In January 2011, I joined a weightloss program at my local chemist. It was a meal replacement program. At the time I was about 35 kg overweight. By November 2011, I had lost about 14 kg, which I was really happy about. And it has stayed at that point since that time.
In about August 2011 a friend at work told me about a book called Sweet Poison. She hadn't read it, but her son had. I did a bit of internet research and liked the sound of the book. So I went to my local Big W, found it, took it home and read it. Wow... so then i started trolling around websites and had a good look through David Gillespie's blogs and the Sweet Poison and How Much Sugar sites. I wanted to know more, so I signed up to the forum and bought the Quit Plan.
It takes me a while sometimes to really commit to things, especially when it comes to changing my eating habits. So I thought I would just change things bit by bit. I was not quite ready to give up the shakes, even though I knew they were full of fructose and my weight was no longer moving. Just prior to Christmas, I started replacing all sugar in our cooking with either Stevia or with pure glucose.
My kids are nearly 4 and just turned 5, and they hardly noticed the difference. I had stopped giving them ice cream and sweetened yoghurt some weeks prior, so when I finally got around to making ice cream based on glucose powder they were stoked! Friends have tried it and say it is better than shop-bought ice cream. Can't argue with that! I have always made my own yoghurt, so switched to making the natural yoghurt and sweetening it with Stevia. If the boys want strawberry yoghurt, out comes the little bottle of Queen's Strawberry essence and voila! Strawberry yoghurt!
The best news so far is that of my darling husband. He was diagnosed with Insulin Dependent Diabetes when he was 10 years of age. For 30 years he has really battled with what we refer to as "the naughty child living inside him". He could eat the same thing each day, have the same amount of insulin at the same time, do the same amount of exercise and his sugar levels would jump all over the place for no apparent reason. Since really focussing on eliminating the fructose component of sugar from our diet in December/January this year, his sugar levels have been the most stable he can remember. There have still been the odd occasions where he has had lows or highs, but these are getting to be fewer and further between. He is now adjusting his insulin doses down as his control is getting better.
So, back to my decision. Today I spoke to my consultant at the chemist and told her that I was quitting the diet. All diets. From today, we are Fructose Free for Life. I am anticipating a smooth transition, as thankfully I feel that I have already dealt with the sugar withdrawal phase. I can sit in front of plates of sugar-laden "delicacies" and confidently say no. I have no desire to eat them. And anyone who knows me well, knows this is no mean feat!
So here goes... let's enjoy the ride.
Hi Elizabeth, Well done for keeping the 14kg off, you have done well to do so. I am sugar free (other than my occasional fruit, my veggies and nuts etc) for the past 15 days. So we can do this together. I am looking forward to watching your blog. I hope this helps your hubby's diabetes settles down too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!