I Quit Sugar

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

A Einstein

There are changes happening here on the northern front. Big changes. And I’m not talking about the surprise baby, I’m talking about something equally unlikely to have happened/to be talked about when using the turn ‘miracle’: I’m giving up sugar! I’m. Giving. Up. Sugar.

Yes, Little Miss Sweet-tooth has decided that what my mother has been telling me for years* is true, I’m sweet enough. I don’t need the white stuff, the little sachet of sparkling powder, the added powder puff of snow-like delight because I am becoming more and more aware that the sweet serenade for the soul is actually, dissonant tone cluster bastards for the body.

I have come to discover all of this during my last visit home, where I stumbled upon this health revolution via pioneering Australians such as David Gillespie, Sarah Wilson and Gary Fekkte:

Sugar-coated facts in a fructose-free nutshell:

♦ Globally, we are all consuming way more sugar then we should be ♦Globally, we are all consuming way more sugar then we should be and we don’t even realise because sugar is being added to virtually everything by the food industry ♦ if you take out the fibre/fat in food and add sugar to things, people like it more and it has a longer shelf life, then your profits go up ♦ because sugar is additive, the food industry needs to add more and more sugar to things so we keep buying it, the cereal I grew up on in the 70’s is not the same as it is today ♦ obesity/diabetes/heart disease/cancer are all on the rise, significantly. For countries like Australia and Sweden (with public health systems) this spells doom not for future generations, but for now ♦ If you fuck with people’s profits they will get pissed ♦ Sugar is not all bad. It is made up of glucose (what our bodies actually can process and need) and fructose (the devil). ♦ By eliminating/reducing fructose you can maintain a healthier weight and overall health ♦Low fat just means high sugar so when you think you are eating healthy, you are simply not. ♦You can still cook with glucose/dextrose and enjoy tasty treats so your afternoon tea does not need to include cardboard.♦Wine contains minimal fructose, it’s like God himself came up with this lifestyle plan.

You can make this and say it’s sugar-free. No wonder I can do this!

So for the month of November I’ll be treating my body and baby to 30 days of  sugar-free joy, I’m quitting sugar. Well, to be more accurate as sugar is in most things and I will bake with dextrose, so I’m quitting shit. I’m quitting stuffing my face with things I shouldn’t be: processed foods + fizzy drinks + fruit juice (instead I’ll eat the whole fruit and get the fibre as well) +Tim Tams + Danish Pastries + croissants. It will be a month of Fructose-free pleasure of seasonal foods and a whole heap of water. And complaining. I’m sure I can do it but I’ll need your help!

I’m reading ‘The Sweet Poison Quit Plan‘ by David Gillespie which advises that for the first few weeks when you are in sugar/fructose detox, you need to break the addiction so should not eat treats with glucose/dextrose in them but go cold turkey. As these first few weeks will fall through Christmas, I’ve decided to bugger that advice. I’m a rule breaker. (O.K, let’s not put the Pants of Insanity on just yet, I need a soft start to this social experiment.) So whilst I’ll reduce my sugar intake greatly, I’ll more than likely bake a bit (with dextrose) or have the occasional Xmas Swedish treat  but as Dr Phil says, set your life up to succeed. If I set my expectations low enough, I am sure to succeed! (It’s like with any big life change/new years resolution, instead of saying I’m going to jog 5 times every week, and then when you only do it once you feel shit about yourself and give up, it’s better to say I’m going to start by jogging once a week and if I manage more I’m a total genius.)

My next read is ‘I Quit Sugar‘ by Sarah Wilson which is being sent to me by my sister in Sydney because I didn’t want to pay the 17 bucks shipping. I’ve already plundered her website so I cannot wait for it to arrive and my sister still cannot believe I asked her to send it to me. Her little ‘are you going to finish your triple chocolate cake, because I can polish it off for you‘ sister.

On my bedside table.

And guess what? I’ve already started. I started about 3 weeks ago with my above plan of just quitting shit. AND I FEEL FANTASTIC. I kid you not. By the end of the first week I noticed big differences, most in terms of my energy levels which is actually the whole reason for starting. (During the first week I did suffer headaches but they seemed to pass.) Then during the 2nd and 3rd weeks, I just started feeling better and better and better! No more need for afternoon naps which my employee is very happy about, no need for going to bed with the kids at 7.30pm, my digestive system is working better, my mood is up, up, up and I just have an entirely new lust for life. Fructember bring it on!

DISCLAIMER: As I am 21 weeks pregnant with our miracle non-IVF surprise baby, I am in no way interested in weight loss and am embarking on Fructember for general health/increased energy reasons only. I’ve actually never ever had issues with my weight and can down 10 Big Mac’s** without anything happening to me. See, told you I was a witch. I love being pregnant and all that that entails! I put on stacks with #1, not so much with #2 mainly because I was the ‘1 in 10,000’ women who contracted Chicken Pox during my pregnancy. Both times though, the weight fell off me quickly, without ever having to jump on a bike. DEVIL WOMEN. I know.

Further fructose-free reading:

www.iquitsugar.com

www.sweetpoison.com

www.nofructose.com

For those of you who cannot read:

 A great episode from ABC’s Catalyst program, “Toxic Sugar?” Watching this convinced me to do this.

“Sugar: the bitter truth” The Youtube lecture by Dr Lustig changed my life.

Do you believe in setting your expectations as low as possible?

♥Images stolen from http://www.sweetpoison.com.au, http://www.sxc.hu♥

*since I was born.

** I will not be doing this during Fructember.