Sugar sugar everywhere, nor any grain to eat.  Well I haven’t gone quite that far but I am well on my way.  What a splendid clear out I had.  One of David Gillespie’s recommendations is to get rid of everything in your house that has added sugar.  Even if you have children and a partner who may enjoy them because why not do them a favour too?  Well, I am working my way through different cupboards.  I am astonished at how much sugar there is in my house.  Or should I say, more accurately, there was.

I woke up very early today (bl**dy dog!!!!) and decided to get up and go swimming.  Yes, I truly did :-).  I have been thinking about it for ages and today I did it.  It was great.  I was working from home so I popped on my swimming costume, something over the top and off I went, down the road.  The local pool opens at 6:30 and it was surprisingly busy at that time.  What a friendly crowd the early morning bunch are!  I shall be doing that again.  I was enjoying my swim when I remembered the Ocado cavalry were coming at 7:30 so after 20 lengths I got out showered, and headed home so I was ready for them.  While I waited, I decided to clear a cupboard.  As you do!

This one was my first target of the day and I cleared it out and most of the fridge too.  I was shocked how much sugar there was in products I use quite regularly.  And shocked at how many products I have which I know are full of sugar.

More worryingly is that so many are obviously quite well used! These all contain sugar. This was a challenge to throw out.  I did assume when I bought it, as it came from one of my favourite healthy on-line stores, that it was, well, healthy.  But it has sugar in it and I love it so it definitely had to go.  I must confess though that it was nearly empty so not such a huge sacrifice. Lots of partially consumed bags of dried fruit.  Remember they are not allowed because they are dehydrated so the water to sugar ratio is too low. I was very surprised lime pickle has sugar in it and disappointed because I always add that to a curry.  I won’t in future though. Jams and lemon curd.  All gone. The stem ginger was easy to throw out but I did struggle a bit with the cocktail cherries.  I am a classy old bird and love these in a cocktail.  Or with ice-cream.  Or just on their own.  Sigh. So what did I do with all of it?  I happily gave most of it to my gardening God who works here on Fridays and keeps my garden looking glorious so not much ended up in the bin.

My fridge is looking much healthier.  The soya custard and orange juice are forbidden but they are nearly empty so Harvey can finish those up this evening which leaves that section free from added sugar.  I need to ease the little fella in to a free from added sugar lifestyle. I have kept the ketchup for Harvey too.  I rarely eat it and can easily resist it.  We do not often eat the type of food you would add ketchup to so that is safe from me. I got quite carried away and emptied out the fridge and washed all the drawers and shelves.  It looks so much better in there now.  The only added sugar is in Harvey’s soya yogurts which he can finish and I probably won’t replace.One cupboard and the fridge were cleaned and cleared, Ocado had been and gone, I had swum 20 lengths and it was still only 8:30 am!  A mysteriously long and slow morning.  Curioser and curioser – but occasionally time does pass slowly.  Definitely time for breakfast before starting a very busy day at work.

I wanted to use some of this fabulous coconut butter which I had forgotten about in that overstocked cupboard of mine.  It contains 100% pure coconut.  If you like coconut, you will love this.  Read more about it here.  Coconuts do have a very high fat content but not much sugar within them, even though they taste really sweet. And the smell! Quite the most heavenly scent of sweet coconut. I made porridge and added chia seeds and walnuts for protein and 1 tsp coconut butter for fat plus extra protein, vitamins and minerals.

And some blueberries :-).  First fruit eaten in nearly a week.  I was really excited to have fresh fruit and loved every one.  Did it send me rushing to the bin to retrieve something sugary?  No.  I had breakfast at about 8:45 and was then so busy with back to back meetings, I didn’t get a chance to have anything to eat until 15:40 pm!  I was hungry by then but not climbing the walls and not grumpy.  Just hungry.  So I conclude that a few blueberries, eaten with something substantial do not give me a blood sugar spike.  Phew.

I still had work to do and needed something quick to eat so I cut 3 slices of this amazing loaf of walnut rye sourdough.  It was full of walnuts, dense and chewy.  Fabulous.  David Cameron was on the right track with guessing the price of this.  Definitely North of £1 but well worth it. This lovely Cheddar was calling to me from the fridge.  It is actually very sharp which I like and which is a good thing because I am not tempted to eat too much of it, as I am with milder Cheddars.   I had one slice with Cheddar and one with left over guacamole and a tomato.  I ate the third slice with butter on it while I made up these two.  If you like Rye and are not allergic to nuts, I highly recommend this bread which was delivered by Ocado. After such a late lunch I only needed a light supper.  I had eaten carbs for breakfast and lunch so supper was protein and vegetable based.

I stir fried some broccoli, mushrooms and spinach and then added prawns and a dash of Tamari.  Job done. Quick and easy, light and satisfying. I did eat it with the chopsticks, they are not just there for show.  It helps to slow down how quickly I eat.

A very satisfactory day.
Exercise – tick
Ate only foods with no added sugar – tick
Lots of healthy food – tick
Plus a good clear out and lots of work done too.

Have a good weekend y’all!