Well here we are, nearly two weeks in!  I have to admit I was struggling a little on the weekend!  It was so hot, and all i wanted was a raspberry slushie from 7-11!  and this is something i don't normally crave at all.  I am starting to think that because I am eliminating sugar, I am wanting to have all the things I can't.   I did get through it, only with 1 minor slip up, but am back on track now :)............ and NO I didn't get  a slushie!

My new best friend at the moment is Bickfords Lemon Barley Cordial.  The total sugar content per 100 ml is 10.1, so just a splash a couple of times a day with some Sparkling Water, is all I need (tastes pretty good with a dash of Vodka too, if you are looking for a low sugar alcoholic drink).  I add a slice of lemon and lime and it is a really refreshing drink, and lots of ice cubes!

Some premix drinks/cans have up to 40% sugar content, which if you are drinking quite a few, is a large sugar hit!   This can, and usually does, bring on snacking binges too! Have some raw nuts (almonds, walnuts etc on hand if this happens).

I have to say that I am feeling pretty spectacular at the moment.....lol.  I am sleeping so much better, have tonnes more energy and finding my spark again....... and dare i say it out loud???  My clothes are not as snug as what they were!!!  Who knows.......in a few months time, I may be able to shop for some smaller sizes!

As the Christmas season descends upon us, it is going to be harder to stick to this way of eating.  I am going to try and make sure that I am prepared for this, but if for one day only, I have fruit cake, or fruit mince pies, or some of Amy's fabulous
Rum Balls, then I can live with that.  This is after all, not a diet, but a lifestyle change.

Here is a recipe that I have found, but not yet tried!  Hopefully will get to it this weekend.  Even though it has fresh banana in it, the sugar content will be quite minimal once baked and distributed throughout the bread.

Healthy option Banana Nut Bread (low fat, low sugar, low GI).

Ingredients:
- one cup luke warm water
- 2 Tbsp olive oil 
- 1 egg
- 1 sachet dried yeast (8grams)
- 1 tsp sea salt

- 2 Tbsp stevia or Natvia (sugar replacement)
- 3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana (approx 2)
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 cup wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
- place all ingredients except dried fruit and nuts into large bowl
- use knead attachment on mixer
- knead for 5 - 6 min (Can be done by hand)
- add more flour if necessary to make smooth dough
- add nuts and fruit in the last 2 min of kneading
- leave to rise in a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 hour
- punch down dough and shape into a loaf
- place in large greased loaf tin
- cover with floured tea towel and leave to rise until double its size
- bake in hot oven 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 40 min.... Cover after the first 10 min with piece of foil
- test to see of cooked on bottom, should sound hollow.

I will be back later in the week to update and hopefully post some more hints and recipe ideas.  This week will be extremely busy, with the last week of primary school for my kids, a work conference, last week of belly dance classes, a belly dance breakup...... plus work in between!......whew!   Good luck to you all and remember..................

Bye for now :)

1 week down!!!

Well, here we are at exactly 1 week :)  Things are going fairly well, except for a few little moments!!!!  I am finding it quite easy at the moment to resist cakes, biscuits etc.  but with the onset of summer, comes all the wonderful fruits that are available!  the smell of fresh mangos, peaches, nectarines, are driving me to the point of distraction, but i am hanging in there, and in only 3 weeks time, i will be able to introduce these foods back into my diet.

I am finding that i am no longer as bloated, am sleeping a lot better (maybe this is a coincidence!) and making better choices with food.  I am not looking at this program as a diet as such, but about a change of lifestyle, and trying to be the best i can as i get older :)

The snacking issue can be a problem in the first week!  Instead of sweet foods, try more savoury things!  popcorn is a great snack :)  or a cup of peppermint tea seems to work wonders as well.  Avocados are wonderful for helping eliminate the need to snack.  Try some in your salad as it makes you feel fuller for longer.  Another idea is to have a coffee!  There is something so soothing about being able to sit down with a nice cup of coffee, as it often takes away the need to snack and helps you feel full again.

One of things that i have found is that i have increased my fat intake as I am cutting down on sugar. Good fats that is :)  Check the table below to see what are good fats!

There is nothing like a fresh avocado on a piece of lean steak with a huge leafy green salad!  yummmm.......  Even eating vegetables now, i prefer to eat them raw than cooked, as the flavour is so much better and more refreshing.

I would like to share with you a Roast Pumpkin, Pine nut and Avocado Salad that i made on the weekend!  This was perfect with a piece of fish, or even try it with some chicken, or ham!

Roast Pumpkin, Avocado Salad

1/2 butternut pumpkin, deseeded and chopped into 2 cm pieces
100gms Fetta Cheese, diced
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes
sliced cucumber
1/2 avocado
fresh croutons
1 med red onion
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
leafy salad leaves, I used baby spinach, rocket and lettuce leaves
olive oil
ground cumin

Place chopped pumpkin on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle ground cumin over the top.  Roast in the oven until cooked through but still firm.  At the same time, place the pine nuts on a tray and roast.  These add a wonderful nutty crunchy taste to the salad :)
Dice bread into pieces and place in oven to toast.

Remove and let cool.

Prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.  Add the cooled pumpkin, pine nuts and croutons and toss gently with your hands.

I usually eat my salads without any dressing, as I love the natural taste of the ingredients.  I do sometimes however, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice for something different.

Please be aware of the sugar content of beetroot!  this is one of my favourite salad items, but tinned beetroot is full of sugar.  Fresh grated beetroot is a wonderful addition to any salad :)

If you have any other recipes or ideas, please post in the comments box!  I would love to hear your ideas, or what has worked for you.  I  know the hardest is yet to come, especially with Christmas so close, and family get togethers, drinks with friends etc.  I will try however, to be prepared and have some healthy snacks on hand.

So, onwards and upwards, one baby step at a time, and one day at a time. Don't beat yourself up if you have a momentary lapse, but pull yourself back up and tell yourself:

"Don't give up. Nothing is impossible. Turn the negative into the positive and you'll be unstoppable"

Woo hoo.....survived Day 2!!!!

seriously, it has been a bit easier than i thought it would be!  i have to admit though, that grocery shopping today took a bit longer that it normally did, and i was quite surprised at how "healthy" my trolley looked when i got to the checkout :)

Have you ever got to the checkout and sneakily looked at the trolley contents of the person in front of you!  I was quite shocked with what i saw today!  The couple in front of me had about 20 sausage rolls, 4 packets of biscuits, ice-cream, chocolate, chips, softdrink by the carton full............!

I took the time today to look at all the labels on the food and work out what was good and bad!  i was so surprised at the amount of sugar that is in some foods!  It really pays to check things out!

There is a facebook page called I Quit Sugar, which has daily updates, hints and tips.  One that i saw today is for the following!  I actually did find these at Woolies, and will be trying one tomorrow :)

As shared on Facebook:

For those that are looking for a snack which has no sugar, these bars are available in Coles and Woolies! There are one or two fruit-free ones out there BUT THEN THEY'RE SWEETENED WITH HONEY. These ones are sweetened with rice malt syrup and I double checked with Food for Health this week that the sugar content written on the label is only glucose and maltose (fructose-free). It is! Mission complete.

I will let you all know how they taste :)

Diet Today

Breakfast

1 egg scrambled on rye with Coffee

M/Tea

Handful of raw Almonds, cup of tea

Lunch

Small chips (Yep i know........but at least there was no sugar :) )

Bottle of sparkling water

Dinner

Pasta with tomato based sauce, bocconcini, baby spinach and cheese! 

1 glass of white wine! ( I really needed it!!!!)

Make sure to drink lots of water.  I try to drink at least 2 litres a day.  Doesn't always work, but try your best.

So...... tomorrow is another day! getting closer to the weekend and a tradition in my house of having the girls over for a few wines and nibbles on Friday night :)

These nights really are good for my soul, and makes things all worth while....... 

Good luck and take care.  I will be back sometime on the weekend with some more updates.

xx

okay!  while I am on a roll......updating my diet for the day!

I didn't get off to a good start today!  slept in, felt like crap, wanted to stay in bed etc.  my eyes felt like someone had run a piece of sandpaper over them, bags under the eyes, pounding headache......the list goes on!  so needless to say, there was no lunch prepared for work!  I managed to put it out of my mind til the hunger pains got stronger.

After thinking about it, i decided to go to the cafe next door!  I was very good, and ordered a Chicken and Salad wrap.  That sounds healthy you say?  Well it would have been, if they didn't smother it in Mayonnaise (that i didn't ask for and don't like!)  So note to self........make sure there is no mayo on the next one.....or better still take your own lunch and know what is going in it!

Will come back tomorrow for another update!  Take care :)

Well this is it!  Today is the day!  having umming and aahing about this for quite awhile, I decided it is time to start doing something for myself and quit this evil thing we call Sugar!!!  I have struggled with my weight most of my adult life......in fact since having my first child when i added nearly 30kg to my body!  I did lose most of it quite quickly after he was born, then had 2 more children.  I managed not to put on so much weight with them, but carried an extra 10kgs for the next ten years.  After a marriage break up I lost that extra weight.   But after meeting and marrying a wonderful guy, I became quite content and lo and behold, along came the extra weight again. 

We decided to add more children, and after having IVF treatment (which is really bad for weight gain!!!!) we had twins!  I was the heaviest I had ever been and although I lost  a good amount of weight after having them, I find now that I am a little older (not old :)) that this weight has never really shifted!  I am a busy mum, working nearly full time, I belly dance, I have 12yr old twins as well as grandchildren,  so finding that spare time to exercise is almost beyond me!  I can hear you all saying, that's just an excuse, but seriously, after all of this, I don't have the energy to exercise! 

I have tried most diets, weight watchers, gym, high fat, high protein, low fat, the starvation diet!!  and hypnotherapy!  The soup diet etc etc.

So why quit sugar you ask?  What about cakes, biscuits, lollies, chocolate etc etc.  To tell you the truth i have never been a huge fan of chocolate (I know...strange hey!) and only occasionally would eat lollies.  But the thing is when I did, I would binge and tell myself that it was okay!  After all I didn't eat them everyday so what could it hurt? One lolly would quickly become a whole bag, after all, whats the point of leaving them there and eating a couple each day, when I could eat the whole bag?  It really didn't make sense to me! and if there were cakes at work, one more piece wouldn't hurt would it??  I will admit to being a bit of a cake fan though, I love eating them, baking them, decorating them......in fact anything :)  

The one thing that struck me is the hidden "sugars" that are in everyday foods!  1 glass of apple juice contains just as much sugar as the same amount of Coke!  Yes i know it is a different type of sugar, but sugar is sugar! The daily recommended limit for a woman is 9tspsns of sugar per day!  There is more than that in a can of coke!

So the time has come!  I am sick to death of waking up feeling like I am hung over, tired, lacking in energy from not sleeping properly!  I have tried all different things to help me sleep from taking prescribed medications to natural therapies!  They work occasionally but not all the time!  I started wondering if it had something to do with sugar in my diet!  Maybe I am clutching at straws here......but I just know that I desperately need to do something about this.  I want to be here for a long time, in good health, not battling diseases, depression etc.  I want to see my grandchildren grow up and have the energy to play with them.

How did I find out about this?  My husbands cousin Tracey, mentioned to me that they were going to go sugar free in their household!  This small statement lodged in my brain, and I thought.....hmmmm....maybe this will work for me?  This was more than a month ago, and it has taken me this long to even get around to doing something about it......Procrastinate much??  lol........

She recently posted on facebook, about the I Quit Sugar book!  hmmm......interesting I thought!  So after a little reading, I downloaded the book and have decided that this is it!  I need to try this, and what better way for motivation than to maintain a blog.  The ebook is by Sarah Wilson and contains recipes, hints etc.  It is an 8 week program (or experiment) as she likes to call it.  What have  i got to lose.....except some weight :)  You can download the book by click on the link here.  Sarah Wilson Ebook

So.....THIS IS IT!  Today is the day! I will try and keep this blog up to date and list my weight loss (fingers crossed) as I go.  I am not going to list my starting weight (after all, you should never ask a woman what she weighs) but will keep a running tally!  I am also going to be posting hints, recipes, tips etc along with my daily diet (this will be the hardest part).  

I think the hardest part for me is going to be at work!  Reaching for biscuits, fruit, cakes etc when i am stressed, worn out, frazzled etc had started becoming the norm for me.  I am going to try and keep some nuts on hand to munch on, as well as some cheese, sliced ham etc!  

Feel free to add your comments or any hints and tips you find as well.

Day 1
Breakfast 

• Slice of Rye Bread with 2 eggs scrambled, Coffee made with Liddells low fat milk.

Morning Tea

• Handful of raw almonds, more coffee!

 2 cups of coffee a day is my limit! :)  after this, it is water all the way!

Lunch

• tba

HINT:  Coconut water is great if you are looking for a sweet fix!  If you are hungry try snacking on something that is higher in protein e.g. cheese, nuts etc.

PS!  the good news is white wine, red wine and spirits are low in sugar!  it is usually the drinks that you use as mixers that contain the sugar!  stick to soda water as a mixer!

Wish me luck :)