(Big Brother Geordie accent) It’s week 3 in the Sugar Free house (/end) Ruth and I have made it to week 3 reasonably unscathed and I think feeling the benefits already. It’s certainly got me cooking a whole lot more, like daily, like Breakfast, Lunch AND Dinner, plus snacks too! How are we coping? Well, for me I had the usual 2 days worth of head-achy nausea that I experienced in my mock lent sugar abstinence. But those were early on in the programme, by week 2 you are supposed to be completely off the sugar, but I had already started this three days prior to week 1 to get ahead, and Ruth joined me on the first official day of the plan. Neither of us have been particularly observant of the limiting of alcohol to one a day, but I have generally stuck with weekend drinking only.
So what is the food like? In short it is absolutely gorgeous, I haven’t had one meal yet that has made me feel like never cooking it again, and because we initially started on the omnivore plan this included a nice mix of veggie and meat meals where I substituted appropriately. We are now totally veggie from week 3 onwards and if I fancy having that meal with meat I can do. I am actually quite happy to eat veggie anyway, so it’s no biggie. Breakfasts have been superb, particularly the weekend ones where we have so far had the Curried Carrot Hash with Boiled Egg (totally yum) and last weekend the Mushroom on Sourdough bread topped with Hazelnuts and Feta, which was just awesome. The only thing I’ve cooked up that I haven’t liked is the water chestnuts in coconut oil – they weren’t bad, they were just not that good! A highlight of the lunch and dinner options so far has been the BLATT burger (Beetroot, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato and Tahini) and for a meat option the Turkey San Chow Bow was just scrumptious!
The upshot with all the meals is that they contain all the necessary food groups and nutrition you need to sustain you; a lot of the time they will look like they won’t fill you up in a month of Sundays – but they do! It’s bizarre finding yourself eating a chicken salad in Giraffe (an eating out test aced by me thank you!) and not actually being able to finish it! This is when you realise how much Fructose plays a part in not telling your brain you are done eating! Crazy! I have to admit I have become a bit more snacky in latter days, but I think I put this down to psychological than actual need. Still, when water doesn’t sate out come the Macadamias or Rice Cakes to take the edge off things.
Will we continue? At this time, we are fully committed to the 8 week programme and definitely will see it through to completion and see where we are then. I have ordered Sarah Wilson’s recipe book that has over 300 recipes in it so that we can then devise our own meal plans, including highlights from the 8 week plan. It’s got to be beneficial to us, and I’ve even introduced the kids to some of the recipes, the Salmon tray of loveliness being something they devoured without too many questions or protestations.
I feel slimmer already, confirmed by both work and leisure trousers being more loose and no more belt holes to use. The scales are also confirming this to the tune of 7 lbs so far. A happy accident in an experiment that seems like it has got legs. It’s funny, the instant assumption that you are doing this is that you are unhappy, and that you should just enjoy life as you’re only here once, so eat, drink and be merry. Hmmm, I’m here once, I want to try and extend my stay if I can, doing this will no doubt help with that – and with the quality of the food I’m cooking up, the fact I can drink coffee and alcohol (both I don’t need as much of now as another happy accident) and the cash savings from take away food plus using up all that stuff in your fridge and freezer – it all mounts up to a tidy little lifestyle change, one that is manageable, enjoyable and sustainable. The three ‘ables’, if you like.
I will check in again at week 6, but in the meantime if you’re reading this and thinking of giving it a shot, but have questions or concerns, drop me a note and I’ll be happy to help. If you want to try the programme for yourselves click on the banner below:
Embrace the Fat and ditch the Fructose. :O)
