Bye Bye Sugar

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Is sugar toxic? I can attest that it’s addictive. Could you give it up forever? What about for just one week?

That’s exactly what sixteen participants of the “Ultimate Loser” set out to do this Tuesday. From Tuesday to Tuesday they will shun all added sugars including honey and fruit juice. The only sweet indulgence to pass their lips will be fresh fresh fruit. To spice things up, we’ll be posting something just for fun.

 

These parents have agreed to have their names published here on this blog so that they have extra accountability. I’ll post the starting list and each day I will take off the names of those who haven’t made it to the end of the challenge.
The participants are:
  • Elizabeth Liu
  • Milena
  • Arie
  • Yvonne
  • kestral
  • Ana
  • Halima
  • Kelly
  • Sally
  • Sasa
  • Andria
  • Jean
  • Emily
  • Anna
  • Heather
  • Meyer
So, what’s the big deal with sugar? Why all the fuss? Recently, on “60 Minutes” there was a Dr. who called sugar “toxic” and “poison.” In an artical from msnbc we see just how little added sugar we should be consuming.
“Currently, the American Heart Association recommends up to 100 calories (25 grams) per day of added sugar for women, and 150 calories (about 38 grams) for men. That’s much less than you might think: 100 calories of added sugar is found in 1/2 cup chocolate ice cream (56 calories) plus one cup of low fat chocolate milk (45 calories). One can of regular soda contains 126 calories from added sugars.”

Although I consider my diet to be low in refined sugars, I do use a lot of alternate sugars such a stevia, date syrup, raw honey, dried fruit and coconut sugar (also known as palm sugar or gula malaka). However, I decided that I was going to join this challenge and add an additional personal restriction, no blood-sugar raising sugars except for minimal (1 tablespoon) amount of dried fruit and one serving of fresh fruit a day. Honestly, my personal restriction showed just how effective “personal” diet plans can go.

Without the community support of the official challenge, I was munching on fruit each time a chocolate called out my name from the fridge, “Elizabeth, Eeeeeeeeat meeeeeee!”

That’s ok, fruit really is good for me anyway. Besides, I lost half a kilo after my no added sugars day. Yay!

So, just what do you eat when you cut out all added sugars?
This morning I decided to concoct a family approved grain, gluten & dairy free waffle recipe. While some of the ingredients like ckickpea flour and coconut flour can be hard to find in China, some ingredients can be substited (xylitol, which can be found in jia de li grocery store, can be used in place of stevia).
Most of the measurements are noted in grams. I highly recommend that people looking to watch their weight purchase a electric food scale, which can be found at the electric market in Puxi for around 60 yuan.
While the calorie content might seem on the higher side, this high protien waffle mix is filling so that you don’t find a need to snack all morning.
grain, gluten & dairy free high-protein waffle recipe
dry ingredients
80g raw almonds (found for 38 yuan a jin at the avocado lady)
20g dried coconut (city shop carries it for a price)
60g chickpea/gram flour (can be made from dried chickpeas if you have a vitamix)
4 packs of truvia stevia (can use 1-2 teaspoons xylitol)
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
wet ingredients
230g baked pumpkin (can use canned but not as sweet)
2 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed oil)
2 eggwhites and 1 egg
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons oil for waffle iron
Blend dry ingredients together in high powered blender till powdery. Add wet ingredients and blend. Cook on waffle iron till ready. You can use a chopstick to pry the waffles out.
I use a natural hair paint brush to dip in the oil and spread on the iron to lessen the oil content.
This made 5 half waffles. This makes each serving 237 calories. I had 2 servings and was full for the morning!

Here’s to six more days of this. Thank you Mithi (our friend and professional health coach who volunteered to speak at our meeting of the ultimate loser on Sunday) for highlighting the dangers of sugar. Our health, our waistlines and our teeth thank you!

 

3 responses to “Bye Bye Sugar”

  1. So far so good. Yesterday was not too much problem, no-sugar wise. I mostly started Monday, since early on I didn’t realize we were starting Tuesday, but I had a glass of orange juice on Mon morning before I realized that fruit juice is a no-no (only whole fruit.) I had a late-night online class last night, so I slept in this morning and was really, erm, ‘challenged’ when I woke up and saw that my husband and daughter had gone to Paris Baguette and brought back a bag of pastries!!! *sigh* But I stayed strong, and made myself some scrambled eggs with broccoli on linseed bread toast with a big mango, strawberry and kiwi smoothie. I’m hanging in there!

  3. That was a great read Susannah, thanks for that. Although now I am craving a Coke. But I guess now I know why, too!

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