Tag Archives: dangers of sugar

Time To Give Up Sugar? Mentor Me Off Sugar Day 28: It’s Over!

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Well, I have finished. At midnight on Sunday I was no longer on a low/no sugar diet. Did I binge? No and I am as proud of that as I am of doing the programme. I cannot believe I got all the way to the end.

Yesterday I had some tea with sugar. One with two and the other two cups of tea with half a teaspoon of sugar. I also had a few pieces of dark chocolate. I had toast for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch and a chicken roast for supper. No cake and no fizzy juice. Even the tea and the chocolate tasted sweeter than ever before. The thing I have to watch out for is eating a lot of vegetables.

I had my final call with Laura on Sunday evening and she is proud of me. In fact everyone I know is both proud and shocked. Going forward, Laura has given me a goal setting worksheet and I don’t want to ever fall into my previous sugary ways. Although I need to add a correction pointed out by Laura. I was told a homemade Gin & Tonic doesn’t have any sugar. It does! My own fault and the tonic water I bought would have had a lot of sweeteners instead, which I hate and think cause cancer and other nasty diseases.

Even too much fruit is bad for you. Laura sent me this  interesting article by Dr Mercola on fruit.

My energy level has really improved since I cut out sugar and I am completely converted. Give it a shot. I will be adding lots of low/no sugar recipes to Frost.

Meanwhile, have a look at Laura’s meal suggestions for a day.

 

Meal Ideas

 

Breakfast |  Keep it simple with two boiled eggs, a kiwi and a few nuts. Add a slice of toast if you want.

 

Lunch |Try a green lentil, beetroot and feta cheese salad with olive oil.

 

Snack | Chicken shavings and sliced avocado on a rice cake

 

Dinner |A slow cooked warming beef stew with swede or squash mash. Homemade popcorn to celebrate!

 

Check out Happysugarhabits for more info.

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Time To Give Up Sugar? Mentor Me Off Sugar Days 24, 25 and 26

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get off sugar, no sugar diet, should i give up sugar, is sugar bad for you, the white stuff, is sugar evil,The last weekend of my no sugar diet is coming up. At midnight on Sunday I will be at the end of a 28 day Mentor Me Off Sugar Programme ran by the excellent Laura Thomas of Happy Sugar Habits. I never thought I would get this far and I flirted with the idea of quitting after my mother got very ill. But here I am; almost at the end.

The main thing I can say it that it has been educational. I knew I was having too much sugar but I did not think it was easily avoidable. But it can be. I am sleeping much deeper and better now. The weight just dropped off and my energy is higher, more constant.

Laura has told me off for not eating enough vegetables so last night I had homemade fish and chips with peas and roasted carrots. The day before we had peppers stuffed with tuna and mozzarella. Yesterday at Sainsbury’s I bought mushrooms, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, parsnips, carrots. I also got tomatoes, avocado and olives. Pretty healthy and we already had some peppers in the fridge.

I have also been having a lot of hummus and wholemeal pitta bread. As well as generous helpings of good, wholemeal bread and lurpack butter. Sometimes simple is best.

I love food and trying new things so to be honest the food part of the diet has been much easier than I imagined, the drinks, however, were hard as I thought. The temperature has gone over 30c this summer and the urge for a cold, fizzy drink was hard to resist. But I did, and I am very proud. Finding out that homemade Gin & Tonic had no sugar was a high point. Endless cups of herbal tea and water really were not.

Before I started this programme one of my biggest fears was getting diabetes, to my shame not just because of the health problems, but also because I would not be able to eat and drink what I wanted. This programme has changed my life and stopped future health problems. My no sugar diet may stop this Sunday, but my low sugar life will just be beginning.

 

Time To Give Up Sugar? Mentor Me Off Sugar Day 20 & 21

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So this diet has broadened my horizons. Sure I might be a bit sick of bread and gasping for tea with sugar and a lemonade in the sun but I am looking at the positives.

I am eating a lot of eggs and even made my first omelette. My fiancée used the yolks for something else so it was an egg-white omelette. It was okay for a first attempt and tasted much better than it looked.

Another great meal was prawns, tomato, peas and mushrooms in a homemade garlic sauce. I may be eating great food but finding stuff to drink is harder. I have been drinking a lot more alcohol than I usually do because I find the constant herbal tea and water boring. It is just a drink every other day but I doubt it is good for me, as I usually hardly ever drink.

I am still slimmer even though I am hungry all the time and eating more. I am sleeping better, the headaches are less and I have more energy. The detox has been hard but worth it.

Going forward I will not be giving up sugar completely, but I will be eating less and looking at labels. This diet will have long term benefits for my health and it was definitely worth doing.

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Time To Give Up Sugar? Mentor Me Off Sugar Days 10 & 11

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Still going! Which is quite surprising to me. Yesterday went well. I have been trying to get my taste buds to like tea without sugar. I’m not there yet but Laura is confident that one day I will be.

It hasn’t been completely no fun. I had a roast chicken for dinner and I still had champagne left over from my birthday which I drank in the evening. I still had some grapes left over and I had a few because I have an ability to throw out food. I know it breaks the diet for week two but it was three grapes. Well, that is what I am telling myself anyway.

Although I find the diet hard I am also quite enjoying it. I like to push myself and do hard things. My energy has returned, in fact, I seem to have more than ever. The headaches come and go but with less intensity.

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I have been eating a lot of vegetables which makes me feel healthier and I am sure there is an improvement in my skin and hair. The truth is; in the past years I have read a lot of books and articles about the dangers of sugar. But sugar tastes nice and is addictive and I never thought I would have the strength to get off it. I am shocked at how well I have been doing during the diet. I miss sugar, to be perfectly honest I might love sugar, but when something is bad for you, you need to find the strength to cut back. I am not saying I will never eat sugar again- that would actually be impossible- but I will always be vigilant and watch my sugar intake, even after this diet has finished.

There is great food out there that is actually good for you as the two pictures show. Vegetables do taste nice and can be cooked a variety of ways. Cheese and bread are great. Although I am getting sick of the latter.

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Sugar gets a lot of bad press. Yesterday’s Daily Mail had this blaring headline:

Is sugar an invisible killer? Even ‘safe’ levels of the sweet stuff could lead to an early death, scientists warn

Scary stuff indeed but read this article from NHS Direct before completely freaking out.

Another point to make is that we are in an obesity epidemic and the reason so many people are overweight is because of sugar. A calorie is not a calorie, sugar tends to covert quickly to fat and spikes your insulin levels. No wonder over three million people in the UK now have diabetes. Sugar has also recently been linked to a higher dementia risk.

Our diets are killing us and if we exercised the power of ‘no’ we would be living longer, healthier lives. I am going to be researching sugar and bringing you my findings along with recipes and my progress. Please add your own comments and any recipes below.

I have managed to do well until day 11 but I am not perfect. After a piece of devastating family news yesterday I had a cup of tea, two sugar. That along with the grapes means I could definitely be doing better, something I promise to do for the rest of the week. Wish me luck!