Quitting Sugar

Finally I have started the program to quit sugar. I know I've banged on about this all year and finally four months after I purchased Sarah Wilson's book I have begun. Totally by random. 

When ever I put a date on things like this it just doesn't work out. The whole "diet starts on Monday" is crap, I have major difficulty doing battle with my mind and will power when it comes to such major lifestyle changes.

So how did I start? It just happened. April was a pretty good month for my yoga practice. I got my butt whooped a few times. I knew deep down I could do so much better in the hot room if I clean up my act outside the room. i.e SUGAR. It reeks havoc on your muscles and digestive system, let alone makes your mind go doolally! Easter I binged like an out of control food-a-holic. Then suddenly I didn't feel like eating my usual daily chocolate fix. I was actually sick of it. So just like that I stopped eating it. 

Once I was over week one of no cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream and sweets it was plain sailing. I didn't even want or crave any of the above. Don't get me wrong I didn't go totally cold turkey as sugar is lurking in everything. I still have the occasional small orange juice, especially on my 4am start mornings to give me a quick fix.

Kat Eden wrote this great piece on breaking addiction which I took note of. By not having a sweet treat at your usual time, mine is either after lunch or after my evening meal, you get out of the habit. I didn't want chocolate at 10am so I didn't have it & I wasn't allowing myself any after 12pm.

I have no idea what clicked in my head, it just happened. I no longer wanted sweet stuff. A belated birthday present from the UK landed a few weeks ago. A big bar of Galaxy chocolate, om nom nom. My favourite. I tucked it away in the fridge and decided to treat myself to a row to celebrate two weeks without it. It tasted funny. It did nothing for me. Totally shocked. I thought after abstaining it would taste like heaven, especially creamy UK stuff. No. My stomach started swelling, my digestive system gurgled, I had a high then a crash. Very weird. These gut feelings used to be normal for me, I thought it was the usual reaction to food in general. However I always followed a meal with chocolate or something sweet. Ah ha, breakthrough moment.

Ending week three now. The results; less bloating or weird gastric rumblings,  uncomfortable tight stomach feelings gone. My yoga practice is so, so much stronger, bow I no longer get cramps in my calves or toes. My head is clearer, as is my skin. (A yoga colleague commented on this) My clothes are looser, I have lost just over 1kg without changing anything else in my diet/lifestyle. (Another yoga colleague commented on this also = noticeable weight loss) I wasn't aiming for weight loss, it is a bonus as most of the shorts I wore at TT I didn't feel comfortable in & I'd stopped teaching in cropped tops. I felt out of shape & the scales showed it. 


Onwards I go. I have given away a bunch of unopened biscuits and chocolates. There are three unopened Easter eggs in the fridge which will be finding new homes if The Man doesn't hurry up & eat them! Finally, I am no longer climbing the walls at 3pm wanting a sugar fix. Hoorah!!

Quitting Sugar

I've banging on about this for a while now but this year I will do this. I have done it before & I will do it again. I will quit sugar. Only because I felt great last time I gave up. My days weren't a battle of cravings, followed by the guilt of giving in & of course the side effects - bloating, slumps, more cravings. My muscles loved me for it, my yoga practice was so much stronger when I wasn't battling the energy slumps. 

It's scary where sugar is lurking. The obvious places, chocolates, lollies, fruit etc. is easy to pin point. Sugar is in nearly everything we eat that is pre packaged; sauces, bread, white pasta, honey. This is why I bought a Thermomix so I can make my own sauces, bread etc. from scratch, making it as clean as possible. Like everything I lapsed. I have caught myself dumping a ready made pasta sauce into Thermomix, instead of taking the time (about 1 minute) to whiz up fresh tomatoes from my garden. What!!!?!!!

I need help and I found it via Kat Eden who is turning out to be a constant source recently for nutrition advice. A link on the side if Kat's blog lead me to another Aussie Women Sarah Wilson and her book 'I Quit Sugar.' Within two seconds I'd paid my $15 via pay pal and the e book was mine. Laid out in an easy to follow, no jargon manner Sarah outlines why we need to quit the white stuff, in every form to start with. The eight week program walks the reader through each part step by step. I was even not very environmentally friendly by printing myself out a copy and bound it with a nice protective cover for quick access. (I don't have a Kindle)

This week might be a write off as ice cream is a major feature in my post teeth surgery diet but I've gone three days without chocolate, white rice & pasta. Steadily cutting out sugars is part of week one. Realistically I can ditch the ice cream for soup now, home made in Thermomix.

What I am hoping to achieve by this sugar detox:

1. Get rid of that hideous afternoon slump after lunch when I want a sweet treat. I give in, get a sugar high, then slump again.
2. Bloating, I look pregnant by most evenings and a bloated stomach is hell to practice yoga with, it hurts.
3. I'm feeling podgy round the middle. Muffin top ahoy, I wish it gone. 
4. My teeth do not need drenching in sugar which = decay. 

Forwards we go. I shall kick this habit. Who knows I might even be able to enjoy the odd sweet treat now and again so I can actually appreciate it.

Meat & Nuts

This might seem a bit bizarre for a breakfast food but it works, meat & nuts. After Kat Eden's food seminar last month I have been trying to clean up my diet. Christmas saw me well & truly fall off the wagon head first into the bowl of chips whilst riding the dessert trolley. 

I gave the meat for breakfast a good two week go before the festive mayhem kicked in and it worked. I was fuller for a lot longer in the morning than when I have my usual carb based breakfast. It did mean preparing and pre cooking my meat for the mornings I was teaching. Cooking eggs at 4:15am wasn't too much of a drama. Making a big veggie frittata is perfect. It's lasts a few days, can be eaten hot or cold and on the run. Here's the link, via Kat, to the blog post by Charles Poliquin all about the meat & nuts breakfast....

Now Christmas is over & the damage is done I'm back to it. Some of my friends are trying detox diets; raw, vegan, juice, vitamin cleansing type things. I fully support their decisions but I need some energy to get me through my busy day. I've tried the detox cleanse thing before. I got really sick and spent a lot of time sleeping. Side effect of that type of diet. I was recently reading that the cold turkey approach doesn't actually do you that much good either. Steady, sensible lifestyle changes are better to avoid the withdrawal symptoms than suddenly stopping everything 'bad' for a few weeks. It's like the 'diet's don't work' theory, they don't, you have to change your eating habits for life. No good watching what you eat for six weeks, losing weight then go back to your old eating habits. What happens? The weight comes back. 80% clean foods, 20% not so clean is the best way so not to be deprived and risk the binge eating fall out. 

Bikram Yoga is the perfect detox. Sweat it out, whilst getting a full body workout. When I'm practicing hard and serious I automatically cut back on crappy foods. Sugar and muscles don't mix. When I eat rubbish my practice suffers. I watch my hydration more carefully so I'm getting enough liquids too. The past few weeks because I wasn't practicing as much I let that slip & felt horrible for it. So here I go, new year, new me, back into shape. Not so much for vanity reasons but for optimal health, energy & a stronger yoga practice. 

Kat Eden Transformation Seminar

Happy Friday everyone, one week till Christmas. Are we excited yet? I am, means I get to teach yoga, do some personal practice & finally put my feet up at home and relax, completely relax! With New Year coming up so do the usual resolutions, "I'm gonna quit sugar, eat more healthy, loose 4kg etc, etc." I don't usually do resolutions but this year I might. I'm going to start with my diet. It needs cleaning up in order to get maximum proficiency out of my body. Most people focus too much on losing weight, I'm focusing on maximum output of energy & nourishing my body from the inside out. I let my diet slid at training turning into a sugar whore and eating far too many refined carbs. I didn't put on any weight mind you, I stayed the same but toned up a little here & there but my muscles would have performed so much better without being drowned in sugar.

I have mentioned lifestyle, fitness and nutrition coach Kat Eden in my past blogs. Kat visited BYJ last year to present a 'Food For Yoga' seminar. It was so well received she came back again this year to do a transformation seminar. Kat writes two blogs; Woman Incredible & Body Incredible - both dedicated to all thing health, nutrition and fitness. She is a personal trainer and also practices Bikram even competing in championships. 

The seminar was very interesting. It went over some of the things we heard last year which means Kat's theories work. Last years way of thinking is still this years. Kat practices what she preaches and looks amazing, even after having a baby. (she is the same age/height as me so I can't use that as an excuse, just more inspiration material to make this work for me) It reminded me what I need to be doing right now. I've practiced the protein before yoga method all year. Again letting this slip at training by slathering my protein rich nut butter on toast. Maybe this was why I was constantly lacking in energy & couldn't keep my eyes open, haha maybe 3% of the reason. 

It's all about the protein baby! First meal of the day ditch those cereals & grains & chow down on steak n eggs. That is what I've been doing for the past 6 days. Well, good quality butcher's gluten free sausages for three of the days and my home produced eggs, steak the other three. I even cooked up an egg at 4:15am before teaching on Tuesday. So far so good. I'm fuller for longer and feel more alert. No 3pm energy sugar cravings. Again, the power of the mind may be playing a part but that's fine by me as long as I'm not reaching for the chips & chocolate.

To read more about Kat's 10 quick Transformation tips click right here.