The Sugarless Life - 2 weeks on

 

Well its been 16 days since I totally cut out refined or "added sugar" from my diet, and I thought I would update you on how its been going.

Has it been hard?
I'd have to say - no, hardly at all.
I had a clean "ish" diet before, focussing on whole foods, raw where possible, mainly lean meat, fruit vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and some dairy.  (A whole food is one that doesn't have a list of ingredients attached, because it IS the food eg lentils, carrots, etc).  I would generally eat this 80% of the time and only ate cakes/biscuits etc as very occasional treats (eg 1 x every month or two) so I haven't missed these sugary things.  The only time that has been hard so far was when we went out as a family to see The Illusionist - and the meal beforehand had a set menu that included beautiful little "petit fours" which I passed on, and then after everyone had hot chocolates which was also a no- go (not to mention the cocktail at the performance called The Potion - also full of sugar).  But that was just one night and nothing else has been really hard.

What has changed?
Well - I said the treat stuff hasn't really changed - though no ice cream at Glenelg is a bit of a bummer -  but I have just continued reading all my food labels before eating any thing and now I just have to look  for sugar in the ingredients also

So no things like tomato sauce, or pre-packaged sauces/marinades, only a couple of yogurts are ok, basic cheese like camembert is still ok, (no dry biscuits to have with them though), and I have found some great sugar free chocolate - so the world is still ok.  Oh and Feel Good iced coffee has no added sugar so I can have this if I want, and I do like it because it covers my calcium requirements and has reasonable protein although its no longer a regular feature.

Has it made a difference to my weight?
Many people talk about how much weight they lose cutting out sugar - but for me - nada so far.  But then I didn't eat much in the way of high sugar food or drinks before so its not surprising.   But we will see.

Has it had any other effects?
Maybe.  I think I can feel the  effects of much more stable blood sugar levels.  I don't get as hungry as quickly (unless its after a heavy workout which is to be expected) or much at all really.  I'm not sure though whether this is also as a result of me paying closer attention to my nutrition in general (eg healthier eating reduces hunger) or the sugar or a combination of both.
It has also made me want to "clean up" a few other things.
Prior to this decision, I have been focusing on green vegetable intake and last year started taking a greens product called PharmaGreens to boost my immune system.  Its the equivalent of 6-8 serves of green vegies, comes in a powder form and I just add it to my smoothies. Very easy as a supplement (not replacement) to my vegie intake.  But through this I have been looking at Ph balance of our bodies (how alkaline or acidic our system is) as this affects our resistance to disease. Whilst I decided this year to still use artificial sweeteners (otherwise it would just be too hard) these are very acidifying, except for Stevia (we can buy it as Natvia). I'm thinking I might just reduce the other ones as much as possible.
I'm also losing interest in many less healthy foods like Diet Coke (my one true vice) ... watch this space for updates!
And I'm thinking of giving up white foods  - eg white bread/rice completely.  I generally only eat them in the first half of the day now, and not all that much any way - so it wouldn't be much of a push to drop em off all together.

The "Clean Eating" app has  a pantry list of what a clean eating pantry should look like.  I cleaned mine out last weekend and put empty containers back in for the products that I didn't have on their list.  There weren't many but it will remind me what to start to stock up on.  Might post a photo of it later.

I am also watching my calorie intake again for a while, to see if I can pinpoint any over eating, or under eating and how this is affecting my body composition.  The scales continue to be stable, so I've bought new ones!  (LOL) Not to get a different answer, but to understand the changes better.  The new ones will show body fat, lean muscle mass, hydration and a few other things so that I can see the impact of my effort - because as you all know, I dont care about the weight, I just want to know if my efforts are improving the health and fitness of my body by increasing muscle mass and decreasing body fat, and being an information junkie - i want more information!

Cheers for now
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