Sugar free - the end of the challenge

So, it's been a whole month since I started trying to cut out refined sugar. I will freely admit that in the past couple of weeks, I haven't been completely sugar free. I've had a few lapses including Alice's first birthday cake (I wasn't going to miss that one!) and even the odd sweet or biscuit. However, my intake has been nothing compared to the amounts I was eating a couple of months ago! I think the whole experience has been worthwhile as I no longer crave sweet food like I did. I have discovered that it is completely possible to live life without Cadbury's Dairy Milk. I have also discovered that unsweetened cake and biscuits are every bit as tasty as the sugary kind. I haven't been able to kick the feeling that 'naughty' food is a 'treat' and I get a little surge of pleasure when I eat something sugary, but old habits die hard. I think I can better appreciate the small quantities I eat now. It's good to know that I am back in control of my eating and that I've made a positive step.

Mind you, this was a very tasty cake...

Sugar free - End of week 1

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!

Sugar free

I admit it, I'm an addict. The clock has barely struck 8 before I need my first hit of the white powder, but no longer! Starting this week, I'm doing something about it. I'm going cold turkey. I'm giving up sugar.

Since Alice was born, I've increasingly relied on high energy foods that are easy to grab. Biscuits, cake, sweets and chocolate don't last long in our house. Once a packet is open, it's usually empty by the end of the day. Even as I'm eating, I'm planning what I can eat next. I'm fed up with relying on food to give me a boost, and the energy boosts and dips are doing nothing for my mood, so I've decided to do something about it.

So, here is my plan:

• Naturally occurring sugars are fine - I can still eat fruit and have dairy produce. I'm just cutting out refined sugars. I say 'just'. I'm amazed at how many innocuous seeming foods have added sugar. Even the bran flakes that I usually feel so virtuous having for breakfast contain an extraordinary amount of added sugar.
• Make other easy to eat foods to help me through cravings. I have trawled through this blog, amongst others for sugar free recipes and have a stock of lovely biscuits, cake and even some savoury flapjacks ready and waiting.
• I will start on the 27th July (tomorrow - when every diet begins...) and finish on the 27th August.

I expect it to be a difficult experience, but I need to get control back, especially as Alice is beginning to notice if I'm eating something different from what she has. Hopefully, this time next month I'll be clean!