Contributed by Brandie Kajino
{ tips, recipes & good food }
Yeah, it's a lot to ask. 15 grams of sugar. Well, I did that. I've never felt better in my life. I also lost a dress size, which feels pretty ok too. :)
These days, I still have worked to keep out the white stuff, with one small adjustment. Sugars from fruit & veggies is just fine, and carbs (only whole grains, which we ate anyway) are only 6 per day. Again, no easy task.
Why am I sharing this with you?
You may not care, and that's cool. "This is a food blog" you might say. Yes, I have recipes here with sugar in them, they're not going anywhere, so stop scowling. I'm also not guaranteeing that I won't put recipes with sugar in this space. This is my journey, it doesn't have to be yours. So, along that journey, I'll share what I learn, and how it's changed my cooking and baking. It was a bit tricky in the beginning, I won't lie. I'm more used to it now, and my taste buds have adjusted.
Why did I do it?
A few close family members had a diagnosis that made me think. I started reading about sugar, and didn't like what I found. I was eating a lot, and it was affecting my health. That had to change.
Things taste better (or worse.)
It's almost like my tastebuds have woken up. When you don't have a lot of sugar in your coffee, you really taste it. I took a sip of a soda the other day - wow, that was sweet! I ate a cupcake and thought I was going into sugar shock. Holy cow. I don't miss it - because when I tasted it, there was only sugar and not flavor.
To make things more fun, I'm mildly lactose intolerant.
Hey, life's not fun without a challenge, right? So, I went to unsweetened soy milk, and ice cream was already out of my life (mostly) anyway. Fruit for dessert (and the crumble I'm working on for tonight) is good for me, and my little one is a fruit hound.
I had someone ask me why I hadn't shared this when I started. I guess I doubted myself, and if I could really do it. I'm looking at holidays here in the USA coming up. The big dogs: Thanksgiving (my favorite) and Christmas. Big, sugary eating holidays. We'll just take it a step at a time. Oh, there WILL be pumpkin pie... stay tuned.
What I added back in.
I took out all sugars in the beginning, including honey and maple syrup (the REAL deal, not that corn syrup fake stuff). These are the ONLY two I have added back in. This allows me to bake (with some adjustments) and sweeten my coffee or tea if I desire, but with MUCH less.
An example: On my hot chocolate recipe, I omitted the brown sugar, and left in the drizzle of honey (maple syrup would be good too!) It's more of a "dark chocolate" kinda drink, which is fine by me.
Here's what I did.
In case you're curious, I've listed my main guidelines below, and ones I know I can live with.So far, I feel great, and I plan to continue this into the future. I plan to live long, healthy and be around long enough to really, really embarrass my great grandchildren. ;)
Daily:
15-25 grams of sugar (this is mostly from breads, etc.)
6 servings of carbs (1 serving = 20 g)
Less meat, more fruit, veggies & grains/legumes
No fake sugars, "natural" or otherwise
(This means no packets of any color. They are bad for you, and not real food. Do the research.)
Cutting down on refined foods
(I LOVE this blog: "100 Days of Real Food", and generally follow her guidelines & recipes)
That's all folks. So, for those whom I've mentioned it to, this is what I did. I hope it helps you, or someone you know. :)
There's still LOTS of joy in my kitchen. Seriously.
I love cooking and baking. That hasn't changed. Right now, I'm working on making wheat sandwich bread (and when I'm successful you KNOW I'll share!) It's therapy for me. It's still an adventure to see what I can come up with. Mwah ha ha...
Have you ever cut down on anything? What did you do and why?
Contributed by Brandie Kajino
I'm a foodie. with attitude. and coffee.
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