I went to Cyprus!!!

We have just got back from Cyprus!! (Monday actually). It was incredible...the shadow had a few days off School so we took off outta here into cooler climates. The weather was perfect!! Absolutely amazing.
The Shadow, husband and I watched magical purple-skied sunrises, admired and made wishes with the glorious full blue moon, ran riot after dinner along Larnaca beach, got locked into public toilets...twice....partied in Ayia Napa (does drinking coffee in the afternoon count?) and I watched in awe of my little human as he got so excited he could barely breathe at a water park. I was proud of him for conquering some of his fears...I.e whooshing down a big flume and squeeling to go faster!
It was fabulous...did I stay off the sugar? Nope. How about gluten? Whoopsie...I had all the things I shouldn't have had. But I did eat lots of salad!! I was a bit like 'argh' at first but then I thought 'f' it...I shall deal with it when I get home. And I did. Yesterday I was totally groggy but today I feel ok....so there...no regrets just happy memories of an awesome time away with my family...eat up!!

Day 22....

I have made it past the 3 week mark!!

To celebrate my 3 weeks of no sugar I was delighted with my first lot of sugar cravings...can you believe that?! A few times throughout the day I had moments where I felt weak. It was unusual as I haven't had any cravings until yesterday!! I got through it and didnt touch da sweet stuff.

I did however have some gluten free oats yesterday. I made sweet potato and mushroom burgers. The recipe asked for oats and my first attempts WITHOUT the oats would not bind together and would break and fall apart even after I had cooked them....so I used oats and they came out much better, although in my opinion they tasted better without the oats! Did it contribute to cravings? I dont think so, but I was super bloated last night.

This morning, I heated some left over pancakes for my shadow, I cannot lie...the smell!!! Omg...it was divine!! I just kept saying, 'these smell so delicious'  neither the shadow or husband got what I was talking about. I think my sense of smell has changed!

I still had some cravings today but I keep reminding myself of how awful I felt only a few weeks ago and how far I have come in the last 3 weeks....I feel a bit antisocial as I have already turned down 3 takeaways, a couple of vanilla soya lattes and lots of sweet feedings from my shadow...but right now this is important to me!

The 16th day

I am shocked to see that I haven't updated in a week. I had quite a busy week as I am currently volunteering at the shadows School twice a week, plus I dealt with a flood in our villa and a vomiting child....and a husband that was away most of the week. It can get busy and quite full on. I spent most mornings preparing food for myself and that can  take up quite a bit of my time too (totally worth it), so by Friday (the first day of the weekend here) I was ready for a rest!
I was feeling good though, and avoiding sugar, I believe, gave me the energy to deal with the week. The afternoon slumps are pretty much gone and the foggy brain has improved. I admit, Friday, was a bit of 'drag my feet day'  even though we all went for a little bike ride in the morning which was lurrrrvvvvellly.
I also went out with friends on Friday night. I had 2 glasses of red wine, felt quite pissed!! Oopsie....but had a fabulous, sweaty night dancing with friends out in the desert heat.
Saturday, although gasping for water all day, I woke to a rank tasting mouth that lasted all day and craved sugar a little bit too....Lesson learnt. I dont particularly need to drink to have a good time, but I did fancy a tipple that night...

So I am continuing and enjoying the journey. It is a relief to have some food addiction freeness and not be continuously thinking about what sugary substance is lingering in my cupboards in the evening for me to devour. The fat intake is still high and I believe that this has contributed to the sugar relief. I hope I have found a balance. I have still not eaten fruit (except grapes in wine heheh) to be honest I am a little afriad to taste anything sugary as I don't want to go back to the sugary 'mess' that I was only a few short weeks ago...

Is it really day 9?

Wowers. Day 9! No fruit, no refined sugar, no soy and day 7 of no grains!!

Why no soy? I am on the fence with the pros and cons of soy. I have read good and bad stuff about it...and having had it for 12 years, why not see what happens if I eliminate it?  Secondly I drink an almost daily soya latte from a coffee shop, I definitely don't want the dairy version, another plant milk alternative is not available so I just sluurped away. But with cutting out the sugar, I assumed the soya milk would be loaded with the stuff so thought 'what the heck' I'll drink tea instead!!

So what do I eat!?? I would say I am eating a lot of plants! A lot!! I have found some great alternatives....spiralising courgette is one idea for a pasta/spaghetti, cauliflower rice is another and more recently I have learnt about the burger alternitive using one of those giant flat mushrooms...what are they called???!!
For example, tonights dinner is a bolognaise, made with a mushroom mince, (mushroom, carrot, garlic and onion, finely chopped in a food processor or blender) with a tomato salsa and cauliflower rice (sautéed with garlic and kidney beans.) Yummmmmy!! Ok, I admit, it can be a bit time consuming but making bulk and eating it the next day for lunch makes it worth it. I also like that I know what I am putting into my body and being more aware of the rubbish that is out there. AND I actually do really love to cook.

How am I feeling? I have been on a bit of a rollercoaster of emotionas this weekend and some of my unpublished posts may just remain unpublished. It's been a tough weekend and am wondering if, the holistic therapist in me, thinks this is a type of body healing process of all the foods I have eliminated. If it is, then I didn't handle it very well and should have just gone on a deserted island until I was feeling myself again. Today I am feeling much better.
Physically though I feel good and the afternoon slumps have actually kinda gone. And I dont feel so foggy headed like I used too :-D

Food Stuff

Cauliflower rice...see??? Looks just like rice. Easy peasy to prepare too. Either grate or food process a cauliflower head. It makes loads, this bowlful came from half a small cauliflower head.

Dried red kidney beans becoming undry!!

Day 6. Snappy Happy

I am in awe of myself...I cannot believe I have got this far!!

I said in yesterdays post that I was feeling amazing and I truly am, but I am also a little 'snappy' too, which I also mentioned in yesterdays post. This I don't particularly like...

This morning I woke a little groggy. Possibly because I exercised last night and then couldn't get to sleep an hour or so after exercising. I must have slept well though because I woke to a human in my bed and wondered at what point in the night had this little person crept into my bed.

I feel good though. Did I mention that I have cut out grains too? It kinda happened accidentally, eating more plant based foods. The first two days I had wheat in my veggie sausages so I suppose this is day 4 of no grains. I am not even eating the gluten free kind. In my head, I figured I wanted no temptation, if I had grains, I believe it may lead on to a sugar splurge/cravings. I have always wondered about grains though, I have a skin problem known as keratosis polaris...or 'chicken skin' (mermaid skin) and I have been reading that it could be caused by a sensitivity to gluten and it's ability to stop the body from absorbing omega 3. I have stopped eating gluten in the past, but never noticed much difference in my skin condition, maybe because I wasnt paying much attention. But today, it feels as though the skin on my upper arms are much softer and certainly less 'scaly' (I used to say I was a mermaid in my past life...) could it be.....so more motivation to keep going.

I am suprised at my motivation to eliminate fruit for as long as I have...I don't particularly miss it either. I was however cutting up strawberries for the shadow yesterday and o my....they smelt soooooooooooooooo sweeeeeeeeet!! Has my nasal buds changed too? Is that possible? Thoughts?

Btw...I had an amazing curry-like-dinner last night made from sweet potatoes and lentils, I made cauliflower rice and softened it in a pan with water and garlic...o my..it was amzing. I should have taken a picture but I scoffed it down...sorryyyy

I am currently un-drying?? Is that even a word? red kidney beans. I soaked them overnight and now have put them in the slow cooker for 8 hours. I have never done this before so wish me luck. Dried beans/lentils are so cheap I don't know why I haven't done this before. I keep buying the canned versions though and although thats fine, BPA or whatever it is, from the can is not. Also, I recently nearly vommited on a funky tasting red kidney bean. It left me questioning the health of a canned bean!! Eek....

Day 5- Feeling wonderful

Reached day 5...yay go me!

After a bit of a tense morning with my shadow, and him bringing it to my attention, we played a game of 'I love you because.'...it helped A LOT! Sometimes I wonder who is the adult...me or him....

I think playing the game helped reset my grumpy mindset and put me in a good mood. I watched his assembly, did a 20 minute ride on the turbo trainer and went for coffee..or in my case rooibos tea with a friend. I am feeling so good today! So happy, no brain fog, positive and present!! It is interesting to me and I sincerely hope it continues to just get better...

I still have acheyness, a bit of anxiousness and I've had some mouth issues too, a minor metallic taste in the mouth and my teeth? Gums? hurt. I cant quite articulate the feeling but I am aware that its there. I am thinking it is linked to the achey body somehow....

So far though, so good and I am so proud of myself with how far I have come.

No cravings, which has made it so much easier!!

Day 3 some more...

O my goodness...I feel well but ill all at the same time...I just feel I need to sleep!! I have a dull ache in my head, I feel like I have anxiety, have restless body (not just legs...arms too), and on/off pain in my abdomen. I still feel like my energy is low but stable, albeit a bit tense. O the joys.

Let me tell you, I have lived on sugar for like forever. I think I ate sugar every.single.day since childhood. I was told to avoid it back in my weight training days but it still crept in (daily soya latte anyone?!!) Is it any wonder I feel like shiiiite?!!! My body totally is rebelling today...what a traitor!! I have been feeding it lots of goodness, green veg, beans, legumes, sweet potato, nuts etc....but it wants da sweeet stuff!! Noooooooo....roll on bedtime and day 4!

Ps. I managed some exercise today too.

Day 3

So I have reached day 3!! Hurrah....yesterday was ok. I didnt experience any cravings at all, but I was hungry ALLLLL day...nothing took away my appetite and I just ate to try and feel satisfied. I am hoping this will work itself out....otherwise I expect to be quite a few pounds heavier!

I also felt quite tired but noticed that I didnt feel like I had any 'ups then downs'....I felt consistent, although quite 'low,' again I am hoping that is temporary and I will come out the other side in a few days. I tried to do some yoga too but felt so weak that I cut it short after 15minutes.

I didn't sleep much at all last night. I had restless legs again, and the shadow had me up quite a lot in the night. I have a feeling today will be more challenging due to 'real' tiredness, rather then 'withdrawal' tiredness..but maybe it is all in the mind? If I live by that then maybe I will tell my body to have cravings. Perhaps I should alter the thought pattern....'I feel good, I have energy'
What are your thoughts on changing the mindset? Has It worked for you?

Sugar free update -Day 1/2

Ok...I admit. I have been totally rubbish. Rubbish at blogging, and rubbish with my own promise of sugar freeness. Life gets in the way and my procrastination too. Social media etc is a brilliant tool but people get too addicted living their own life through it rather then looking up and living life for just how it is...I dont want to be the former and so I find it easy to put down my phone and just 'do life'. I am also bringing up a son and each phase in his little life presents challenges and amazing moments that I would miss if the eyes were focused on the white screen, I want to saviour each moment, so everything else takes a back seat...sorry, not that sorry, about that.

Anyhow, I feel it is time for an update...so the sugar freeness didnt happen....I kinda put it to the back of my brain and forgot about it. There were moments where I didnt eat much of it for sure. But other times I would scoff it down without a thought for what task I had set myself.
The last few days, I have eaten out a lot, eaten the sweet stuff, enjoyed the sweet stuff too. But I started thinking about how much of it I was eating and the impact it had on me once I'd had a taste. It was never JUST a taste. It was a downward spiral of wanting more and more and more and more...until I felt miserable. After speaking with a friend who doesnt eat sugar, I was feeling inspired, motivated and actually ready to tackle this...something I dont think I was after christmas, they were just words in my head at what I needed to do but hadnt actually absorbed.
So after a barbeque, cake, raw balls and red wine...I decided enough. I read about detox and sugar withdrawal symptoms and so feel slightly better prepared.  This time, I have decided to cut out fruit for the first few days to see if it helps tackle sugar craving and to 'reset' the tastebuds.

Yesterday was day 1. I was feeling pretty tired for most of the day. I couldn't decide if it was due to having a few late nights or because my body mainly runs on sugar..and today it wasn't. Perhaps it was a bit of both. By the end of the day though, I was exhausted, bloated, with a sore throat and restless legs. I slept okish but had some weird dreams that felt as though I was awake.

Today is the beginning of day 2. I still feel quite tired and woke up groggy. I feel like doing some yoga today, for the first time in forever. I have been doing quite a bit of HIIT training, but not today, it is like my body is telling me to take it easy and I am ok with that. I am not having cravings, but my goal is to eat enough (and eat lots of greens) to ensure that I am never hungry.
My breakfast has been some CoYo. Which is a coconut yogurt alternative. There is no sugar in it. It is yummy and offers a small amount of sweetness too. I made up a salad for lunch with chickpeas and soya sausage and dinner last night was homemade butternut squash chips with brocoli, sprouts and more salad/sausage. It will be a similar set up today....I hope I can remain strong. From about 1 to 5pm I usually have a major crash in energy and am hoping that doesnt make me reach for the sugar......