Well it's been a week since I stopped eating refined sugar, and I must say, it's gone better than expected. Before I go on, I'll admit there were a couple of blips. I ate some muesli with added sugar after my husband got muddled up about which one to use, and I had a tiny bit of jam on a scone at a friend's house (would have been rude to refuse, obviously!). I'm not going to beat myself up about it though, as it's a significant improvement on my usual intake.
Thankfully, I've not experienced any issues I had anticipated. No headaches, mood swings nor excessive tiredness. In fact, I'm feeling happier and more energetic than I was before I started. I can't help but connect the two. I've also noticed that naturally sweet things taste sweeter than they did. I've enjoyed fruit more this week than I have in a long time. I really think I had been killing my sense of taste with the artificial flavours of the sweets I was eating.
On the downside, I do still have cravings. They are more psychological than physical though. When I sit down with a cup of tea, I really want chocolate. At the end of a meal I start fantasising about puddings. I've also found it hard to walk past sweets in shops without a little internal wrestling. happily though, the cravings seem to go quite quickly. Having some snackable foods in stock is helping too. I'm still constantly hungry but I'm making healthier choices. I've managed to find a recipe for a sugar free courgette cake which will sort out my courgette glut and hopefully see off some of the more persistent cravings.
Let's hope week 2 is just as successful!
That's awesome! Congratulations on that. Most people go through sugar withdrawals when they totally cut out sugar (including fruits, etc. - as in stage 1 of Atkins or South Beach diets). When you are eating naturally occurring sugars from fruits, etc. and cutting out the processed sugars... there shouldn't be any headaches, etc. since your body is STILL getting sugar. Just in the form God intended. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. How are the children doing with it?
Thank you! I definitely couldn't cut out naturally occurring sugars, but I think getting rid of refined ones (with maybe the odd exception) is something I can see myself doing permanently. Alice is coming up to a year old now, and although I've never given her anything with processed sugar in, she's starting to notice if I eat something she's not, so a change needed to be made. Whether or not my husband will commit yet remains to be seen!
ReplyDeleteOo. I haven't read back any further to see if it's described there, but I'm wondering what kind of benefits this would hold?
ReplyDeleteWith BFing aswell my whole day is now a sugar rollercoaster and I'm sure it's not helping.
May I ask what made you take the leap?
x
Well, I realised that I wasn't really in control of my eating. I couldn't open a packet of sweets without eating them all and I was eating one or two chocolate bars every day! I had no self control, but I wasn't even particularly enjoying what I ate.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, eating lots of refined sugar gives you a sudden spike in blood sugar followed by a drop. It can affect your mood, and I definitely have fewer mood swings since I stopped eating as much sugar. I was also concerned about diabetes as I have family members who have suffered with it. I've no idea if it is true or not as I haven't researched it, but I did wonder if it might affect my breast milk too. I must admit, I haven't been completely successful at cutting it out completely, but I at least appreciate it when I do have something with sugar, and I feel much more in control. If you decide to give it a go, good luck! I'd love to know how you get on!
I might mull it over a bit longer ;)
ReplyDelete*cluck cluck*
;D