Introducing Sugar Free February
It’s time to think about Sugar Free February. The night before the morning after. A night when I am fully justified in having a small *ahem* large bowl of jelly babies.
January is FINALLY coming to an end. It has been a long month. I don’t know about you, but I will be glad to see the back of what has felt like the longest month ever known to man. Not only is it cold and dark, but we have all been broke and are slightly rounder than normal!
I started my 2017 Monthly Challenge on the 1st January, and used Food Diary Month to document what I have been eating. It has been really helpful – not only have I lost half a stone (1 more stone to go!), but I have had a bit of insight into the bad food choices I had been making.
My biggest vice, and by far my biggest weakness, is sugar. I have a very sweet tooth. I can eat the most amazing healthy dinner, but immediately after I crave something sweet to finish it off. Everyone knows that sugar is bad for you, but it was only recently that I appreciated just HOW bad for you it can be!
So this February, starting tomorrow for the next stage of the #2017MonthlyChallenge mission, I am signing up to Cancer Research UK’s Sugar Free February and hoping to raise some funds for the charity in the process.
Here are some scary facts about Sugar Free February and why the sweet stuff is so bad for you:
- In Britain we consume an average of 700g of the sweet stuff a week. That’s an average of 140 teaspoons per person!!
- A 500ml bottle of cola contains the equivalent of 17 cubes of sugar.
- Sugar is a whole bunch of calories with NO added nutrients. NONE! These empty calories may provide energy, however this is shortlived, and simply leads to us craving more.
- Too much fructose from sugar can lead to severe liver problems.
- Sugar has harmful effects on the function of insulin and is a leading driver of type II diabetes.
- Sugar causes a large release of dopamine in the brain, meaning it can cause addiction in a lot of people.
I appreciate that I won’t, for one minute, be able to eradicate all sources of sugar from my diet, so my aim for Sugar Free February is to stop the obvious sources of sugar, such as sweets, biscuits, chocolate, cake. I will of course still consume ‘natural’ sugars in fruit and vegetables.
My other half successfully smashed Dry January, so now it is my turn! No cheats, no excuses – I will not let him beat me!! 🙂
Here’s how I intend to get through Sugar Free February:
- Ditch the ketchup! – as much as I love the stuff it is FULL of sugar, so that will have to go!
- No chocolate, cakes or biscuits – this one is going to hurt.
- No fizzy drinks or sugar in tea and coffee – I don’t really do hot drinks so this part will be relatively easy.
- Make more food from scratch, particularly pasta sauces – the jars can be packed full of the hidden sweet stuff.
- When I am craving something sweet, I will have some fruit, fresh or tinned.
- Drink more water, as often thirst can be confused for hunger.
- Snack on healthy savoury snacks including rice cakes and plain popcorn – I have a feeling Erin will enjoy helping me with the latter!
Are you doing Sugar Free February? What tips do you have for making it through the month?
You can see how I got on with Sugar Free February here.
There are some helpful resources on the Cancer Research website here .
I’m intrigued as to how you get on. I know I eat far too much sugar. I have cut back recently after being poorly and not being able to eat much and I noticed such a massive difference in myself and in my weight. It’s creeping back in and I need to make a conscious effort to reign it back a bit. Good luck lovely, I’m sure you can do it! x
Great tips! Like you, I’m so fed up with January and how I’ve been feeling. Also I give the kids far too many pasta sauces because they are easy but I’d forgotten about the amount of sugar. Thanks for the reminder. Cutting out ketchup is a good idea too. I”ll start with these little things…not sure I’m ready to give up biscuits just yet!
Ah I need to cut down on hidden sugars! I don’t generally eat that much with sugar on (although I am a sucker for a doughnut) but it’s the hidden stuff that gets me x
I am the exact same when it comes to sugar. Unfortunately I think it’s rubbed off on to my daughter, yes I keep sweets in the home, but a limited amount. But today she had been going into overdrive. March I wish I could wait for you! Tomorrow action plan no sugar in the house #sugargate
Good luck! 🙂 I need to cut out ketchup but I love it so much!
I have literally the worst sweet tooth, I’m always after a sugar hit! Maybe I’ll give this a go for March!
Oh good luck! I thought about doing sugar free Feb and even tried to give up in January but I lasted 3 days before inhaling a pack of biscuits. I’m just going to try and cut down on sugar now, rather than give it up completely.
It’s nice to find someone with a similar approach to me. I know how to eat healthily, but wow do I have a sweet tooth. I can eat more of my day’s calories in chocolate than in actual, proper food. So I decided to give up obvious stuff first like chocolate and sweets, cereals and yogurts with added sugar for February. I still eat fruit (even dates although I count those out). I’m lucky to already be a water drink (and I hate ketchup!). I refuse to give up bread or potatoes.
I eased into it by giving up just chocolate for the last week of January just to see if I could, and have been going strong ever since. I gave myself a by-day on 12th Feb since we were visiting family and it was our anniversary but didn’t go mad. The only sugary thing I had was homemade apple crumble (delicious!). The first week was hard. I’m finding it fine now. Frankly I’m astonished. I was the last person I thought would manage this. And despite eating a little bit more cheese and peanut butter than before, I’ve lost a few pounds too. I will see where I am by the end of the month and go from there.