So you may be wondering how I am going. Well, up to this weekend it was going great, and I hadn't had any major sugar cravings for a while, and then came Saturday evening. For a reason completely unknown to be (maybe because I am a woman and it's my prerogative to decide how I feel and when and I don't need any particular reason the reason can simply be "just because"), on Saturday evening I was really sad, and with that sadness came this massive craving for something sweet (because lets be honest, sadness is always cured with sugary goodness isn't it???), and so came a 24 hours long quest to fulfil my sugar cravings and end my sadness.
Firstly, I ate every single piece of cheese in the house, because I'm sure there's some dietary rule about how eating a tonne of cheese can also cure sadness, however this didn't work. So then I turned to my good friend google who suggested a few things such as: Go for a walk - seriously I want sugar, how on earth does walking curb that?; Eat some almonds - ya definitely not the same thing; Try meditation - seriously who writes this stuff? Mediating means all I'm doing is sitting in silence imaging chocolate and how amazing it is. The worst one, and the one that made me just give up on google altogether was to suggest I drink a glass of water, now I don't know what type of water came out of this persons tap, but mine certainly does not curb sugar cravings or cure sadness.
After about 24 hours, I decided to make some "Sweet Potato Protein Balls" which was a recipe that was provided by the program. I don't know why I held out so much hope for these protein balls given I knew exactly what went into them (which was basically some sweet potato and pumpkin puree, coconut flour and oil, and some crushed almonds), but I really did think they would help my cravings. So I made them, and put them in the fridge to set, and then came the moment of truth, finally my cravings would be gone with these amazing protein balls. THEY WERE AWFUL!!!! Why oh why did I think something that had sweet potato and pumpkin would taste the same as chocolate. It was like having dinner for dessert, and it was not pleasant. I know there are people out there that have replaced chocolate with food like this, and I was really hoping I would become one of these, but I failed, it was awful. I do not understand how anyone can enjoy food like this (if there is anyone who has found something extremely tasty and "healthy" please feel free to share your recipe as I still hold out some hope). In the end I drank two glasses of wine and went to bed, my good friend wine didn't let me down, not like my sweet potato protein balls!!!
After all that, Monday rolled around, and with it the reintroduction of fruit for the first time in 4 weeks, and boy was I excited! All day at work I was deciding what fruit to have for my first piece, it was a tough choice, I am a bit boring in my fruit eating, so it was a choice of a banana, an apple or some strawberries, but it was still tough. In the end I decided on the apple. I was a bit nervous (who knew eating fruit could be so stressful), in case it was one of those ones that looked good on the outside, and then when you cut into it was all powdery and yuck, but the apple did not let me down (not like the protein balls - think I'm scared for life from those). It was every bit as good as I imagined it, if not better. I actually think I was so vocal about it the neighbours probably wondered what was going on, if only they knew all that noise was over an apple they would have officially tipped me over into the mental health category, but I don't care I loved it. It tasted so sweet and crispy, and definitely satisfied the sugar cravings (in hindsight I should have broken the fruit rule a day earlier and eaten some on Sunday). I still haven't allowed myself to eat my favourite banana as I am a bit fearful it may not taste as good as I remember, maybe that can be tomorrows treat.
On a serious note, did you know today was World Obesity Day. As a result of this I have had a whole heap of stuff pop up on my FB feed about the link between obesity and sugar intake. Some of the interesting facts that have popped up on my feed today include:
- In Australia, we are consuming 22kg of added sugar each year
- There is a direct link between sugary drink consumption and obesity, dental cavities and Type 2 diabetes
- 1 in 3 Aussie children will be overweight or obese by 2025
- Adult-onset diabetes (Type 2 diabetes) is on the rise in children and young people
- Today, 280 Australians will be diagnosed with all types of diabetes
Now I don't know about you, but these stats scare me. It is something that we can do something quite easily to avoid, and yet people don't seem to want to do anything about it (I myself am guilty of this). One interesting thing that did pop up on my feed was about a campaign called "Sugar by Half", which is been established to try and encourage people to cut their added sugar by half in order to improve their health outcomes. Their webpage has a lot of info and support for anyone who may be interested in seeing how this can be done easily i your everyday life, have a look if you are interested, you may learn something:
I will sign off here, I may even go eat some banana who knows. Until next time, thanks for reading:)
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