even though I felt like death was fast on my badk, I'd had adequate sugar and I didn't need any more. The craving for a cherry ripe was really hard to thwart lol.
The juice had given me an immediate sugar hit so after about ten minutes I started to feel much better. The chocolate held me up until I was able to get home and cook dinner. Unfortaintely my body had had sugar and it liked what it saw!
The next day the cravings were strong. I really wanted more. I tried to justify it that I could have just a little bit but I knew in my head that it was the wrong thing to do. Come night time I was almost climbing the walls again. I had no fruit in the house exept for some frozen berries so I couldn't even get a healthy fructose hit. I was within seconds of sending Darling Husband out to get me some chocolate...
Then I remembered, I DID have some fruit in the house...banana! I chopped some up, mixed it with some weet bix and it was bliss! The perfect sugar hit without feeding teh addiction. It worked, the cravings were gone and I was back on track.
I have also had my first sugarless coffee. I'd given up coffee back in September in a bid to cut down my sugar intake. I could not drink coffee without sugar and for those who know me, using any kind of sweetner is never going to happen! So I just had to stop drinking coffee altogether. I'd tried cutting down and just having one sugar but I hated it, it just wasn't worth drinking the coffee when I didn't enjoy it.
So, I gave it up. I had two coffee's over Christmas but didn't enjoy them without the sugar. Yesterday I had a coffee with no sugar and I realy enjoyed it! I'd planned to try it with glucose but I forgot to take it with me. I am still shocked. I never ever thought I could enjoy a coffee with no sugar. It just goes to show how much I depended on the taste of sugar to make things palatable. Now that I'm not longer relying on the taste I can enjoy foods for their own flavour, not the mask that sugar coats them with.
We'd gone out and I hadn't planned my eating. I should know by now never to do this as I always end up in trouble. We've just been so busy with Jonah and I have again put myself last. I had eaten a really good breakfast (vegetable omelete) but suddenly it was 4.30pm and I was getting dizzy. I hadn't eaten another thing ALL DAY! That is so unlike me, I am a firm believer in six small meals a day and I usually only miss one, if any.
So here I was in Coles, about to crash into a hypo. I felt that familiar disorientation feeling and started to sweat profusely. Classic hypo symptoms. What I needed was sugar and now. Problem when you are having a hypo is that your brain is starved of sugar so you don't generally make wise decisions. This was no exception!
I went to the lolly aisle and grabbed chocolate. Chocolate is full of sugar but it's medium GI so it doesn't get into your blood stream fast enough. I should have gone for the jelly beans.
The chocolate didn't work fast enough and I was getting worse. At least my brain had enough sense to go for the next best thing after jelly beans, juice! I grabbed a large breakfast juice and drank it without coming up for air. I knew now that even though I felt like death was fast on my badk, I'd had adequate sugar and I didn't need any more. The craving for a cherry ripe was really hard to thwart lol.
The juice had given me an immediate sugar hit so after about ten minutes I started to feel much better. The chocolate held me up until I was able to get home and cook dinner. Unfortaintely my body had had sugar and it liked what it saw!
The next day the cravings were strong. I really wanted more. I tried to justify it that I could have just a little bit but I knew in my head that it was the wrong thing to do. Come night time I was almost climbing the walls again. I had no fruit in the house exept for some frozen berries so I couldn't even get a healthy fructose hit. I was within seconds of sending Darling Husband out to get me some chocolate...
Then I remembered, I DID have some fruit in the house...banana! I chopped some up, mixed it with some weet bix and it was bliss! The perfect sugar hit without feeding teh addiction. It worked, the cravings were gone and I was back on track.
I have also had my first sugarless coffee. I'd given up coffee back in September in a bid to cut down my sugar intake. I could not drink coffee without sugar and for those who know me, using any kind of sweetner is never going to happen! So I just had to stop drinking coffee altogether. I'd tried cutting down and just having one sugar but I hated it, it just wasn't worth drinking the coffee when I didn't enjoy it.
So, I gave it up. I had two coffee's over Christmas but didn't enjoy them without the sugar. Yesterday I had a coffee with no sugar and I realy enjoyed it! I'd planned to try it with glucose but I forgot to take it with me. I am still shocked. I never ever thought I could enjoy a coffee with no sugar. It just goes to show how much I depended on the taste of sugar to make things palatable. Now that I'm not longer relying on the taste I can enjoy foods for their own flavour, not the mask that sugar coats them with.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
My Pet Peeve
Nutella.
This stuff ^^ it's truly horrid. How any parent can justify giving it to their child is beyond me. Even before I became a fructophope I still knew Nutella was not a food any child (or adult for that matter) should ever be eating. People, it's a jar of sugar and fat. Before you even see a hazelnut you have to get past 85% sugar and fat. That's right, there is almost 55% sugar in that jar and 30% fat, that's almost 85% sugar and fat alone.
It's not food, it's poison dressed up as a chocolate spread.
This stuff ^^ it's truly horrid. How any parent can justify giving it to their child is beyond me. Even before I became a fructophope I still knew Nutella was not a food any child (or adult for that matter) should ever be eating. People, it's a jar of sugar and fat. Before you even see a hazelnut you have to get past 85% sugar and fat. That's right, there is almost 55% sugar in that jar and 30% fat, that's almost 85% sugar and fat alone.
It's not food, it's poison dressed up as a chocolate spread.
The first month.
So the first month of being sugar free is over. I'm over the worst of the cravings but I do get the 'urge' now and then. I think it was be like nicotine. When you give up nicotine you get over the cravings but the desire for it does come back now and then. You know it's not strong enough to make you succumb but it still pops up.
That's the way it is with sugar. Usually it's a visual trigger. We were shopping one day and I walked past the biscuit aisle. Biscuit aisles have Tim Tams in them. When I saw them I really wanted to eat one but I didn't crave it. It just would have been nice. Walking away was easy and as soon as I was out of that aisle I'd forgotten all about them.
Official weigh in has me three kilos lighter. It's not a huge amount but it is the first time since September that my weight has gone down instead of up. In september I gave up coffee and took up hot chocolate. I ate way more sugar than usual. It is also the month that soft drink (or soda) starts to go on special in readiness for Christmas and we were buying it. From September to the end of December I drank a lot of sugar in the form of hot chocolate and soft drinks. My weight went very slowly but very steadily up. I put on about 8kg in that time. Given that since I gave up sugar my weight has now started to come down, and it's 3kg down I think we can safely say that weight loss is due only to giving up the sugar.
I have actually been eating a lot more fat than ever before too. I've switched to high fat everything and I don't scrimp. And it's true folks, if you eat fat in your diet you will eat less. Fat triggers your brain to know that it has eaten and you feel it. If there's sugar in as well as the fat it seems to have the oposite effect and you need to eat more to feel full. Fat on its own is much better.
So, no change in exercise, increase fat intake, drop sugar = a 3kg loss. I think this no sugar gig is working.
That's the way it is with sugar. Usually it's a visual trigger. We were shopping one day and I walked past the biscuit aisle. Biscuit aisles have Tim Tams in them. When I saw them I really wanted to eat one but I didn't crave it. It just would have been nice. Walking away was easy and as soon as I was out of that aisle I'd forgotten all about them.
Official weigh in has me three kilos lighter. It's not a huge amount but it is the first time since September that my weight has gone down instead of up. In september I gave up coffee and took up hot chocolate. I ate way more sugar than usual. It is also the month that soft drink (or soda) starts to go on special in readiness for Christmas and we were buying it. From September to the end of December I drank a lot of sugar in the form of hot chocolate and soft drinks. My weight went very slowly but very steadily up. I put on about 8kg in that time. Given that since I gave up sugar my weight has now started to come down, and it's 3kg down I think we can safely say that weight loss is due only to giving up the sugar.
I have actually been eating a lot more fat than ever before too. I've switched to high fat everything and I don't scrimp. And it's true folks, if you eat fat in your diet you will eat less. Fat triggers your brain to know that it has eaten and you feel it. If there's sugar in as well as the fat it seems to have the oposite effect and you need to eat more to feel full. Fat on its own is much better.
So, no change in exercise, increase fat intake, drop sugar = a 3kg loss. I think this no sugar gig is working.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Fail to plan...plan to fail.
Yesterday was an epic fail. I failed to notice that we'd run out of eggs. Eggs are a staple part of my breakfast. Every morning I start the day with an egg and vegetable omelete. The eggs are a great source of protein and the vegetables give me the carbs I need for energy.
Yesterday morning, no eggs. So what did I do?? I thought, "Oh it's ok, I'll just have toast, I haven't had any processed carbs in a while so it will be ok. So I had toast and vegemite for breakfast. Fail!
Within two hours I was starving. We'd gone to Costco ( to stock up on eggs!) and whilst there we bought a tray of croissants. Famished, I just ate one, but it wasn't enough and then I was literally craving another one. So I ate another one and it was good! The high energy carbs from the bread had hit my blood steam like a sugar fountain and the cravings came back in full swing.
Seriously, I felt out of control. Two hours later I was again famished. I ate two more. The croissants had sugar as one of their ingredients so I was feeding the addiction. I knew it but I didn't want to stop it. It was kind of like all those times when I gave up smoking, a few weeks after giving up I'd have..just one...just one and then I won't have any more! Of course until that last time I gave up, I always did have more.
It was the same with the croissants. By days end I'd eaten four of them! They tasted bloody nice too! LOL. Sure they weren't as sugar laden as a cake but they didn't need to be. They had sugar in them and that's all that mattered. That's why I didn't feel full after eating them and that's why I still wanted more food even though I had already eaten.
This morning I woke feeling lile I had a hangover. I'm not kidding. I had the worst headache, my face was all red and puffy, I was lethargic and felt really unwell. Luckily I had eggs in the house again so I quickly whipped up some eggs, spinach and mushrooms before the temptation to eat bread came over me again.
Bread isn't the devil and I'm not suggesting it is, but for me it's a precursor to a carb overload so it's best I just don't eat it. It's kind of like an ex smoker sitting in a room full of smokers, trying not to want one. Bread is my smoking buddy.
Today has been ok. I'm tired but that can be blamed on a myriad for things. Good lesson learned though. I'm just not strong enough yet to allow any high energy carbs into my system.
I did have the most awesome blueberry smoothy for lunch though!!
Yesterday morning, no eggs. So what did I do?? I thought, "Oh it's ok, I'll just have toast, I haven't had any processed carbs in a while so it will be ok. So I had toast and vegemite for breakfast. Fail!
Within two hours I was starving. We'd gone to Costco ( to stock up on eggs!) and whilst there we bought a tray of croissants. Famished, I just ate one, but it wasn't enough and then I was literally craving another one. So I ate another one and it was good! The high energy carbs from the bread had hit my blood steam like a sugar fountain and the cravings came back in full swing.
Seriously, I felt out of control. Two hours later I was again famished. I ate two more. The croissants had sugar as one of their ingredients so I was feeding the addiction. I knew it but I didn't want to stop it. It was kind of like all those times when I gave up smoking, a few weeks after giving up I'd have..just one...just one and then I won't have any more! Of course until that last time I gave up, I always did have more.
It was the same with the croissants. By days end I'd eaten four of them! They tasted bloody nice too! LOL. Sure they weren't as sugar laden as a cake but they didn't need to be. They had sugar in them and that's all that mattered. That's why I didn't feel full after eating them and that's why I still wanted more food even though I had already eaten.
This morning I woke feeling lile I had a hangover. I'm not kidding. I had the worst headache, my face was all red and puffy, I was lethargic and felt really unwell. Luckily I had eggs in the house again so I quickly whipped up some eggs, spinach and mushrooms before the temptation to eat bread came over me again.
Bread isn't the devil and I'm not suggesting it is, but for me it's a precursor to a carb overload so it's best I just don't eat it. It's kind of like an ex smoker sitting in a room full of smokers, trying not to want one. Bread is my smoking buddy.
Today has been ok. I'm tired but that can be blamed on a myriad for things. Good lesson learned though. I'm just not strong enough yet to allow any high energy carbs into my system.
I did have the most awesome blueberry smoothy for lunch though!!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Bandwagon. I haz one.
Ever since giving up sugar I've noticed a curiosity amongst friends and aquaintences. Since year dot we've all been 'giving up fat and taking up exercise', so giving up sugar seems to be something new. Well it is new.
Everyone at the gym knows I'm doing it as I have had a lot of support from two of the trainers there who have been fructophobes for some time now. Plastering it all over my facebook page has also sent the message loud and clear that this is my latest bandwagon. And it appears I am collecting a few passengers along the way.
The curiosity of people who want to know more about giving up sugar has really surprised me. I thought I'd have to be explaining myself all the way, defending my actions so to speak but it's been quite the oposite. People are often asking me how I'm going, why am I doing it, what exactly am I changing to give up sugar, is it hard, do I think they could do it too, etc. The questions are all the same but the most striking thing has been the amount of people who say to me, "But I don't eat a lot of sugar."
Yes you do. You just don't know it.
When I give some examples of where the hidden sugar may be in their diet they stand mouth agape and suddenly want a seat on the bandwagon. Of course I happy help them aboard and further ear bash them until the probably wish I hadn't lol.
Sugar is everywhere and it doesn't always taste sweet. It's hidden in so many foods, especially low fat foods, they're laced with it to make them more palatable. You often have to be specifically looking for sugar to find it.
One of sugars most evil traits is that it inhibits your appetite suppressing hormone Leptin, so your brain doesn't even realise it's eaten anything. And, it's addictive which is why so many people find it so hard to stop at one Tim Tam and why so many always feel hungry when they've eaten an adequate amount of calories.
Your brain simply doesn't register that it's eaten anything when you eat a high sugar meal. And remember, it doesn't have to be a sweet tasting meal to be a sugar laden meal.
So in short, you eat something high in sugar, your brain doesn't recognise you've eaten, you're still feeling hungry, you eat more, you end up eating twice as much as you need in order to feel satiated, you gain weight.
So what do you do next? You go on a low fat diet of course! You start eating low fat this and low fat that, all of it laced with sugar...and you wonder why you can't lose any weight.
Everyone at the gym knows I'm doing it as I have had a lot of support from two of the trainers there who have been fructophobes for some time now. Plastering it all over my facebook page has also sent the message loud and clear that this is my latest bandwagon. And it appears I am collecting a few passengers along the way.
The curiosity of people who want to know more about giving up sugar has really surprised me. I thought I'd have to be explaining myself all the way, defending my actions so to speak but it's been quite the oposite. People are often asking me how I'm going, why am I doing it, what exactly am I changing to give up sugar, is it hard, do I think they could do it too, etc. The questions are all the same but the most striking thing has been the amount of people who say to me, "But I don't eat a lot of sugar."
Yes you do. You just don't know it.
When I give some examples of where the hidden sugar may be in their diet they stand mouth agape and suddenly want a seat on the bandwagon. Of course I happy help them aboard and further ear bash them until the probably wish I hadn't lol.
Sugar is everywhere and it doesn't always taste sweet. It's hidden in so many foods, especially low fat foods, they're laced with it to make them more palatable. You often have to be specifically looking for sugar to find it.
One of sugars most evil traits is that it inhibits your appetite suppressing hormone Leptin, so your brain doesn't even realise it's eaten anything. And, it's addictive which is why so many people find it so hard to stop at one Tim Tam and why so many always feel hungry when they've eaten an adequate amount of calories.
Your brain simply doesn't register that it's eaten anything when you eat a high sugar meal. And remember, it doesn't have to be a sweet tasting meal to be a sugar laden meal.
So in short, you eat something high in sugar, your brain doesn't recognise you've eaten, you're still feeling hungry, you eat more, you end up eating twice as much as you need in order to feel satiated, you gain weight.
So what do you do next? You go on a low fat diet of course! You start eating low fat this and low fat that, all of it laced with sugar...and you wonder why you can't lose any weight.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
At The End
I can finally say I am at the end of the sugar withdrawal stage. I haven't had any cravings for days now and I am no longer having any symptoms of withdrawal. All I am doing now is feeling better and better each day. I'm also kicking myself as to why I didn't do this before. Well at least I won't be lamenting when I'm 51 that I didn't start it when I was 41 lol.
My mood is now one of the biggest changes I can notice. I have so much more patience, I'm awake, and I mean really wide awake. I can concentrate so much better, the head fog has gone. I seem to be making more clearer and rational decisions. Not that I was running around with wild abandon putting everyone in jeopardy with crazy decisions but I no longer struggle with decision making. Sometimes even deciding what to wear or what to have for dinner was a big deal, now I can just make the decision straight away and it's done.
I seem to want to do things now whereas before it was often a struggle to do anything. I thought I was just in a rut but it's not. I realised that I'm now looking for challenges, things to get my brain working. It's like my brain has finally woken up fully after years of being half asleep.
I am picking up a 5kg bag of glucose tomorrow and will start cooking some of the fantastic fructose free recipes I've found. The chocolate gelati looks fantastic! I also want to try a black forest cake!
Another very noticible difference (and there is no way this could just be a coincidence), since being taken off the high fructose yoghurts, Jonah is now sleeping a minimum of 90 minutes during the day! He sleeps for between 90 minutes and 2 hours. This is a HUGE chance for him. This is the baby who never slept for more than 20 minutes, and to get an hour out of him was an absolute miracle. It happened but it was very rare.
My skin is looking so much better. It's getting some brightness back to it and the browning from the insulin resistance is fading even more. All in all, the changes are very apparent and they are very very good!
I am so so glad I did this.
My mood is now one of the biggest changes I can notice. I have so much more patience, I'm awake, and I mean really wide awake. I can concentrate so much better, the head fog has gone. I seem to be making more clearer and rational decisions. Not that I was running around with wild abandon putting everyone in jeopardy with crazy decisions but I no longer struggle with decision making. Sometimes even deciding what to wear or what to have for dinner was a big deal, now I can just make the decision straight away and it's done.
I seem to want to do things now whereas before it was often a struggle to do anything. I thought I was just in a rut but it's not. I realised that I'm now looking for challenges, things to get my brain working. It's like my brain has finally woken up fully after years of being half asleep.
I am picking up a 5kg bag of glucose tomorrow and will start cooking some of the fantastic fructose free recipes I've found. The chocolate gelati looks fantastic! I also want to try a black forest cake!
Another very noticible difference (and there is no way this could just be a coincidence), since being taken off the high fructose yoghurts, Jonah is now sleeping a minimum of 90 minutes during the day! He sleeps for between 90 minutes and 2 hours. This is a HUGE chance for him. This is the baby who never slept for more than 20 minutes, and to get an hour out of him was an absolute miracle. It happened but it was very rare.
My skin is looking so much better. It's getting some brightness back to it and the browning from the insulin resistance is fading even more. All in all, the changes are very apparent and they are very very good!
I am so so glad I did this.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
You should see my house right now...
Because it's feral!
Gastro came to play at our house this weekend and with so many people living here, you can imagine the carnage. Darling Husband and I took turns nursing children, vomiting and cleaning up all maner of bodily fluids. sometimes it was a mystery as to what belonged to who. The one good thing though, Darling Husband was supposed to be in New Zealand this morning but because of some uncertainty with with JDude's tests, he didn't go, thus, he didn't leave me all alone with three spewing children hooray!
Today is Sunday and we're all feeling better. Again, hooray.
Yesterday was Seb's birthday (Quick recap for those of you only recently playing from home, Seb is from Ethiopa and has been living with us for almost 3 years now), I made her a chocolate cake, covered it in pink icing and Smarties and as is usual, she blushed. We also bought her some gifts which she loved. Honestly, I swear she is the hardest person to buy for so I was glad that she really loved her presents :)
In Ethiopia they don't celebrate birthdays like we do. It's acknowleged but you don't get presents and birthday cake. At best you might get your favorite bread baked for you and you might get some clothes if your parents have money but that's about it. So, when it's Seb's birthday and we celebrate it, she doesn't really know what to do, say, or where to look LOL. Each and every time I can't help but laugh, I've never seen a dark skinned person blush before I met Seb lol.
And yes I did say that I made her a chocolate cake, and no I didn't eat any of it. I had run out of glucose powder so had to use caster sugar. That meant I just couldn't eat any of it so I simply didn't. And to be honest, it really wasn't that hard. Half of the cake is still sitting in the fridge. It will probably get thrown out before it gets finished. That never used to happen in this house!
It's day 22 of no sugar and I can honestly say I'm now feeling no withdrawal symptoms at all. I don't crave it any more, I'm not having my afternoon slumps and I no longer have that foggy, headachy feeling. It's over, done and dusted.
Some people have asked me if I intend to stay off sugar for life or if I will soon begin to have 'just little bits', for a 'treat'. The answer is yes and no. Yes I will be staying off it for life and no I will not be having any of it for a treat.
Sugar to me is like smoking. I was addicted to nicotine and sugar. Both were ruining my health and I had to give them both up. To have a little bit of sugar for a treat now is exactly the same to me as having a 'puff of a cigarette' for a treat. Seriously, who would do that?
I do acknowlege though that it took me many times to fully give up smoking. Twice I gave up for two years, only to fall off the wagon again. Many times I gave up for 4-6 months, again to start up. Actually in the last ten years that I smoked I was off them more than I was on them. It may well be the same with sugar. I may fall off this bandwagon but I promise myself that I will do all I can not to fall off and to clamber aboard quick smart should I find those wagon wheels about to barrel over me!
There are two oposites about sugar v's nicotine though. With nocotine you're a social outcast if you partake yet with sugar you're a sociall outcast if you don't! It's hard celebrating birthdays, when you lovingly make someone a cake, present it to them and then decline a slice. It's hard going to people's houses for dinner, you have to pre arrange no dessert so the host doesn't go to too much trouble all for nothing. Restaurants are hard, the sauces almost always have sugar in them. Many places will cater for allergies, for gluten intolerance but for the sugar addicted diner? No dice. Yes, I could order off the diabetic menu, if there was one but that's as rare as my kids having a clean room for more than a nonosecond.
On Feb 2nd it will have been a calendar month since I gave up sugar. On that day I will weigh myself and see if there has been any weight loss. I don't expect big numbers, I ate an orchard full of fruit every day plus anything that wasn't nailed down during the wost of the withdrawals, and I chugged down a lot of glucose so
the scales might not go my way.
It doesn't matter. I know that eventually, one day they will. All that matters for now is that I have achieved another goal that I set out to do. I have given up sugar and I am over the withdrawals.
Gastro came to play at our house this weekend and with so many people living here, you can imagine the carnage. Darling Husband and I took turns nursing children, vomiting and cleaning up all maner of bodily fluids. sometimes it was a mystery as to what belonged to who. The one good thing though, Darling Husband was supposed to be in New Zealand this morning but because of some uncertainty with with JDude's tests, he didn't go, thus, he didn't leave me all alone with three spewing children hooray!
Today is Sunday and we're all feeling better. Again, hooray.
Yesterday was Seb's birthday (Quick recap for those of you only recently playing from home, Seb is from Ethiopa and has been living with us for almost 3 years now), I made her a chocolate cake, covered it in pink icing and Smarties and as is usual, she blushed. We also bought her some gifts which she loved. Honestly, I swear she is the hardest person to buy for so I was glad that she really loved her presents :)
In Ethiopia they don't celebrate birthdays like we do. It's acknowleged but you don't get presents and birthday cake. At best you might get your favorite bread baked for you and you might get some clothes if your parents have money but that's about it. So, when it's Seb's birthday and we celebrate it, she doesn't really know what to do, say, or where to look LOL. Each and every time I can't help but laugh, I've never seen a dark skinned person blush before I met Seb lol.
And yes I did say that I made her a chocolate cake, and no I didn't eat any of it. I had run out of glucose powder so had to use caster sugar. That meant I just couldn't eat any of it so I simply didn't. And to be honest, it really wasn't that hard. Half of the cake is still sitting in the fridge. It will probably get thrown out before it gets finished. That never used to happen in this house!
It's day 22 of no sugar and I can honestly say I'm now feeling no withdrawal symptoms at all. I don't crave it any more, I'm not having my afternoon slumps and I no longer have that foggy, headachy feeling. It's over, done and dusted.
Some people have asked me if I intend to stay off sugar for life or if I will soon begin to have 'just little bits', for a 'treat'. The answer is yes and no. Yes I will be staying off it for life and no I will not be having any of it for a treat.
Sugar to me is like smoking. I was addicted to nicotine and sugar. Both were ruining my health and I had to give them both up. To have a little bit of sugar for a treat now is exactly the same to me as having a 'puff of a cigarette' for a treat. Seriously, who would do that?
I do acknowlege though that it took me many times to fully give up smoking. Twice I gave up for two years, only to fall off the wagon again. Many times I gave up for 4-6 months, again to start up. Actually in the last ten years that I smoked I was off them more than I was on them. It may well be the same with sugar. I may fall off this bandwagon but I promise myself that I will do all I can not to fall off and to clamber aboard quick smart should I find those wagon wheels about to barrel over me!
There are two oposites about sugar v's nicotine though. With nocotine you're a social outcast if you partake yet with sugar you're a sociall outcast if you don't! It's hard celebrating birthdays, when you lovingly make someone a cake, present it to them and then decline a slice. It's hard going to people's houses for dinner, you have to pre arrange no dessert so the host doesn't go to too much trouble all for nothing. Restaurants are hard, the sauces almost always have sugar in them. Many places will cater for allergies, for gluten intolerance but for the sugar addicted diner? No dice. Yes, I could order off the diabetic menu, if there was one but that's as rare as my kids having a clean room for more than a nonosecond.
On Feb 2nd it will have been a calendar month since I gave up sugar. On that day I will weigh myself and see if there has been any weight loss. I don't expect big numbers, I ate an orchard full of fruit every day plus anything that wasn't nailed down during the wost of the withdrawals, and I chugged down a lot of glucose so
the scales might not go my way.
It doesn't matter. I know that eventually, one day they will. All that matters for now is that I have achieved another goal that I set out to do. I have given up sugar and I am over the withdrawals.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Fruit Free Friday!!
Yes I know today is only Thursday but I wanted to mention that tomorrow will be my first fruit free day since giving up fructose Woohoo!! I had been relying heavily on fruit to get me through the fructose withdrawals but in the past two to three days I've happily not needed any fruit even though I have eaten some. Yesterday I ate it because I had left over fruit salad from the day before and today I ate it because I had a mango in the fridge that either needed to be eaten today or thrown out tomorrow. And we all know that chucking out a mango is sacrilege!!
Today I have not had any glucose and I'm totally fine, no withdrawal symptoms at all and I feel great. I did have a horrid nights sleep last night so I'm suprised I feel as good as I do today.
I also wanted to note another change. Everything is salty! Not only are things tasting much sweeter now, they are also tasting salty. I mean salty foods of couse, my apples aren't salty lol. Savoury foods are much saltier tasting than before and I have found that for the past few nights I haven't added any extra salt to my meals. I eat a vegetable omelete pretty much every morning for breakfast and I always add some crushed green olives to give it a salty flavor. For the past few days it's been too much, almost getting too salty, and I've noticed it in other foods too.
My need for tea drinking has all but stopped. I love a hot drink with my breakfast but apart from that I don't seem to be looking for it any more.
ok, Jonah has just wandered out of the toilet with wet hands...ewww! Signing off now.
Today I have not had any glucose and I'm totally fine, no withdrawal symptoms at all and I feel great. I did have a horrid nights sleep last night so I'm suprised I feel as good as I do today.
I also wanted to note another change. Everything is salty! Not only are things tasting much sweeter now, they are also tasting salty. I mean salty foods of couse, my apples aren't salty lol. Savoury foods are much saltier tasting than before and I have found that for the past few nights I haven't added any extra salt to my meals. I eat a vegetable omelete pretty much every morning for breakfast and I always add some crushed green olives to give it a salty flavor. For the past few days it's been too much, almost getting too salty, and I've noticed it in other foods too.
My need for tea drinking has all but stopped. I love a hot drink with my breakfast but apart from that I don't seem to be looking for it any more.
ok, Jonah has just wandered out of the toilet with wet hands...ewww! Signing off now.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day 18. The best day yet.
Sorry to my regular blog readers who are not interested in this latest bandwagon I have clambered aboard lol. But you should all know by now how obsessed I get when I am on to a good thing!!
Today has by far been my best since giving up sugar. As I mentioned before, to get though the withdrawals I ate a lot of fruit and chugged down more glucose than oxygen at times but, you do what you have to to get through the worst of it. I actually noticed more improvement yesterday which has continued on to today.
Today I'm finally awake. The 20+ years of head fog I have been carrying around seems to have lifed and I feel like I have more energy than ever in my life. That's saying something considering I have three small boisterous and very messy children to run around after but I really do feel alive.
And I can taste again! This has been one of the biggest things I've noticed since I went sugar free, everything tastes so much sweeter. As I mentioned before, I have been having glugose powder in places where I'd normally have sugar but last night I just felt like I didn't really need that any more. So, today I tried tea with no glucose in it, and I kid you not I could swear it was still in there. I can taste the sweetness in the dash of milk I put in it and that's enough to satisfy the taste buds.
For those who know me, you'd understand what huge deal this is. Two sugars, every single time, tea or coffee it HAD to have two sugars in it or it just wasn't worth drinking. I tried cutting down to one and a half but it just didn't work. It tasted wrong unless it was spiked with the two sugars. If there was no sugar around I simply didn't drink it. To be able to have tea now with no sugar really is just phenomenal for me.
This morning I again tasted Jonah's Weet bix and mashed banana, just to see, and again it tasted very sweet, even sweeter than when I tasted it the other day. Those of you out there feeling sorry for your tots who are munching on bland farex or weetbix, cry no more! To them the stuff is as sweet as if it had been spiked with buckets of sugar.
Again the satiety feeling I get after eating kicks in so much quicker than before. I just ate a tuna salad and drank a glass of water and I'm sitting down because I'm literally too stuffed to move. The only times I felt like that was when I was at an all you can eat buffet where I'd eat the equivalent of two main meals and three desserts before I'd feel 'stuffed'.
I also made a concious effort today not to eat too much fruit. I am happy to have 2-3 pieces a day, preferably only two but I had been eating up to 8 pieces a day. I'd prefer to get most of my caloric intake from vegetables and protien rather than so much fruit.
I'm so interested in food these days. Not just food in front of me, food at the super market etc, I mean food as a fuel and how its nutrients work for and against us. I'd love to look into it more (study it) but there is so much mis information out there so I wouldn't know whether what I was being taught was credible or utter crap. These days I'm relying on sources who have the experience to back up their claims, not just from some skinny cow who wrote a book.
It just makes so much sense.
Today has by far been my best since giving up sugar. As I mentioned before, to get though the withdrawals I ate a lot of fruit and chugged down more glucose than oxygen at times but, you do what you have to to get through the worst of it. I actually noticed more improvement yesterday which has continued on to today.
Today I'm finally awake. The 20+ years of head fog I have been carrying around seems to have lifed and I feel like I have more energy than ever in my life. That's saying something considering I have three small boisterous and very messy children to run around after but I really do feel alive.
And I can taste again! This has been one of the biggest things I've noticed since I went sugar free, everything tastes so much sweeter. As I mentioned before, I have been having glugose powder in places where I'd normally have sugar but last night I just felt like I didn't really need that any more. So, today I tried tea with no glucose in it, and I kid you not I could swear it was still in there. I can taste the sweetness in the dash of milk I put in it and that's enough to satisfy the taste buds.
For those who know me, you'd understand what huge deal this is. Two sugars, every single time, tea or coffee it HAD to have two sugars in it or it just wasn't worth drinking. I tried cutting down to one and a half but it just didn't work. It tasted wrong unless it was spiked with the two sugars. If there was no sugar around I simply didn't drink it. To be able to have tea now with no sugar really is just phenomenal for me.
This morning I again tasted Jonah's Weet bix and mashed banana, just to see, and again it tasted very sweet, even sweeter than when I tasted it the other day. Those of you out there feeling sorry for your tots who are munching on bland farex or weetbix, cry no more! To them the stuff is as sweet as if it had been spiked with buckets of sugar.
Again the satiety feeling I get after eating kicks in so much quicker than before. I just ate a tuna salad and drank a glass of water and I'm sitting down because I'm literally too stuffed to move. The only times I felt like that was when I was at an all you can eat buffet where I'd eat the equivalent of two main meals and three desserts before I'd feel 'stuffed'.
I also made a concious effort today not to eat too much fruit. I am happy to have 2-3 pieces a day, preferably only two but I had been eating up to 8 pieces a day. I'd prefer to get most of my caloric intake from vegetables and protien rather than so much fruit.
I'm so interested in food these days. Not just food in front of me, food at the super market etc, I mean food as a fuel and how its nutrients work for and against us. I'd love to look into it more (study it) but there is so much mis information out there so I wouldn't know whether what I was being taught was credible or utter crap. These days I'm relying on sources who have the experience to back up their claims, not just from some skinny cow who wrote a book.
It just makes so much sense.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sweet Surrender.
So, this no sugar gig. I thought I would write a bit about how it's all going but be warned, I am posting on about 2 hours sleep in the past 48 hours so forgive me if I start speaking in tongues. I should add for those who haven't seen the link I posted, it's fructose I'm giving up here. Fructose is one half of table sugar, the evil half and it's added to almost everything we eat. It can only be digested by the liver and is about as poison to you as alcohol is. So, when I say I'm giving up sugar, I actually mean fructose.
First of all I want to talk a bit about the symptoms of sugar withdrawal that I experienced. Even on the first morning, when I didn't have my usual hot beverage with its 2 heaped sugars I could feel the withdrawal setting in. I was dizzy, light headed and felt like you do when you've inhaled too much oxygen, kind of like when you've blown up a dozen balloons.
Day 2-4 were ok and I just had to remember that I wasn't eating sugar any more. I had to make a birthday cake for my 4yo (see totally awesome spidercake from previous entry :D) and I lost count of how many times I instinctively went to taste the batter and the icing mix. Being off sugar means just that, you're off it, no taste testing, nothing at all! So, I pretty much went through hell on these days. My symptoms were;
Extreme lethargy
Brain fog
Tiredness
Irritability
Headache
Apathy
Mild depression
Mild anxiety
Confusion
Now, I didn't give up all sugar, only fructose so when the cravings hit hard I had glucose, mostly in tea. Glucose is a sugar that can be easily digested. My enemey here was fructose which is half of table sugar, glucose being the other half. Problem is, almost everything is sweetened with table sugar and/or fructose. It really does pay to watch that link I provided in my last post to get a better understanding of what I'm banging on about here lol.
When the cravings were at their very worst I ate fruit, lots and lots of fruit, particularly nectarines and peaches (If you're going to give up sugar do it now while these babies are still in season!). My worst time was in the afternoon, which is when the symptoms seemed to hit ten fold so this is when I consumed most of the fruit. I also drank tea with glucose instead of table sugar. Now, glucose is not as sweet tasting as table sugar so you do need quite a bit of it but it's harmless and much easier to cut down on once the cravings are gone.
Day four to about day ten I can only describe as pure hell. I actually don't remember a lot of it thank God but I presume that's because my brain was so shitty at me for giving up its beloved sugar that it partially shut down. During the worst of it I was eating 6-8 pieces of fruit a day and drinking anywhere up to 6 cups of tea. It was the only thing that got me through the cravings. It just goes to show how addictive sugar is. Problem is, we never know we're addicted because it's in so many things that we're eating it every day and are unaware we're doing it. It's not until we give it up that we begin to feel the effects of sugar withdrawal.
Day 11 came around and I realised the fog had lifted. I was no longer craving the sweet stuff and my afternoon slump never happened. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Day 12, again I crashed and it felt just as bad as before. I knew though that like any other addiction my brain was just screaming out for a fix but that it would soon give up once it realised no fix was coming. Day 13 and 14, again, great days and on day 15 I realised I hadn't eaten a piece of fruit all day. I was now over the worst of it. And thank GOD for that!
I remember one day I was craving chocolate, really really badly. I wasn't about to eat any, I didn't actually have any to eat, but I really wanted some. So, I improvised and made choc milk instead. I simply got a cup of milk, added about a heaped teaspoon of cocoa to it and a level tablespoon of glucose, stuck it all in one of my protein shakers and let rip. It tasted lovely! Just like choc milk only no fructose.
I've been eating a lot of whole foods, unprocessed things like fruit and vegetable. I eat a lot of eggs now as well as fish, chicken, beef and nuts.I still have that problem of needing to nibble on something now and then, whereas before I'd reach for something like a biscuit, these days I eat nuts and dried chick peas. They have a lovely crunch to them! I also eat chopped carrot and celery with some chopped cheese. For a sweet treat get some greek yoghurt (full fat) with no sugar and add some fresh or frozen berries and a teaspoon of glucose powder and mix it together. very yum and much better for you than store bought sugar laden yoghurt with pretend fruit.
If you don't think you are addicted to sugar and that it's not playing a big role in your diet, try quitting it for a week and see how you go. You will need to check lables very carefully, and you're not allowed to substitute for artificial sweetners, they are an evil all unto their own! I pretty much stick to unprocessed foods all the way but I do eat tinned corn and sometimes tinned tomato in things like chilli con carne.
So, in a nutshell that's my journey so far on giving up sugar. There's so much more I'd like to bang on about but there's no need because I'm sure you've all checked out that link by now.....;)
Haven't you???
First of all I want to talk a bit about the symptoms of sugar withdrawal that I experienced. Even on the first morning, when I didn't have my usual hot beverage with its 2 heaped sugars I could feel the withdrawal setting in. I was dizzy, light headed and felt like you do when you've inhaled too much oxygen, kind of like when you've blown up a dozen balloons.
Day 2-4 were ok and I just had to remember that I wasn't eating sugar any more. I had to make a birthday cake for my 4yo (see totally awesome spidercake from previous entry :D) and I lost count of how many times I instinctively went to taste the batter and the icing mix. Being off sugar means just that, you're off it, no taste testing, nothing at all! So, I pretty much went through hell on these days. My symptoms were;
Extreme lethargy
Brain fog
Tiredness
Irritability
Headache
Apathy
Mild depression
Mild anxiety
Confusion
Now, I didn't give up all sugar, only fructose so when the cravings hit hard I had glucose, mostly in tea. Glucose is a sugar that can be easily digested. My enemey here was fructose which is half of table sugar, glucose being the other half. Problem is, almost everything is sweetened with table sugar and/or fructose. It really does pay to watch that link I provided in my last post to get a better understanding of what I'm banging on about here lol.
When the cravings were at their very worst I ate fruit, lots and lots of fruit, particularly nectarines and peaches (If you're going to give up sugar do it now while these babies are still in season!). My worst time was in the afternoon, which is when the symptoms seemed to hit ten fold so this is when I consumed most of the fruit. I also drank tea with glucose instead of table sugar. Now, glucose is not as sweet tasting as table sugar so you do need quite a bit of it but it's harmless and much easier to cut down on once the cravings are gone.
Day four to about day ten I can only describe as pure hell. I actually don't remember a lot of it thank God but I presume that's because my brain was so shitty at me for giving up its beloved sugar that it partially shut down. During the worst of it I was eating 6-8 pieces of fruit a day and drinking anywhere up to 6 cups of tea. It was the only thing that got me through the cravings. It just goes to show how addictive sugar is. Problem is, we never know we're addicted because it's in so many things that we're eating it every day and are unaware we're doing it. It's not until we give it up that we begin to feel the effects of sugar withdrawal.
Day 11 came around and I realised the fog had lifted. I was no longer craving the sweet stuff and my afternoon slump never happened. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Day 12, again I crashed and it felt just as bad as before. I knew though that like any other addiction my brain was just screaming out for a fix but that it would soon give up once it realised no fix was coming. Day 13 and 14, again, great days and on day 15 I realised I hadn't eaten a piece of fruit all day. I was now over the worst of it. And thank GOD for that!
I remember one day I was craving chocolate, really really badly. I wasn't about to eat any, I didn't actually have any to eat, but I really wanted some. So, I improvised and made choc milk instead. I simply got a cup of milk, added about a heaped teaspoon of cocoa to it and a level tablespoon of glucose, stuck it all in one of my protein shakers and let rip. It tasted lovely! Just like choc milk only no fructose.
I've been eating a lot of whole foods, unprocessed things like fruit and vegetable. I eat a lot of eggs now as well as fish, chicken, beef and nuts.I still have that problem of needing to nibble on something now and then, whereas before I'd reach for something like a biscuit, these days I eat nuts and dried chick peas. They have a lovely crunch to them! I also eat chopped carrot and celery with some chopped cheese. For a sweet treat get some greek yoghurt (full fat) with no sugar and add some fresh or frozen berries and a teaspoon of glucose powder and mix it together. very yum and much better for you than store bought sugar laden yoghurt with pretend fruit.
If you don't think you are addicted to sugar and that it's not playing a big role in your diet, try quitting it for a week and see how you go. You will need to check lables very carefully, and you're not allowed to substitute for artificial sweetners, they are an evil all unto their own! I pretty much stick to unprocessed foods all the way but I do eat tinned corn and sometimes tinned tomato in things like chilli con carne.
So, in a nutshell that's my journey so far on giving up sugar. There's so much more I'd like to bang on about but there's no need because I'm sure you've all checked out that link by now.....;)
Haven't you???
Friday, January 15, 2010
Nothing Sweet About Me.
Hmmm...that reminds me of a song!
On January 2nd 2010 I made the momentous decision to give up sugar. Yes, that's right Give.up.sugar! I mean all sugar too, well, wherever possible.
For years I've had issues with sugar. About 15 years ago I started getting terrible hypoglycaemic attacks where I would feel dizzy, shakey, confused, rapid heart rate, sweat, and I would need an instant carb hit to get me back to 'normal'. My endocrinologist told me that it was my pancreas chugging to a halt, a bit like a car engine that chugs and putters along before finally going kaput!
My last two pregnancies resulted in me having gestational diabetes which never did come under control and I was injecting insulin 4 times a day. Between pregnancies I was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Hardly surprising given the history.
As most know, about 15 months ago I joined a gym so began to get some very regular and very intense exercise. Since then I have literally reversed the effects of the diabetes and can no longer really call myself a diabetic. My 3 monthly HbA1c blood tests have all been around the 5.4 mark for the past 12 months since I started exercising. Exercise does good things!
But, I stil felt something wasn't quite right and I knew there was a lot more to learn with regard to what I was eating. I went on a bit of a quest to see what I could learn and more and more, the damaging effects of sugar kept popping up in the results of my google search.
Then one day, I saw this....
(couldn't embed clip. See link below)
Please, I urge you to watch it. It does go for an hour and a half but I guarantee you it will captivate you as an audience. For me it was life changing, but then again, I was looking to change something, you might not be!
I will be back to post my progress. I did mean to post as I went along but with a house full of visitors and then a broken computer, that just didn't happen! I'm on day 16 now and I remember the worst of it (sorry but sugar withdrawal is a bitch) so will blog about how I'm doing and the crafty ways I have managed to get sugar hits when I most desperately needed them!!
Watch this...
Sugar:The Bitter Truth
.
On January 2nd 2010 I made the momentous decision to give up sugar. Yes, that's right Give.up.sugar! I mean all sugar too, well, wherever possible.
For years I've had issues with sugar. About 15 years ago I started getting terrible hypoglycaemic attacks where I would feel dizzy, shakey, confused, rapid heart rate, sweat, and I would need an instant carb hit to get me back to 'normal'. My endocrinologist told me that it was my pancreas chugging to a halt, a bit like a car engine that chugs and putters along before finally going kaput!
My last two pregnancies resulted in me having gestational diabetes which never did come under control and I was injecting insulin 4 times a day. Between pregnancies I was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Hardly surprising given the history.
As most know, about 15 months ago I joined a gym so began to get some very regular and very intense exercise. Since then I have literally reversed the effects of the diabetes and can no longer really call myself a diabetic. My 3 monthly HbA1c blood tests have all been around the 5.4 mark for the past 12 months since I started exercising. Exercise does good things!
But, I stil felt something wasn't quite right and I knew there was a lot more to learn with regard to what I was eating. I went on a bit of a quest to see what I could learn and more and more, the damaging effects of sugar kept popping up in the results of my google search.
Then one day, I saw this....
(couldn't embed clip. See link below)
Please, I urge you to watch it. It does go for an hour and a half but I guarantee you it will captivate you as an audience. For me it was life changing, but then again, I was looking to change something, you might not be!
I will be back to post my progress. I did mean to post as I went along but with a house full of visitors and then a broken computer, that just didn't happen! I'm on day 16 now and I remember the worst of it (sorry but sugar withdrawal is a bitch) so will blog about how I'm doing and the crafty ways I have managed to get sugar hits when I most desperately needed them!!
Watch this...
Sugar:The Bitter Truth
.
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