Week 6 - introducing a little sweetness

Week 6

A really strange thing happened to me this week. I realised, that 'not eating sugar' is no longer an issue. It is something that I no longer think much about, and I am not tempted in any way to eat the chocolate cake that has been sitting on my mothers table all week. Six months ago, I would have had a piece everyday! I have no desire at all. I feel as free as a bird, but as Sarah Wilson says in her 8 week QuitPlan, this is the week not to feel 'too proud of oneself'....but I do feel proud.

This week was all about introducing a bit of sweetness. Maybe some low fructose fruit such as berries, kiwi fruit, mandarins and oranges. But because I no longer crave sweetness, I didn't even find myself wanting fruit. To be honest, this week I've had a slice of orange and a few strawberries - that's it. I didn't even do that on purpose, it just worked out that way cause I didn't crave it. The only time I've been tempted to grab fruit (now that it is an option) is when I'm running out the door and want a snack.

Fruit is so easy to grab. Instead, I've just changed my old habits and had other snacks on hand. In my pantry I have little containers filled of mixed raw nuts and popcorn. I keep mixed nuts in my bag at all times and I have also been snacking on raw vegetables or salami this week. Today I was running out the door hungry and I looked at the orange and thought 'nah, not interested' and had some nuts and took a hot cup of tea. I didn't eat till dinner - which was vegetable and tofu miso soup.  I was going to make my own dashi stock (Japanese stock) with bonito flakes, but they are full of sugar!!! Instead, I bought the miso paste and although the sugar content is high (22g/100g), I only made 1 cup of miso soup and filled it with vegetables and silkin tofu and enjoyed every mouthful, which equated to 2g of sugar.



Wholemeal boats - mix 1/4 cup lukewarm
water  and 1/4 cup of lukewarm milk
with 8g yeast. Mix 5 cups of w/m flour with
 a pinch of salt. Combine and knead for 10 min.
Leave to rise for 45minutes. Shape boats.



Persian pides with side veges and ricotta
sauce. Ruby loved it too. She just
thought that it was a pizza. She hasn't
made one comment about the change
to brown pasta, rice and bread.

This week I had fun cooking my own wholemeal bread for the first time. I made persian pides with a side of grilled veges. Ruby and I had fun making the bread, then I rolled the bread into litle boats, filled it with my meat mix and served it with some zucchini, haloumi, capsicum and mushrooms. Oh.. on the side I made a ricotta and lemon sauce for my hubby and a ricotta and cucumber sauce for me. It was yummy, although I've learnt to reduce my bread mixture as I made way too much and also to make my 'boats' thinner so that they were 'less bready' and more about the filling.

Ben is off to a birthday dinner tonight (I'm home with the sick bubby) and I'll be interested in how he gets through the night with a set menu - but more importantly, how he feels afterwards. I have to say, one thing that I have noticed this week is that I've had a bit of an upset tummy - but only first thing in the morning. So weird! I thinkI know deep down that I am having too much dairy. Having a full glass of milk before bed isn't doing my body any favours, so I'm trying to cut back on the dairy.  The other thing I notice is that after having a healthy dinner (for example, I had chicken, carrot and snow pea stir fry with brown rice) lastnight, followed by a herbal decaf 'sleepy' tea, I am not hungry when I wake up!! It is only habit that makes me think.. Mmm... I should eat breakfast, because that is what the clock says, but instead I let my body decide when it is hungry. Breakfast can be 11am some mornings.

The book that kept me up
(or was that William?)

Lastnight, (while up trying to settle my little man), I managed to read an entire book - it wasn't very big! It was written by Richard Branson called 'Screw it- let's do it'. It was a motivational read about how he takes calculated (not foolish) risks and how he sets himself realistic goals and doesn't stop till he achieves them. He talks about how his mother dropped him 1 mile from his house when he was only 4 years old and told him to make his own way home...she always instilled in him that he could do anything. He talks about making an offer of buying a £3 million island for only £180,000 - because that is all he could offer - and he got it! He certainly has had his fair share of luck, especially in his epic hot ballooning adventures, but I got the picture very quickly that this was a man who went for what he wanted and didn't take no for an answer. He believes in himself and so does his family, which is why his aunty mortgaged her house in the early days to loan him the £7,500 he needed to buy the manor and make a record studio. It was a great read.

I'd love to hear what you think of my blog, so please feel free to make a comment. Let me know of any great reads (non-fiction for me) or if you have any questions.