Wow, this sugar free month has flown by, there are only 11 days to go!

As most of you know, I have been on holidays and as such have not been taking part in the sugar free festival. The difference is that I have been living sugar free almost everyday since NOSUGARVEMBER started with the exception of 4 days.

What I noticed when I was on holiday is that I didn’t want sugar as much. I am a self confessed chocolate and donut addict. Our cupboards have been full of chocolate since Christmas and our intention was always to take it on holidays with us to eat. We had a biscuit or two and realised we didn’t actually want it, so we threw them out. Now bear in mind, we were not being strict at all, we gave ourselves free passes to eat whatever we wanted on the holiday, but we actually didn’t want it. About a week into the holiday when the chocolate had just been sitting there staring at us with no desire to eat it, we just threw everything out as it didn’t even taste the same to us anymore. I went to the shop to get some donuts as I have been hanging out for some since my birthday last year and guess what… all that anticipation and I didn’t enjoy them that much. Normally my favourite sweet treat ended up a huge disappointment.

So you’ve just got to stick with it to kick those cravings and habits.

Now since I’ve been back, I have heard many mixed comments, mostly just in passing, but I would love to hear what you have got to say here on the blog so that others can read and might associate with it.

I’ll just tell you some of the comments and make of them what you will.

“I’m struggling big time”

“I have found it really hard and haven’t been as strict as I was in November”

“I’ve lost 5kg’s”

“I didn’t know I couldn’t eat white bread”

“I’m really struggling with the alcohol” and same person “I feel so much better without drinking alcohol”

“I’ve lost another 2kg’s”

“I’m struggling with the alcohol” and same person “I don’t think I want to drink again, I feel so much better, it stops you feeling depressed”

That’s all I can think of at the moment, I am sure there were more though, mostly about how much they are struggling with no alcohol. Is it not scary to think you cannot give up alcohol for 28 days? I haven’t ever harped about alcohol much, but let me just say that alcohol is a toxin in the body. It is really bad for you and it affects your organs and your sanity. If you feel you cannot give it up for 28 days, then you need to give it up for 28 days, for your own sake!

One more thing, I hear a lot about people wanting to eat after dinner and asking what they can eat if they can’t eat dessert. It is not necessary, you just ate dinner! It is a habit that you can get out of.

It is time to take responsibility for your own actions, if you want to lose weight, you have to be a bit uncomfortable. You might have to skip dessert and you will have to drag your butt out of bed in the morning. Far too many people want life handed to them on a platter and they spend their whole lives waiting for it. Good luck if that’s you, you’re best to resign yourself to a life of mediocrity and whinging right now.

Enjoy the next 11 days of sugar freedom and yes, I am back on the sugar free wagon now too:)

Last Saturday was my duaghter’s 2nd birthday party. We had all the usuals that you would find at a kids b’day party and I decided this was a good a time as any to partake in some of the treats.

Now this was the first sugar I have had since New Years Eve.

I didn’t feel bad or anything after I ate it, I felt fine, but I did notice one very important thing. The next day I wanted more. I was craving sugar bad! 

So I guess what I am saying is that to make it easy on yourself, you have to go cold turkey. A little bit of sugar here and there in February will only make it harder on yourself. And cost you a donation!

I know that living sugar free is near impossible, but doing a month of no sugar definitely helps to reduce the sugar from then onwards in your diet. You would have to be a robot to live sugar free all the time, but choose your moments wisely and you’ll enjoy better health and your ideal weight.

Well it is finally here. The last day of NOSUGARVEMBER.

I hope you have all found it a positive experience. You may have seen improvements in your moods, less bloating, weight loss, clearer skin.

I am sure you have all noticed now how much society revolves around sugar and alcohol.

I am hoping from here on, you will take some of the habits you have formed over the last 30 days and keep them in your lifestyle choices.

You might like to limit alcohol to once a week, not add sugar to your caffeine, skip dessert 6 nights a week, and make smarter choices when it comes to meals by using far more veggies for your carbs rather than rice, pasta and potato.

I would love to hear your stories about how you found the whole month. Tell me how other people reacted to you. Tell me how you felt and feel now. Tell me if you lost weight. Tell me anything you want:)

Well we are over 2 weeks into NOSUGARVEMBER, with only 13 days to go. By now, you should be getting away from habits that make you eat sugar and cravings should be disappearing if not disappeared.

I am going to start by applauding you all for taking up this challenge. Most of you have broken the challenge so far, BUT all of you have eaten far less sugar in the last 2 weeks than if you were not on this challenge, so well done! I think it has also made you aware of how much sugar you do consume normally, so that is a great outcome. I also believe a lot of you will change a lot of your habits after this, so again, another great outcome!

I am going to tell you what I have noticed and I would love for you to tell me what you have noticed, be it weight loss, social patterns based around sugar, feeling less bloated, clearer thinking, better moods, sleeping better.

Here’s what I see;

* A lot of you cannot give up sugar completely for even 1 week let alone 1 month.

* A lot of you cannot attend social functions without feeling left out if you don’t eat sugar and/or drink alocohol.

* I can see why people are fat. When I get food diaries from people who wish to lose weight, I never get these morning tea’s, afternoon tea’s, parties etc. It’s not an accident that you cannot lose weight, because sugar creeps into your diet all the time. The proof is in the amount of excuses I have heard in the last 2 weeks, it is ridiculous. If this is what I hear in 2 weeks when you are consciuously avoiding sugar, then what is it like in a 12 month period when you are not avoiding sugar. Think about that next time you step on the scales!

* There is a serious problem with society when it comes to eating healthy. People are made to feel like the bad guys if they are trying to eat healthy. Attend a morning tea where the cakes etc are on offer and eat an apple instead. You may aswell be a leper because that is how your co-workers will make you feel. But, turn around to the unhealthiest person eating the cake and say they should eat an apple and you may aswell get a new job because no-one will talk to you again!

* If someone cannot succeed with their health, fitness and weight loss goals, they will not want you to succeed either. So what we then get is people constantly trying to sabotage you from your good intentions. I can say nothing other than toughen up and don’t give in to peer pressure. What often happens is when you do succeed, they will be asking how you did it. 

It is up to us – the individuals to start to make a difference, we are a very unhealthy society, be it the large quantities of sugar, caffeine or alcohol, we need to start to make a change. You need to stand out form the crowd and make a difference. I am very lucky, most of the people I hang out with would look at you badly if you ate junk, so I have no problem being the way I am. You too can be like that, all it takes is 1 person to start to change and others will follow. I am not asking for miracles, I don’t expect anyone to go cold turkey, but to cut down and improve healthy habits is a great way to live. The healthier you live day to day, the more relaxed you can be when you cut loose once in a while.

Post your observations in the comments.

Thanks guys:)

So the first week is over and everyone is looking good so far. A few minor lapses, but realistically, everyone is doing awesome. Such a dramatic change for some people and you should all be so proud of yourselves!!!

A lot of you are asking questions about various sweet options and how you can get around not having these sweet things. Others are complaining that the options they have are not sweet enough. One of the main points to this month is to try to re-train your tastebuds not to crave sweet all the time. That won’t happen when you find loopholes or use artificial sweetener. The aim to to go suagr free. Sugar makes things sweet. If you keep having sweet things, you will go straight back to sugar on the 1st December. Please try to change your eating habits and see what happens.

One thing not be worried about is the fruit. If you are trying to lose weight with this challenge then I say to keep to the 2 pieces of fruit per day. If weight loss is not your goal and just like me, you are merely trying to create the healthiest body possible by eliminating all the refined sugar, then go ahead and eat more than 2 pieces per day. It is the least thing to worry about on the challenge.

I faced my first challenge on Thursday night. Unlike a lot of you, I am not challenged by the thought of no alcohol or no sugar in my caffeine as I don’t drink either. My challenge is sweets. Lately I have been going late night shopping with my wife and daughter. This is a treat for us because I work every other week night and it is only in the last 2 months that I have taken Thursday nights of, so we usually go and cruise around the shops as we have never been late night shopping in the 6 years we have been together.

So, whenever we go late night shopping, we get a treat. It might be sweet popcorn, it might be cookie man or something along those lines. I am happy ot say that I was not even tempted on Thursday night. I am still 100% sweet free and now that I am through that first week, there are no cravings. When you don’t have it, you don’t crave it.

But, I have not been perfect. Yesterday, I have a handful of hot chips and I have stated that white potato is not allowed in NOSUGARVEMBER due to it’s position on the glycemic index. It is a very common food to be eaten and it is around 80 on the glycemic index, right next to white rice for all you sushi lovers, so it is a good habit to get out of eating it regularly.

So, as penance for my handful of hot chips, here are my 5 burpees…

Good luck for week 2 guys and girls:)

Ok, so it has been a shaky start to the month for a few of you, but all in all, you are doing great!

Tough call to start 2 days before Melbourne cup, but I am absolutely positive that those of you who did drink and eat junk, certainly ate and drank much less than you would have otherwise. So that, to me is a success.

I am also very happy to say that 2 people who are not even on the challenge have said to me that they now realise how much sugar they are consuming and are actively cutting down. Again, that is a success story to me.

Good luck with the rest of the week and the weekend:)

This is an example of what you could eat and still be considerably reducing your sugar intake. You don’t have to follow it to the letter, but it can help if you are stuck for things to eat.

This food plan is totally managable. There is nothing drastic on there, just healthy eating.
What you will notice is the lack of:
*So called healthy breakfast cereals
*Bread several times a day
*Various bread products – only mutligrain types are allowed, soy linseed is the best.
*High calorie no nutrient spread for bread
*Lots of pasta and rice dishes. Any pasta meal should be a large salad with a small pasta. Generally pasta is the main item with a small salad on the side, but not here!
*Biscuits or muffin for morning/afternoon tea.
*Fruit on it’s own. Should be with nuts or protein shake.
*Dessert – it is only a habit. Brush your teeth after dinner.
*High sugar yogurts. If you can find one that has less than 10g sugar per 100g yogurt, then you can eat it. About 100 – 150g is a fair portion size.

Note:
All meats should be lean, I do not want you to increase your saturated fat intake.
Olive oil dressings on salads are best.
Getting good fats from Olive/flaxseed oils, nuts and fish are great.

This is where you will note your mistakes. Enter all blunders in the comments on this Blog. Thanks.

Here are the participants for NOSUGARVEMBER. 

On day 1 we have 17 starters. Well done guys and girls.

I am updating now on day 7 and we have 20 people. Awesome!

Cassandra K
Christie C
Darrin P
Genevieve S
Jane S
Jessie K
Jo J
Jovana P
Kelly P
Kirsty D
Kristin R
Leonie
Louise W
Luke C
Matt B
Monika P
Peta S
Rachel N
Sheena C
Tori E

It is not too late to put your name down. It is much easier to stick to something if you are accountable to others for your actions.

Feel free to join any time this month, the earlier the better, but I would never stop anyone from taking action to improve their health.

Well, it’s day 1 of nosugarvember. Good luck to everyone who has undertaken the challenge. You will see that giving up sugar is not that hard and it will make you feel great!

I will post a 7 day food plan, supplements that I take, some recipes I make and my sugar story, so stay tuned…

Good luck everyone and don’t forget, any stuff up, be it big or small, it goes on the blog as comments on the NOSUGARVEMBER stuff ups page. Also, if you are on the facebook group, write it up there too. If you are not, here is the link to join. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=285890880354

Good luck again and remember, when you are craving something sweet, it is all in your head, find a distraction and you will soon forget about the craving.

With summer fast approaching, everybody starts to panic about getting their winter bodies out. Most of us had grand intentions over the past few months of getting in great shape and some of us have. Unfortunately though many of us have slipped up far too aften and the results we should have achieved didn’t come to fruition.

Add to this, the party season approaching in December and we have a recipe for 1 piece costumes at the beach and ankle length skirts for the girls. Guys, that 6 pack you dreamed of sporting at the beach this year looks more like a keg than a 6 pack.

But, there is hope. Make November your best month to date!

Join the No sugar challenge!

Here’s the rules:

All rules apply for the entire month of November. 

When you mess up, which I am sure you will, at least once. You have to write down what you did on the blog for everyone to see. This alone will help to keep you on track. There is nothing like being accountable to keep you on track, let alone being accountable to everyone in the challenge!

No refined sugar at all.

No sugar in tea or coffee.

No artificial sweeteners either! 

No cakes, chocolates, lollies, soft drinks etc

No bottled fruit juice

No alcohol

No dried fruit

Only 2 serves of fruit per day

No sweetened yogurt

No white potato

Only mulitgrain bread if you must have bread

Only basmati rice if you must have rice

Pasta no more than twice a week

If you follow this, you are sure to trim away the bodyfat. I don’t like to make outrageous comments, but I am positive if you follow these rules, you will get leaner!

It really doesn’t take that long to change your tastebuds and reduce the amount of sugar in your diet. Try it for 30 days and see how you feel. Other than being thinner and healthier, I bet you won’t crave it as much either!

If you are keen to join the challenge, enter your name in the comments and any other info you might like to add and then consider yourself part of the challenge.

I hope by the 31st October we have a large list of names to join the challenge.