One Week Sugar Free

Hello!

So when my head hit the pillow tonight I'll be concluding my first week of being sugar free as part of my 50 Days No Sugar challenge.  That's certainly a milestone so I thought I'd do a quick round up of my findings.

Sleeping better - BIG bonus.  Sleep is so important to me at the moment because it really effects my ability to cope and my state of well being.  So being sugar free has already paid off, on that point alone.

My moods have been less of a roller coaster, and I'm not getting that mid-afternoon slump quite as severely.  I still feel tired, but I make a cup of peppermint tea and it seems to perk me back up and I'm fine for the rest of the day.  

I'm hungry all the time!  This isn't anything unusual, but I'm really hanging out for the promised reduced appetite.  This week, since I've been really truly sugar free I have been ravenous!  I stopped counting my calories and just ate when I needed to - go to snacks were pretty much some pistachios or a few slices of chicken I had pre-cooked handy in the fridge.  

Frozen fruit has been pretty much my saviour in the evenings.  I've been cutting mangoes into squares or slicing kiwi fruit and freezing them ahead of time so after dinner when the sugar monster makes an appearance, I grab a small portion from the freezer.  Why have I never done this before?!  Seriously so much flavour - I am converted for life on this one. 

Half a mango, frozen & delicious & only like 60 calories.  

My other big sugary vice was drinking iced tea.  The Liptons ice tea is only about 135 calories for a whole 500mls, so I was being pretty lax with it and drinking it pretty regularly, only a bottle a day but still, when I consider the ingredients are pretty much water, tea and SUGAR, I really was kidding myself that this was ok to drink so often!  I seriously wouldn't have even a portion of that amount of sugar in a cup of normal tea - in fact, I don't take sugar in tea or coffee normally at all.

So now I've done something I really should have done ages ago, and started making my own iced tea - with not a hint of sugar or artificial sweetener.  So good!  This particular one was made using a berry tea with a squeeze of lemon.  Perfect!  

Iced Tea - Sugar Free!

The other big surprise was yoghurt - seriously, I consider yoghurt pretty healthy for a snack or breakfast, and nearly every single brand I looked at had sugar in it!  Finally settled on Jalna yoghurt and adding my own fruit and some nuts and seeds instead of muesli for breakfast.

So now I seem to have  the sugar cravings under control, and my body's constant demand for food seems to have subsided a little, this week I'll be able to ramp my training back up and really tighten things up on the nutrition side.  

I've already written out my nutrition plan, my training for the week is locked in and I'm feeling really positive.  With one week sugar free done and dusted, the next 43 days don't seem as daunting as they did this time last week!

Trail Mix: Update, Running and Sugar

Hi All,

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I had a moment to blog about everything that's been happening, but since today I commenced a 50 Days No Sugar challenge (found over at PT Natalie Carter's site), I wanted to put it out there to mark the start of this new project.

I'd really been noticing a steady increase in the amount of sugary foods I was eating - without even taking into account the sneaky sugar we get in lots of products we don't even think about - and also noticed it effecting my moods, my energy levels and more than likely, my  sleep and my weight.

I'd been talking a few people about the benefits of kicking the sugar and when I stumbled across #50daysnosugar, I asked for some tips on Facebook and Natalie simply replied "Nikki, do the challenge! Simple- you'll get rid of sugar if you WANT to get rid of sugar." 

And it really is that simple, so I'm in.  I'm not looking at this as a weight loss activity, but more an experiment to see where I'll find myself in 50 days time.  But moreover, I DO want to get rid of the sugar.  I am sick of constantly being on the hunt for something sweet to eat or drink, and having noticed the difference just kicking diet soft drinks has made over the last few months, I decided this was a no brainer and 100% worth doing.

I'm really excited that a few of my gorgeous Twitter friends are also joining me.  I am under no illusion that this will be a challenge, but as someone who generally makes most of their food from scratch, I am feeling quietly confident.  The real challenge is all the extra treats I throw in here and there, which have got completely out of hand.

That aside, a few other quick updates:

Held a "practice" group training session at the end of March - had a ball, and got some great feedback from those who came to train.  I know there are a few things I'll need to improve on but I was really happy with how it went.  

I ran a Tabata session - here's a shot of my group in one of their 10 second breaks.  They worked so hard!!

Just returned from a whirlwind trip to South Australia - had a blast!  The trip was so busy though, I really didn't get a chance to fit in any training other than walking around, a hike through a winery or a dip in the ocean.  Without running or training for 3 days I was feeling so sluggish by last night!  I was pretty glad to be back into it today.

And with that, I think I'll wind it up there because this post is getting lengthy and I really want you all to keep reading!  

Have a great week everyone!

Yours in sugar withdrawals,
Nikki xx