As you know, this New Year challenge means my diet isn’t COMPLETELY sugar free – it’s just a phrase I use because I’m practically sugar-free and if I had to explain the ONE LINE RULE diet every time, this Blog would become very boring.
In fact, I AM getting a little bored with being sugar free. It’s tougher than I thought – especially being on holidays. I even asked the ice-cream parlour lady yesterday if they sold a sugar free variety (they do at Chadstone Shopping Centre) because I was desperate to satisfy my craving – but alas, no luck…
My next best option was to find sweet treats that meet the ‘less than 5% sugar’ criteria. I’m not saying it’s a great idea to devour these by the bucketload, but these are good stand-by emergency treats if you can’t hold out any longer…
1. Ant Ox Chocolate – Goji
Sweeted with Stevia, this chocolate contains only 4.6% sugar. The Goji berries increase the sugar content compared with plain chocolate, but I think make it more satisfyingly sweet.
4. BSC Lo Carb Bites
Strawberry and Cream – 5.8% sugar. These are slightly above 5% sugar so I wouldn’t recommend eating more than one a day!
Swisse Chocolate flavour – spot on 5% sugar. Again, only eat one at a time. I prefer these as well to the Strawberry and Cream.
5. The ever reliable sugar free gum!
At ZERO % sugar, this truly is the best sugar free alternative.
At least dining out isn’t proving too difficult. At Frangos and Frangos restaurant last night in Lorne, I kept to the sugar free challenge by ordering a steak and salad, with a roasted beetroot side dish. But yes, I did also knock back more than a couple of chardys…. As I said previously, I’m going to deal with that alcohol rule back in Melbourne.
An excellent evening – both service and food at Frangos and Frangos get a big gold star from me. Not to mention the company, which was first rate. If you’re making a trip down Victoria’s surf coast, be sure to make a booking on 03 5289 1896. The address is 150 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne.
Apologies folks, It’s only Day Four of my ONE LINE RULE challenge, and already I’ve broken one of my own guidelines. I haven’t strayed from the ONE LINE RULE when it comes to food – just drinking… But I have a fabulous justification. Really, I do!
I blame my girlfriends. Because of them and their persuasive ways yesterday, I’m not going to be able to meet my three alcohol-free-days quota this week.
It started out as a simple beach outing. There we were – sitting on the sand, happily enjoying each other’s company and keeping an eye on the kids splashing in the surf. We chatted about the perfect weather (unlike today’s stinker which has forced most on us indoors) and how wonderful it was that all four of us could be in the same holiday spot at the same time.
But after that, the wine came out. Now, of course I could have said ‘NO’. And I did. Well, for the first half hour at least… But then the questions began. ‘Oh come on, Jen, you’re on HOLIDAYS! Can’t you have ONE drink?’ ‘You’re being too hard on yourself, aren’t you?’ ‘Isn’t it more important to have a great time with your friends than sit there and be a wowser?’ It didn’t take long to twist my arm… Because, quite frankly, I can’t imagine another time when all four of us will be in such a magical spot at the same time and it’s not so much that I needed the wine, but didn’t want to spoilt the moment by that even being an issue. As one of the girls said, it’s always best to bend the rules on holidays, have fun and get back on track when you’re home.
So here’s the revised game plan while in Lorne. To stick to the ONE LINE RULE and continue with the sugar-free diet – which means not eating anything with more than 5% sugar content. No lollies, cakes, ice-cream, pancakes, biscuits etc… and worry about that drinking rule when I’m back in Melbourne. Oh and dinner last night was grilled fish and a handful of potato chips. That’s all.
Some people have raised the question – why try the ONE LINE RULE diet and profess to be sugar free if you’re still drinking wine? For me, after giving up smoking last year, I know that facing TOO much deprivation will only lead to failure. This is a good start. I know that if I raise the bar TOO high, I’ll crash and feel defeated. One step at a time.
I paid my penance this morning though, stepping out early with Fletch for an hour’s bush walking before breakfast. A quick cafe latte on the way home, then here’s how today’s ONE LINE RULE diet worked:
Lunch: I impressed myself by making a wholemeal tuna wrap with a spoonful of hommous, tabouli, and chopped tomato.
Wholemeal Wattle Valley wrap – 1.8% sugar; Black Swan Skinny Hommus – 1.2% sugar: Sirena basil infused tuna – 0% sugar and Beyond Coconut Water – 3.6% sugar. The coconut water is a great alternative to soft drink and has wonderful rehydrating properties for a scorching hot day like today!
Ah, the pros and cons of trying a different dietary lifestyle while on holiday… On the plus side, you’re not at home being taunted by a pantry and fridge full of temptation. On the downside, holiday destinations are jam-packed with luring treats. We’re on Victoria’s surf coast, staying at the township of Lorne – an idyllic spot nestled among mountainous hinterland encompassing Erskine Falls and the Great Ocean Road, about two hours out of Melbourne.
Like most holiday spots, Lorne is also over-flowing with enticements, begging me to abandon this crazy, sugar-free mission. There’s al fresco dining along the main shopping strip, quirky cafes, humming beach kiosks and even the pumping local pub screaming at me to sample their wares. And let’s not even TALK about the ice-cream parlours.
That was always a regular family treat on a hot day – an afternoon cone with two gourmet scoops. Or what about a splash-out afternoon tea where we all get a different piece of cake smothered in whipped cream and share? Not this week, sunshine.
Although last night I relented when Tom pleaded for a tub of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate ice-cream so he could feast away while we watched a DVD at home. Of course, on my sugar-free challenge, I went without.
Drinking alcohol has also definitely been a regular part of enjoying our holiday experience. It’s an indulgence – part of relaxing and having fun with friends. With no work to prepare for the next day, why not have fun? But my sugar-free goal is to have at least three alcohol-free days a week. Last night was one. Here’s my tip to make those nights when you feel like a drink, a tad more bearable while still remaining sugar-free.
The idea is to think of SPECIAL TEA as a specialty drink!!! (sorry, corny…) Okay, it might take a bit of self-convincing but it can be done. First of all, you buy the tea from one of those trendy tea shops where everything is packaged beautifully and comes in pretty boxes with fancy names. The best sugar substitute tea is LIQUORICE TEA. Some say it also works as an appetite suppressant. I love it because it tastes sweet and fulfils my sugar craving without making a sinner of me.
Another tip – it’s best to make a pot so you can refill your mug several times while watching something on the tele. That will fill you up too!
Today was Day Three of the ONE LINE RULE diet and here’s how it’s gone so far:
Breakfast – like yesterday, The Muesli, with 1/2 cup of Pura Lite Start Millk (5% sugar) and two dollops of Gippsland Dairy natural organic yoghurt and a dozen blueberries. I piece of toast with Vegemite. (which was probably a bit much but I was starving!)
Snack – Handful of raw pistachio nuts. Another handful of blueberries to complete my fruit quota for the day.
Lunch – Half a Mediterranean roasted vegetable Baguette. I checked the sugar content of roasted Mediterranean vegetables on the web and generally they’re about 4.6% sugar so I think I’m in the clear there. And the baguette is 1.6% sugar, so all good.
Snack – 1 Cafe Latte with Equal sweetener.
Dinner is yet to come. I’m thinking it will be another alcohol free day as they’re usually easier early on in the week, but we will see… I’ll report in tomorrow.
DAY TWO of the sugar-free ONE LINE RULE diet, and I’m doing okay. Just to recap, if you’re not up to speed with this challenge – the idea is to only eat food that contains less than 5 % sugar. So it means checking the nutrition labels on all food packaging and only eating that which meets the criteria. Once you start checking the labels on processed foods, you’ll be amazed at how much sugar is out there!
Here’s how today panned out, including one very surprising revelation!
Breakfast: The Muesli (97% sugar free) with half a cup of skim milk, two dollops of Gippsland Organic Natural Yoghurt and a dozen fresh raspberries. I’m allowed one serving of fresh fruit per day, so my raspberry intake was equivalent to half a piece of fruit.
Sadly, I can no longer enjoy my favoured Uncle Toby’s Anti-Oxidant cereal as it’s packed with TWENTY-TWO per cent sugar!!!
Morning Snack – Handful of raw pistachio nuts
Drive down to Lorne – I did well, drinking only water and keeping the mouth busy with sugar-free gum. We stopped along the way for Tom to buy a home-made bakery meat pie. I resisted, but the mouth-watering aroma in the car as we continued along our way had me breaking out in a cold sweat. Now I might have been able to eat that meat pie, but the bakery staff couldn’t assure me of the sugar content, so sorry, that means the pie gets a big fat cross. Who knows what sugar content was in the pastry or the sauce? Unlikely to be more than five per cent, but you never know…
I waited till we unpacked and then had a can of tuna – and you must buy SIrena – so much nicer than other brands (I usually opt for the basil infused flavour) – and a couple of Cruskits.(3.4% sugar) In the past, I’ve also added a dollop of my favourite Sweet Chilli sauce, but after discovering it’s full of more than FORTY PER CENT sugar, I’ve had to find an alternative. And here it is! Sambel Olek is fantastic for those of us who love a bit of spice in our food – a great chilli flavour and ZERO sugar content – YIPPEE!!!
Afternoon tea – half a cup of blueberries
Dinner – Now we’re on holidays in Lorne, it’s going to be tricky to stick to the three alcohol-free days a week rule, but I’m going to give it a shot. Tom and I had dinner at Kosta’s Greek restaurant in Lorne tonight and the food was sensational. My grilled barramundi was top class and Tom’s lamb souvlaki was superb. Guess what I drank? WATER!!! Yes, water – can you believe that? Damn, a chardonnay would have been great with the fish, but I did it…
My surprise revelation today came from two readers who commented on yesterday’s blog (thank you ladies!) who reminded me to check the sugar content of the milk I use.
MILK? Are you kidding?
Seriously, I must be dumb but I’d never even considered milk having ANY sugar content – but yep, you check out your brand. Some low-fat varieties are actually MORE THAN five per cent sugar!! Thankfully our brand is spot on five per cent, so I could breathe a sigh of relief, but it’s definitely a fact worth taking on board for those of you who are also keen to stick to the ONE LINE RULE.
Just quickly, I wanted to let you know this sugar-free concept is already gnawing at me… Today is NOT one of those alcohol-free days I mentioned, so I went to a friend’s house for New Year’s Day drinks which was enormous fun, but have since got home and am desperately craving a sugar fix.
I’m sure it’s because I’ve been drinking wine. My body is craving the sugar to keep the balance. So I’m in my office, and without thinking, reached to open the ‘secret treats’ drawer…
Yum…. Sesame Snaps! A treat I always justified because they’re also packed with sesame seeds which are great for you – right? But hang on. Let’s check the sugar content…. Hmmm.
SERIOUSLY??? THIRTY-SIX POINT ONE PER CENT???? YEP, 36.1 per cent. DAMN.
Can’t do that. I CANNOT break the ONE LINE RULE on day one.
Off they go – relegated downstairs to the general pantry.
Okay, I’m fine now. Guess I’ve had enough sugar for today anyway. Time to watch a horror movie with my daughter. Silent House. Anyone been there done that? Anything to take my mind off sugar…
SO after telling you all about my New Year’s Resolutionlast year, which was to give up smoking, I’m going to set myself some new challenges for 2013. And to make myself accountable (because I discovered this was quite valuable when I did the muffin-top Cool Sculpting experiment) I’m going to post a Blog every Monday with a New Year’s Resolution update.
Fireworks in Melbourne last night – New Year’s Eve
The resolutions are:
(1) To cut sugar out of my diet (apart from wine – details to follow)
(2) To stop playing I-phone games (time waster)
(3) To tidy my office before the end of March
(4) To go to the gym three times a week (apart from holidays)
(5) To absolutely NEVER smoke another single cigarette.
It’s all pretty trivial stuff. The bigger things – like volunteering for a charity, spending more time with my kids and personal emotional and career challenges – are important for me, but probably won’t make for entertaining reading, so let’s deal with my Top Five first. And in truth, cutting sugar out of my diet isn’t so trivial, because good health is everything.
Here’s a bit more about WHY I’ve nominated these five challenges:
(1) After interviewing Emma Dumas (see Blog – Dec 19th) about the massive health problems that stem from high sugar consumption, and the enormous amount of sugar in so many processed foods, I was inspired to make some changes to my own diet. Yes, I’m going to try cutting sugar out of my life. Being an addicted sweet-tooth, it’s a frightening thought.
Veronica however, was thrilled with my decision because of my need to say ‘good-bye’ to sugar properly. This meant a dedicated trip to Ben and Jerry’s Ice-cream parlour in Prahran, where I gorged on the new Maple Tree Hugger combined with Chocolate Therapy and she was in ice-cream heaven with the Vanilla Cookie Dough flavour. Seriously bad and seriously amazing. Just looking at this picture has me sighing with longing…
I’ll let you know the ground rules. As Emma advised, I’m aiming to stick to the ONE LINE RULE. This means eliminating any processed foods that have more than 5% sugar per 100g on the nutrition label.
Emma’s willpower is phenomenal in that she hasn’t had a lolly for more than seven years. I’m sure I won’t last that long and while I admire Emma’s strict adherence to the no-sugar diet, I don’t think I can set the bar quite so high myself. I’ll allow myself one piece of fruit a day and I’ll also allow myself wine (2 glasses) a maximum of four times a week.
Plus I love yoghurt with my cereal and the lowest sugar-content of any yoghurt I can find is in the Gippsland fat-free Organic yoghurt and that’s SIX per cent. So I’ll be breaking the ONE LINE RULE by one per cent, but I can live with that. It means I’ll be giving up what WAS my favourite yogurt – Vaalia Vanilla – because sadly, that contains 16.3 per cent sugar.
It’s amazing when you go through your own pantry checking labels, that you discover how many products contain such large amounts of sugar! This will be a toughie, but I’ll update you with tips about what works and what doesn’t.
(2) The second resolution is to stop playing I-phone games. I nearly didn’t include this publicly, as it’s an embarrassing admission. But yes, I started playing certain games because of the kids. You know the conversation.. ‘Mum, you’ve GOT to play Dragonvale because I NEED you to send me more gems!!’ ‘Sure, honey, I’ll do that’ And before I knew it, I was actually caring about when my dragons were hatching. Yep, I told you it was embarrassing.
Then there were the endless games of ‘Words With Friends’ which I justified to myself because I was dealing with ‘WORDS’ and it was stimulating my brain – wasn’t it?
But no, all the amount of hours I have wasted playing these games can’t be retrieved and could have been spent doing many more valuable things. Like tidying my office…
(3) Tidy my Office before the end of March. This is because I am sick of working under the ever-increasing mounds of paper on my desk. Enough already!! This mission can be accomplished! It’s not a massively high priority though, so I’ve given myself till the end of March. There are LOTS of piles of paperwork to be filed…. ho hum…. dreary stuff.
(4) To go to the gym at least THREE times a week. After working hard to eliminate my muffin-top last year, I need to work harder at the gym to make sure I don’t grow massive bulges in other places. Spin classes are my preference, so I’ll let you know how this goes.
(5) And lastly, to NEVER have another cigarette. As I said in the blog about giving up smoking, I only broke a couple of times during last year, but this year, I don’t even want there to be ONE of those moments. Again I’ll keep you updated.
Let me know what resolutions you’ve made and how long you think you’ll keep yours!
