I'm giving up sugar for Lent - anyone in?

[tinselandlights]

Since Christmas my sugar consumption has been out of control.

I've decided to give up sugar and wheat for Lent, and give the money I would spend on it to the Trussell Trust to keep me on track.

Anyone else in?

Well I've probably strictly failed this evening because I've had some sweet chilli sauce with dinner but I'm letting myself off...

B: cut up fruit with plain yoghurt and nuts, 2 cups white coffee
L: Half wholemeal baguette with watercress, cheese and baby tomatoes
D: Arancini with cornflake crumb, made with leftover risotto, sweet chilli sauce, watercress, broccoli, green beans and tomato.
Pudding: fruit and yoghurt

Not too bad

If you just added a splash of sweet chilli sauce then sugar content in your meal as a whole was very very low, I wouldn't stress about that. I had salmon stir fry in teriyaki sauce, which i remembered too late is about as sugary a sauce as you can find. Whoops. I'm hoping the protein and veg balance it out a bit. I had a nice lean chicken salad and an apple for lunch and no snacks so 🤷‍♀️

How are we getting on with the underlying meanings behind lent?
I have been reading a book about ‘ being ok to not be ok’. It has really got me thinking. It gives the image of a mug. We need to take time just to be help safe. We need to think about what we are filled with.

Day 2 done - it genuinely has been ok but from experience, day three is when it gets tough!

Dinner was sausage casserole with shallots, carrots and leeks - think it had some plain flour in (to thicken, made by DH) but I'm not going to get upset about it (trying to give up wheat too).

In terms of the underlying meaning of Lent, @NellietheNumpty I think it means different things depending on whether you have a faith or not. I'm getting loads of Lent memes from my WhatsApp-savvy elderly aunt but I like the idea of fasting from hurting words towards yourself.

Not a RC but I really like those words - thanks for sharing.

Not a RC but I really like those words - thanks for sharing.

All these sugar free menus are inspiring! It has been a fasting day for me so I've not been tempted. I'm looking forward to eating plenty tomorrow; porridge with blueberries for breakfast, and a home made fish pie for dinner, haven't decided yet about lunch. It will probably be soup of some kind, it usually is. 🥣

Day three, how is it going?

I feel ok, I jumped on the scale and have lost 4lb since last week, I guess it is water weight but I'll still take it!

For me today:
B- black cherry, 30g oats, live yoghurt
L- maybe lentil dal
D- well this is a tricky one with no sugar or wheat - I love having a takeaway on a Friday!! I could have a curry, or fish and chips, but it feels as though it might be good time to reconsider what to have. I might go to the supermarket later and choose something a bit healthier than a takeaway. All suggestions gratefully received!

Same breakfast of fruit, nuts and yoghurt for me. This is my regular breakfast in any case so no change from normal.

Meal plan for the rest of the day:

L - wholemeal wrap with houmus, watercress, tomato, carrot and seeds

D - venison burger, roast squash, parsnip and sweet potato chips and salad (no bun for me)

Snack/pudding - I may try out a recipe for coconut flour biscuits, which are savoury and I will have with a bit of cheese but kids can have with choc spread and fruit as a pudding.

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

sugarfree you sound very similar to me. I also eat a lot of dark chocolate. I think it’s the thing stopping me losing the four pounds I would like to shift. I also managed fine yesterday. Onwards to balanced blood sugar!

I replaced all choc with dark choc last year when I gave up eating all other sugar. It worked for me at first because I hated it and could only bear to eat two squares, but eventually I got a taste for it and was binging whole bars. I've now stopped buying any chocolate and replaced it with blueberries. I do believe it was the chocolate stopping me losing weight. Hope now the weight comes off. I've started exercising more every day, but I am aiming to get back to my pre Christmas weight before aiming for another stone off.

I've started today because there was a birthday in our house earlier in the week. I'm giving up sweets, cake, puddings, chocolate but I won't worry about a bit of sugar in a meal and I'll keep eating fruit. Undecided about dried fried because I was going to replace my lunchtime cake with a Nakd bar. I'm also giving up alcohol because DH has, although I'm not a big drinker anyway.

Argh - sugar cravings have kicked in

Good luck @UnbeatenMum!

Sugar cravings are starting for me too @BewareTheBeardedDragon... we are going to the chip shop for dinner and I will have fish and chips but take the batter off. That's an old Slimming World trick!

I'm doing the reasoning with myself - 'I can just have SOME batter, it's not sugar, it's wheat' but it's basically just trying to explain it away to myself.

I'm having a peppermint tea and trying to let it ride out!

Nothing that's worth doing is easy!!

Well that's what I keep telling myself

Today had been fine actually I've been quite hungry but it's definitely easier today (day 5)

L- bacon, avocado, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach with a slice of sour dough bread
Strawberries, fat free Greek yogurt and crushed hazel nuts.
S-slice of sourdough eggy bread
D- chicken shashlik, a table spoon of boiled rice and salad

God no! I love a hit of sugar every day.
Would be very fed up without one or two rich tea biscuits or a mini Milky Way.
Good luck though, sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever and I'm sure you'll see excellent health benefits quite quickly.

Whatever you do or don't do in Lent, please do as the OP is doing and give to charity the savings you make.

Mmmm Shashlick! That sounds lovely!

I have been and given a weeks worth of food to the food bank today, but also my son made a cake and offered me some and I ate it without thinking
Why is it so easy to fail and forget to remember?! I am fine at managing what I eat as long as no one offers me anything, obviously.

I take my hat off to you lot who are giving up stuff for lent. I won’t be giving up anymore than I’m already doing as a result of lockdown. I really don’t know where you get the discipline for this under the circumstances. Also, I’m not happy with Christian religious leaders who have done bollocks all for their followers during the pandemic except criticise.

I will be joining you but mostly because my teeth are giving me problems! I drink most evenings which is where my sugar comes from so now will be sticking with water. Hopefully will have my teeth fixed before lent is over!

Day three and so far so good. Have switched to a low sugar breakfast cereal and haven’t eaten any biscuits, chocolate or other treats. Went food shopping today, didn’t buy any sweet stuff and put some tins in the food bank box instead.

@Titsywoo welcome!

@WiltedDaffs great work!

I had my chippy tea and it was actually lovely - I just lifted the fish out of the batter and it was fine.

BUT

Without ketchup, batter, curry sauce... it was definitely less binge-able. I enjoyed it but usually I'd kind of force myself to carry on eating because it's so delicious, but without the mix of sweet and savoury/salty, I was nowhere near finishing the portion. It was just enough and I feel satisfied and like I've had a treat, just without sugar.

Day three nearly done! Well done to you all, this should be one of the hardest days.

@SugarfreeBlitz that is amazing to give a weeks' food to the food bank, someone will be so happy.

It is so easy to just slip and have a biscuit or some cake... hopefully after this we'll all have a gap in thought process before we eat things as we'll have made a new habit!

Evening all, going really well for me here. I didn’t eat that much sugar and not doing it for weight loss reasons etc but found myself with sugar creeping in everywhere. I eat a lot of ketchup for example!

@tinselandlights I honestly think without sauces like ketchup etc I will eat way less stuff like chips, it just doesn’t have the same appeal

Good luck everyone, hope weekends go well

Possibly not helpful but in the subject of sauces - I usually have sweet Chili to dip roast veg into, but decided today to make my own sauce. I mixed plain yoghurt with a teaspoon of caper brine and pepper. It was bloody delicious 😋

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

Possibly not helpful but in the subject of sauces - I usually have sweet Chili to dip roast veg into, but decided today to make my own sauce. I mixed plain yoghurt with a teaspoon of caper brine and pepper. It was bloody delicious 😋

I had roast veggies today and added in some passata and a spoon of creme fraiche, bloody delicious