I Quit Sugar - Week 1 prep!

I officially started Sarah Wilson's 8-week I Quit Sugar today!  Like I stated in my blog post last week, it's really quitting fructose that is the issue, however, this program helps you to quit ALL sugars to remove the addictive nature and just the "taste" most people have for it.  Towards the end you bring back in low fructose fruits and non-fructose sweeteners little by little but still in moderation.  Plus the meal plans are designed by a whole mess of experts in nutrition so they are just full of everything you need and more…why not have someone tell me exactly what to eat and when right?

While I wish I could share every recipe with you, I did pay for the program so that probably wouldn't be right, but I can show you pretty pictures and share other recipes on the site that are accessible to you!

The focus of week 1 is just to start off greatly reducing sugar and making some simple food swaps. I've been doing this part for quite a while now, so I don't suspect it will be too much of an issue. Some of these tips/swaps that have helped me over the past month or so include:

• Eating/drinking full fat yogurt and milk…and cheese for that matter.  Replacing fat with sugar will make you feel FULL and help ward off sugar cravings.  Milk tastes pretty sweet to me so I find a glass of milk in the evening does the trick for "dessert".  For any dairy products the first 4.7 grams of sugar per 100 grams is lactose (OK)...any thing after that is added sugar.
• Eating DARK chocolate to replace milk chocolate, cupcakes, cookies…any chocolate craving.  Sarah recommends 75% cocoa or higher to keep the sugar to a minimum per serving.  
• Adding fat to fill you up during your meals.  Cooking veggies in butter, adding nut butter to breads, finishing dishes with olive oil, avocado, cheese, etc.  Don't be scared of the fat!
• Instead of reaching for fruit juices, sodas (even diet), have some coconut water…super sweet and really low in fructose…not to mention super hydrating!

The Shopping!

On Sunday I set out to get everything on the list to make my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the week.  I'm going to stick to the meal plans as much as possible but I am going to my parents this weekend so I decided to not cook a couple of the meals and play it by ear this weekend.  I had a handful of ingredients already on hand and between Trader Joes and Whole Foods my bill came out to a little under $80.  Definitely more than I typically spend per week but I also usually spend more money going out and buying a random snack or lunch here and there, which I won't do on this program much. We were warned that our grocery bill might be a bit higher in the first week but that it will get lower since we will have more things on hand.  There is a HUGE focus on using EVERYTHING you buy and I can already see that when I make this meatball recipe this week I freeze half and use them later in the program.

Really glad I went to TJ's first, pretty sure my bill would have been double if I purchased everything at Whole Paycheck :)

The HAUL!

And just to tease you a bit here is a pic of what I ate for breakfast and lunch on day 1. Berry Omelet (sounds weird, tasted great!) for breakfast and Avocado-Feta Smash on Veggie Bread for lunch.

Although this is not the exact recipe provided to the 8-week participants here is another veggie bread recipe from iquitsugar.com that is VERY simliar: http://iquitsugar.com/recipe/leftover-veggie-bread/

One Final Reflection - This is from our Week 1 Weekend Reader info:

Even as recently as 100 years ago we ate a little over a kilo (~2 pounds) of sugar a year. Now we eat about 60 kilos (OVER 130 pounds) a year. Our biology hasn’t changed in 10,000 years, let alone 100 years, but our diets sure have. So have our waistlines and our health.

Some more resources:

New York Times Article - Is Sugar Toxic?
New York Time Opinion - It's the Sugar, Folks

The following YouTube is a good educational piece on where sugar is hiding...