Tag: sugarfree

You may have heard, sugar sucks for you.

Sugar has been linked to obesity and bad cholesterol, which has been linked to an increased chance of cancer. And while researchers are usually cautious about drawing a direct link between your sweet tooth and a cancer link, they have gone so far as to indicate that sugar is cancer’s friend and that sugar consumption is related to cardiovascular fatality.

While there is science to indicate eating sugar may not be great for you longterm, I highly advocate quitting sugar for awhile because of how it will shift the way that you feel. I did a sugar fast a couple of years ago and it was revelatory. For one month, I avoided food that contained any added sugar. Obviously I stayed off of alcohol, sweet drinks, and desserts, but I also avoided processed salad dressings, sugary condiments, and packaged food (for the love of god, they put sugar in bread and tomato sauce!).  I even took fruit off the menu.

The results:

• No cravings
• No energy spikes and plunges
• Slept better
• Was less hungry
• Stuff that was naturally sweet tasted better (I had a carrot and it was like rediscovering creme brûlée)
• I lost weight effortlessly

After my month, I liked the way that I felt so much that I stayed sugar-conscious, if not completely sugar free. But doing a real reset occasionally is very helpful in kickstarting good habits and raising our levels of sugar-consciousness.

Now is the perfect opportunity to reset your palate and your metabolism. New year, new habits, new body.

Want some support and camaraderie? Well, I gotta group of fabulous individuals all doing one month sugar free.  Give it a try for just a week and see how you feel.

Join the party!

For fun: who eats the most sugar globally.

 

 

It was day one and I was already befuddled.

First of all, allow me to confess that I drank a glass of wine. I know, I know! SO not paleo! But I just moved into a new apartment, and a glass of wine was the perfect toast to end my Ikea-bed-assembly-beg-my-neighbor-for-help-adventure. And – I’ll have you know: “Wine is often considered to be the closet thing we’ve got to paleo-friendly alcohol. There are various organic options – red wine in particular” (Ultimate Paleo Guide). So there you go.

Other than the wine, Day 1 had started so brightly.

Food on Day 1:

• cashews
• coffee with cream (my exception to the vegan guideline is the necessity of cream in my coffee)
• tofu, greens, broccoli lunch
• yam, spinach, cauliflower dinner

However, I then remembered that tofu wasn’t paleo. Whoops.

Um, and neither were any beans. Or legumes of any kind.  So no hummus. No soy. No rice. Oh dear. No nuts either.

Friends, maybe it was the Ikea bed, or maybe it was just the threat of no hummus, but I lost heart.

Confession, dear reader: I full failed the pegan.

Now, I may try it another time. But for now, I am content so simply recuperate from Thanksgiving and get back to my relatively sugar-free ways. Because post pumpkin pie, there’s some work there to be done.

Happy Thanksgiving lovelies.

Photo credit.

 

Travelling to NYC this weekend, I had some strategies for staying sugar free while in transit. Airplane snacks are a no go for the most part: airlines sugar and roast their nuts, add sugar to the hummus (yuck!), add sugar to all dressings, and almost everything comes with gluten crackers and wheat. However, here are some options that can keep you going when you’ve got flights and layovers!

• BYON: bring your own nuts. Those yummy, cheap nuts that you buy at Trader Joe’s are okay for transport (although I always declare them at customs, they won’t get taken away from you). Get your raw nuts and bring them with you! Nuts sold at the airport are okay, but are often roasted or may have other additives. And the best nutritional bang for your buck is raw.
• Fruit. Now, I haven’t been eating fruit lately, but if you have fruit as part of your diet then whole fruit is sold at almost all the stands.
• Eggs. Au Bon Pain has two boiled eggs for sale for just $2.99. Et Voila.
• Raw veg. A good option: just toss the dressing and instead stock up on some mustard from another kiosk.
• Salads. Not bad, but the dressings usually have tons of added sugar. So find some mustard or another kiosk with oil and vinegar. If you’re really bold, you can bring your own dressing – as long as it’s under 4 oz. I also use mustard as the great dip for everything. And if you’re eating a tuna salad, the tuna pretty much has enough mayo in it to make your salad yum.
• Jerkies. Airports now offer jerky as an option (and on flights). Check the sugar content, but not a bad option if you’re eating meat.
• BYOA: bring your own avocado. One avocado, some salt, it will keep you going for hours!
• Tip that we all know but could use reminding: drink a ton of water. Airplanes are dehydrating and some snacks (like jerky) tend to be high in salt. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and happy in the air.

Happy flying 🙂

Photo credit. 

Photo edited though cropping.

So, how do I feel after 30 days on a sugar-free diet?

Summary: Good. Not life changing, but solid. Lost weight, gained diversity. 

Here’s a run down of the changes.

1. I’ve lost weight.

While that wasn’t the intention going into this, it’s pretty remarkable to see how the pounds have shifted. And interestingly, I’ve been working out less this month and abstaining from cardio (mostly because I wasn’t sure how I’d feel without my usual carbs holding me up). Who knew that you could eat whole avocadoes and cashews and get leaner? But I did. Rather satisfying for a 41-year-old who’s heard a bushel-full of stories about aging and inevitable weight gain.

2. Lean strength, slightly wimpier.

Usually I’m a TRX/ YFit fiend, but this month I’ve been holding off. Combination of a whacked out travel schedule and also just taking a break. So I noticed that I’ve lost some strength, but whether that’s because of the diet or because I’ve been a lazy ass is hard to tell. But what I have done instead is gone back to the fundamentals of integrity. Alignment. Glutes. Stabilizers. Posture. So although I don’t feel “YFit” strong right now (Travis’s YYoga class would kick my butt), I feel lean and strong. Yoga strong, if you will. Lighter. As if because I’ve bulked down, I’m not relying on the superficial muscles strength to pull me through, but am exploring how I can be more integrated. I’m interested to add some YFit/ TRX back into my world and see what happens.

3. I have a caffeine addiction.

This is not news at all, actually.

But let’s just say that I like treats. And when you’re sugar free, hot beverages are treats. I don’t think I’m going to kick my caffeine habit soon, but it’s something that bears exploring. September, perhaps? Eeeeee, just the thought makes me cringe. I have to choose a month where it’s okay if I’m cranky for a couple days.

4. I have discovered new foods.

• SQUASH. You’ve heard me wax eloquent. So good.
• Bouillon. Yes, you got it. Put some bouillon in a mug with hot water, make yourself some broth, and yum!
• Nuts. I always stayed away from them because they seemed so high in fat and hard to digest. Now I’m a nut fiend. Still not sure it’s great for my digestion, I’ll start soaking those suckers the night before (thanks Steph Belding for that tip!).
• GDS: good done simple. Good foods, simply done. Roast them, bake them, eat them, and you’re good.
• Spices! Curry is my favorite, easiest go to. Bake it on cauliflower. Trying out a medley of rubs that are pre-mixed. And salt. Yes, salt. Not too much, but wow! No wonder people like this stuff.
• Bubbly water. I’ve been thirsty this month. Enter a slight (ahem, severe) Pellegrino obsession.
• Avocado. Cut it open, add a little salt, eat. Yum.
• Cucumber. Cut up, drizzled with a bit of salt. Perfect snack.
• Coconut oil. On everything.

Verdict? Will I continue?

Heck yeah!

It’s been strangely easy.  Now, I do think I need to watch a couple of creeping crutches, such as salt, caffeine, and nut intake. And I’m curious to feel my body as I add more cardio and strength building exercises into my routine.

One of the unexpected benefits of embarking on this adventure has been the community. So many wonderful people have come forward to share their success stories, commiserate, and jump on the challenge wagon. I’m excited to participate in our August challenges and see how we all fare – to share our go-to solutions, our unexpected discoveries, and greatest challenges.

If you’re interested, jump on board our Page with us and begin your August revolution! It can be as mild or as full on as you like. Do the month, or just come in for the week. Starting August 1 (aw heck, I’m posting late – join on in August 2nd!) and August 9^th.

I celebrated the end of my first 30 days last night by sharing a glass of Dom Perignon with a girlfriend.  Um, awesome. It was sugary. And divine.

 

Photo credit.

 

I usually like a breakfast of coffee, more coffee, and cream. The burners in my kitchen are pristine from lack of use. In the olden times I’d scarf down a protein vega bar around 10 AM and be ravenous by about 11:30.

But during this sugarfast, I’ve been a positive breakfast dynamo. Three egg omelettes include with fish, spinach, kale, cilantro. Sprinkled with curry seasoning, then paired with a handful of nuts or a side of squash. Maybe some avocado.  And wonder of wonders, I’m not hungry til lunch. Or beyond.

I always though breakfast was irrelevant. Despite the data suggesting that breakfast is the most important mean for sustaining energy and managing weight, I sort of figured if I skipped it that it meant that I was consuming fewer calories. Right? Wrong. Breakfast skippers just eat more later. And because we get so darn hungry, we over do it. And snack at night, which doesn’t do us any good and can lead to weight gain. I just love to eat at night (and sugar, and popcorn, and small, crunchy things), however, I haven’t been having the same cravings at all now that I’m eating more substantially during the day. Wonder of wonders!

Moral of the story: My sugar free month has made me a breakfast convert.

So get your breakfast on.

If eggs work for you, then start by sauteeing in your add on ingredients, then crack three eggs over it and cook (I like to cook up the ingredients first, as they usually need more cook time than eggs). Here’s an interesting aside: eggs have traditionally made me feel nauseous. But organic, free-range eggs work just fine. Interesting, no? If eggs don’t work for you, then do a scramble of ingredients without the eggs, adding in your lean protein source of choice.

My usual contenders for add in’s (don’t add all of them at once :)):

• kale
• collards
• spinach
• turkey
• chicken
• fish
• curry powder, spices
• avocado (add on top after)
• mushrooms
• onions
• peppers
• tomatoes (b/c of sugar, I haven’t been doing too many of these)

Try a week of solid breakfast, and see what happens to your daily energy and hunger cycles.

Breakfast NOM NOM. Enjoy the yum.

 

Photo taken by me 🙂

Oh my god.

Who knew that squash would be so delicious?? But I get ahead of myself.

So I was asked by a friend, “Rachel, what exactly are you eating? Can you write out some of your menus?”

Why yes, I can. So here’s what a typical day has looked like for me over the last couple of sugar-free weeks:

Breakfast

• Coffee – 6-8 AM
  • Okay okay, I know. But every day for me starts with coffee. Coffee fasting is for a different month. Not this month. Let’s not be crazy.
  • I take my coffee with cream, no sugar.
  • If you haven’t yet, try the paleo version with grass fed butter. It’s ridic. (And yes, a dairy fast is on my mind too…but not this month. See above notes on coffee.)
• Breakfast omelette: between 9-11 AM
  • Throw some coconut oil into the pan.
  • Saute in whatever you fancy!
  • My favorite ingredients were organic turkey sausage, spinach, kale.
  • Three eggs. Bam, done.
  • If you’re sugar free, you can do cheese and stuff, but I stay away from cheese personally.
• Add some sides to your breakfast.
  • Yes, sides! More sides! A slice of squash, or some hummus, or some sauerkraut (great for a happy gut!). Or avocado. Add enough fat that this will hold you over for a good long while and you will feel satiated. No toast. No potatoes. Forgot those pasty white things! Squash. Yummmmm.

Snack options

If you’re hungry, which you really may not be:

• Squash. I love squash. Oh squash, where you have been all my life?? This one deserves its own blog so that I can get really poetic, but let’s just say that squash is my new favourite food. Squaaaaaash. Quick and dirty:
  • Heat oven to 400 or so (honestly, I never really check).
  • Cut squash in half.
  • Take out seeds.
  • Coat inside with coconut oil.
  • Put facedown on foil or cookie sheet.
  • Bake for awhile. 45 minutes-ish? (Again, I just leave it in there until I remember I put it there. Then I check. If it’s not done, I leave it longer.)
  • Once it’s all bubbly and soft and awesome, take it out.
  • Wait for it too cool.
  • Eat it.
  • Store by covering it and putting it in fridge, then cutting off pieces during the day and going NOM NOM NOM NOM.
  • I eat the skin. Is that weird? I dunno. But I do.
• Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, cashews. Raw, please.
• Cucumber, celery, cut up veggies – if your gut is happy eating crudite. Mine is not. Cucumber’s fine but the other stuff I would steam.
• Reminder: no fruit. Who needs fruit?! Not you! At least not til next month.

Lunch 

If you want it. If you ate breakfast late enough, you might be fine through til an early dinner. But just in case. Eat 1-2 pm. Remember, no deprivation! If you’re hungry, then eat!

• Salad. Huge salad. With almost anything. Favourite toppings of mine:
  • Chicken
  • Avocado
  • Cucumber
  • Shredded zucchini
  • Celery
  • Steamed broccoli
  • Sun-dried tomatoes (okay, okay, a little fruity, but as a treat)
  • Roasted garlic
  • Himalayan salt and pepper
  • Peppers
  • Mushrooms
  • Asparagus
  • Radish
  • Balsamic vinegar and olive oil
  • You could add nuts and seed, if your tummy takes such things (soaking nuts/seeds makes them easier to digest)

Dinner

• Eat early if you can. Before dusk.
• Protein (steamed fish, turkey, chicken, etc)
• Warmed, steamed, dark green vegetables (think kale, broccoli, rapini, brussel sprouts, bok choy, collards, etc)
• Salads if you like.
• Squash! I’m serious. (But then again, I have developed a bit of a squash problem.)
• Curry cauliflower (yummmm)
  • Cut up cauliflower into bitty bites
  • Put in a mixing bowl
  • Toss by hand in olive oil and curry (and maybe nutritional yeast). Get it all yummy coated.
  • Back in oven at about 350 for about 20-25 minutes
  • NOM NOM NOM
• Kale chips
  • Strip the kale from the stalks
  • Massage with coconut oil

Drinks

• My favourite treat ever. Dessert. Yum.
• Tons and tons of water. Tons. Seriously. Tons. I drank a lot of pellegrino, too, but you want plenty of the old fashioned straight stuff.
• Make cucumber water, lemon water, lime water. Water.

I’ve been looking into paleo sites as well for ideas. They have tons of good sugar free options.  My next step is going to be to figure out how to do what I’m doing and move towards the vegetarian side of things. Oh, and the darn coffee. And the dairy.

Shucks, it’s always something.

Meantime, here’s some places to be inspired! Let me know if you stumble on anything you love!

• Kate Quit Sugar
• Paleo Diet
• Paleo Magazine
• Mark’s Daily Apple

 

One week down.

“Be safe,” my girlfriend continues to caution. She knows I’m going sugar free this month.

What does sugar-free mean, anyway? Is it really that big of a deal? Is it dangerous?

“Sugar-free” can mean different things. We can’t be truly sugar-free, of course, nor should we be. Our bodies convert the foods we eat into glucose for use in cellular respiration (which is kinda sorta important). So carbs – which have gotten all sorts of nasty press –  include yummy things like vegetables and complex carbs. However, they can also include things like coco cola and potato chips.

So “sugar-free” is really a matter of degree and preference.

In my case, I have pulled out foods that are high in simple sugars. These include:

• flours (all of them: rice, coconut, wheat, spelt, kamut, etc. Da nada. Zip. Zero. )
• corn
• alcohol
• fruit and fruit juice (yes, fruit. But only temporarily! I will add it back in, though I’m not a fan of juice.)
• sugar additives (honey, sugar, agave, molasses, etc. Stevia is okay)
• processed foods and drinks of course, because they all have sugar in them. Anytime you see high-fructose corn syrup, we’re in sugar land.

Taking a look at the list above, doesn’t this seem sort of common sense (if a little inconvenient when eating out)? After all, eating nutrient dense food and getting more bang for your buck from your calories has got to be a good thing. Some research also links sugar consumption to cancer, which gives us even more reason to be carb-conscious.

Ketosis

Lowering one’s blood sugar through restricting carbohydrate intake can induce ketosis, which is when the body is low on available glucose and instead burns fat for energy. Ketosis can ultimately also burn muscle, which is why it’s received some criticism in the press and is why you shouldn’t take out the carbs for too long.

One of the signs of ketosis is thirst and reduced food cravings. And funny smelling breath. I have certainly experienced reduced hunger and increased thirst. (I’ll ask some unwary friend to give me feedback on my breath.) But whether that’s because my body is in ketosis or whether it’s because I’m eating more fats and proteins (which are highly satiating) is up for debate.

Verdict

Right now, I’m really enjoying this experiment. I can’t remember the last time I had this much equanimity in my mind about food. Usually I’m a food monster – wondering when the next meal or tasty treat will come. Chocolate, get in my belly! But taking the sugar out has transformed my usual food cravings. I eat… then I’m satiated.  I’m not reaching for the next thing.

For now, that’s well worth the price of admission.

 

Cool blog. “Kate Quit Sugar.”

Cool article. “Life without sugar: One family’s 30-day challenge.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE my hot chocolate. Love it. Well, generally, I just love chocolate.

But if I’m going sugar-free, I don’t want to dive into a chocolate bar, no matter how dark.

So here’s my absolute favourite treat.

It’s oh so good. And it’s dairy free, sugar free, gluten free and even kinda healthy.

• Unsweetened almond  milk – 1-2 cups in a saucepan (you can sub in hot water if you don’t want it too thick)
• Raw organic cocoa – 2-4 tablespoons, depending on how thick you want it.
• One stevia (don’t overdo it)
• Play with the ratios of almond milk to hot water and cocoa amount – everyone is different in taste (I love mine really thick, but you may prefer a less dense version)

Whisk it all together in a saucepan in fairly high heat. Here’s the trick: bring to a boil. Let it start to froth up, but then quickly remove it from heat before it boils over. You have to be fast like grease lightening. I don’t know why, but it thickens it up nicely.

Let it cool to drinking temperature.

Enjoy!

Stevia Safety Tip

Photo credit

I’m usually a hangry girl.

Vata-deranged, angry glint in my eye, don’t-get-between-me-and-my-chocolate-at-3pm kind of person. But the last couple of days, my body has felt…well, weirdly satiated. I eat a big ol’ breakfast at around 9  and don’t even really feel hungry for lunch. That isn’t to say that I haven’t craved an apple (oh, the idea of something sweet makes my lips just pucker!), but I haven’t had the “must eat” crashy crazies that I usually get every couple hours throughout the day.

This remarkable change testifies to the dependency that my body had developed for quick sugar. Now that I’ve taken sugar rich foods off  menu, I’m just not as tempted to reach for the nearest turkey drumstick. Also, the foods that I’ve been eating are higher in fat and lead to longer-lasting satiation: avocados, lean meats, squash, omelettes with coconut oil. I had of course heard about this miraculous shift in the “hanger-pangs,” but it’s rather startling to actually experience it.

My body is…quiet. Less distracted. Less noisy. I’m not obsessing about when I’ll get my next sugar/ caffeine fix, because things are humming along.

What will week two bring?

Here’s how the day broke out:

• Breakfast of eggs, squash, spinach, hummus.
• Lunch: steamed greens, omega 3 dressing, and a chunk of sweet potato.
• Dinner: turkey, walnuts, squash.
• And my yummy stevia, unsweetened almond milk, cocoa delight.

So…no rice, no flours, just whole plain recognizable foods full of goodness. Wasn’t hungry for hours after my solid breakfast. For a gal who routinely lives on coffee for the first four hours of the day, eating something substantial in the AM seems decadent! I’m growing curious about taking a more deliberate paleo approach to my “no sugar month”, but have a few questions.

For example, are my beloved hummus and the cream in my coffee “legal?” Do I need to replace cream with grass-fed butter and bullet proof it up (um, by the way, bulletproof coffee is one of the most delicious things ever…but you do need a blender).  And is hummus okay? Legumes? Squash okay? For me, the “you can eat duck, quail, rabbit, bison, or lamb!” is not tempting diversification. I’m currently seeking advice on some paleo twitter feeds to see what I can turn up (and I’m also curious about what kind of response I get through twitter pleas, never having gone the route of relying on the kindness of social media strangers).

So everyone, any suggestions? Or- more importantly – any sugar and flour free favourite treats in your recipe books to keep me strong when the days get a-weary?

Right now the novelty of eating as many nuts as I want is pretty intoxicating….but that may wane after I empty a few more bags of walnuts.

Love your Anti-Sugar-Plum Fairy.

 

Photo credit.

I’m back to my food shenanigans people. Back with a vengeance.

Oh, the food adventures that I have been having!

Well, since we last connected about food, I have become interested in the power of paleo. Just a little. That’s right, I’m exploring what it’s like to run with the dinosaurs (I know that statement is completely historically inaccurate, but since I also know you’ve just seen Jurassic World, you probably won’t mind).

A couple of months ago, I decided that something needed to change. Some of you may have been privy (ahem, excuse the pun) to my first few rounds of food diaries exploring veganism and juicing. Well, the passion for food experimentation never really dies, and now it’s taken a different turn. I went to see a wonderful Ayurvedic doctor, Todd Caldecott, here in Vancouver. And I also saw a naturopath….And an acupuncturist. (Never one to sideline Western medicine, I saw my GP and a gastroenterologist as well.)  Essentially, they all said the same thing:

• Hey, vata deranged yogi, stop eating things that are cold.
• Eat warm, nourishing foods.
• No more salads.
• Eat some fat.
• Eat some meat.

Todd was full of good, common-sense suggestions to try to get me back on track (eat early, eat fewer meals, avoid flours). But I must confess that I’m not always the best student (although I really, really try). I often forget to take my tinctures when I’m supposed to and I fall off the wagon and gorge on frozen fruit while watching Game of Thrones.  (“You’e obsessed with eating frozen fruit?” Todd had mused and frowned, “Cold. Too cold for vata. Probably not the best.”)

At any rate, friends, that brings me here.

Inspired by my wonderful friend and yogini, Janet, I am going to go for a sugar free July.

This choice means:

• no refined sugar
• no honey, molasses, agave syrup, etc
• no alcohol
• no frozen fruit (oh friends, how I wanted to write, “limited!” But I will endeavour!)
• no flours

Now, I know that flours aren’t sugar, but they’re not great for you, so I’m going to go flour free. Not just gluten free, all flour free. If I can’t tell what it is, then I’m not going to eat it. This little plan will go well with my possible Paleo explorations. More on that to come. But for now, we’re starting with the sugar.

What do you say? Anyone want to come on board for a week?

May the non-sugar games begin!

Photo credit.