Tag: low sugar

My 7 day low sugar diary

kimbrown16159 Comments

If you read my last post, you are probably dying for an update on my low sugar challenge. Your wait is over!Here’s what happened…

Day 1:

Today was a partial fail. It started off good, even though I really, really, really wanted an almond butter biscuit. Since that would break the rules, I stuck with fresh fruit and veggies. I did have some accidental cheats throughout the day. In my snack boxes I always pack nuts. This blend I bought had dried cranberries and red tart cherries. Glancing at the package (after I had eaten most of it) I realized it had 10 grams of sugar with 6 of those grams being added sugar. Oops. The ingredients list showed the dried cranberries and cherries are made with sugar and sunflower oil. Since I was hungry and it was part of my lunch, I picked out the nuts and threw out the dried fruit. By mid-afternoon I was really hungry so I ate some Skinny Pop. I tried the hypnosis from my Sugar Stop app. She wanted me to get comfortable and close my eyes. Um, yea, can’t do that lady. I’m sitting at my desk trying to work. Needless to say I skipped the hypnosis and just drank water.  It was my mom’s birthday so we went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which was a hot mess thanks to the warm, buttery rolls calling my name. I ate one with the most angelic cinnamon butter I have ever tasted. I did redeem myself with a pork chop and steamed veggies and only drank water.

I finished off the day with a 30 minute walk and the most beautiful sunset!

DAY 2:

It’s only day 2 & I have already noticed a lot of my go-to snacks have added sugar. So I’ve been snacking on veggies and nuts (with no dried fruit) and popcorn. I have been hungry the last 2 days, even though I’m drinking a lot of water. (Got up to pee 3 times last night) I skipped the chips and salsa at work because the salsa had added sugar. Despite my best efforts, between my protein shake and my lunch (soup and salad from Panera Bread) I have still had a little bit of added sugar, but WAY less than normal. I did find myself thinking about food a lot throughout the day.

DAY 3:

Today my lack of low sugar snacks was really pissing me off. I got home to eat my strawberry salad only to realize ALL 7 grams of sugar in the dressing were added sugar. Grrr.
I got very tired after lunch. I feel like my stomach is adjusting a little bit to less snacking. Normally I would be glad it’s Friday but I’m nervous because I will be at my kids’ all-day softball tournament tomorrow. Concession stands are one of my many weaknesses. I have a cooler packed full of healthy snacks and water and ready to go.
I finished off the day with a White Claw and the 2 grams of sugar was worth every sip. Cheers.
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DAY 4:

Proud of myself for making it through a whole day at the field with no concession stand junk food! It was sooooo hot and humid, so I drank a lot of water. I think this helped keep me full. We went to my parents house afterward and I steered clear of the sweet stuff (my mom’s pantry is FULL of junk food and candy) I started feeling withdraw symptoms like a headache and a little shaky but I was able to power through it. Over all it was a very successful low sugar day!

DAY 5:

Well, it turns out I have inadvertently replaced sugar with salt. I woke up today so puffy and swollen. I had a lot of nuts (pretty sure they were salted) and skinny pop yesterday. So I need to rethink my snack choices just a little bit. Individually they aren’t too bad, but eating them all together is way too much salt for me!
Another headache today and very hangry in the afternoon. I am so impressed with my willpower. I know it has only been 5 days but I am proud of myself. Today I held my daughter’s chocolate chip cookie in my hand and didn’t even want a bite.
I’m a little frustrated that the scale hasn’t budged, but hoping I will notice some progress there soon.

DAY 6:

Another day of low sugar. Another day without an Almond Butter Biscuit. Sad face.
I made the rookie mistake of grocery shopping while hungry. I overcame the urge for sweets and ate an apple instead. Normaly I would have gotten something junky from the checkout lane. It was a little surprising at how many things have added sugar. I spent a lot of time reading labels during this trip so it took me a longer than normal. Still had a headache which I was hoping water would help but I can’t possibly drink any more or I will float away!

DAY 7:

I did it! I feel very accomplished and only had a couple of moments worthy of the panic button.  My friend brought the kids some cake today and I didn’t eat any! I held it in my hands and said no. Pretty impressive. I mean look at this thing!
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In the last 7 days I cut down on snacking, drank more water, and survived the sugar withdraw headache. I am much more aware of the sugar content in my go-to foods and have found some alternatives.
I am excited to try another 7 days of low sugar!

My low sugar challenge

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sugar
Sugar is a tricky thing. It’s in everything. It’s addicting. It tastes so damn yummy.
I also have WAY too much of it. Deep down I know my whole family does. It’s just. So. Hard.
I have been reading a few books that have given me some motivation to cut sugar. I will probably never be 100% sugar-free. Not happening. But I would love to reduce added sugar as much as possible and save the sweets for special occasions. The trouble with special occasions is there is always something special. Maybe we are exceptionally special people? Every time I turn around we are on a road trip, at a softball game (concession stand!) birthday party, wedding, date night, holiday, cookout, or bonfire… You get the idea.
Turns out I’m not the only one. I have read different statistics but they are all staggering. Americans recommended consumption is 25-40 grams of sugar per day (about 6 tablespoons) However most consume about 82 grams a day – double to triple what we should be consuming! One USDA statistic reported that Americans consume between 150 and 170 pounds of refined sugar in one year. *Hop back to the 1700’s. You had to be wealthy to eat sugar & even then you only got around 4 pounds per year. By 1900 it was around 90 pounds a year.
So – long story short, as time goes on, sugar consumption increases.
If you read labels to look for sugar, you better expand your vocab. There are a lot of names for sugar!

  • Most things ending in “ose” (Glucose, Fructose, Maltose, Sucrose)
  • Syrup (corn syrup, carbo syrup, malt syrup, rice syrup)
  • The more obvious – things labeled sugar (Date sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar)

You get the idea. It may not always be easy to spot. I look at sugar on the nutritional label – check for regular and added sugar and check serving size. Sometimes it looks like there are 10g of sugar, but that is per serving and there are 2 servings in the package.
Now that I’ve gotten a little wiser, I have decided to eliminate as much added sugar as possible and avoid sweets for 7 days. One week. Should be a piece of…cake.
I found an app to help me. I had to pay for it but at this point I am weak and sugar is strong. It’s called Sugar Stop. You set your goal to what type of sugar you want to avoid, you choose the length of your challenge, and you invite friends to join you on this uphill journey. They have a diary, water tracking, and a FB support group. They also have hypnosis sessions to help you out. My favorite part is the Panic button. If you get desperate, hit the panic button and you can choose between a 10 min hypnosis on crushing your cravings, read about things you could eat instead and ways to distract yourself, or refresh with a glass of water. Because of course downing a good ole’ glass of H2O will surely make you not want that deliciously enticing, mouth-watering chocolate chip cookie. Hold please, let me wipe my drool.
So day 1 starts now. Wish me luck. I will be back after the 7 days to let you know how I did. Since I’m putting this in writing, I really don’t want to fail!
*Kolp Institutesugar