Day one of our editor Anna Magee’s sugar-free quest and it hasn’t been exactly easy though she did get her hands on the sugar addict’s methadone to sort out a Sunday night sorbet treat
Anyone know the meaning of headache? Think of a jackhammer in your temple and you’ll get an idea of how I was feeling on day 1.
It’s not like I eat that much sugar but I was withdrawing from something and given that I don’t do coke or heroin, these symptoms must have been from going sugar-free. On Saturday I had to watch my husband heartlessly eat a Magnum – you know not the plain ones but the ones with the works, caramel, nuts, extra chocolate, the cruel beast – and a large bag of crisps (which turn out to be laden with sugar when you look on the label). I couldn’t even add a dollop of Hellman’s mayonnaise to my salmon because there’s sugar it in – it’s mayonnaise for heaven’s sake!
I have had lovely Twitter support and a trainer called Anthony Mayatt got in touch to say that he’s been sugar free for a few weeks and felt great. Also, that the first six days were the worst and increasing my protein intake would help me. See his tweet below:
@AnnaMagee yes they will go its just the craving like any other. My main tip is increase your protein intake throughout the day
So I stocked up on boiled eggs, nuts and salmon and munched through those through the day. Still, at the supermarket – even though I don’t normally purchase this kind of stuff – all I could see were sweet things. Big, pink donuts and marzipan croissants and chocolate eggs in every size, shape and colour taunting me from the isles and jumping out in my peripheral vision like a David Lynch movie. And this is only Day 1.
The diet for the day looked like this:
AM: broiled salmon and sliced pear. Tea with skimmed milk
Lunch: About 40 almonds and a small packet of ham (okay not great but I had a deadline, was in the office and couldn’t get out to the shops)
Snack: Teaspoon of whole earth peanut butter (the sugar-free one, for the pedants)
Dinner: Chicken breast stir fry with almonds with a tonne of veg, ginger, garlic, Tamari and lime juice
Dessert: Sorbet made with frozen strawberries, almond milk, half a banana, Ecuadorian cacao nibs from Hotel Chocolat and a tablespoon of Stevia. Exhibit A.
Cacao nibs are the cocoa bean before it’s had any processing and Hotel Chocolat sell them according to region, a little like wine. They’re really bitter and dry alone, but fab in dishes. I do know hard core sugar-free-ers that have a handful when they want a ‘treat’ – not quite there yet – or as an anergy boost before a run.
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