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Reflections on a Day Without Sugar

Published on April 23, 2010 By Emily. Updated on February 18, 2013

I’ve really been enjoying participating in the Outside The Box Challenge.  The challenge, organized by Rachel of Shedding It and Getting It and Leah of Your Nutritionista, has encouraged me to try new herbs, keep track of what I eat, make things from scratch, research where my food comes from and try new machines at the gym.  It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve looked forward to each new challenge.

Until this week, when Challenge #8 was posted:

We’re challenging you to go without added sweetener for a whole day. We’re defining added sweetener as any form of concentrated sweetener, natural or not (this means maple syrup, agave, and honey are all no-nos!). This also includes artificial sweetener. Whole fruit is okay, as is any other non-concentrated food that happens to taste sweet. Watch for processed foods with added sweetener, though.

After reading that, I did what any mature, healthy food-seeking, challenge-loving person would do.  I immediately messaged Rachael and Leah on Twitter and told them that they were crazy for thinking I could give up sugar.  And then I complained to Brian about it.  And then I overthought every food choice I made for 2 days (one of which I spent eating ice cream and chocolate).  I mean, I grew up in a house where we always had dessert after dinner.  I’m the type of girl who has m&m’s in her purse “in case of an emergency”.  I’m still confused about why Brian doesn’t sweeten the iced tea (though I drink it either way).   I enjoy going meatless.  I try not buy things that contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.  I like cooking from scratch.  I buy low-salt whenever I can.  And yet, asking me to give up sweetener for a day seemed ridiculous and impossible.

Then I did it: I gave up added sweetener for an entire day.  And I made some interesting observations in the process.

  • Some really good foods don’t contain sugar (at least as far as this challenge was concerned).  Produce is yummy.  Soy sauce, herbs and seasonings (cinnamon, adobo, etc) can go a long way adding the flavor sugarless meals are missing.  Plain yogurt, oatmeal, rice and nuts are also good choices.
  • Some foods you might not expect do contain sugar. We were rather shocked to find that all of the varieties of Campbell’s Selects Soup which we purchase (because I thought they were so virtuous) contain sugar! And our lone can of condensed Campbell’s Tomato Soup has High Fructose Corn Syrup!  All the Chobani flavored yogurt has sugar (not surprising, but still saddening).
  • I missed tea. Granted, I had my morning cup of tea, but after 2 days of attempting black tea without sugar, I opted for green tea on the day of my official challenge.  And it made me sad, because tea (with milk and sugar) is one of my favorite things-a staple, a comfort, part of my routine.  Tea without sugar just doesn’t do it for me.
  • Not everything needs sugar.  I wasn’t thrilled with my morning oatmeal.  I gave up putting sugar on it some time ago, but the dried cranberries I use are sweetened, so I went without them.  I substituted a diced apple, but it wasn’t the same.  Nevertheless, I could probably get used to it.  And I didn’t even have to think about leaving sugar out of my dinner-the original meal I’d planned (stir-fry) didn’t have any.

In the end, I’m much more aware of what products in my pantry contain sugar, whether it makes sense or not.  Lunch and dinner were fine, it was breakfast and snacking that was difficult.  I craved sugar, but I think that was mainly a product of the fact that I knew I couldn’t have any.  Given the realization that so many products contain sugar (or other sweeteners), I should probably be more thoughtful about what I add sugar to (in other words…I could probably shovel a little less into my tea).

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Filed Under: life Tagged With: challenges

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Comments

  1. Rachel @ Shedding It says

    April 25, 2010 at 11:16 am

    These are such great reflections/observations!! I definitely think that you’re right on and that it’s good to be aware of sugar. Now that I’ve cut things that have it added like soup or yogurt, I have more room for having a little in my coffee! (Although doing this challenge totally made me scale it back.)
    .-= Rachel @ Shedding It´s last blog ..Don’t Pour That Sugar… =-.

  2. Pat Brunell says

    April 27, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    I dispute the comment that we always had dessert after dinner when you were growing up!

Trackbacks

  1. Relishments » “What’s the Point of Vegan Brownies?” says:
    April 27, 2010 at 8:49 pm

    […] to have something in the house for dessert (and I think we both wanted to overload on sugar, given our recent day without).  That idea led to brownies, which, it was decided, should be made from scratch.  Then I […]

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It was a cold and cloudy morning, but we made it t It was a cold and cloudy morning, but we made it to our second annual strawberry picking at @mountainviewfarm413, which included E's first tractor ride (she was very excited). We picked about 9 pounds of strawberries and I'm looking forward to eating them! 🍓
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I don't have clear words to express my feelings ab I don't have clear words to express my feelings about the state of the world lately. As a teacher and a mother, it has been extra difficult this week to be fully present in my roles without thinking about innocent lives that should have had longer on Earth. How what has happened in each of the many mass shootings this year can happen anywhere. If you are feeling sad and frustrated too, you are not alone.

I don't have answers, but I'm trying to take care of myself and my biological and school families. I'm saying "I love you" a lot to my children and my students. I'm closely following and sharing the work of @everytown while contacting my state and federal representatives and the president. I'm going for walks and getting fresh air and trying not to overload on news. I'm sharing good resources in my stories as I see them.
UPDATE: the giveaway is now CLOSED. Congrats @aloh UPDATE: the giveaway is now CLOSED. Congrats @alohr3!

 @thelazygenius' second book, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, is finally here and I'm so excited! I don't purchase many books, but I pre-ordered this last July because I knew it would be right up my alley and then I pre-ordered a second copy because I knew that I'd want to give one away.

Author Kendra Adachi has been one of my favorite voices in recent years. Her principles (shared through her first book, The Lazy Genius Podcast and her Instagram) have helped me focus my priorities and give myself more grace. 

This book is NOT a cookbook (it has just 2 recipes), it is a kitchen guide - to help you "have what you need, use what you have, and enjoy it like never before". It is beautiful (full color!) and thoughtful.

I'm very excited to send this book to one of you.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below with one of your greatest kitchen struggles. 
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This morning we took advantage of @massmoca's Berk This morning we took advantage of @massmoca's Berkshire Teacher and Social Worker Appreciation Day free admission. After enjoying the student Art Invitational exhibit, the 4 of us took in several of the other galleries. Mass MoCA always impresses and it was delightful to be able to be out in the world with my kids.
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