Congratulations to all who have joined us so far on our sugar-free mission this month – you’ve already done without sugar in your life for one whole week and should be reaping the health rewards. And if you’ve only just found us then why not jump on board, it’s never to late to make a positive change to your diet, and there are still three weeks left to realise the benefits of kicking sugar to the curb.
So far so good for us at Nourish, since giving up sugar we have experienced…
- More stable energy
- A leaner midriff
- Less hunger between meals – this has been very noticeable and welcome
- More restful sleep
- Clearer skin and brighter eyes (apart from the effects of that pesky pollen)
- Feeling more in control of stress
- A happier vibe all round
And the best one of all…..
- We don’t miss sugar at all!
We said to each other at the end of last week that we both genuinely feel full, happy, and that actually we’re satisfied with the sweetness from berries, colourful starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, and small amounts of the natural sweeteners Xylitol and stevia. We’re not really thinking about food so much either, how long it will last for remains to be seen…
There are some things we have found useful in the past week that we wanted to share with you in case you need a bit of help
- Eat plenty of protein and healthy fats to keep you feeling full and satisfied, especially at breakfast and lunch – avoid low-fat, low-calorie food like the plague. So make sure you’re getting quality protein at each meal, for example eggs, fish, meat, organic dairy (if you tolerate it), nuts and seeds. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll have to work harder at eating quality protein at every meal, combining nuts, seeds, pulses and cereal grains to get a complete protein. Cook with healthy fats like coconut oil, ghee and organic butter; and drizzle extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and flaxseed oil onto your salads and veggies. Also include plenty of raw nuts and seeds, avocados and oily fish.
- Don’t feel that you need to avoid puddings and sweetness altogether – we are addicted to fresh or stewed berries with the scrumptious coconut yoghurt, Coyo, available from Beyond the Kale in Bath, and online. You could even whizz them together to make a strawberry mousse-like pudding, adding a little Xylitol if you want to increase the sweetness. Chocolate is still on the menu if you make it yourself – try making a sugar-free hot chocolate by heating a cupful of your chosen milk in a pan, then while it’s heating add a tsp of cocoa or cacao powder plus a tsp of Xylitol to the cup. Add just a splash of the hot milk to the cup and mix the cocoa and xylitol to a smooth paste, then finally add the rest of the milk and stir. Or you could try our healthy chocolate fudge recipe and almond and vanilla biscuits here, they are both sugar free too.
- Take portable, healthy sugar-free snacks to work with you, and when you are out and about, to avoid giving in to temptation. Try olives with feta cheese, oatcakes topped with almond or cashew butter, raw mixed nuts and seeds, plain yoghurt with berries, or a couple of our almond and vanilla biscuits.
We hope that you’re enjoying our sugar-free June challenge too and can feel the benefits already – please do stick with it for the rest of the month, and share your experiences with us here or on our Facebook page.
Written by Emma Rushe
Image courtesy of SOMMAI/FreeDigitalPhotos.net