Category: My Life Without Sugar

Bush Cooking · My Life Without Sugar · Random Thoughts · Working on the Road · Writing & Reading

Self-Prepping for your BIG trip

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We are well-practiced at trip preparation. The vehicle is always primped and preened, our camping supplies are continuously stockpiled but what about us? Are we always ready?

I don’t know about you but there is so much incentive to up the health antics before embarking on an adventure. Obviously, we should try to lead healthy lives consistently but life get’s busy and we forget what we “should” be doing and just get by.

So what do I do before heading out on a trip?

Get EXERCISING – I love bush-walking and exploring by foot when we are off adventuring so I need to be fit. However, here’s my hurdles. I live in the middle of nowhere. No gym. I commute a fair way to work so spend most of the working week either at work or getting there. I study full-time (cue crazy person music) It’s now coming into WINTER. My days are shorter and I get home at night-fall. On the flip-side I have miles of country side to walk and explore but not enough time to do so consistently. I use the Wii-Fit. Our place is small so I don’t really have room for a treadmill or my favourite; the cross-trainer but the Wii-Fit takes up NO ROOM and it tracks my progress. I love the step classes and the yoga! It’s like having your own gym with a cartoon character as your instructor. PERFECT.

Valley of the Winds Walk
Valley of the Winds Walk

DRINK more WATER. I don’t drink enough water. I don’t know why I just don’t some days I forget to even have any at all. I know, I know what am I thinking? I have started to segment my water into portions. I divide the day in four and drink 500 mls in each quarter. It seems more manageable. I add some fresh lime juice to give some extra taste if I’m struggling and go for some carbonated water after dark 😉 to spice things up. I have cut out soft-drink all together and NO sugar-free alternatives. I don’t feel as lethargic and it sure “flushes” out the system. My kidneys will thank me!

EAT carefully. In normal life I try to follow the 80/20 good food 80% of the time while allowing “bad” food 20% of the time. However, lines do become blurred and 20% turns to 30%, 30% – 40% and well you get the point. So at the moment I’m resetting. No SUGAR and limited processed foods. I am trying to go for whole foods where-ever possible. I am lucky because we live in the middle of no-where, I have to cook so I’m responsible if it’s a healthy meal or an unhealthy one.

Groceries in the Outback
Groceries in the Outback

What do you do to self-prep before a BIG adventure?

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Health & Wellness · My Life Without Sugar

Fructose Is My Frenemy

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My mind loves fructose but my body hates me for it. Tomorrow I embark on my sugarless existence. I go into this with no expectations other than a healthy outcome. If not I am not locked into anything and I can bring back the sugar but will I need to ????

I am completely kicking fructose out the door. So from tomorrow no added sugar, no fruit, no honey. ZERO. No fruit I hear you scream. Well yes I screamed that too but it makes sense just because it is natural doesn’t make it any better for us. Sugar is sugar.  For now I will cut it out completely and I may like many others bring it back into my diet in the future.

A typical day for me food wise will look like this:

Breakfast:

Bacon and Eggs, Spinach & ricotta Omlette or Oats with Yoghurt, Walnuts and Cinnamon.

Snacks:

Full Natural Yoghurt with Nuts stirred through or a Flat White, Rice Cakes with Ricotta, Grilled Haloumi

Lunch:

Spinach Salad With Grilled Haloumi, Shaved Turkey, Zucchini Slice, Homemade Quiche,

Dinner:

Meat with Vegies, Home Made Stir Fry with Brown Rice, Rocket Pasta,

I will be sure to share any recipes I come across and let you know I am going. So tomorrow is it. Week One: Cold Turkey.

 

My Life Without Sugar
Health & Wellness · My Life Without Sugar

My Life Without Sugar

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Picture from http://www.brokendjs.com

I don’t know what I am searching for but as I mature as a person I am seeking ways to improve my quality of life. I am happily married, living a life of full of unique experiences while travelling. I really do have a wonderful life. The only thing that disrupts this contentment is health. I suffer from lethargy and am like many others constantly on the weight loss/gain roller coaster. This is not by any way a vanity issue I am happy with the way I am. It is the health side of things that worries me. As I get older I am thinking more and more towards the future; having children, raising children and aging gracefully and healthily.

Food to me is always on my mind and no I don’t mean I am constantly looking for something to eat. By that statement I mean food to me isn’t pleasurable it is purely consumable.  I eat when I am hungry and don’t when I am not. When I crave something I eat it when I don’t I won’t. I hate fast food like McDonald’s, KFC etc they just don’t do it for me. My problem is processed food. We all eat it. It’s whats inside them where we come undone. The harsh fact is;

I am addicted to sugar!

Like an alcoholic craves alcohol or a crack addict craves crack. I crave sugar, sugar in nearly every form. If you sit back and see the amount of sugar in food you consume daily you would be astonished, disgusted even. Even someone with a sweet tooth would cringe. The cold hard truth is we are all addicted to sugar.

I have been doing research into the facts of sugar addiction and how to nip it in the bud and I am going to do just that. On Monday the 20th my sugarless adventure will begin. With the help of Sarah Wilson’s 8 week plan; “I Quit Sugar” ( http://www.sarahwilson.com.au )I am going to kick the habit or at least give it a red-hot go. I can already forecast when I am going to fall off the wagon but I will plough through. As Sarah clearly states you don’t have to stick to it but at least try it. If it makes me feel better, healthier and brings me clarity why not.

You can follow my journey on the blog under the categories; Health & Wellness or My Life Without Sugar. I need all the support I can get while I am in my own little “sugar rehab”.