Sugar Free February – Week 1

Well, I have survived the first week of Sugar Free February!!

Today is day 7 of my 28 day Sugar Free February Challenge – where I am not allowed any processed sugar during the whole of February. This includes cakes, sweets, biscuits, chocolate and other naughty treats! After Christmas, I probably consumed a years worth of Quality Street in a few days, and as such, my diet and my weight suffered as a result. When my other half successfully did Dryathlon in January, February is now my turn, and my attempt to say goodbye to the sweet stuff for a whole month.

Just to be clear, I am allowing myself natural sugars, so I am allowing fruit and vegetables, but other than that I have removed as much sugar as humanly possible from my diet.

Here’s how Sugar Free February has gone so far:

• I very rarely have hot drinks or full fat fizzy drinks, but in the last 7 days I have had no sugary drinks at all. I have mainly been drinking water or sugar free cordial.
• We have had a pasta dinner one night this week, but I made the pasta sauce from scratch – the jars which we normally have are surprisingly PACKED full of sugar, and by making it myself, I was much more in control of what went into it. This was also of benefit to my daughter, as I was able to blend a lot more vegetables in to it as well, whilst my picky threenager was none the wiser.
• No ketchup – this one I have missed, but I have banished the ketchup from my meals. I am a condiment queen, so whilst I miss it, I am sure it won’t do me any harm.
• No chocolate, no sweets, no cakes and no biscuits – I have found this much easier than I would have expected, probably because I had already cut down a bit during January’s Food Diary Month.
• Lots of fruit. When I am craving something sweet, which lets face it, is quite often, I reach for the fruit. I have been snacking on strawberries, grapes and kiwi fruit. Whilst these do contain sugar, they are the natural sugars which are good for your body, and have a whole heap of other nutrients and vitamins mixed in. In other words, they are MUCH better for me than a French fancy or a custard cream! 🙂

And that’s it really – week one of Sugar Free February done with some very basic steps. I am sure there are some ‘hidden’ sugars in the meals I have been consuming, but overall my sugar intake has been significantly reduced if nothing else.

And the best bit, I did my weekly weigh in on Sunday, just 5 days into the Sugar Free February challenge, and have already lost 2lb. Having kept a food diary during January, it was clear that the sweet stuff was a major source of my extra calories, and as such I am hopeful that I will lose at least another 3lb during the remainder of February. This will take me well on my way towards my aim of getting back to my pre baby weight. I’ve lost 10lb so far this year, and have another 14lb to go.

The hardest part of Sugar Free February?

Watching my other half consume a whole heap of sugary snacks right next to my face. Having to politely decline when my ever so sweet daughter offers me a bite of her milkybar, and takes offense when I say I don’t want any. I got to inhale the scent of one at least :).

Who else is doing Sugar Free February? How have you found it so far?