Looking forward…

To a day of grocery shopping, cleaning and refocusing tomorrow.

My eating has been very 50/50 since moving to Sydney. 20 days of good eating, exercise & rest to come.

12 week stats

Photos to come…

But I have lost 9 cm all over (more to come for sure!)

Using a Skinfold test I have dropped from 23.06% to 20.35% (DEXA to be done today for more accurate measurement). This was measured by the same person from Week 1 to Week 12.

Good times.

I’ll also be updating my 1RM stats as well…More information to come later today :)

Don’t you hate it when…

Your Metabolically Precise Liquid Meal (say the last meal of the day) doesn’t blend your zucchini properly so you have lumps of raw zucchini in it. 

Lucky you can’t taste it! 

OMNOMNOMNOM!

Tonights Liquid meal:

1 cup of Blueberries

1 Zucchini

1 cup of Oat milk (getting rid of the last lot as it is GONE from my diet from now on)

1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Powder

1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder

1 tbsp of Flaxmeal (OMEGA 3)

Drop of Coconut (or other) essence to taste

Stress

Relax. Christmas doesn’t have to be hard. Control your desires for fattening or sugar laden foods by stocking up on lots of leafy veges before going out, ordering entrees instead of main, choosing fruit over chocolate and red wine over bubbly.

Keep up your exercise and stay away from the roast white veges!!

You can keep to your trim, healthy goals with the right attitude.

But..I’m not going to skip out on my famous KIWI Pavlova that’s for sure.

7 Days Sugar Free

I have a lot of faith that I can do this. 

After reading Sweet Poison Quit Plan I decided that to get healthier, I would quit sugar. 

It’s pretty amazing how much better you feel (and look) after removing added sugar from your diet, and how much less I end up eating! 

The Australian National Guidelines for Diet note “The possible effect of sucrose and high fructose corn syrups in the aetiology of other diseases needs a more thorough review. These sweeteners cannot be treated as just another carbohydrate, because the fructose moiety imparts its own metabolic effect associated with elevated blood triglycerides and impaired glucose tolerance (Vrana & Fabry 1983).”

But that is the crux, fructose and sucrose impair glucose tolerance. 

The Draft Australian National Nutrition Guidelines can be found here and go on to note the following about sugars. 

“Sugars are carbohydrates, for example fructose, glucose, lactose or sucrose. When sugars occur naturally in foods such as fruit, vegetables and dairy products they are referred to as intrinsic sugars. However, the major source of sugar in the Australian diet is sucrose from sugar cane which is added to foods and is termed an extrinsic sugar. Sucrose is widely used in processed foods and drinks as a sweetener and also plays a role as a flavour enhancer and preservative. Sugars provide a readily absorbed source of energy, but added sugars can increase the energy content of the diet while diluting its nutrient density. Sugars are a major factor in dental caries and diets high in added sugars are also associated with some adverse health outcomes. Sugarsweetened drinks (fruit juice drinks, soft drinks, flavoured mineral waters and sports drinks) are the largest source of sugars in the Australian diet, with consumption highest in adolescents and children [44]. New evidence emphasises the relevance of sugar-sweetened drinks to the development of excess weight (see below).”

“There is insufficient evidence to recommend an exact intake of added sugars suitable for the whole population. From a nutritional perspective, good health can be achieved without the addition of sugars in any form to the diet. For those who are not overweight and are already consuming an adequate diet (a minority of the population), added sugars relate mainly to the problem of dental caries. For the majority of the population, however, overweight and obesity are major problems and require a reduction in energy intake. Limiting added sugars, particularly from sugar-sweetened drinks, is one strategy for adults and children. The World Health Organization recommends that no more than 10% of energy should come from added sugars [88]. Recent data from the US suggests a level of 5–10% of energy from added sugars may be appropriate [601]. This is much less than current Australian consumption, reinforcing the continued need for this Guideline.”

So truly what am I missing out on?

Anathoth makes the most amazing New Zealand Jams, pickles and chutney, they are about 50% of the fruit/vege and then 30-50% sugar (The jams anyway) no other added preservatives however. For the NZ Short Film Festival which is on tomorrow night we will be giving away a free pot of Jam and…I won’t be eating it :( 

Whittakers Chocolate is amazing, however I have had to pass on this too. Also a goodie prize for our Short Film Fest tomorrow. 

One of the nights this week I avoided amazing Chocolate Dessert @ Max Brenner in Southbank…

What I have replaced all of this with is Avocado, Flaxseed Meal and No Bake Nut slice…except I don’t put the chocolate on top, and don’t use honey, so its more like a crumble…next time I plan on using Glucose Syrup as my “Glue”.

I hope you too can reduce the amount of “Added sugar” in your diet down to the recommended 5-10%. 

Stop the sugary drinks, look out for “Sugar” in your products. More info and progress to follow!

Want to quit sugar? Check out http://www.howmuchsugar.com/