No Sugar — Day 1
For a while now, Jason and I have been taking steps to create a healthier lifestyle for our family. This includes regular exercise, carrying a water bottle (and using it), watching less tv, and now for me eliminating sugar from my diet. Today was day one, and I’m happy to say it was a success.
For a while now, I have been what I consider to be excessively tired for an extended period of time (12 years). There are many possibilities that could be causing my lack of energy. After exploring a few of them with little success, I have decided to delve into the ones that take a bit more work on my part. One of those is eliminating sugar and refined carbohydrates from my diet. In addition to being sleepy a lot, I also take an asthma medicine that is linked to increased likelihood of thrush, and before my asthma was diagnosed, I took many rounds of antibiotics in order to treat my apparent sinus infections. Combining all those factors, there is a pretty good chance I have a yeast imbalance in my body.
A couple of the people I follow on Twitter have been talking about sugar and yeast. After making the decision to jump in and do it, I chose today as my first day. I’m not doing a full candida diet. I’m starting small. Well, smallish. My plan is to avoid refined carbohydrates and eliminate sugar for at least the days from now until Thanksgiving. Ideally I would like to keep this up until closer to Christmas so I don’t get back into the sugar habit between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but for now, I’m sticking with a smaller goal.
Unfortunately for me, I seem to have missed the Sugar Free Challenge that happened during a week in October. Because I’m doing this on my own, I decided to make a smaller goal than what I originally wanted. If anyone reads this and is interested in participating, let me know! Support would be great and the more the merrier applies here.
Good for you! I seem to have fallen off the wagon lately. But I lasted over a month and haven’t foregone the challenge completely. It’s just that Halloween happened… enough said. But I’m still being good in my grocery purchases.
And then today I decided to treat myself and the girls to some organic gluten free orange cake with chocolate cheesecake layers. I mean, I just couldn’t help it. But I am inspired to read that you were partly inspired by one of my posts on going sugar free and I think I’m gonna get back on track tomorrow.
Very interested in how you feel during this journey. 100% elimination brings up feelings of deprivation that I don’t know how to deal with.
My favorite evening sugar free snack is plain yogurt (not non-fat so there’s texture) with cut up apple and cinnamon. Don’t miss the sugar!
Good for you! It’s not easy to eliminate anything — first day is the hardest, keep it up!
Good luck my friend! I know personally how fun it can be. I need to do it again too because Halloween was not an “on the wagon” time for me I am afraid!
You can do it, Casey! You’ll feel so much better. I find sugar is the enemy, especially early in the day. If I want to enjoy anything with sugar, it really needs to be in the evening, so if I feel sleepy I can just go to bed. After a period of time, you will look at most desserts or junk food and honestly not even be interested. As you read labels, you will be put off by any form of sugar listed, if you’re not already. As with most things, moderation is key. Once you recognize your body’s signals, you will understand whether or not a bite of dessert is a good idea or something you will regret. When I crave something sweet in the evening, I like to eat a piece of sprouted grain cinnamon-raisin bread (Food For Life Ezekiel 4:9 bread) which I toast and butter. It has no added sugar, but enough raisins to be very sweet. The complex carbs, sprouting, and fiber all aid digestion, without any refined sugars. Plus, it’s super yummy! Glad I found your blog.
You can do it, Casey! You’ll feel so much better. I find sugar is the enemy, especially early in the day. If I want to enjoy anything with sugar, it really needs to be in the evening, so if I feel sleepy I can just go to bed. After a period of time, you will look at most desserts or junk food and honestly not even be interested. As you read labels, you will be put off by any form of sugar listed, if you’re not already. As with most things, moderation is key. Once you recognize your body’s signals, you will understand whether or not a bite of dessert is a good idea or something you will regret. When I crave something sweet in the evening, I like to eat a piece of sprouted grain cinnamon-raisin bread (Food For Life Ezekiel 4:9 bread) which I toast and butter. It has no added sugar, but enough raisins to be very sweet. The complex carbs, sprouting, and fiber all aid digestion, without any refined sugars. Plus, it’s super yummy! Glad I found your blog.