Image courtesy of hubpages.com
So since I posted the last announcement regarding my current 28 day leap into the insanity that is sugar-free living (well, at least in my world it’s classified as insanity; I must admit, when it comes to madness, we don’t set the bar real high around here) I’ve received everything from encouragement to disbelief to questions about how on earth this thang actually works.
Ergo…
FAQ 1: How on earth are you dealing with no chocolate?
Oh dear friend, on around day 6 or 7 (of the first round i.e. before we re-started the clock…read here for full details if you haven’t done so already) I jumped up and down with delight when I discovered this sugar free dark chocolate. SQUEEEEEE!!! The peppermint crisp one is my fave.
Surely this is the best invention since actual dark chocolate. The draw back of course, is that it’s ridiculously expensive. I wish I could say that this has meant I resort to it sparingly…thus far it’s only meant that my littlest might need to make do without nappies this week.
FAQ 2. What’s the actual sugar detox thing that your sister-in-law saw on Oprah?
It’s called Doctor Oz’s Sugar Free in 28 Days Challenge. All I know I’ve heard from my sister-in-law herself i.e. it’s all second hand to my ears, but thus far my understanding is it’s a 28 day challenge to be sugar free. Run by Doctor Oz.
Next.
FAQ 3. So how are you dealing with all the hidden sugars in food? There’s sugar in so many different things, aren’t there?
Yup!
Well the detox is actually divided into four different stages i.e. one per week. Week one (which I am still in now) means quitting all OBVIOUS sugars in your diet. i.e. added sugar to cereal, coffees, etc. as well as any sweet foods such as biscuits, cakes etc…which in our case, as we’ve got the added forbidden food of gluten thrown in the mix, are off the menu anyway.
Then in week two you start getting more anal about it all, avoiding hidden sugars in sauces, for instance…and so on.
I will keep you posted as it goes on.
The cravings were especially bad in the first few days. Indeed if anything it’s really just drawn attention to what an INSANE sugar habit I had developed. I couldn’t believe how many times it crossed my mind to go eat sugary crap even in the first few hours of day one.
But in general, I’d say I’ve just been eating so much healthier as a result of having to put more thought into what it is that I CAN eat.
Typical day for me at the mo:
Breakfast: a poached egg or two. Plus either a herbal tea or a coffee, obviously 100% sans sugar (eventually I will cut out coffee completely too, not as part of the official detox but of my own volition – but two vices at a time seems like plenty for now)
Morning tea: Rice cake with avocado.
Lunch: Salad, with tuna or salmon or feta or tuna or chickpeas.
Afternoon tea: Herbal tea. Piece of fruit. (Note: we cut fruit out at some later point in the detox too. Stay tuned. This may kill me).
Dinner: Stir-fry veges with either rice or cous-cous.
Dessert: Usually NONE! Shock horror! My kids hate me!!!
After kids have gone to bed….Adult Dessert!
PS By that I do mean sugar-free chocolate.
Ehem.