Sugar Free Feb series: How I survived.

Hello everyone!

It’s been a hot minute since I started my Sugar Free February challenge for Cancer Research UK; I have lots to catch you up on!

In total I raised £205!!! £105 over my target which I never thought would happen! I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who donated; it was certainly a challenge for myself!

Awwww look at my cute badge.

How did you go about cutting sugar?

As you all may know, I actually chose to only cut out added sugars (i.e. if sugar was added or listed as an INGREDIENT then I wasn’t having it) so I had to cut a lot of things that I would eat on a weekly basis:

• bread (if it wasn’t sourdough)
• any pre-made sauces
• any ready meals
• certain flavours of crisps
• breakfast cereals
• sugary drinks (although I usually have diet ones anyway so this wasn’t too bad)

• obvious sweets and chocolates…

I found myself consistently checking ingredients on items and being obsessed with the amount of sugar that is unnecessarily added to items. For example, some jars of tinned tomatoes have sugar added? I found different types of crisp brands added sugar to flavours that others didn’t (salt and vinegar was a HUGE culprit).

The good news is that I am a big fan of making things myself so cooking from scratch I did find rather fun. This does not mean that I always found it easy. I remember one day where I had to get food for on the go, an impossible task when avoiding sugar.

Can we talk about how I made a cake for my nan and uncle’s birthday and I couldn’t eat any of it. Pray for me.

Honestly, look how BEAUTIFUL that coffee and walnut cake is.

Did you feel any different?

I found myself feeling TERRIBLE for the first two weeks. I would wake up with really bad headaches and would compare said feelings to what I imagine a drug addict’s cravings would be like. But I will say, once the cravings had stopped, I did not find it as hard.

My issue was, however, that my skin did not change (I still had breakouts) and neither did my weight. This came as a bit of a surprise as it seems to be a thing in the media that sugar is the devil and your life will be 10000x better without it; I was rather disappointed that this wasn’t the case.

I also HATED not being able to make some foods which you would usually add sugar to for sweetness (such as Chinese foods or marinades). Obviously you can use honey, which did make a good alternative, but sometimes you just want a little sugar in your dipping sauce for your foods… you know?

What did I learn?

It is noteworthy that Cancer Research UK were pushing for the no sugar challenge as sugar is a large cause of obesity, which can be a cause of cancer. It was apparent to me that, unless you make all your own foods and pretty much avoid packaged ANYTHING; sugar is unavoidable. It does not surprise me that cases of diabetes and obesity are on the rise because sugar seems to be added to just about everything. I feel that this is something which really needs to change.

I also found that the less sugar / no added sugar alternatives were usually a much higher price than the originals. Shopping in Aldi / Lidl was also difficult due to the lack of selection available, therefore I spent a lot of time shopping in multiple supermarkets.

For example, if you make your own mayonnaise it will usually consist of eggs, oil, mustard, salt and pepper. However, if you buy a bottle (let’s just say own branded), for some reason SUGAR is added? Does it add sweetness? Not really. I think in these cases it seems to be added for preservative reasons… but think about the long term impact this could be having on your health.

This was an example of a ‘treat yo’self’ meal that I had. I won’t even tell you the price…

Special mentions go to:

• sourdough bread (godsend)
• • I should note that sourdough is a good bread choice to make as it avoids nasty additives and unnecessary added sugars.
• • You can even find sourdough based pizzas in the supermarkets now. They are delicious!
• • I made my own sourdough which you can read about here (x)

• No added sugar chocolateAldi did their own version of this which I personally felt was better than the branded.
• • Note: sweeteners may not be better than sugars, so it’s worth checking the label.

• Nakd barsRaw fruit and nut bars with no added sugar
• • The actual sugar content is still high though – worth noting.
• • Definitive ranking of flavours is coming soon.

• Yoyo bear fruit roll-upsLike fruit winders but with natural ingredients – I LOVE THESE (even if they are designed for lunchboxes for 7-year-olds).

• My no sugar baking recipes3 Ingredient cookies – Oats, banana and egg. (I also added cinnamon and dried fruits)

Final thoughts to takeaway:

I would recommend this challenge as it really opened my eyes into what ingredients are in our foods; something which I think is incredibly important in this day and age. Will I cut sugar out of my life forever? Definitely not; however, I do think I have become SOOOOO much more aware of how much I am consuming and have made a conscious effort to keep this lower.

Thank you to everyone who supported and followed me during this time! If you find any more month challenges you want me to try then let me know through my social medias!

Lots of love,

Sophia xoxo