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SUGAR BLOG 2: TAKE THE SUGAR CHALLENGE

Category: General Information | Permalink

Published: Thursday, December 02, 2010

Before We Begin our Sugar Challenge: Some Steps to Take

Try finding a buddy
Tell your friends and relatives what you are doing and ask them NOT to tempt you with sweets
Get your children to help you police the foods at the super market (This is how I turned my son into a proverbial Sugar Cop! If I tried to sneak a sugary substance into my grocery cart, he would take it out.
Ask a family member to go on the program with you
Remember that you are making a WONDERFUL, POSITIVE change in your life. You are Detoxing from a DRUG and you will feel great!
Remember that you are in control! NOT the sugar!
If you like to write, keep a journal. Your story can be valuable to help someone else someday. You could even self-publish it!
Read below Sweeteners: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly so you do not fall into the trap of giving your body something that will increase cravings.

TAKE THE SUGAR CHALLENGE!

2 weeks off!

Here are the rules for the 2 week challenge. Do as many of them as you can! There is no failing! Any elimination of sugar is a good thing. But try to make me proud of you! J

Try to eat little or no sugar for 6 days, then give yourself a "Reward Day" on the weekend. After 6 days off sugar, you will begin to notice how SWEET sugar really is!

Do not worry about calories during this 14 days. You are ONLY going to watch your sugar and BREAK THE SUGAR ADDICTION!

TELL SOMEONE WHAT YOU ARE DOING! ASK SOMEONE TO BE YOUR "SUGAR SHERIFF"

( I used my son and he was REALLY good at it)

1. Read all labels. Do not eat any food or serving of food that has over 9 grams of sugar. Become a food detective. To reduce sugar, you have to know where it is lurking!

2. Stop adding sugar to your tea or coffee. Try this for 2 weeks! If you simply cannot, at least cut the amount IN HALF! No artificial sweeteners. They increase cravings.

3. Drink sugar-free herbal teas.

4. Eliminate white rice, white bread, white pasta (converted to sugar in the body)

5. Mix any sweet food with a non-sweet food. For instance mix granola with an unsweetened cereal or add extra nuts

6. Do not buy "Fat-free" foods. These are usually loaded with sugar

7. Cut down on salt. Salty foods lead to cravings for sweets

8. Substitute Raisin Bread for breakfast if you are used to a Danish, scone or muffin

9. Sourdough bread is a good alternative to white bread. It is more nutritious and breaks down differently in the body
10. Eliminate jam or jelly. Fruit spreads still have a lot of sugar. Read the label!

11. Melt some cheese and put it on top of your toast. You can melt it right in the microwave in a few seconds

ISN'T THIS FUN? LET'S KEEP GOING!

12. Keep nuts, cheese, popcorn, whole grain crackers around for snacks. Be careful of trail mix which can contain sugary components although many are quite good

13. Don't buy any sugary foods at the store for these 2 weeks! Also, no bakery goods- even low fat. I gave up bran muffins which you would think were healthy, but now if I even sample one I can tell how sugary they are!

14. Try an unsweetened nut butter from the store. Check the sugar grams in peanut butter and be careful!

15. Give up ham and bacon for breakfast. They contain sugar!

16. Eat sliced peaches, strawberries, blueberries as your treat. They may seem expensive, but eat them slowly and savor them. You deserve it!

17. Watch your milk intake! Milk contains sugar. Read the label! Rice milk and soy milk are sugary also

18. Stay away from fruit juice. Even the "Unsweetened" ones contain lots of sugar.I know�this surprised me too

19. No commercial salad dressings for these 2 weeks.! I bring my own to the restaurant in a little glass bottle. If you have some in your fridge, thin them out with some oil or vinegar

20. Salsa makes a good dressing

21. Choose a nice ripe avocado for a snack when you have a craving.

21. No ketchup � LOADED with sugar. Thin it out with some salsa or some sour crème or your own creative choice.

22. Eat pizza for a snack! Has fat & protein to satisfy you

23. Eat carrots & hummus. There are some wonderful flavors of hummus. You are crunching & dipping and you will NOT hurt yourself sugar-wise or calorie wise

24. Do not eat dry-roasted nuts�they contain sugar

25. No soft drinks! Choose iced-tea!

26. Be careful with alcohol. It acts like a pure sugar in the body. Dilute it!

27. No syrup sweetened fruit. If you have some, strain it and rinse

28. A banana is a great snack when you need something sweet

29. Freeze some grapes and have those as a snack or eat frozen blueberries

30. No bagels! The flour converts to sugar in the body and will be stored as triglycerides otherwise known as fat

31. Find some good canned soups that are hearty and rich. Check label for sugar

32. Eat turkey and Swiss cheese rolled up with some mustard as a snack. There are countless varieties of mustard and they do not contain sugar!

33. Watch out for protein bars. Many are loaded with sugar. Look for the Atkins brand.

34. Increase protein. Craving sugar is indicative of not getting adequate protein.

35. Microwave a baked potato for a snack. Top with Sour Crème, salsa, butter, guacamole or olive oil. This is a great bedtime snack because it helps raise serotonin levels

36. If you are cravings sweets, cook a yam or sweet potato

38. Do not overdo it with fruit for these two weeks. Maybe two pieces per day.

39. Reward yourself with chocolate at the end of the day. Make sure it is at least 73% cacao otherwise it is too sugary.

Sweetners; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Sugar in its Many Forms: Yup! These can all be bad!

Agave syrup or nectar Fructose

Barley malt Maple Syrup

Brown Sugar Powdered sugar

Glucose Cane sugar

Granulated sugar Raw sugar

Cane syrup High Fructose Corn Syrup

Rice syrup Confectioners sugar

Honey Sugarcane syrup

Table sugar Date sugar

Lactose Turbinado sugar

Liquid cane sugar Unrefined sugar

Sucrose Corn Syrup

Dextrose Chicory Syrup

Tapioca syrup Maltose

Splenda Blonde Sugar

Splenda is found in over 4,000 foods & beverages on the market. What is it?

Splenda is a chemical! Yes, chlorine is forced into an unnatural bond with a sugar molecule substituting sucrose atoms with chlorine atoms. Splenda begins as a sugar and ends up as a synthetic chemical! Also, it can act as an estrogen mimic in the body. Watch for it and AVOID it!

Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) can deplete chromium and lead to insulin resistance. It can also increase sugar cravings because it blocks production of serotonin.

Sweet'n Low is saccharin�a petroleum derivative. Other names are Necta Sweet and Sweet Twin

NOTES:

Honey is a natural sweetener but has more calories and is actually sweeter than sugar and raises the blood sugar even more than white sugar. It does have some medicinal benefits and contains small amounts of minerals.

Agave syrup or nectar is made from the fruit of the agave, a cactus-like plant native to Mexico. It is roughly 75 percent sweeter than sugar

BEST SOURCES OF SWEETENER:

Date "sugar" is made from pulverized dried dates. It is not refined like sugar. It also contains fiber and is high in many minerals. Because the "sugar" is just dried fruit, it is allowed on sugar-restricted diets.

Blackstrap Molasses is 65% sucrose but does have minerals including iron and calcium so is more nutritious than sugar.

Stevia has thirty times the sweetness of sugar but it does not raise blood sugar like other caloric sweeteners.

Sweet Perfection: This is a new sweetener that can be used like sugar in tea, coffee, and baking. It is chicory root ground to a powder that is very high in soluble fiber and looks and tastes exactly like sugar. It will not cause insulin surges.

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THE SUGAR CHALLENGE? LET'S GO!

1. BE EXCITED FOR YOURSELF! You are embarking on a new adventure. You are taking your body on VACATION! Sugar is an unhealthy, destructive, addictive habit that will rob years from your life.

2. Make yourself a slogan. Mine was "I don't eat sugar" I actually was in one of those large warehouse type stores where they give samples. A woman was literally chasing me with a sample of peanut M&Ms on a tray. I simply said "I don't eat sugar" and it REALLY helped me not to even try one. Yours could simply be "I'm cutting down on my sugar". Whatever sounds reasonable to you.

3. Congratulate yourself at the end of each day. Ask someone else to congratulate you, too.

4. Pick a Bible verse or inspirational verse that makes you feel good (and STRONG!)

5. Remind yourself. I am going to be less fat, have more energy and have new brain power!

Visitor Comments (1) | Post a Comment

Posted by: Michael
Thursday, September 08, 2011 @ 9:07:06 AM

A lot of wise information here, from the buddy system to the sheriff to identifying all the sources of refined, unrefined, and artificial sugars. Great information. I imagine that there are plenty of folks who might want to try the challenge but don't have easy access to a support system- maybe some kind of online buddy system could be set up? Thanks!