This is not as hard as I thought it would be.
Day one: Rough.
Day two: One mammoth, splitting, day-long headache.
The rest of the week: No problem.
I even went out of town to a friend’s surprise birthday party, where I was faced with almond cake with buttercream frosting and molten-lava chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream. But it didn’t faze me.
Do I chalk this up to ironclad willpower? Of course not. I’d never turned down buttercream frosting. Ever. In. My. Life.
The shocking part of this No (Added) Sugar Challenge is that my cravings disappeared in a matter of days. I still have a Pavlovian response to the end of mealtime: “Bing!” the bell in my head rings. “Time for something sweet!” But I eat fruit, and the feeling passes. The natural sweetness of foods is, for now, pretty satisfying.
Here’s one of my recent favorites:
| Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie |
- 1 cup milk
- 1 frozen banana, cut into pieces
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- Blend everything together and drink immediately.
If you are taking the No (Added) Sugar Challenge, how is it going for you? I’d love to hear about it!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
As always, I’m late to the party and just started today. it was actually a blessing in disguise, because I can read your posts and those from other folks taking the challenge and know the first few days are the most tough. All in all, today was not too bad though! thankfully the basket of pears is finally ripe and I stocked up on berries. Small tastes of fruit with meals and snacks makes it easier.
Mitzie, I’m glad to have you with us! Having appealing fruit around has been key for me: oranges, my favorite apples, homemade applesauce, pink grapefruit, and some red raspberries today (yes, they’re imported and not at all organic, but they were oh so delicious anyway!). Keep us posted on how you’re doing!
This is so completely inspiring! Thanks for the updates
I feel like – just maybe – I can do it to!!
Tiffany–you CAN do it. It’s not too bad. Good luck and keep me posted!
This is why the South Beach diet is so effective–once you beat sugar cravings (and it does take just 36-48 hours), you’ve basically won the eating game. That shake looks awesome–definitely going to try it!
Also, a friend at work has turned me on to ridiculously healthy morning breakfast shakes. They are intensely green looking, but they basically taste like bananas, and it feels great to know that you’ve started your day with a giant dose of veggies–and takes the edge off when you are stressed/tired at night and fretting about lack of veggies with your whatever-you-find-in-the-fridge-dinner:
1 banana
1 apple
1 carrot
couple broccoli florets
a big spinach leaf or handful of baby spinach
a big kale leaf
some water to desired consistency (i’m also thinking of adding green tea for this part)
blend until drinkable
Thanks Jenny! I have been wanting to try a green smoothie for a while–now I’m inspired. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sally, great post! I am struggling with the idea of “never” eating sugar and I really like the idea of a day off once a week. For a long time I have practiced on-and-off the idea of “sweets on the weekend” only. When I am doing that it works pretty well for me– I don’t get that feeling like I want to rebel. (Against myself– which is really looney but there you go.)
Thanks Lorie! What’s been nice about giving it up for a longer period of time (I’m on week one of two) is that it took about two days for the cravings to go away. Now I don’t crave it at all. That said, I’m not sure what I’m going to do after week two is over. I’m with you–I don’t want to say “I’m never going to eat sugar again”. But I am loving how I feel and the fact that I simply don’t think about sweets anymore. And it may just be the placebo effect, but I feel more alert too.
Sounds delish. I definitely will give it a try. You might want to freeze your banana first. It will make your shake extra creamy.
I am totally going to freeze my bananas now! Also, I’ve been adding a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt and a handful of walnuts or almonds to pack in even more good stuff and give it a little tang. Now the whole family shares the batch with me each morning–it’s pretty great to know your child started the day with a serving of green veggies!
Oooh! With a dash of cinnamon too. I love finding great RD written blogs. I came over here from TLT. Looking forward to following along.
Neeli–great idea with the cinnamon. Welcome, and thanks for reading!
Oh my, you hit the nail on the head with the end of mealtime call to sweetness! This shake is nearly identical to my favorite 5th meal (evening snack) except I use chocolate protein powder, 1/2 banana and a ton of ice!
Do you drink kefir? That’s another nutritious option! Here is our family chocolate drink, too! http://fresh-you.blogspot.com/2013/01/4-ingredient-simple-super-smoothie.html
Thanks Colleen. That drink sounds great, I’ll have to try it!
Cool, Sally! Hope you enjoy
I am excited to go all through your website! …after I pick up my preschooler! Have a lovely morning, Colleen 
Just pinned your recipe so I can try it sometime! http://pinterest.com/rmnutrition/
Great! I’m checking out your Pinterest page now!