Sugar Free Challenge Volume 2 (and a Smoothie Recipe)

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Hi everyone! How's it going with the sugar free challenge? I am VERY happy to report that there are 12 of you who have PUBLICLY joined the sugar-free challenge. Anyone else care to join us? If so, just comment on this blog post (below or on fb).

I promised to post some helpful tips so here's what I got:

1. Have you tried sugar free coffee? If it's not cutting it for you with just cream or milk... Try a cappuccino or my NEW personal favorite - an Americano. Rob re-introduced me to these last week and I must say that I even prefer it to cappuccino. It's just two espresso shots in hot water, but, for some reason... It's so good - really smooth! 
(as a side note - sugar free does NOT mean the addition of splenda, sweet n low, equal or any of that other artificial shit) 

2. Missing that sweet? I'm really enjoying organic berries or pineapple as a post lunch/dinner snackle. I've always loved berries and pineapple - my favorite fruits!

3. 70%+ cocoa dark chocolate is allowed - have you acquired a taste for it yet?

4. Remember, there are added sugars in some things that might not be as obvious of such as; salad dressing, ketchup, jam, NON-raw/natural peanut butter, and pretty much everything that is processed. Read your labels. The best substitute for dressing is just extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice. After a while, you'll start to prefer this dressing to anything else. For ketchup, buy organic. Heinz has high fructose corn syrup and regular corn syrup, because you know... the high fructose wasn't enough..............
Sigh... and of course, natural peanut butter, there should be only 1-2 ingredients: raw peanuts, salt. That's it. You can buy salt-free, as well. 

5. Start paying attention to how you feel during and after workouts. Are you feeling better? That's motivation enough!

 

Moving on... I made another smoothie today. It was deeeelish. Here's the recipe:
- Cup of frozen mango
- 1 Banana
- 1 Tbs of Raw almond butter
- Tbs Ground flaxseed
- Tbs Chia seeds
- Water as needed to make it blend
- Couple dashes of cinnamon

QUESTION TIME: What other tips might you need? What part of the sugar free challenge do you think is the hardest? Any advice you can share with the rest of us?!

 

Have a great week! xo

Sugar Free Challenge

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So ever since I posted this blog post in early March, I've been trying harder to reduce my sugar intake. Remember this article? Woof. Sugar is so evil. I actually started a few months prior when I started feeling groggy after my yogurt/berry lunches that were always topped off with 2-3 little chocolates that were left around the office kitchen.  That's a whole lot of sugar. Even though yogurt and berries are both healthy - I had been eating flavored chobanis, dried fruit, and frozen berries. Add a couple chocolates and I was basically asking to crash.

So, I started bringing chicken that I'd make from the night before, pea pods, hard boiled eggs, baked chickpeas, beanito chips etc. I'd still eat my fruit, of course, but the center of my meal revolved around a protein with little or no sugar. Guess what happened? I stopped crashing after lunch. (what a concept! <insert sarcasm>)

Since the blog post, I've been cutting down on my nightly gelatos and I've completely removed sugar from my coffee. Guys, I used to LOVE sugar. I mean, swedish fish, sour watermelon slices, chocolate in any form... gimme. But recently (and I mean RECENTLY) I haven't been craving or enjoying sugar, as much. I still have a couple little pieces of 70%+ dark chocolate at night after dinner and I've had some dessert when I go out to eat, but, I'm no longer addicted. It's kind of a weird feeling. I mean, I thought since I removed the candies like swedish fish and sour watermelons from my diet yearssss ago, I was over sugar. What I didn't realize or pay attention to, was the excess sugar from my yogurts, milk, jam on toast, a couple chocolates here and there, etc.

So here's my challenge you... will you cut out some sugar with me? Yes, even if it looks like beautiful unicorns. Here are the rules: no excess sugar Monday - Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are ok if you go out to eat or someone bakes, etc. Cut out or reduce the sugar in coffee. No sugary cereals, soda, flavored yogurts, etc. (read your labels). 70+% dark chocolate is approved (antioxidants, baby!). My next step is to completely cut out my nightly ice cream/gelato. I've started to cut it out, but, I'm ready to go cold turkey now.

LIKE on Facebook and/or RT on Twitter if you are going to join me. Challenge ends on 5/25 (day of the Run to Remember half marathon). I want to hear how you all feel on that day. I'll be posting progress and helpful hints throughout the way. All who join will be entered to win a gift from me (fitness related, of course). 

WHO'S IN!?

Have an awesome week. xo

I had a little reminder today...

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In high school, every year on the first day of both Winter and Spring track practice, our head coach would ask one of the guys to come to the front of the room and hold up his arms. He'd then try to push the guy's arms down... and he wouldn't be able to do it. Then, he'd tell the same guy to take a tablespoon of sugar and let it melt in the back of his mouth... a few minutes later - he'd do the same thing and the guy's arms would fall with barely any pressure. 

We didn't learn too much more about nutrition in track practice, but, we did learn that sugar can really wreak havoc on your workout.

Today, I had one of those not so pleasant reminders that sugar is, for argument's sake... poison. We all know this. Refined sugar has absolutely zero nutritional value. We all know that it gives a quick high and then makes us crash and burn and then leaves us in search of the nearest coffee machine to fill up on caffeine. Why do we keep eating it? Because it's ADDICTIVE. Yes, just like caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. Click through the below image to get a full explanation of why its addictive, why all sugars are not created equal (ie: glucose vs. fructose), and finally why it raises triglycerides and ultimately cholesterol. Oh, and it increases the waistline. It's not about fats, my friends... it's about SUGAR.

So what happened? We had cupcake delivery at work yesterday... I had been eyeballing the strawberry one since yesterday so when 3pm rolled around... I made my way to the fridge - chopped off most of the frosting and ate the rest of the cupcake. I tried to reason with myself because I chopped off the frosting and thought I'd be fine for boxing class. WRONG. Wrong wrong wrong...

IMAGE.

I felt like total and complete crap for the first half hour of my workout. I felt worse than I have felt in longer than I can remember at class. Now, yes, I've had sugar before class before... we have birthday celebrations and I dabble in a cookie or a mini cupcake here and there. That being said, I never feel 100% on those days. Today, was just another reminder. So here's my PSA for the evening: Stay away from the damn sugar. You'll thank me later.

To clarify, am I saying to not eat birthday cake or get dessert at an amazing restaurant or never make cookies? No, not at all. I'm saying that is it really necessary on a Tuesday afternoon to eat a cupcake for no real reason? Not really. Is it ever a good idea to have a cupcake or an ice cream cone before a workout? No, haha it's never a good idea before a workout!

Have you had a similar experience during a workout? Do tell!

Have a great week! xo