We Quit Sugar

Day one – 3/12/2018 (Adrian)

Hi, my name is Adrian and I’m a sugar addict.

No really – I am, and today is day one of an eight-week program to quit sugar. I’m really motivated, but I’ll admit to large amounts of trepidation at the thought of it. But it’s here and I’ve started. Breakfast was a venison sausage and a couple of fried eggs. Totally yum, what was I even worried about?

A bit of introduction

I’ve always had a sweet tooth and have never felt like I was in control of that. As I’ve got older it’s worried me more and more. I had a check-up not too long ago and was worried getting the results, but luckily everything was fine. Doctor’s results aside, my sugar urge is strong (and getting stronger as I get older) and aside from any health implications, it makes up a lot of my caloric intake. In the last few years I’ve dropped weight to a much better level, but I still want to get to a nice lean bodyweight. Hopefully, dropping sugar from my diet will do the trick.

Over the last year, I’d managed to eliminate all sugar from hot drinks, and was doing fine with that. And I was pretty amazed that I could still enjoy them. Then I found iced coffees, which I loaded with even more sugar than I used to add to hot drinks, five heaped teaspoons to be exact, and these have crept back into my daily routine, and not just once a day either. I’ve a strong hunch these’ll be the hard thing to drop, but there are also other little sugar-rich treats peppering my diet.

The idea and the timing

Glynis has given me the gentle nudge to get me going on this as she knows it’s been a worry for me. She got the “I Quit Sugar” book out of the library for personal interest. After reading it, she announced she was going to start it in January for a while, as an experiment. I couldn’t very well not follow that lead could I 😊. I’m very grateful to have a supportive partner, she doesn’t really have much of an issue with sugar, she’s only doing it to help me. She’s pretty nice.

I suggested that we should start in December (yikes!) and then we landed on today – a Monday – as Mondays are starting days, right?

Day one – 3/12/2018 (Glynis)

Hi, my name is Glynis and I’m not such a sugar addict.

My sugary likes are fruit; fresh and dried, honey and marmalade. And don’t forget homemade biscuits, they’re too good to pass up, or should I say, they were…

Here’s my take on getting started

That thing about the five-sugar iced coffees?! Holy, when Adrian ‘confessed’ that he was putting that much in each drink! I was gob-smacked. He only told me last weekend. I thought we were going through an awful lot of the white stuff but blamed it on the fact there are two kids in the house who like to bake.

I had no thought or intention of following the guidelines, even when I got the book ‘I Quit Sugar’ out the library. I’m interested in healthy living and nutrition generally so will read books like this and take ideas from them that fit my logic and life.

The timing on this one however, seemed to fit, coincidentally, with Adrian. I talked about a few snippets, tried out a couple of recipes, and said I might like to try it in January for a while, as an experiment. ‘Nek minute’ Adrian’s read the book and wants to start straight away. This is the point he told me about the five-sugar iced coffees.

So, here we go…

I know we could pick just about anything and find the studies and research showing that ‘thing’ is bad for us and we should cut it from our lives; milk, potatoes, flour, parrot, meat, grains, cheese, anything in a packet, cat, anything introduced to our diet in the last 1000 years, Guinea pig,… the list goes on. And I’m sure all the reasoning is valid (I mean parrot beaks are sharp, and who needs fur-balls from eating too much cat?).

The thing is, we have a pretty healthy lifestyle. We eat loads of home-grown vegetables (thanks Hugelkultur), most of our meals are made from scratch and we exercise, a lot. So, I’d never felt compelled to upturn anything I was already doing. That is until I watched Adrian powering through the sugar. It truly is a sight to behold and a slightly worrying one as well. We need to nip this in the bud, before it gets well out of hand.

The first few days (Adrian)

I’d like to report it’s been easy, but no, it hasn’t really, though it hasn’t been as hard as I expected. I’d done this before, a good many years back, when I went Paleo for a reasonably long spell (and felt great with that, after the initial hard bit). It was also very difficult in the first week that time.

So this time I knew what to expect and so that makes it easier. I’ve also just read a book called “The Salt Fix” and it has a lot of research that shows that upping your salt intake while cutting sugar can really help (this book also backs up with research the fact that the wrong white crystal is being much maligned). And I’ve found that to be true. I did get a headache the first day and it’s stuck around for a few more, but only mildly, and it’s nearly gone now.

I do get spells in the day when I feel a bit weird, but having a ‘salty something’ at those times seems to knock it on the head. I’ve quickly got to feeling clearer at times… It’s hard to put your finger on what that means but I’ll say it anyway.

The trepidation has certainly gone, and I don’t wake up fretting about not having my sugar coated weetbix. I also did a time-trial bike race on Tuesday night; as high intensity as you possibly can for 30km. I was worried about how it’d go on no sugar, but was absolutely fine in that regard. I even went better than I expected I could.

The first few days (Glynis)

Right now I’m munching on a big salad for lunch: homegrown lettuce, carrots, and broad beans, plus a bit of brie and a drizzle of flax seed oil. I do also have a slice of homemade bread (wholemeal and oat, no sugar) covered in avocado and edam cheese slices; total yum. It’s 3.15PM and I wasn’t particularly hungry when I made it. Not sure if this is from quitting sugar specifically but, having raw oats with chia and coconut yoghurt (homemade – no sugar involved) for breakfast now, I’m full for nearly the entire day.

What I have noticed is, I’m drinking way more water which is a hugely good thing for me as I’m terrible for not drinking nearly enough.

Unlike Adrian, I haven’t had much difficulty at all this week, though I did find myself about to lick a spoon with baked bean sauce (for my daughter) the other night without thinking, and would’ve loved to. And the same daughter made yummy biscuits and left them out in the pantry, I could so have eaten a couple of those in a flash. I put them in the freezer straight away to get them out of our sight.

Well, here comes the weekend, this could throw up some curve balls. We’ll keep you posted.

A week and a half in (Adrian)

It’s getting easier! Phew… The weekend wasn’t any more difficult than the week. I’ve even had the odd breakfast of Weetbix without sugar and actually enjoy it… Wonder of wonders! The headaches, that came and went, have gone now. I feel better – a lot better. Things that don’t have sugar all of a sudden taste sweet sometimes! Wow! This’ll sound weird, but my mouth feels cleaner. And what about this…. As of this morning, I’ve lost 4.75kg! Holy!  I’m guessing that’s got something to do with the fact that I don’t have a raging hunger all the time now…  and way fewer calories in.

I know there are a lot of exclamation marks in the above paragraph, but that’s because good things are happening. I won’t suggest that it’s easy, as I still have the odd hard moment, but they are getting fewer and farther between. Glynis might be able to tell you if I’ve been mentally unstable during this process…

A week and a half in (Glynis)

Ha – I had to laugh at Adrian’s first sentence there. He was adamant that he could NEVER have Weetbix without sugar – it would never happen. And look at that, a week and a half in and he’s already doing it.

I’m still going OK, but as you will have read, I didn’t have quite the same habit starting out.

I’m still feeling full throughout the day, so am actually eating less somehow.  Unfortunately, I haven’t dropped weight like Adrian – bugger.  And the water drinking is still happening, I’m guzzling it 24/7. I have water by me throughout my day and work, and I order soda(sparkling water) at cafés. I needed a sugar-free option to start, now it’s by choice.

This last few weeks at work have been really busy and I’ve been not sleeping well because of it. Usually, that’s the exact recipe to send me to sugar – and I haven’t! What’s more, I haven’t felt the need. At a morning tea this week I didn’t even blink saying “no thanks” to a slice of this little beauty.

Go me! Go us! Go IQS!

To be continued…