So today is October 1st and I can say "I did it" I completed Sugar Free September. Not eating any biscuits, cakes, cookies, sweets, ice cream, ice lollies, candies, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, chips, flour & crisps for a month. Actually it was a little over a month as once I decided I was going to go for it in August I started straight away.
Why?
In 2016 I had to give the dentist a lot of money. Enough for a holiday. In the past 5 years I have needed two extractions and continuing at that rate I'd likely be toothless by 60. Genetically my teeth are now great and, as one of my children often reminds me, in medieval times I would have been dead by now! Eating sugary things has been known to make my teeth ache. Time for action.
Then, there was the kittens......weird huh! We doubled our cat family this year adding two kittens to our existing two which was a catalyst for me researching commercial pet foods and how sugary they are. Seeing how much more satisfied our kittens were on a diet of raw meat from our fab local butcher vs our older cats who ride the sugar rollercoaster and constantly pester for snacks really made me think.
A few friends have also been sharing their low carb adventures on social media too. Inspired by a desire to avoid diabetes medication or to combat IBS for example I read posts from herbbed, and this great post from Caroline Spear who has long been an inspiration to me in any areas and flipped through this book at a friend's house.
Not many other foods are backed by the bible like bread is! We have been very conditioned that fat is bad but really for many people bread is just an edible plate My son suffered with IBS for a while and with the low fodmaps approach popular with Doctor's carbs where a major source of the problem.
At the end of my month I've one major tip - be organised - think about what you are going to eat before you are hungry. Meal plan especially for days out. During September we spent full days at Legoland, Marwell Wildlife Park and Fishers Farm and for all of those I made sure I had plenty of low carb options ready as they are hard to find in theme parks.
Baking has been a huge part of my life for the past 13 years and when I switched a life of paid work for being home was something I got pretty good at! Still there are four customers for my pizza dough and lemon drizzle cake.
Book references
Bernstein on Diabeties
