Bad info for children/parents

I live in Knox council and we get this magazine free in the local library etc called, 'Your Child in Knox'. Am sure they have it in other areas, with 'Your Child in...'/insert different name.

Anyway, they had this article called, 'Smart Snacking!' that is written by "an accredited practicing dietician & accredited nutritionist".

It's all about low-fat this and low-fat that. ie. low-fat yogurt, low-fat dip, low-fat milk, low fat cheese sticks etc are all suggested.

Gillespie wisely pointed out that there is no need to do the low-fat thing but just have whole products. The lactose naturally found in dairy is an OK form of sugar.

I get mighty tired of that low-fat push and think that this dietitian/nutritionist should know better. Have often found the advice of those professionals, who one would think would be up with the latest knowledge, to be wanting.

Grrrr! Leading astray the poor parents of Knox (and other places) like that!

Birthday relaxing

OK, I had my birthday on Tuesday the 9th August. 42 now! I always celebrate with Birthday Eve, Birthday and then Birthday Boxing Day. Well, I have since I was in my mid 20s. So, on those 3 days, I ate what I wanted, sugary or not. Got lots of headaches so that was unpleasant. Stew was worried that I'd get re-addicted but so far, so good.

Well...since then, I have had cake twice. Once, it was 9 days after my birthday and somebody handed me a small piece of birthday cake and said to eat it. I did, as I thought, "Welll, maybe I can do the party food for parties". Immediately got a sugar headache. 3 days later, somebody sang Happy Birthday to a few of us who were having our b'days in August and so it was actually a cake for me. This time, I felt pressured to eat it. Again, got an immediate headache. When I have honey on my crumpets, once a month (been doing this for about 2 months now), I don't get the headaches.

This was interesting. Should I have refused the cakes? Probably. Am not craving chocolate or anything so don't think I'm addicted but still...

Still loving avocados, plain yogurt with pear/cinnamon/LSA etc, tuna/mayo/egg salads etc So good and healthy. For someone who used to live for peanut butter and honey sandwiches, am now just enjoying plain peanut butter on its own. (Mind you, it's a Sweet Poison friendly one - Sanitarium's no added sugar or salt, smooth) Loving it overall.

Sure, it was nice to relax for a few days but happy to eat well the rest of the time. Haven't eaten anything sweet at playgroups etc since so the only 'mishaps' have been those two cake slices. Next planned relaxed sugary eating is Christmas where I hope to have a big slice of my m-in-law's pavlova, Christmas pudding etc Maybe the odd 'Party food for parties' before that but only very rarely.

Finally, a blog again!

Sick babies are tiring! Blah! Computer problems are horrible. Blah! They conspired against my blogging.

This was taken on 14th June, 2011, in Sydney. Hopefully my face is starting to look a bit slimmer in photos??? I notice a difference, in the mirror, but photos always make one look fat! Stew says it's coming off all over, slowly but surely. If only the next 10kg would just fall off!!! LOL

Well, still just plodding away. Still doing the Sweet Poison journey. It's still around 10kg lost, which is around 73kg. Somedays, it's even been down to 72.7 etc Have never 'dieted' before - if you can call this dieting - so am most pleased that I've stuck to it for over 5 months. Am loving it, overall, and very glad that I read the books and had my life changed.

Since Easter, have had no chocolate. Only 'sins' I've done, since then, have been a crumpet with honey on it, around once a month. Yum! The honey just drizzles down through those little, wicked holes...Quick, stop me thinking about them!

My 42nd birthday is on August 9th. We've just booked into the Melba Brasserie at the Langham hotel in the city, on Southbank, here in 'sunny' old Melbourne. I love that place! [My friend got me onto it back in the 90s, when we lived on the Gold Coast. She took me to the Sheraton's Melba, there, and I was hooked. I digress...] Luckily, I hate their desserts and only go for their yummy mains. Their desserts are too fancy or horrible - like truffles - unless you count the plain old yummy ice cream with melted chocolate to drizzle over it.

However, I do want to have a few 'treats' that birthday week. Maybe ice cream, thickshake or something. I've already bought (last Sunday) the Cherry Ripe that I'll eat. It's up in the cupboard. Hubby was worried that I'd eat it ASAP but I am quite happy to wait. It's quite nice to plan the few things I'll allow myself. I guess, instead of doing the 'Party food is for parties', I will do a few things a few times a year.

I confess that I am looking forward to it! Bring on that birthday week! Shameful, I know. I really do miss chocolate, sometimes. Must have a big emotional attachment, or something. Silly to look forward to having poison, I know, but it's what keeps me going, sometimes. Knowing I can eat it, if I want to, but I choose not to and will only have it at certain times. Never knew I had willpower, til now!

If I feel disgusting after it, who know whether I will change my ideas of next 'splurging' at Christmas?

Survived bread fast

I did a 10 day bread fast. Well, it turned out being 11 days, but it officially wasn't meant to be. It was for religious/faith reasons in that I was doing it to honour God/seek His will and not to lose weight. [I can't fast the usual way as I'm breastfeeding and don't watch TV so can't do a TV fast etc A religious fast has to mean something to you and I love bread so that's why I chose it.] My sister told me I'd probably lose weight anyway but I tried not to focus on that.

Interestingly, it just stayed the same at first. Then, it got less but super slowly. [The weight , even before the bread fast, seemed to hover around 73.5 to just over 74 for ages, like a few weeks etc. Grrr!]

Anyway, to not eat bread for lunch, I frequently had that protein salad I mentioned in my last blog - small tin tuna, 2 chopped boiled eggs, whole egg mayo, chopped celery/capsicum/carrot etc It was very nice and very filling. Protein really does fill you up. A glass of milk, here and there. Handfuls of nuts and seeds etc

Today, the scale said 73.1kg so it's pretty much now 10kg, as I was 83kg when I started. That last kg went very ssssslllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyyy!!!! I know I need to cut portions to be smaller but we've had sick kids and lots of stress so I do what I can. My child health nurse told me that I look like I've lost lots of weight and appear more energetic.

The bread thing taught me a lot. I eat way too much bread sometimes, what with my daughter's job at Baker's Delight and all. However, I DID survive without it. I love bread so much that I didn't think it'd be possible. It's so yummy. Making the baby girls' lunches every day, out of bread, was hard! Also, it was my absolutely favourite bread twice last week. Oh dear! Those days were very hard. I now know that I can live without bread and the fast may have helped me cut down heaps. I hope, anyway. I want to eat it far less, overall. I was convicted of my greed for bread.

When I knew I wouldn't have time to make the tuna salad for lunch, I ate plain yogurt, diced pear & cinnamon etc for breakfast so I could have Sweet Poison muesli for lunch. Or things like that. Once, hubby made me some scrambled eggs with tuna and avocado.

Last week, I went to visit the Special Care Nursery where the baby spent 7 weeks and 1 day last year. One of the nurses said she thought I looked taller/slimmer when I told her that I'd lost 10kg. I had to laugh at the 'taller'. I wish!!! I still have about 10kg to go so it's looking like a long haul. However, I didn't go into this as a crash diet thing then move on so I'm going to keep on keeping on.

Had a dream last night that I ate some chocolate! Knew it was wrong but still did it. Was disappointed that I couldn't taste it. Now, I know why. It was just a dream!!! Mind you, I do sometimes think longingly of my b'day on Aug 9th and think how I'll eat some poisonous food then. That's my next allowed time. Pretty sick, huh!

Anybody reading this blog, please tell me if you do the 'party food is for parties' thing? I haven't, thus far, and have just avoided it all. I was scared to get re-addicted. When people say to me, "Oh, so you're never gonna have sugary food again?", I say, "Well, once I've lost all my weight, I may have some every few months or something. I haven't decided yet."

Saint Stewart would disagree with that. He is sooo good, on the whole. He's like, "Why eat something that gives you a headache and is poison etc" Mind you, it's only been chocolate that gives me headache, since I started this. When we've had the odd honey crumpet - my few sins, I confess - I've not got a headache.

Protein-y lunches

In trying to eat less bread, I am trying to think of bread-less lunches to eat. Now that the baby is older, it might be easier to make some lunches that take longer to make than just slapping a sandwich or two, together. (I was lucky to do that, some days, as she'd just cry the whole time, often)

Twice this week, I had a 'salad', consisting of:

1x95g tin Tuna (in springwater)
2 boiled eggs, diced
whole egg mayo
diced avocado, carrot, red capsicum and celery

It was absolutely delicious and very filling, so I didn't get hungry afterwards. I posted that I had that for lunch, on Facebook, and someone wrote, "All you need is bread to make it perfect lunch!" D'oh! LOL  Had to explain that I'm trying to avoid bread...

Even if I did have 2 sandwiches, I often felt like I could have more, afterwards. Protein really is more filling, as my sister kept telling me. Still, missing the bread though. Making the babies' sandwiches, makes me long for it, sometimes.

Another day, I had one of those Campbell pumpkin soup thingies that come in the Tetra Brick containers. That was a yummy lunch.

Any other suggestions?

Chai tea not Sweet Poison friendly???

Back from Sydney, definitely, and our computer hassles, I hope. Gee, could have easily thrown my laptop out the window!!!

In Sydney, my lovely sister Michelle shouted me lunch. Then, she told me I was welcome to have a tea/coffee/hot chocolate etc It's been months since I had a Chai Latte so I asked to have that please. It was sooo nice that I had another one, that weekend, back here in Melbourne after church. Again, just lovely. If I have a choice, I get the lovely spicy one, not the Vanilla one. Stew thought it tasted too nice so asked to see the tins they use for the Chai powder. One said about 50% sugar (Vanilla) per 100gms and the other said 60% (Spicy). Wow! No wonder it tasted nice. I was crushed that there truly is nothing I can order when out. No wonder I haven't had a Chai Latte since before I began this. Maybe I looked into it but forgot.

Anyway, the next week at playgroup, someone offered me a Chai Latte sachet (think it was Lipton's) in a different brand. I asked to examine the box's details and it said 'only' 6.6 per 100gms. This seemed OK - as I assumed some of the sugar would be for the lactose in the milk as you didn't need to add milk -  so I had it. After I'd drunk it, I examined the box and it said that per serving sugar is 16.6. I'm a bit confused and so is Stewart. Is it OK or not? Probaby not, as sugar was the second ingredient, from memory.

Weight is still around 74kg. Went down to 73.6 for a while but then went back and is hovering around that. It's not that good but not bad either, considering we went away and ate a lot of stuff (NOT sweet) on the long car drives to Sydney and back. Often we ate, not out of hunger, but just to keep the baby girls entertained so we could arrive sooner.

I realise that I eat too much bread. Very easy to do when your daughter works at Baker's Delight and brings home the most delicious stuff. Have always loved bread. Boo hoo!

1st ever recipe for you

I was looking for recipes on the below website to help me use my slow cooker more, instead of  just the packets you can get. I found this recipe and used it, with a few changes. I will type it up for you so it says dextrose instead of sugar.

I used to love my mums Baked Rice Custard. I know, this doesn't have the custard bit but was still nice!

I adapted this from http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/
Here is the exact link, which gives you the original recipe and not how I changed it: http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Old-Fashioned-Slow-Cooker-Rice-Pudding-L3180.html
Of course, it had sugar in it so I just used dextrose instead. I doubled it.

Old Fashioned Slow Cooker Rice Pudding

3/4 cup long-grain white rice
3 cups milk
1/2 cup dextrose
1/4 teasppoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter, diced

1. In a colander, rinse rice thoroughly under cold water.
2. Put in lightly greased slow cooker
3. Add remaining ingredients, except for butter, and stir to combine.
4. Sprinkle butter over rice mixture
5. Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until rice has absorbed the liquid.
6. Serve warm.

Notes: I doubled it and added an extra cup of milk after reading the comments of others, on the website, which meant 7 cups of milk! I put in 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence. My friend said she adds a grating of lemon rind and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Apparently, it can work with Soy Milk. You can swap a cup of milk for cream etc It's worth reading the comments that others put. I wrote a comment on there, under 'Ferndene'.

Cold weather = Hunger

When it's cold, like now, I just get sooo hungry that it's hard not to eat extra food. Food that I don't really need or can burn off easily. However, it's so very hard when you are feeling hungry. Am pretty sure that my 'appetite control switch' does work so it must just be the cold. Also, the rainy weather makes it hard to go for walks to naturally use up some calories, enjoy the outside and get feel-good Vitamin D. The cold does too as I have to drag the baby girls out in the twin pram so don't want them to freeze to death!

Today, for instance, is an example of how the cold affects me. Being a Saturday, to break things up a bit, I had different meals for each meal time. For breakfast, I had 'lunch' type things: 2 pieces of buttered toast with Peanut Butter (no added salt or sugar) and a cheese croissant. For lunch, I had dinner type things: Slow Cooker Lamb & Veg casserole with pasta. For dinner, I had breakfast type things: Porridge with diced pear, milk, cinnamon, Wheat Germ, LSA & Linseeds. However, after dinner I still felt hungry so I had 2 pieces of toast with Peanut Butter again. Could've eaten more but didn't. At lunch, Stew and the boys had buttered bread with their casserole but I didn't. However, I felt hungry before we went off to the 4pm church service so I had 3 sesame Vita Wheats with cheese on them. Before lunch, I had some purple grapes as my second piece of fruit for the day, knowing I'd have pear with my porridge later.

Bowl of Porridge

Had an interesting conversation with my son the other day. This is with my youngest who is not doing this sugar-aware journey. I told him that I feel like I've found the secret to losing weight that suits me. Yay! I said that I wasn't suffering or going without but am losing weight. He reminded me that I AM going without as I'm not having sugary foods. You see, to him, I am being deprived. I explained that I don't see it like that anymore and explained that part of the Quit Plan book tells you how to change the way you view the situation so you can cope with the 'deprivation'. I also said that now I'm not addicted, it's really not that bad at all. Only very rarely, do I get a brief yearning for chocolate or something, like when an advertisement comes on TV for something I previously loved. Reality steps in and reminds me that it's poison, and I'm fine again!

My new scales are digital but maybe are dodgy?

My weight today is 74.1kg. Have decided to report my weight only every 2 weeks as I'm tired of the fluctuation. Can be a big difference. Either my new scales are dodgy or this is ridiculous. We're going away for some of next week so probably won't get to weigh myself from Monday 13th (Queen's B'day public holiday) until next Saturday so may change the reporting day to Saturday.

Chocolate, IVs and soft drinks

I used to love soft drink. Only for visitors or for odd occasions (like a school holiday treat - started that when I became a teacher and needed a treat after a hard term!) but still. It's really just sugar and chemicals, alas. It's essentially water, sweetener and chemicals. Nothing good there! You're better off with just the water on its own.

You may say, "Ah, but chocolate is good for you!". I quote from 'Suicide by Sugar' about chocolate:

"Chocolate has antioxidants in it, and therefore, it is a healthy food in its raw, unprocessed form. Unfortunately, when the chocolate has been processed it loses some of its nutrients. Then, when sugar is added, the body cannot use the healthy antioxidants present in raw chocolate."

That was interesting to me as I would keep seeing, in magazines etc, how good chocolate was for you. I think they know we are all addicted to it so they try and cheer us up about it. However, the truth is different! We've been lied to...

Even without the sugar, chocolate has its drawbacks. Caffeine is a substance that causes the pancreas to release insulin. So too much will cause our insulin to come out of homeostasis and we can develop insulin problems by releasing too much of it etc We don't want to overwork our poor old pancreas, do we?! Caffeine is a diuretic (meaning we wee a lot), which can lead to dehydration. Other effects of caffeine are:

• sleep loss
• miscarriages
• headaches
• jittery nerves
• fatigue

We really should have only minimal levels of it. Each square of chocolate may not have too much caffeine but we all eat more of it than we should so it adds up and different amounts of caffeine affect certain people differently.

Chocolate has significant levels of anandamide, which mimics marijuana. An effect of this can be the munchies, where you just have to eat sugary, greasy and salty foods. This is linked to bulimia. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, a chemical our bodies release when we're in love. Now we see why it's addictive and associated with love, being a good mood elevator. It can cause pulse rate increases and migraines when you try to quit chocolate!

Chocolate is highly allergenic. We eat so much of it, with so much sugar in it, that we've made ourselves allergic to it. 'Suicide by Sugar' has this to say:
"...Sugar upsets the body's chemistry and any food that is in the digestive tract at the time of sugar consumption will not digest well, resulting in partially digested foods. The partially digested foods then slip in to the bloodstream and can cause an allergic reaction." p. 69

Not sure whether it's the chocolate or just the caffeine in it, or both, but babies have been found to cry excessively and become irritable, jittery and loud if the mum eats a lot of it during pregnancy and while nursing. (I am breastfeeding my two youngest!) Also, the more chocolate or cocoa a woman consumes, the lower her bone densities, even though some have tried to claim that the flavanols in chocolate help improve calcium absorption into bones. Flavanols are also in onions, red wine, tea, apples and raspberries so we don't just have to look to the sugary chocolate for it.

I've been doing this Sweet Poison journey since Feb 14th and don't crave chocolate all the time or anything. However, I do occasionally feel a pang of longing for it when I remember my favorite types of chocolate. So, it's good for me to read this about chocolate as my b'day is coming close - August 9th - and I'm allowed a fructose-y treat then so I need to try and make it not be chocolate!!!

When we have an IV in hospital, this is what happens:

"When a person's digestive system is not ready to resume its work after an operation or illness, he or she is put on an IV - usually for a day or two, but sometimes for a week or more. This meal substitute is a mixture of sugar water, amino acids, vitamins other supplements and sometimes fatty acids and pharmaceutical drugs. It is the only means of nourishment until thhe patient's digestive system is ready to work again.
The reason sugar is added to the IVs is for calories, but most people can go a few days without calories. A diabetic gets an IV without the sugar, so why can't everybody else?
When we are sick, we have upset body chemistry. Our body needs all the help it can get to heal from an operation or sickness. It does not need sugar suppressing the immune system. The immune system needs to work for us - not against us."
p. 50, 'Suicide by Sugar'

How awful is that! What nuff nuff in the medical system decided to do that to us???!!!

8kg lost now & importance of emotional state

"If I had to remove one food from my diet, it would be sugar." Dr Linus Pauling, a Nobel prize winner in chemistry and a researcher and writer in the health field.
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Definitely 'over' sickness here but it's still happening. Have been unwell for weeks, baby had a very high temperature yesterday, older kids are sick and having days off school etc
Feeling very yucky. However, Stew says that since we've been sugar aware, he has so much more energy. He gets up at 5.30 to get to work and he can still do this after being up for the babies overnight, if they are sick and wake up etc, due to the way we're eating.

Were you tired of reading those 140 reasons why sugar is bad for you from that book, 'Suicide by Sugar'? Stew was. Sorry if you didn't 'like' them, either. He read them all, and said that they WERE interesting but there were just sooo many of them. The author compiled them over many years so there WOULD be lots!  (-:

Who knew this stuff could be so harmful!

All the weekdays this week, bar Monday (the day I report my weight), my weight's been in the 74kg range - 74.9, 74.5, 74.9, 74.5. Maybe this illness has helped there as it makes me feel sick a lot??? As I said on Facebook this week, I'd prefer the loss to be quicker but keep telling myself that my doctor said, years ago, that slow weight loss is better for your skin to be able to adjust well, especially if you're older. Considering I'm not 'dieting', an 8kg weight loss over the 3 and a half months since I started is pretty good, huh! Slowly, surely and healthily...

I learnt a lot from that 'Suicide by Sugar' book. As has been said, sugar is not good for the levels of much-needed minerals in our bodies. From page 26:

"Sugar is an acid-forming food. Therefore, our bodies can become acidic when we eat sugar. But, our bodies do not like this acidic state, so they pull minerals (like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus) from the bloodstream, trying to become alkaline again; trying to regain and maintain homeostasis."

Interestingly though, she also doesn't blame all our problems on sugar, though she certainly maintains that it's the "main culprit". She says this:

"...there are other lifestyle factors that can knock our bodies out of homeostasis. One of these is our emotional state. Therefore, feeling sad, angry or anxious can affect our balanced body chemistry and ultimately have the same effect that consuming sugar would have."

OK, so I must also monitor my emotional state. I don't want to mimic the effect of eating sugar by how I feel. No way, thanks very much!

My youngest son is not doing the Sweet Poison journey, by choice, at this stage. He is currently sick and asked to have some chocolate we'd been given that I was never going to eat. I told him that he is sick and needs his immune system to be well. I read stuff out to him, such as this:

"Sugar suppresses the immune system. It depletes levels of phagocytes (the white blood cells that are needed for strong immune function and that eat up harmful bacteria) and this reduces the body's ability to fight infection and disease."

Yet, he still wanted to eat it! He has yet to read the book. He started it but then got caught up in a good novel and never got back to it. He's finding it much harder to get a sugar hit here, which we warned him. Hopefully, he will get to reading the book and want health for his body.

I told another friend of the book at breastfeeding coffee morning this week, at ABA, and she told me that she is allergic to fructose so would love to read the books, especially the Quit Plan, to learn how to avoid it. She's going to read it from the library first, and then buy it if she likes it, just like I did. Gillespie's message is getting out. Word of mouth is a good thing. As another girl I told about it said the other day, "I like the fact that he doesn't make wild claims or anything. It just all seems so sensible!" Hear hear!

Last 20 reasons why sugar is bad for you

Yesterday's weight was 75.3kg so it's a 500gm loss since last Monday. I feel like it's been around 75 for weeks now. Still, at least it hasn't gone up.

Stew made the Melting Moments last night, that cause my 'moment' of serendipity the other day. They were a bit too soft and are still hardening up. He was told that they're better the next day but they're still a bit too soft. Still, very yummy! It is definitely a Gillespie recipe as that friend joined his website. Only reason I haven't joined it yet is that I want to give it a lot of time and use it properly and don't have time, at present.

Here are the last 20 reasons sugar is bad for you. Remember, it's from "Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at our #1 National Addiction" by Nancy Appleton, PhD. She tells you not to eat glucose either and to use Stevia, which contradicts what Gillespie says yet her book is published around the same time. She mainly gets stuck into fructose, like Gillespie, but, where I'm up to so far, also tells you not to eat glucose too. I must ask Gillespie some time about it or try and contact Nancy. Still, I am happy to follow what Gillespie says as he went into it quite thoroughly and it worked for him! She doesn't state why she tells you not to eat it but just lists glucose in the 'do not have' section.

1. Sugar can cause brain decay in pre-diabetic and diabetic women.
2. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
3. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
4. Sugar increases neural tube defects in embryos when it is consumed by pregnant women.
5. Sugar can cause asthma.
6. Sugar increases the chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
7. Sugar can affect central reward systems.
8. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
9. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
10. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell cancer.
11. Sugar can cause liver tumors.
12. Sugar can increase inflammatory markers in the bloodstreams of overweight people.
13. Sugar plays a role in the cause and continuation of acne.
14. Sugar can ruin the sex life of both men and women by turning off the gene that controls the sex hormone.
15. Sugar can cause fatigue, moodiness, nervousness, and depression.
16. Sugar can make many essential nutrients less available to cells.
17. Sugar can increase uric acid in blood.
18. Sugar can lead to higher C-peptide concentrations.
19. Sugar causes inflammation.
20. Cugar can cause diverticulitis, a small bulging sac pushing outward from the colon wall that is inflammed.

{She includes each reason's citation in the notes}

I can get asthma so no.5 is interesting. With diabetes running in my family so majorly, I do NOT want this brain decay mentioned in no. 1!!! I am sure I've had this Irritable Bowel Syndrome thing, at times, so no. 6 is telling.

Cold kills hunger

Woke up with a nasty cold yesterday. So, it has made me far less hungry. Totally skipped breakfast today. Just had lunch and dinner, and a little arvo tea. I have to be careful with fasting as I don't want my body to release the toxins, from fasting, into my breastmilk for the babies. From my limited understanding of science, that is what happens in fasting so they don't suggest that breastfeeding mums do it.

Weighed myself this morning and it said 75.9kg. Went back to sleep for a couple of hours, after breastfeeding the girls, as I feel so sick, and then weighed myself again. It said 75.3kg. Are my new scales dodgy or what? Why would there be that difference? Does sleeping make you lose weight that quickly? I'm not sure what to think.

Next 20 reasons why sugar is bad for you, so we're up to 120:

1. Sugar can cut off oxygen to the brain when given to people intravenously.
2. Sugar is a risk factor for lung cancer.
3. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
4. Sugar can cause epileptic seizures.
5. Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure (pressure when heart is contracting)
6. Sugar can induce cell death.
7. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
8. Sugar can cause antisocial behaviour in juvenile delinquents.
9. Sugar can lead to prostate cancer.
10. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
11. Sugar can cause women to give birth to babies with low birth weight.
12. Sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia.
13. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the bloodstream.
14. Sugar increases the risk of breast cancer.
15. Sugar is a risk factor in small intestine cancer.
16. Sugar can cause laryngeal cancer.
17. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
18. Sugar can contribute to mild memory loss.
19. Sugar water, when given to children shortly after birth, results in those children preferring sugar water to regular water throughout childhood.
20. Sugar causes constipation.

Number 2 is awful. So, poor smokers (some people were hooked before we knew the health dangers) with a sweet tooth, have less chance! Poor epileptics also. (No. 4) Although all of these are shocking in their own way, I am indignant at numbers 10 and 19, especially. I am a big fan of breastfeeding and think babies should be only breastfed after birth, if at all possible. None of this giving them sugar water. They used to routinely do that after birth, to give the mother a rest and thinking that the baby needed it. Huh! How do they think that babies survived before they thought of that! As for sugar causing constipation (no. 20), I think I would have to agree with that. Rarely touched by that these sugar aware days. Yay! Not that I had a problem with that but I think we've all been touched by it, at times.

'Moment' of serendipity

Last night, after I cleaned my teeth, Stew got home from Life Group (like a bible study/fellowship group) and presented me with 2 Melting Moments. I was rapt but then dismayed. I can't eat eat such a sugary treat! Stew read my countenance and then happily declared, "They are fructose free!" Oh, such a moment of bliss! He told me the story the following story:

After church a few weeks back, I had seen someone who commented that I'd lost weight so I told them the whole 'Sweet Poison' journey thing. Well, I forgot about all about our conversation. However, Stew told me that that lovely lady had gone away and read the book, after speaking to me, and was doing it too. She had made these from a fructose free recipe with dextrose etc I suspect it may be a Gillespie recipe as it mentions 'Lizzie' in it and I think that was is his wife's name who makes all these recipes.

Due to the already cleaned teeth, I had to wait until today to eat them. Was very hard to wait, I can tell you! They weren't big - roughly about the size of 20c piece each - but they were absolutely delicious. Iced and everything!

See, you never know where telling somebody else what you're doing will lead you. She seemed interested in what I was saying but I didn't know that she'd actually go and do anything about it. I've told many people that I thought would rush out and buy the books/start going sugar free, but they haven't done anything about it. Maybe they're waiting to see if I can stick to it or see if I lose weight etc ??? One friend today, at playgroup, said, "Oh, are you still doing that?" when I brought the topic up as another lass was saying how addicted to sugar she is.

A yummy cake!

Stewy tried again to make a cake out of the Quit Plan. He made the Cinnamon Teacake and it was soooo yummy! I loved it. He broke my heart and took a slice for a guy at work to try. (I could've eaten it the next day) The other cake he made didn't impress me that much but this was awesome. I AM big fan of cinnamon though. Well done to Gillespie's wife who invented these recipes. (Well, I think he said it was her as he said he wasn't a good cook. Might be like me. I love to eat but not to cook. I do what I have to)

My2yr old daughter eating her cake, in her PJs.

Sorry the photo is a bit blurry and small but I copied if off the photo he put onto Facebook to show people. He used his iPhone to take it. [They don't take as good photos as a 'proper' camera!]

Stew made hamburgers for dinner tonight. Hamburger rolls, meat patties Stew makes up himself, onions, fried egg, bacon, cheese slices, lettuce, tomatoes...and...no sauce...but mashed avocado. So, it's Sweet Poison friendly!  (-:    Last night, I made a slow cooker meal. 'Beef in red wine casserole' or some name like that, as the flavour packet said. We served it with brown rice and steamed veggies.

Yesterday was a Monday, so I have to report my weight. It was 75.8, as it was today too. At least, it wasn't back up into the 76 range. Still, last week, it got down to 74.8. I must be still on that plateau range. Still, if it slowly goes down most weeks, I'll be happy, even if it's only a little.

Next 20 reasons why sugar is bad for you, so we're up to 100:

1. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer's disease.
2. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness, which causes blood clots.
3. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance - some hormones become underactive and others become reactive.
4. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
5. Sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
6. Sugar can lead to biliary tract cancer.
7. Sugar increases the risk of pregnant adolescents delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
8. Sugar can lead to a substantial decrease in the length of pregnancy among adolescents.
9. Sugar slow's food's travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
10. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stool and bacterial enzymes in the colon, which can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
11. Sugar  increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
12. Sugar combines with and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes digestion more difficult.
13. Sugar can be a risk factor for gallbladder cancer.
14. Sugar is an addictive substance.
15. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
16. Sugar can aggravate premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
17. Sugar can decrease emotional stability.
18. Sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese people.
19. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit disorder (ADD).
20. Sugar can slow the ability of the adrenal glands to function.

Gee, look at number 18. What chance have us 'fat' people got? It makes us want to eat more! 19 has definitely been proved, as we all know the effects of sugar on any child, let alone one with that disorder. I was told that chocolate helps with PMS but look at number 16!!!!

Mental growth!

I've been doing this for 3 months today, 14th May! Yay! So glad I began it. The thought of giving up sugary food, particularly chocolate, made me so anxious but it's been much better than I thought.

I've said here that I've never dieted properly before ie. followed a strict eating plan etc However, there were many times when I'd try and get rid of 'junk' food from my diet. For me, that was chocolate, sweet food etc However, after a week of being 'good', I'd weight myself and it would be no better, or little better, so I'd give up in disgust and eat junk food again.

So, I've been amazed at how I've not given up this time. Gillespie's message has struck my core being and I've had the strength to say, "Well, the weight is going up and down but I'm just sticking to this, no matter what!" My health matters and, weight aside, I'm still much better not eating sugar.

Stew and I have a bit of a tummy bug at present. No vomiting or diarrhea (in my case) but some awful tummy pains and nausea. This week, the weight has gone, starting Monday: 76.5, 76.5, 75.8, 75.4 and today (Saturday) was 74.8kg. Amazing how much it can fluctuate! Let's hope by Monday, the day I officially go by, it's much less than 76.5, like last Monday!

Next 20 reasons sugar is bad for you, so we're up to 80:

1. Sugar intake is associated with the development of Parkinsons's disease.
2. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
3. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
4. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
5. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
6. Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
7. Sugar is the number one enemy of the bowel movement.
8. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
9. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
10. Sugar can make tendons more brittle.
11. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
12. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
13. Sugar can adversely affect children's grades in school.
14. Sugar can cause depression.
15. Sugar can increase the risk of gastric cancer.
16. Sugar can cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
17. Sugar can increase the risk of developing gout.
18. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in the blood much higer than complex carbohydrates in a glucose tolerance test can.
19. Sugar reduces learning capacity.
20. Sugar can cause two blood proteins - albumin and lipoproteins - to function less effectively, which may reduce the body's ability to handle fat and cholesterol.

As a teacher - well, when I'm not on maternity leave, like at present - numbers 13 and 19 are very concerning. When I do yard duty, I often say to kids, even before I read Gillespie's books, "That's quite a sugary treat you have there. You wouldn't eat that everyday would you?" They usually say that they wouldn't and I reply, "Oh, that's great because that's only 'sometimes food', isn't it?" I got the idea that, especially when talking to kids, you should call junk food 'sometimes food' as we all eat it sometimes but shouldn't be eaten everyday/week etc Rick Kausman's book, 'If not dieting, then what', is good about that. He goes into that well. Gillespie's version of this is, "Party food is for parties".

No. 8 is also relevant to our family. Stew is short-sightedness and Ethan is starting to go down that path so he's currently having eye drops that dilate his pupils etc to try and slow the developoment of this down.

After Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, we decided to do party food is for parties, which is one of Gillespie's rules. We had some honey on our one and a half crumpets each. Yum! We'd missed honey. First honey since Feb 14th. That was all the fructose I was going to have but then it rained and all our plans for going out were ruined. Was a bit depressed, so had more 'party food' of about 8-10 chocolate squares. That was some chocolate I'd hidden away, from before my Sweet Poison journey started, to enjoy on my b'day in August. Had a mild headache for a few hours afterwards.

For dinner, we went to a Sofia's restaurant to have our favourite chicken, pumpkin, cream etc risotto but the chefs wouldn't make the recipe to our usual alteration (it's meant to have mushrooms, not pumpkin) due to being busy on Mother's Day. I was very disappointed. What to have instead! Pizzas probably have sugary tomato sauce on top of the bases. Ended up with a chicken and avocado creamy dish. I do love Italian food!

The last week, my weight has done this, which is very annoying:

• Monday 2nd May - 76.2kgs
• Tuesday 3rd - 75.8
• Wednesday 4th - 75.6
• Thursday 5th - 75.9
• Friday 6th - 75.5
• Saturday 7th -  75.5
• Mother's Day, Sunday 8th - 76.1
• Monday 9th - 76.5
• Tuesday 10th - 76.5

Stayed down in the 75s but then jumped back up and has stayed up. This means, Monday to Monday, I've actually gained 300gms. From the honey and chocolate on Mother's Day??? It's been cold here so I think I've been eating more. I get sooooo hungry breastfeeding the two baby girls - aged 2 and 11mths/9mths corrected - and want to eat. I don't have fructosey treats. I've confessed, here on my Blog, anytime I've eaten the 'wrong' thing.

My friend doing Weight Watcher's plateaued for a month and has only just dropped down further. Maybe my weight is just going to plateau for a while? Well, I'm just going to plug away. Reminds me of how those Amway people say, "Just keep showing the plan", even if nobody listens and they feel depressed. Well, I'm just going to keep "going on my journey", even if the weight doesn't fall off and I get a bit depressed. It's not about weight, in full, so it's still worth it. I enjoy the food we can eat, on the whole, though I do miss honey and chocolate sometimes.

More reasons why sugar is bad for you, so we're up to 60:

1. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
2. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E in the blood.
3. Sugar can decrease the amount of growth hormones in the body.
4. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
5. Sugar increases advanced glycation and products (AGEs), which form when sugar binds non-enzymatically to protein.
6. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
7. Sugar causes food allergies.
8. Sugar can contribute to diabetes
9. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
10. Sugar can lead to eczema in children.
11. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
12. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA.
13. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
14. Sugar can make the skin wrinkle by changing the structure of collagen.
15. Sugar can cause cataracts.
16. Sugar can cause emphysema.
17. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
18. Sugar can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL)
19. Sugar can impair the psychological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
20. Sugar lowers enzymes ability to function.

May the Fourth be with you!

Regardless of what date Blogger puts on this, it's Wednesday night, May 4th, here in Melbourne, Australia. What a day! Amy, my second youngest, has been chucking on/off since last night. She hadn't vomited yet today so I thought I'd pop up to the shops. Got her out of the car, into the pram, walking into the shops, and...blah! She vomited down herself. Lucky I have a spare change of clothes for her, in my bag. Didn't feel like any food to eat, after that! The baby is also sick and so am I. We've had colds since last week, the three of us. Why am I telling you this? Well, in days gone by, maybe I'd have turned to chocolate on such a hard day/days like this/these but now, I don't. Not out of willpower but for my health and the benefits to my body... Why would you eat sugar, with the below list to scare you silly!?!?

Here are more ways sugar is bad for you. This is the next 20, so we're up to 40 in Appleton's book:

1. Sugar can lead to an acidic digestive tract.
2. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
3. Sugar is frequently malabsorbed in patients with functional bowel disease.
4. Sugar can cause premature aging.
5. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
6. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
7. Sugar can lead to obesity.
8. Sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
9. Sugar can cause gastric or duodenal ulcers.
10. Sugar can cause arthritis.
11. Sugar can cause learning disorders in school children.
12. Sugar assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
13. Sugar can cause gallstones.
14. Sugar can cause heart disease.
15. Sucar can cause appendicitis.
16. Sugar can cause haemorrhoids.
17. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
18. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
19. Sugar can contribute to osteoprosis
20. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.

Number 17 is interesting. Varicose veins run in my family, on both sides. I've already had one leg 'stripped' but the doc warned they could come back if I didn't lose weight, or if I got pregnant again. Both of those happened so I have varicose veins again, in that leg, though not as badly. (I never dreamed, back then, we'd go back for more babies) Number 16 also runs in my family but I've not been bugged by them, thank goodness! Remember, I said in an early blog, that a doctor in the USA believes that haemorrhoids would be pretty much wiped out if people stopped being obese. He meant the ones caused by being overweight, not from having babies, like some of my friends have had. Number 4 warns of premature aging! Ahhhh! Who wants that.

Sugar, you really can be evil! However, it's our fault for over-consuming you and the manufacturers for making it hard not to consume you!!!

Help! I'm getting political - Facebook preaching

It seems I am telling others the important sugary message to try and influence their awareness and, hopefully, consumption of sugar. I have told people, in my statuses, to read Gillespie's book and keep advertising my blog regularly. Do I want people to know my real weight? No, not really. But...I DO want to get the good message out.

My most recent Facebook status:
‎"When we eat sugar, our bodies can only respond in one way. They must adjust and try to rebalance themselves after each sugary insult. This balancing act pulls minerals from the body where they are needed and messes up body chemistry, eventually making us sick. Considering the amount of sugar we eat, our bodies do not have the digestive mechanisms to handle the glut of sugar that we consume on a daily basis." from 'Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction. Why our Sweet tooth May Be Killing Us' by Nancy Appleton, PhD & G.N. Jacobs
[Put this status up 25 minutes ago and there's already a comment and a 'like'.  (-:  ]

Another post a few days back:

·           Am reading 'Suicide by Sugar: A startling look at our #1 National Addiction. Why our sweet tooth may be killing us.' Interesting reading, thanks to FTG library doing an Inter Library Loan for me, and Goulburn Valley library services lending it out. Gotta love libraries...

Went on to say:

Read the first chapter so far and, yes, it's very interesting. Love the American arrogance in the title. Yes, it's only a problem that affects the nation of America...not! That's why the Sweet Poison books are so wonderful. They're written ...by an Aussie who doesn't assume that everybody reading the book is an Australian. Only Americans do that in their books, and I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I love America and my American friends, but books from there can irritate me in their egocentricity (spelling?

Last week, I wrote:

More weight lost. Thank God for the Sweet Poison books that have changed my life and brought health to my body...

My sister, who told me last year I had a sugar addiction, but didn't tell me how to fix it but said she knew some books that could: If only you'd listened to me earlier....lol.

Me: You never sent those books so how could I! LOL

My sister: Double lol. You should have just listened to my wisdom, who needs proof!

Me: True, oh wise one! However, you did say the books would help... :-)

My sister: Books do make a huge difference. You need extremely good reasons to give up chocolate! Funny thing is that after you don't have it for a while, you actually can take or leave it.

Me: I will always have am affinity for that stuff, alas, I think, even if the reality doesnt match the anticipation...

The above conversation with my sister brings up a good point. I knew that I was addicted to sugar but it seemed too big a problem. Back then, I didn't know where to start in removing it from my diet. Enter Gillespie's books to help me! By the way, I don't think the books my sister read, were Gillespie's ones so, as he says, there are other good books out there trying to help us...

Thank the Lord for Gillespie's books. I don't worship the guy or anything but am extremely grateful that he wrote them, Penguin published them and the message is getting out. It's changed my life! Thanks Gillespie! [And thanks to this Nancy person, whose book I'm currently reading. She's been trying to get her message out for years...]

Monday musings

Today's weight, it being a Monday and all: 76.2kg. (Of course, for 4 days, it's been in the 75kg range but the day when I have to tell you, it's up a bit!  LOL)

Yesterdays' food, just in case you're interested, and it was not necessarily a good day or anything:

Breakfast: 2 big mugs herbal teas, and 1 hot water with 1/2 lemon squeezed in
                Sweet Poison muesli with Brewer's Yeast and Wheat Germ
                1 Croissant with cheese

Lunch: 1 slice toast with Peanut Butter (no added sugar/salt)
           1 slice toast with mashed avocado
            2 boiled eggs with some iodised salt (good for brain)

Arvo tea: 2 handfuls of nuts & seeds, some pear and orange  (shared with my babies)

Dinner: Chicken Cacciatore, pasta, steamed veg

Dessert, which is very rare: 2 slices of Sweet Poison butter cake (made with glucose/no sugar etc)

Stew, for his b'day on Saturday, decided to make a cake out of The Sweet Poison Quit Plan. The icing was just plain cream, made up with a little glucose. Whole thing wasn't sweet enough for me so I didn't really enjoy it much. Mind you, I had had some sugar (those darn Easter eggs) in the last two weeks so the glucose wouldn't taste sweet enough yet. I've never been a big cake eater, though I always ate it when offered! Wouldn't buy them, usually, except for b'days. My friend's biscuits tasted sweeter, when she made some Sweet Poison ones. I acknowledge that cake etc only used to be so yummy for the sugar hit. Without sugar, I realise I was just eating it for the sake of it. Wasn't to die for, or anything!

It has confirmed my opinion that I'm in no rush to make the biscuits/cakes/ice cream etc recipes in Sweet Poison as I'm not that keen. Have been such a sweet-eater for so long that I am enjoying the savoury stuff and just the sweetness in fruit/veg naturally etc Some people need to eat those things to feel happy but I'm so enjoying my love affair with avocados that stuff like that can wait. Food tastes so much more yummy these days anyway. Yes, even the savoury stuff, as I just so enjoy it for its own taste.

Reasons 11 to 20 for why Sugar is ruining your health. Sorry, couldn't make the bullets go 11 to 20 and can't be bothered typing them up myself:

1. Sugar causes a decline in tissue elasticity and fuction - the more sugar you eat, the more elasticity and function you lose.
2. Sugar reduces high-density lipoproteins (HDL)
3. Sugar can lead to a chromium deficiency.
4. Sugar can lead to ovarian cancer.
5. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
6. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
7. Sugar interferes with the body's absorption of calcium and magnesium
8. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration.
9. Sugar raises the level of neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine
10. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.

            

All or nothing!

I have learnt about myself on this Sweet Poison sugar-aware journey. I am definitely an all or nothing person. This last week, I blogged that I ate the whole 110gm Cherry Ripe egg, with 51.9gm sugar per 100gms. I said I would give away the small bag of tiny Crunchie eggs. Well, I mostly did. On the same day, I wrote that blog, I still ate some. I ate 4 out of the roughly 20 you got in the bag. It's the old not wanting to waste your money, and also, I just had to know what they tasted like. They tasted a heck of a lot better than the Cherry Ripe egg and were thoroughly delicious. Gave the rest away to my offspring, which is really a terrible thing to do in leading them astray.

That has always been a big problem, which Stew never really liked. I'd buy chocolate and then share it with my 3 older kids (we only added on the babies in the last couple of years) so they were getting very addicted along with me. That's why I'm so proud of Brooke, who is trying very hard to do this too. Adam said he'd start in May, after his April b'day and Easter. Ethan, is not too keen, thus far, but he's only 12. Mind you, he'll find it increasingly hard to get sugary stuff here so at least  his exposure will be limited.

However, I still lost weight in the last week and am now in the 75kg range. Last Monday, it went up 200gms to 76.9 but has been 75.9, 75.6, 75.6 and 75.8 for the last 4 days. That can lead you astray if you focus on the weight only, which I sometimes do. Although I set out to do this for health reasons, thinking lost weight would be an added bonus, I sometimes get so caught up in the pleasing weight loss that I forget what this is all about. So, you can start to think, "See, I didn't gain weight from having sugary treats so having some regularly won't hurt etc" It's not just about weight!!!

I did an Inter-Library Loan on a book called "Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our  #1 National Addiction. Why our sweet tooth may be killing us" by Nancy Apppleton, PhD who is American, I assume. I think she's a nutritionist etc who learnt in the 70s that sugar was killing her but didn't have the benefit of the recent research to make people believe her. Have read the first chapter, as I only started it today, and it is interesting. Written in 2009. She's also written books like, "Lick the Sugar Habit". She's in her 70s and has been on a big journey of discovery. She lists 140 reasons why sugar is ruining our health though she is compiling more, all the time. Many will echo what Gillespie says, of course. A lot she gets from the Harvard medical publication. I plan to share some with you, each time I blog.

The first 10:

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause juvenile delinquency in children.
4. Sugar eaten during pregnancy and lactation can influence muscle force production in offspring, which can affect an individual's ability to exercise.
5. Sugar in soda, when consumed by children, results in the children drinking less milk.
6. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses and return them to fasting levels slower in oral contraceptive users.
7. Sugar can increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), which damage cells and tissues.
8. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, inability to concentrate, and crankiness in children.
9. Surar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
10. Sugar reduces the body's ability to defend against bacterial infection.

Number 4 makes me wish I'd known to cut down on sugar in pregnancies. I always meant to but never did as I didn't know how. Willpower doesn't work for me. It's almost enough to make me wish I could have another pregnancy just to do it right, this time, and be healthy for the baby's sake.

Why my liver enzyme may be high???

Got this info from something Gillespie shared on Sweet Poison:

When fructose is joined to glucose, it makes sucrose. Sucrose is abundant in sugar cane, sugar beets, corn, and other plants. When extracted and refined, sucrose makes table sugar. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the average American took in about 15 grams of fructose (about half an ounce), mostly from eating fruits and vegetables. Today we average 55 grams per day (73 grams for adolescents). The increase in fructose intake is worrisome, says Lustig, because it suspiciously parallels increases in obesity, diabetes, and a new condition called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that now affects up to one-third of Americans. (You can read more about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a Harvard Health Letter article.)

Virtually every cell in the body can use glucose for energy. In contrast, only liver cells break down fructose. What happens to fructose inside liver cells is complicated. One of the end products is triglyceride, a form of fat. Uric acid and free radicals are also formed.

None of this is good. Triglycerides can build up in liver cells and damage liver function. Triglycerides released into the bloodstream can contribute to the growth of fat-filled plaque inside artery walls. Free radicals (also called reactive oxygen species) can damage cell structures, enzymes, and even genes. Uric acid can turn off production of nitric oxide, a substance that helps protect artery walls from damage. Another effect of high fructose intake is insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-fructose-bad-for-you-201104262425

Headache worsening, meat pies and blood test results

I wrote a blog over half an hour ago but got interrupted by the baby. My headache is worsening, and is getting right behind my eyes. Smart move to eat that egg, Fiona...NOT!

Last week, my weight got down to 76.7 on home scales. When I visited my doctor, her scales said 77.7kg but this was around lunchtime. I was trying to explain to her that when I weighed myself before eating, first thing in morning after toilet visit, it was 76.7kg. She laughed and said that she believed me. She said that she didn't care, anyway, as she was thrilled that it wasn't 84kg, which was what I had been on her scales a few years back when I had to get a medical for job I went for, and got, in 2007.

That high liver protein that made me have this further test two months later - ALP - was no longer 151 but was still high at 126. (It's supposed to be between 20 and 105). She said they'll test me yearly to keep an eye on it.  My sister said that sugar addiction can affect your liver in several ways, which is similar to what Gillespie found, from memory. Perhaps it has come down due to me eating far less fructose?

A few years ago, after I gave blood, the blood bank wrote to me to say that my Ferritin levels were low. (Ferritin is your iron stores) This time, it was 16 and it's mean to be between 15 and 165, so it's still on the low side. The doc asked me whether I ate meat. I do! Must take more care to eat iron rich products though...

In a previous blog, I said that meat pies without sauce is just not the same as I'd tried to water down tomato paste but it was yucky. Last night, we had 2 family meat pies shared among the 7 of us, again. Second time since fructose aware. This time, I didn't water down tomato paste. I just ate my pie slices without anything else. It was OK and I survived. I prefer to just do this from now on. Mind you, I could always make up the sauce recipes in the Sweet Poison Quit Plan if I really get desperate. Still miss the sauce taste but it really was the sugar in the sauce that I liked!

Two steps forward, one step back!

As I said in last night's blog, since I started this on Feb 14th, the only chocolate I've had is my Darrell Lea nougat filled egg, last week, and a sliver of my son's b'day cake last night. Both made me feel sick and gave me a headache. I also confessed to buying some 1/2 priced eggs yesterday. I love bargains and used to love chocolate so it seemed a good buy. I got a 110gm Cherry Ripe egg and a 135g bag of Crunchie eggs with hokey pokey Crunchie pieces in them. Wasn't sure whether to save them til my b'day or give away etc

Just goes to show that I can't have it in the house. There's been chocolate biscuits (good brand like Arnott's Tim Tams etc) in the house since before I started my Sweet Poison journey. They don't tempt me. Amy's normal chocolate easter bunny is there and I'm fine with it. Leftover b'day cake in the fridge and choc chip muffins (left over from Easter as my m-in-law brought them over) in the cupboard don't tempt me. However, knowing this Cherry Ripe egg was in the cupboard did my head in.

Why did it tempt me? Not really for the taste. Just knowing it was there and wanting to get rid of it, I think. If a fructose-eating adult had've been here, I think I would've given it to them but just asked for one little piece to taste it. They weren't here, so I ate it. All 110gm of it. Didn't feel hungry for it or anything, just wanted to have it and see what I felt like.

Until then, today, I'd been doing my usual good thing of having lunch for breakfast and breakfast for lunch. For breakfast, I'd had 4 pieces of toast with mashed avocado and a little tomato. Lunch was Sweet Poison muesli with Brewer's Yeast, Wheat Germ and milk. Besides my herbal teas, that's all I'd had, as per usual.

Crazily, I also wanted to see if I got a headache afterwards and felt sick as I thought maybe it was coincidences the other times. I did!!!!! Could I now be allergic to Fructose? Or maybe sensitive to it or something? Maybe now I've had a break, my body can't tolerate it as well??? Reminds me of that guy in Sweet Poison Quit Plan who tells people he's allergic to it to explain the effects it has on him.

Also, I usually love Cherry Ripes but this egg wasn't anywhere near as good. Either they don't make the easter eggs made out of Cherry Ripes in the same yummy way or I'm losing the taste for them? I hope it's the latter. The nougat egg tasted as good as I remembered them, last week.

Stew is very very disappointed in me as he told me yesterday, when I bought them, that I was in a fructose frenzy. However, I used to buy heaps of 1/2 price eggs so what I bought yesterday seemed so minimal as to be harmless. I am going to give away the bag of Crunchie eggs I bought. Next sugar hit, will hopefully not be til my birthday in August.

Next time I do deliberately have sugar, I'm hoping to not have chocolate. I wonder if just a normal sugar hit, without chocolate, wil have the same effect???? Stew swears that he had massive headaches when he resumed chocolate after his old choc fasts each January. He would have other sugary food in that time but no chocolate. So...I suspect it's maybe the chocolate, as well as the sugar???

Have been re-reading the summary I made of how fructose harms you, that I did from Gillespie's second book. I see that I was temporarily forgetting about the health benefits and just thinking of weight. "I won't gain that much weight from just one choc egg!" however, it's costing my body more than just excess weight. Fructose is plain dangerous and I have seen how this toxin affects me, as I was beginning to forget. In unseen ways, it's harming you!!!

I used to get a lot of headaches before I went fructose aware. Maybe that's why? It was always the fructose. Have had heaps less since. Also, less wind, as Stew tells me!  (-: