No Added Sugar - Take Two

Okay, I've harped on before about giving up sugar and its various benefits. Like most things with me, I decided to give up sugar and it didn't stick for long. Slowly, insidiously, sugar crept back into my life. Until last weekend I ate four cupcakes and two pieces of cake in one day. IN ONE DAY.

I am completely hopeless when it comes to sugar. Many experts on the subject refer to sugar as a "drug" and for me that description couldn't be more accurate. Once I get that first hit, I need more more more. A block of chocolate in one sitting? Piece of cake (ha, see what I dun' there?)!

Still, even less aggressive consumers of sugar can benefit from taking a look at their eating habits. According to Sarah Wilson (my new guru on this subject who blogs here), even the average Aussie consumes up to 30 teaspoons of sugar per day. Which makes me shudder to think what sweet toothed ladies like myself are looking at. 30 TABLESPOONS? Gah!

I've also had a few hormonal issues lately (relevant to other new mums, will cover soon) and have thus been feeling like CRAAAAP - fuzzy headed, lethargic, moody, bloated and slightly psychotic at times. Funny enough, these same symptoms can be attributed to bad eating habits. Which made me think that if I control what I'm doing externally, my internals can only benefit, right?

I can honestly say that my eating habits are generally pretty healthy - no fast food, lots of whole grains, protein, veggies, probably not enough fruit and wayyyy too much sugar. A little too much alcohol perhaps. I say this so when you ask "Why cut out sugar?" you can see that sugar is the real problem area in my life.

So I set out on my no-sugar journey by getting myself a copy of Sarah Wilson's book, "I Quit Sugar". You can buy it online here along with her I Quit Sugar cookbook, which I haven't bought but am very keen to. I love the way she writes, for starters - she's so honest and easy to read. But I also love her 8 week program for quitting sugar. She encourages you to "be gentle on yourself" and has HEAPS of tips for beating the inevitable cravings and massive sugar come down in the first few weeks.

I only started this week and so far the only noticeable effect is a voice in my head constantly telling me I want sugar. I'm yet to feel cleaner, lighter and clear headed as promised but I'm sure that will come if I can manage to keep this up. I have a high tea on Sunday that I am dreading as I don't know how strong I can be, but hopefully there are sandwiches and I may allow myself an extra wine or two to compensate for lack of cake.

My coping strategy so far? Almond and chia spread. This has to be the yummiest thing around, and whenever I feel weak I shove a spoonful of this goodness into my gob. YUM.

NOMNOMNOM

I'll keep you posted.

Z xx