Yes indeed, it is completely true. I gave up sugar and I lost 10 pounds in a week. I can not believe it. Instead of paying £4 a week (or similar) to Weight Watchers to be weighed, I can instead go to my local leisure centre and use their electronic scales for 50p. Or for £1, I get my fat % calculated too. So this is what I have been doing. Last Saturday before going swimming I weighed myself and calculated my fat % and did the same again this week. I wore exactly the same clothes too for consistency. I have lost 10 pounds in weight, about half of that is fat and my fat as a % of my total body composition has dropped 2%. Woo Hoo. Even more extraordinary is that I have eaten cheese, added cream to my coffee, drunk wine on 3 occasions and had quite a few nuts. Which conventional diets tell us not to do. I have been swimming and walking which has really helped.
Having weighed myself I was so euphoric I whizzed up and down that pool. Well, I probably didn’t but I felt like I did and my 30 lengths were very enjoyable as I reflected on what a great week I had of eating and exercising.
Thank you Becky for letting me know The Times had an article about giving up sugar today. It was actually written by David Gillespie, the person who helped convince me to give up sugar with his Sweet Poison book. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the menfolk in my house. Harvey has kept his honey and ketchup and James his sugar for coffee. Apart from that, they have let me throw everything else away and are really supportive of my attempts to have a sugar free home. Thank you both very much, I can’t do it alone.
The first thing I did when I got back from the pool was throw out more sugary foods. I am horrified at how much sugar there was in my house and even more horrified by how many of the containers were nearly empty!
Fresh tomatoes from the greenhouse for breakfast.
I have been looking out for some “healthy” wraps. The standard wraps sold in Supermarkets are full of garbage i.e. ingredients that I have never heard of. I like my ingredients list to be of recognisable foods.
Such as these. Mountain Bread is also very thin so they do not have many calories in them and you gat a really high filling to wrap ratio.
We enjoyed sausages for breakfast and I had fresh tomatoes in mine instead of ketchup. I had 2, exactly like this.
Which kept us full until 2:30 pm! I then made a bit of a cheats lunch. Pasta for the boys and broccoli and cauliflower cheese for me.
I just steamed the veg, heated half the pot of sauce in a pan and mixed it together. A very quick lunch. I could easily have eaten all the cheese sauce as it barely covered my veggies but I am so inspired to lose weight I was being really good.
I have lots of leeks growing in the garden thanks to Annette and David who passed along some of their seedlings. I have never grown leeks before and they were very easy and low maintenance. Today was my first harvest.
I had no idea they grew so many roots! I had to pull quite hard to release a couple of them.
The first fire of the season was lit. Not strictly necessary as it is quite mild today but Harvey was on a promise. He loves fires so I made one for him and we will all enjoy it this evening.
A simple supper tonight of minced beef which I will cook with all these veggies and serve over jacket potatoes.
It was very delicious and I was pleased to see the Cholula Sauce I enjoy so much does not have sugar in it. It’s a keeper 🙂
Enjoy your evening.
Lose Weight and Gain Health 
Wow well done. I got undone by a big box of Celebrations at work and as soon as I had one then the floodgates opened. Next week is another week. Here I come.
That is the trouble with sugar and I am the world’s worst sugarholic so I have to stop all together. It is really hard in offices. People often pass round cakes. It is also getting harder to avoid in shops. I went to WH Smith to buy a new notebook and the shop was full of confectionary. At the till, I was asked if I wanted to buy a bar of chocolate at a reduced price and they held it in front of me. It’s ridiculous. I am actually going to write in and complain!
Well done Zoe, that is amazing! Keep it up lovely, I may start one day…!
Thank you Abi. I am beginning to feel really good on it and I would like to say it gets easier but it doesn’t. However, a big weight loss was very motivating.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/61431982390417549/ If you want a sweet treat for Harvey or you, try these: Get Skinny / mash 2 large old bananas 1 cup of quick oats. You can add in choc chips, coconut, or nuts if you’d like. Then 350º for 15 mins. THAT’S IT! You can add vanilla essence & raisins if you like. They are very chewy, and quite moorish x
It’s awesome. I just love you have niched your elephant in the room/fridge/cupboards. in the sugar.
I am so shocked Laura by how much sugar there was in my house. There still is actually as some cupboards still need to be sorted through!
Maybe now you can get a really good idea of how the food industry is controlling your weight and health with profits by adding ingredients that make you continually crave more just to keep your sugar spiked so you will feel what you think is normal. Zoe, of all the things you have tried, don’t give up this one and especially reading the labels. HFCS is a killer and an addictive one at that at being a sugar substitute. When in doubt, eat real. Craving something sweet and it won’t go away, have an organic fruit as a compromise.
Thank you Laura as always for your support. I think I have finally found the way to eat. After years of looking and trying and experimenting, just avoiding sugar seems to be the solution. Eureka!
WE HAVE A DOCTOR IN Tasmania Gary Fettke WHO IS DOING TO TAKE ON THE Medical and Government people about getting the rubbish foods out of the hospitals http://www.nofructose.com
Thank you for sharing – this is a very interesting site
Congratulations Zoe, you’ve done extremely well. I sugar free too, but don’t seem to be losing any weight. Exercising, or should I say non-exercising is my problem. We are just coming out of winter here in Australia. really looking forward to the warmer weather so I can get those shoes on again and get out early.
Hi Olivia, I am new to this so definitely no expert at living sugar free. I am a diet expert though as I have tried most of them! So far so good. I think I need to cut down portion sizes a bit but I will be guided by the scales. I find some exercise helps but not too much or I am too hungry. So about 30-45 minutes walking or 30 mins swimming 3-4 times a week seems to suit me at the moment. I will increase as I get fitter.
Hello, and well done its a wonderful feeling isn’t it, plus you will gain so much energy along the way. Just thought you may like to look up cauliflower rice, which you can make pizza base from, I like to make the pizza bases and freeze them, on the odd occasion that I want go to food, but still healthy. If you. Already know about this great if not, I hope it’s a good tip.
Thank you very much for the cauliflower rice tip. I like cauliflower and will definitely be giving that a go!
Zoe, you have done an amazing job, can I ask how much exercise you have managed to fit in, I can see that you are quite active, but is it just normal daily movement or have you increased the exercise and also, you don’t have to answer, but how much weight did you need to lose and how old are you.
I am 53, don’t eat sugar and the weight isn’t shifting 😦
I don’t do as much as I should and I work in an office so sit down most of the day I do try and get out at lunch time and walk for 20-30 minutes. I now swimming twice a week too 30 lengths of a 30 m pool at the moment. I turned 50 last month and have loads to lose !
Congratulations going sugar free does work…lost weight and feel so much better and my blood sugars have plummeted. It is so worth it..had a few slip ups but I keep on going.
Thank you for your supportive comments. It is getting easier but there are sugar challenges round every corner so I am being cautious and obsessively reading food labels.
Good job, but doesn’t wine contain lots of sugar???
Wine varies but I stick to dry whites or reds which apparently range from 0.6 – 4g per litre. I try and stick to just 1 glass and have the wine with a meal to avoid a sugar spike. I only have a glass 2-3 times a week so I dont drink much. It is early days as this is week 3 but so far what I am doing seems to be working.