My Journey With Weight Loss – Reducing Sugar

I’m at my trailer and I have to admit when I am here I tend to get lazy and not work out anywhere near as much. This time I made a commitment that I would at least keep up my training so today I diligently did my intervals. Running here at the resort has a couple of challenges. Firstly I am having a bit of an arthritis flare up so running on the hard pavement is not the greatest. Secondly, the resort has tons of speed bumps meaning you have to be cognizant about timing your steps. I realized a simple solution for both is to instead of running along all the lanes that I could run loops on the grass around the large park. I’m going to give that a try on Saturday.

My husband suggested that I write about how I have reduced my sugar intake but still manage to make some pretty awesome desserts. There really is no such thing as a no sugar diet, well not if you are truly eating healthy. Natural sugar is found in all fruits and many vegetables. I, for example, eat a lot of berries especially blueberries. Yes, they contain sugar but they have so many other benefits that it would be ridiculous to give them up. Veggies like carrots and corn also have a high sugar content but again they are part of my healthy diet. Moreover, carbohydrates convert into sugars when you eat them but again it is not sustainable to live completely carb free. You can be successful by removing refined sugar from your diet and opting for healthy carbs. Also a good tip is getting into the habit of checking nutrition labels to see the sugar content. Seemingly innocuous products such as pasta and BBQ sauces can contain huge amounts of sugar that you don’t need. My advice is to look for the healthier options even if they are more expensive.

But let’s talk about sugar alternatives. My personal favourite is the Splenda brand. I find that for most recipes Splenda works as a great alternative. I should note that the Splenda brown sugar blend does contain sugar though at a much reduced level than if you are using real brown sugar. When I first decided to cut back on sugar I relied on recipes from Splenda (note their classic cheesecake is amazing) but then I started to branch out. I have literally dozens of recipes I have found on the internet that I can make using a sugar substitute. Most have turned out really well (the attempt as marshmallows not so much) and some I am still working on (the Splenda angel food cake is getting close to perfect). I have also learned that I can convert most recipes to remove refined sugar and replace on a 1:1 ratio with Splenda. Sometimes it is a bit of trial and error but I have perfected most of my go to recipes.

There are other products that can be helpful in reducing sugar. Unsweetened apple juice or applesauce are a great way to add sweetness without adding refined sugar. My best discovery was Hersey’s no sugar chocolate chips. I use those for everything from cookies to chocolate sauce to hot chocolate. The problem with them is they are only available in the USA and while my husband has a stockpile of them at our apartment in Renton, until he’s allowed to come home again I will have to ration the few bags I have left. I will tell you the parents in my neighbourhood love the fact I make low sugar cookies for the kids. There is also a new no sugar ice cream hitting the shelves here in BC, Enlightened. I’m still looking for it and can’t wait to try it.

Finally I want to say that it is ok to indulge in real sugar. Last weekend my sister and I did a ‘high tea’ takeout. Yes, there were several sweet treats including scones with jam and cream which I love