As I mentioned in my July goals post, one of them was cutting down on sugar. I had the idea to document how the first week went.
I use ‘cutting down’ on sugar as I’m not getting rid of it entirely, I still eat dark chocolate, fruit, honey etc. This is more cutting down on refined sugar and only indulging in a small treat everyday.
DAY 1
Unfortunately for me, day 1 concided at the same day as my period came. I know, right? Talk about bad timing! I was craving all the sugary things. Thankfully, my willpower seemed to of kicked in at some point, so the only sugary things I had was a bit of ketchup at a family BBQ, and some jam on my toast in the evening.
DAY 2
Day 2 felt a lot easier, and I really started to look at how much sugar was in the things I usually reached for. It might seem silly but I already felt a bit lighter and healthier, which I’m definitely not complaining about! I treated myself to a yoghurt snack bar and that was about it for the sugary things that day.
DAY 3
Day 3 was a bit of a revelation. I had so much more energy than the previous days, and less sugar crashes too! I didn’t have any sugar treats today as I really didn’t crave any, whoop whoop.
DAY 4
Okay, so by day 4 I knew I needed to do a bit of healthy baking if I wanted to keep on going with this and not reach for the bourbons. I made some healthy cookies from Deliciously Ella that were soooo good, and ones I’d definitely make again! I also made myself a mini pizza on a nann bread so I had some tomato puree on that too which contains a bit of sugar.
DAY 5
Day 5 didn’t start off too well, as we ran out of porridge so I had to have some Special K for breakfast. Granted, it’s not the healthiest, but it’s not as bad as having coco-pops, so I’m not being too hard on myself. I also treated myself to a diet coke as we watched the England match in a pub, although it always gives me a massive stomach ache after.
DAY 6
On day 6 I didn’t sleep well so I was feeling super tired, which I must say really makes the sugar cravings kick in! I had some vegan Ben & Jerry’s after dinner which was delicious, I love something sweet in the evening as a treat 🙂
DAY 7
I experimented with coconut sugar in my tea on day 7, which I have to say isn’t too bad actually! I had two ‘milk and cereal’ biscuits which I actually didn’t really enjoy, but reached for them anyway because we didn’t have much in the house.
VERDICT: All in all, this week really opened up my eyes as to how much sugar I usually consume, and most of it is without even thinking about it! I’m proud of how I did this week, and kept the biscuit consumption to a bare minimum which feels good as I now know I don’t *need* them like I thought I did.
Physically, my body felt a lot more energised and my stomach a lot flatter, plus mentally I felt so much more in control of my body and I feel so much healthier with cutting down on sugar. I’m definitely going to try continue it for the foreseeable future.
Have you ever cut down on sugar before? How did it go?