Since last Wednesday I have been participating in my first-ever month-long challenge and of course I’ve picked something considerably harder than taking a photo per day to share on social media or to say “thank you” at least once a day (which we should do anyway), because if it’s easy – where’s the challenge?
My goal for July is to not eat or drink anything containing added (refined) sugar.
The word “added” is necessary to explain that I will not completely omit all kinds of sugar (which would be stupid since the body needs sugars – aka carbohydrates – to work properly).
However, I am planning to forego treats such as chocolate, ice cream and fizzy drinks along with pastry and similar sweets and am not going to cheat by simply switching to products where sugar was substituted with artificial sweeteners.
For those now wondering what food-related treats will be available for me (a whole month without chocolate?!) when I need my sugar fix: Fruit are naturally sweet, dried fruit even more so – and when I feel like having ice cream I’ll make myself a nice little bowl of nana ice cream with strawberries for extra sweetness and dry-roasted almonds for extra crunch.
I cannot yet say whether it will prove to be that simple or whether I’m going to find myself curled up in the fetal position crying – or raiding the sweets drawer – but I’m definitely motivated to pull through with it.
Why?
The idea came up when I saw that a friend on Facebook had joined a Facebook group called “Anti-Zucker-Challenge”
My motivation?
Well, I’m not entirely sure about it. Maybe my life is just too easy and I’m looking for something that allows me to pretend it’s not THAT easy?
While this may not be entirely off, I guess I’ve played with the idea for a while – partly inspired by the lovely Eva from Individualisten.at as well as Lindsay and Bjork from Pinch of Yum, partly by the conviction that my intake of sugar is too high and not beneficial for me.
My expectations
I’ve learned not to expect any major changes, however, I am excited to find out how not consuming refined sugars is going to affect my overall wellbeing. Will I be more or less hungry? What kinds of food am I going to crave? Healthy snacks or basically everything I’m not supposed to eat during this month? Will my energy levels be higher than normal or will I feel tired day and night?
Have you ever participated in a sugar-free challenge? How did you go? I’m curious to hear all about it!
Sounds like an interesting experiment! I wish I’d had the strength to participate too 😀 sugar is literally everywhere – it’s so hard!
By the way, my parents have the same flamingo glass and I even shot a smoothie recipe using the glass but I’m not entirely sure if it will go on the blog yet ^.^
For a vegan it’s a lot less hard than for an omnivore, I think, because we are already used to checking labels whenever we buy something however little processed 😉 You’re absolutely right about sugar being everywhere! It’s hidden in products one would never expect it!
I think for me it is more benificial to add something to my life in such a special period then to “subtract ” something. But I guess I shouldn`t write that here, because what someone needs in such a challenging..äh..challence is motivation and not a list of potential problems. ..So go ahead, do your best and let us know how it worked for you!
All the best and a good experience
Frl. Notter
I´m sorry : only half of my comment survived. What I wrote first: I did such a no sugar fast twice during the fasting period before easter an I´m not shure, if I would do it again. I had intense cravings (which I learned to fight with bananashakes with cacao) and sometime even felt physically week an menatlly unproductive. But I enjoyed to company of other fasters and the joys of collective suffering…;-)
Yes, the cravings…I had really bad ones during last week’s first hike. And a piece of chocolate would have solved my mental crisis in one single bite – but: no chocolate for me.
Actually, so far nothing spectacular has happened other than a few minor discomforts. I’m not impressed at all. Not sure I’ll do it again and definitely glad when July is over 😉