I Quit Sugar: Week 3

Week three brought about the banning of all things sugar: Fruit, fruit juice, veggies high in sugar, tomato anything, honey, candy, soda … all of it. I’m not even allowing sugar substitutes such as stevia. I have to break myself of the entire taste of sweet, at least this week and next, but I do have some Truvia waiting patiently in my pantry for later in my journey.

If I were a canner, I could can all the fruit I want, like this woman in 1946 who’s showing off her extensive fruit and veggie collection. I just can’t eat the goods while I’m breaking the sugar habit! I did, however, freeze eggplant from a super nice co-worker for future cooking.

Time for a reality check, folks. Our bodies are made to safely take in 6 grams of fructose a day. Four grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar = 1 sugar cube. Oh my gosh, that’s not very much!

So what the heck do I actually eat? Spinach is a main staple at dinnertime, and I have discovered Mediterranean food is extremely low in sugar! For the first time ever I made falafel’s from scratch. They were so easy! I cooked mine in coconut oil. I also paired them with a great tahini dressing and goat cheese.

Goats do a lot more than just make us delicious cheese. They also provide ecofriendly transportation for small Australian children circa 1915.

I kept snacking on my usual (spicy pumpkin seeds, cacao nibs, unsweetened coconut flakes, almonds). The almonds were getting kind of old, so I learned how to make them more delicious: activate the nuts!

Here’s how you activate nuts , according to Sarah Wilson, author of “I Quit Sugar,” and modified by me, a successful nut activator:

• Soak overnight a lot o’ almonds in water and 1 teaspoon of celtic sea salt.
• The next day, cover a cookie tray with the almonds. It’s OK if there is overlapping happening.
• Stick them in the oven on the lowest setting for about 12 hours. Yes, it’s a long time, but the good news is you can freeze a large batch and not do this too often.
• After 12 hours the nuts are perfectly crunchy and delicious and easier to digest, thanks to the soaking at the start, which is the step that actually activates the enzymes!

I have failed in my yogaventures this week, which is bad because I can feel my body getting out of whack. I have to get back on track today, no excuses.

I may have missed a few days of yoga, but I think I do this pose better than Billy Sunday, a baseball player in the 1880s who later became a famous American evangelist. I never do yoga in a suit, either. That’s just silly.

I had lots of food trials in week three:

• Every single day. Seriously, my sugar cravings are bad, bad, bad. How do I cope? A cup of coffee or chai with almond milk. Activated almonds. Chia seed pudding. Hummus. A bit of cheese or lunch meat. Below are “The 9 Cs of goodness,” which Wilson offers as good substitutes for cravings.

1. Cacao — Tastes like chocolate because it is the raw ingredient, cocoa.
2. Chia — Seeds full of healthful benefits, just make sure you add them to a liquid (water, milk, egg, smoothie) so you can easily digest them.
3. Chai — Delicious tea bags or from your own stock of ingredients, and not the sugary concentrate from Starbucks. I love Yogi’s Chai Rooibos. It’s caffeine free, which means I can drink it later in my newspaper shift and not be up all night long!
4. Cheese — So satisfying. I enjoy perusing the specialty section at the grocery store.
5. Cinnamon — I add this to a lot of things since it helps with anti-inflammation!
6. Coconut water — I tried this for the first time this week. It was weird, but it was also out a can. I think I’ll spring for the kind in a paper box since my real problem was the taste of metal.
7. Chicken — I live next door to the land of Tyson, so this is easy. I’m too cheap to buy the organic meat at this time.
8. Coffee — I’m addicted.
9. Coconut oil — Good for cooking or adding to dishes. I add a spoonful to oatmeal.

You don’t have to dress like a chicken to eat one. Did nobody tell these folks? They are wearing these ridonkulous costumes for Mardi Gras in The Netherlands, 1911. Naturally.

No new side-effects have occurred this week. I haven’t had any headaches, but am still lightheaded when I haven’t had a munchy in a few hours.

Changes I’ve noticed:

• Weight loss. While I do not own a scale, I can tell my jeans are looser in my thighs, where I hold most of my extra poundage.
• Focused. More so than usual, that is!

OK, week four, you’re the halfway point. Let’s get there!

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