Saturday 26 July 2014

Six weeks without sugar (almost)...but today I really fancied chocolate!

It even crossed my mind to sit down with the box of chocolates that is lurking in the fridge and just eat the whole lot.  Instead, I had three.  I think part of the problem was that when I weighed myself this morning, I had gone up by 600g in two days.  That's more than a pound, and quite demoralising when you've been eating sensibly and have only just reached your goal! I know it will probably disappear as quickly as it appeared, but even so, how annoying!

I also had a bit or a carb fest this afternoon, with LOTS of crackers and soft cheese.  I started off with six and it became about 16! 

Today is my six-week anniversary of my sugar-free programme and overall it has definitely been a success, and I plan to continue with 5:2 - that is, five sugar-free days per week and a little indulgence on the others.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Step away from the nuts...

I open a bag of nuts and it's like it used to be when I opened a box of chocolates or a bag of peanut M&Ms!  I keep going back for more.  At around 600 calories per 100g, they are even worse than chocolate.  I had to rein myself in, close the cupboard and get on with cooking dinner.  Now I've eaten, I'm not hungry or even peckish so the cupboard is staying firmly closed.  They did seem to trigger my appetite though so best avoided, perhaps. 


Wednesday 23 July 2014

Nothing sugar-free about toffee fudge sundae!

I don't even eat ice cream normally, but I ate out with my friend to celebrate her birthday.  We had a two courses for £10 offer and I was planning a starter and main, but she wanted a main and dessert.  Since it was her birthday I couldn't really refuse!  My dessert had double the calories of my main course, and overall I was still under my TDEE for the day.  It didn't restart sugar cravings and I'm back on the wagon today so no harm done.

Monday 21 July 2014

Back at last summer's weight

As of Sunday morning I am very firmly back where I spent most of last summer after 5:2 helped me to shift 2 stone.  I had regained about 8lbs due to my overeating of sugary, unhealthy foods.  On Saturday evening I finally opened the box of chocolates that had spent two weeks in the fridge.  I had five, which felt like more than enough, and was still under my TDEE.  Now they are back in the fridge for another week! 

I think I will 5:2 my sugar consumption and see how that works, but will only eat it if I am bothered enough to do so.  I could easily have gone without eating those chocolates, but it was more curiosity than desire that led me to eat them.  Now I know that a few chocolates doesn't push me off the wagon I feel more confident about eating them occasionally. 

Saturday 19 July 2014

The end of sugar-free week 5

I made it to the end of term!  I'm don't think I thought I could do that five weeks ago.  We've had cake coming everywhere you look this week, our pupils and parents have been very generous.  However, I've resisted it all!  I'd have eaten some (or even plenty!) normally but wasn't tempted this time.

A kind parent gave me a large box of Ferrero Rocher, which was very thoughtful and much appreciated.  Luckily I don't like them, so they are quite safe from me.   Others in the household will eat them instead.

Last night was our work end of term 'do' and a farewell to some colleagues who are leaving the school.  We paid £25 for the evening, which turned out to me a pub buffet with plates no bigger than saucers and half of it was meat or fish based anyway so no good to me.  One of our colleagues played with his band.  They are very talented and I enjoyed listening to them but the volume meant it was impossible to have a conversation at the same time.  So, when the cake came out and I'd only had a few nibbles from the buffet I thought 'sod it, I've paid £25 and hardly eaten anything, at least if I have some cake too I will feel like it's better value for money!'  It was one of those evenings where you get home hungry (unless you've stopped for a kebab en route, that is).

Since I started my virtually sugar-free lifestyle, I have lost 6.5lbs/3kg, had two menstrual cycles with no PMT, noticed clearer skin, shinier hair and I feel great!  Although I was initially aiming for a 5 week plan as I'm not following the I Quit Sugar programme at all (I just went cold turkey and then kept going) another 3 weeks will take me to the start of my summer holidays away from home.  I might have the odd indulgence, like those chocolates that have already been in the fridge for two weeks, but I'm definitely not going back to eating sugar every day like I used to.

Monday 14 July 2014

Chocolate, cakes and temptation

When I arrived at work this morning, the first sight that greeted me was a Snickers sweet on my desk.  I had forgotten I'd left it there after someone's birthday on Friday.  Five weeks ago I would have eaten it without a second thought; instead, I put it away out of sight ready to eat when I decide to indulge.  At morning break, more cakes and chocolates were found in the staff room.  I ate my usual yogurt and coconut and ignored the lot.  They were far less tempting than that solitary Snickers I encountered first thing in the morning though.

At 6pm I remembered that I had not eaten since lunch, nor even thought about eating.   The absence of sugar from my diet has affected my appetite in a way that I could not have expected.  I imagined feeling hungry and peckish and having to look for an alternative to the biscuit or other unhealthy snack I would usually have chosen.  Instead, snacking or eating between meals rarely happens at all.

Sunday 13 July 2014

Start of week 5 - can I get back on the sugar-free wagon?

In a word, yes!  I did have a couple of mini Danish pastries with my breakfast in the hotel, but wouldn't have bothered if I'd been at home.  Lunchtime was spent at Go Ape, so just had a peppermint tea and some water as we headed back home from our weekend away.  Dinner was sugar-free, and even though I've had a couple of things to eat this weekend that I wouldn't normally have under my new regime, I still don't feel the urge to snack between meals.  I've already made my Greek yogurt (full-fat, naturally) and coconut ready for my breakfast tomorrow and I'm looking forward to getting back to what has become my 'normal'.  Hopefully my sunburned shoulders will be back to normal tomorrow too!

4 weeks without sugar - until today!

So today was the day that I intentionally fell off the wagon.   After a low carb breakfast, peppermint tea and water throughout the day, plus a 7km walk at lunchtime and a 6km run in the afternoon, it was time for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles.  My drinks didn't vary but I did get stuck into hand-cooked cheese and onion crisps.  At dinner I had bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to start, then battered halloumi with peas and sweet potato fries.  We skipped dessert as we had birthday cake instead.  The waiter didn't notice the 5 and 0 candles I'd put in the box, but kindly supplied a mini sparkler instead of a candle so I didn't mind at all.  My partner was delighted with the cake and we ate half of it between the six of us as he cut such big portions!  It was the first real sugar I'd eaten in four weeks.  I'd like to be able to say that I relished it, but I didn't actually enjoy it much at all.  I ate it, but it was a bit of a letdown.  Maybe I should have had chocolate instead!

Friday, and a break from the norm

Away on the south coast for my partner's 50th.  I had lunch at school (leftover pizza!) then nothing to eat until we went out for an Indian meal at 8.30pm.  I had my usual poppadums, paneer, rice and saag aloo.  There is probably sugar in the mango chutney but I only had a spoonful or two.  We had a great night, the host was very hospitable, giving us complimentary onoin bhajis, curry sauce and even ice lollies for the kids.  Then he brought the bill, along with a dozen After Eights (there were only six of us) and a little box of chocolates that he gave to my mum.  She's a pensioner and my dad was there too, but he must have taken a shine to her!

I usually love After Eights, but I just didn't want any.  I didn't feel deprived, and I was saving myself for birthday cake!

Thursday, day 26 without sugar

Just another day really, food-wise...went out in the evening with my partner and his work colleagues, drank water all evening and then had pizza for dinner.  Still no sugar!  Away for the weekend though, so I suspect that is about to change.

Wednesday 9 July 2014

Birthday cake - it's amazing!


A mouthful of this amazing cake will be the first sugar to pass my lips in four weeks!   It's a shame to cut into it actually.  My partner hasn't seen it yet as it is keeping cool in the garage.  Thanks to Somaira at Cake Aroma, who did a brilliant job.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Another clean eating day :)

It's not that it's getting easier as time goes on, but it never really became difficult to eat this way.  I admit my breakfasts are unvarying (full fat Greek yogurt with coconut almost every day) although my other meals are more imaginative.  It's just that I expected to find being sugar-free a struggle either at the beginning or, more likely, as time went on.  It's now over three weeks and it's become normal to eat this way.  I wonder whether I'll even want that box of chocolates at the end of next week?

Monday 7 July 2014

The first box of chocolates has arrived!

A deputation of parents came into my classroom this morning, with an enormous card, a box of chocolates and a very generous gift card.  Some had delayed going into work especially in order to be there!  I have never felt so valued, it was such a lovely idea. 

I haven't remembered to bring the chocolates home yet, but when I do, they'll be going in the fridge in preparation for the end of term, which is not until the 18th.

I am lucky to work in such a fantastic school with a lovely bunch of children and their parents.

Another weigh in this morning saw me 2.1kg lighter than I was when I started my sugar free journey three weeks ago.  Only 200g to go until my target!  I suspect I will be gaining more than I lose this weekend though, as we are staying in a hotel for my partner's 50th.

Sunday 6 July 2014

Start of week 4 without sugar

Today is the first day I have felt ropey, and around 2pm I felt VERY ropey!  Late start to the day saw me heading out for a run around 11am.  I attempted to run too far, given how little I'd eaten yesterday, so I ran 10.2km and walked the rest of the way home (about 3km).  I felt queasy and got stomach cramps at times.  After a shower, I came downstairs for lunch and found that I was really nauseous and light-headed.  My partner came to my rescue with tea and toast, I had a snooze on the sofa and an hour later felt much better.

It's not the giving up sugar that caused the feeling, just the lack of food yesterday.  I had lunch and dinner but the total calories were pretty low due to my healthy choices and today I paid the price.  I'm not doing that again!  It's lucky I was at home and had someone with me.

The flip side is that I have dropped a lot of weight this week, and weighed in this morning a whole 2kg (almost 4.5 lbs) lighter than I was three weeks ago when I started my sugar-free journey.  That means just 300g to go and I'll be back where I want to be, hooray!

Saturday 5 July 2014

Celebrating 3 sugarless weeks with a visit to Greggs?!

I wouldn't say I went in there for a celebration really, just for a cup of mint tea!  However, it was interesting to look at all the delights on display and feel quite blase about them.  My usual favourite was a Belgian bun, and while they did look delicious, I didn't want to eat one.  I might have had a vegetable pasty but no-one else was eating so I skipped it, eating full fat Greek yogurt for breakfast once I returned home, even though it was long after breakfast time by then. 

It was the same on the supermarket run...shelf after shelf filled with highly processed, high carb, high sugar foods.  Nothing to do with me! I sailed on by and have restocked my fridge with eggs, yogurt, salad and veggies instead.

20 days without sugar...long enough to make a new habit?

I read somewhere that it takes 17 days to break a habit and form a new one, so 20 days without sugar, is that what I have achieved?  I look dispassionately at sweets and chocolate and am no more interested in eating them than I am worms and grass.  I guess that's a yes then!

I haven't run nearly as much as I 'should' have done recently, only twice this week.  I don't have the confidence to try a long run on my present fuel intake.  The lack of recent training has also knocked my confidence.  Six weeks ago I was running 20km every other week without a second thought.  I don't think I've run more than 10km in those last six weeks though.

I've just bought 'Run Faster' by Matt Fitzgerald.  I'll see what difference that makes, and whether he gives any dietary advice.

Thursday 3 July 2014

Thursday, day 19 without sugar

Well the fast day paid off...down 600g on my new scales.  Another kg would see me firmly in my maintenance zone. 

This morning there were Celebrations on the table in the staff room when I arrived.  Three weeks ago I'd have had my first one (or three) before 8am.  Today, barely a glance.  They are nothing to do with me!  I was even offered one directly later on and was completely disinterested.  I've been conscious this week of opportunities I would previously have taken to buy and consume chocolate and sweets in secret.  For example, attending my hair appointment in a busy shopping area, going to the supermarket alone, a night in by myself.  All of these events would usually see me buying a bar or two of chocolate or a few bags of sweets.  This time, neither, and it wasn't difficult at all.  That feels like a significant achievement.

Fasting and sugar-free today

As my weight is going up by 100g each day since Sunday, I decided to give my digestive system a break and nominated today as a fast day.  I used 5:2 throughout much of last year and still fast about twice a month.  By the evening I was barely hungry at all.  I've got so used to going for several hours between meals now. 

I even went for a run, and although I thought I was taking it easy, I still averaged 10km/h.  It left me with a significant daily deficit so I hope I see the impact tomorrow.

My new scales arrived today, and I am 200g heavier on those than the old ones! 

Wednesday 2 July 2014

No sugar in pizza, surely?

I know the white flour will spike my blood sugar anyway, but I'm working until 8.30 tonight and we're having pizza!  Maybe the tomato sauce, cheese and veggies will counteract it.  I'm going to decline the birthday cake that's also on offer and as usual I'll be drinking water and herbal tea, so the damage will be minimal.

Up another 100g this morning, it seems to be becoming a daily occurrence!

Tuesday 1 July 2014

No longer thinking about chocolate...

...for today, anyway!  I'm not sure how long it will last. 

Weight was up another 100g this morning, what's all that about?!  Perhaps it would have helped if I'd had time for a run, but there was just too much to do at home.