A Sugar Free Update

Since the start of this year we have been focused on a sugar free diet.  We still eat fresh fruit but try an avoid added sugar and concentrated sugars such as juices and dried fruits.  We also avoid processed food and when I bake I try and use dextrose instead of sugar.

After nearly four months we have learnt a few things about ourselves and about adapting to a world that is just full of sugar.

• If you avoid sugar as much a possible your perception of sweetness changes and you find many foods too sweet to enjoy
• You will often find it difficult to find foods without added sugar
• It is not the end of the world if you decide to have something sweet as a treat
• We often share what would be considered a small sweet treat for one person and are satisfied
• Once you start looking to avoid sugar you see it being consumed in vast quantities all around you
• Some baking does not work with dextrose
• Once you are in the habit of having less sugar in your diet you rarely miss it, but sometimes do

We have decided to keep avoiding sugar but we are also not going to run our lives by it.  We will have the odd icecream in summer and eat good dark bitter chocolate when it takes our fancy.
And if I get so crazy pregnancy craving for jam and pickle sandwiches hey I might even give that a go too.
Sometimes we feel that we are depriving ourselves or making our lives harder but these thoughts are normally short lived and we see the bigger picture of our health.

We feel that if we keep going how we are we will not end up giving up on the low sugar life style because we are not going down the all or nothing path.  But at the same time we are aware that it would be an easy habit to fall back into so we are mindful of what we eat.