Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Day 17: Goodbye, Teeth

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Welcome to day seventeen of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Tomorrow I am having my wisdom teeth extracted-eek! I will not be “put to sleep,” nor will I have laughing gas. However, they will numb my mouth so I won’t be able to feel it. I am going to a dentist who is more holistic, so I will take a dose of magnesium and L Tryptophan to ease my anxiousness. Trust me, I will be anxious. Shots in the mouth scare me, and they hurt! I’m planning on bringing my ipod to listen to during the surgery so that I can get my mind of my teeth (and so I don’t hear any drilling or whatever they use…).

I’ll be on a liquid diet until my mouth heals, so plan on a extremely yummy soup recipe tomorrow! (see picture below)

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: Pumpkin Spice Latte Granola

 

Lunch: Butternut Squash Soup (recipe coming tomorrow!)

Snack: High Protein Sweet Potato Spice Cookies

Dinner: Veggie “Quesadilla.” Brown rice tortilla filled with sauteed veggies and black beans.

Dessert: Chocolate Covered Fruit and Nuts

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 50 crunches, 10 squat jumps, 15 pushups, 20 1-legged calf raises (10 each leg).

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Have you had your wisdom teeth extracted? Any words of advice??

Remember that you can track what you eat on the printable Challenge Checklist. 

Day 16: Processed vs. Whole Food Sugar

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Welcome to day sixteen of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free: 

Processing techniques have created sugar that has been extracted from these whole, natural foods, and is devoid of essential vitamins, minerals, and fibre. A simple way to understand this concept is to consider a large chocolate bar and a can of soda. Together they contain approximately 100 grams of sugar. If we want to eat the equivalent of 100 grams of sugar from whole apples, we have to eat approximately 6-7 medium apples. Of course, many of us become full in eating just a few apples, but we are more than capable of eating a chocolate bar and drinking a can of soda in one sitting. So by eating foods that have been processed and concentrated, we put a great deal of stress on our organs, which is a significant cause of low energy and illness. ~Dr. Ben Kim

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: Fried egg (coconut oil) atop a bed of sauteed kale, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

Lunch: Plum Socca Tart with Rosemary

Snack: High Protein Cookie Dough Dip

Dinner: Slow Cooker Chicken with Olives and Artichoke

Dessert: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 50 crunches, 10 squat jumps, 15 pushups, 20 1-legged calf raises (10 each leg).

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What is your opinion of whole fruit sugars vs. processed sugars?

Remember that you can track what you eat on the printable Challenge Checklist. 

Day 15: Halfway There!

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Welcome to day fifteen of the Sugar Free Challenge!

We are now officially halfway through with the challenge! Wahhoooo! Great job everyone.

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: High Protein Cookie Crisp Cereal.

Lunch: Heart-Stopping Chicken Salad. Vegan Option: substitute chickpeas for meat.

Snack: an assortment of fresh fruit, veggies, and a bar of unsweetened chocolate (if you don’t like unsweetened chocolate, substitute a small handful of nuts).

Dinner: Hobos. Take a piece of ground beef and roll into a patty. Top with peppers, potatoes, onions, and carrots and wrap in foil. Bake at 375* for one hour. Tastes great drizzled with dijon mustard or Homemade BBQ Sauce. Vegan option: Two Cans and a Potato

Dessert: Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce with Cinnamon

New Workout

The Exercise Challenge changes this week. For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 50 crunches, 10 squat jumps, 15 pushups, 20 1-legged calf raises (10 each leg).

This option is for those who do not exercise regularly and would like to jump start their new year with an easy exercise routine. Each round of exercises take just a few minutes to complete. It would also be wise to add a bit of cardio to your day like walking, jogging, bike riding, or jump roping. Right when you get up in the morning, during lunch breaks, or before bed would be an excellent time to complete this routine.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

How has the challenge been going for you so far? We are halfway through, so how do you feel?

Remember that you can track what you eat on the printable Challenge Checklist. 

Day 14: Breakfast All Day Long!

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Welcome to day fourteen of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? Not only does it wake your body up and give you energy for the day, but “breakfast” food, in my opinion, has some of the tastiest recipes. I categorize Breakfast food into  categories: Eggs, Oatmeal, Pancakes/Waffles, and Baked Goods/Pastries. Each “Breakfast” today will feature one of these categories.

Here is your Breakfast Sample Menu for today:

Breakfast #1: Mini Frittatas. Starting your day with protein, like the proteins found in eggs, has been shown to keep you more full throughout the day, and give you more energy.

Breakfast #2: Baked Banana Oatmeal. Oatmeal lowers cholesterol, helps burn fat, reduces risk of diabetes, regulates bowel movements, reduces blood pressure, and reduces risk of heart disease. You can also get your daily dose of oats by making Oat Cakes, Pumpkin Spice Latte granola, Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal, or Chocolate Monkey Tail Oatmeal.

Breakfast #3: Bitter Chocolate Waffles. Pancakes and Waffles are a bit time consuming to make during the weekday mornings, so why not have it for dinner? Also try One Size Fits All Pancakes and Grain-Free Pumpkin Pancakes.

Breakfast #4: For your dessert tonight, have a breakfast-inspired Oatmeal Raisin Bizookie. I have tons of different baked good recipes, so check out my recipe page above for more ideas. Some of my favorite include Smacaroons, Breakfast Bread, Grain-Free Pecan Sticky Buns, and Grain-Free Banana Bread.

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 30 crunches, 15 squats, 10 pushups, 20 calf raises.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Have you ever eaten breakfast for every meal of the day?

What is your favorite breakfast recipe? Please share!

Remember that you can track what you eat on the printable Challenge Checklist. 

Day 13: Friday the 13th and Lucky Green

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Welcome to day thirteen of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Eeek! It’s friday the thirteenth-better find a four-leaf clover. Today’s menu will include lots of green because green is the color of clovers….so green is lucky?

Here is today’s green sample menu:

Breakfast: Ultimate Veggie Omelet made with lots of green veggies. Or how about some Green Pancakes?

Lunch: a big green salad drizzled with ginger-miso dressing

Snack: Green Pistachio Butter spread on anything you wish (how about on top of green celery?).

Dinner: Socca pizza topped with Green Pesto and Green Grilled Veggies.

Dessert: Green Mint Chocolate Chip Shake.

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 30 crunches, 15 squats, 10 pushups, 20 calf raises.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What are your favorite green recipes?

Remember that you can track what you eat on the printable Challenge Checklist. 

 

Day 12: Sugar Free Party?

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Welcome to day twelve of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: Slice of Grain-Free Banana Bread. Vegan Option: PBC Bars

Lunch: Tropical Chia Pudding Parfait

Snack: Ants on a Log with Pistachio Butter

Dinner: Salad with Dijon Dressing

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie Bars with Creamy Coconut Frosting

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 30 crunches, 15 squats, 10 pushups, 20 calf raises.

~

I was thinking about how I could make this challenge more interactive and special, and I thought, “What better way to make this more exciting than having a sugar-free party?” Unfortunately, all the challengers can’t fly down to Florida to have a party with me (I wish!). Sooo…how about a twitter party?

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What do you think about having a sugar-free twitter party?

I would only host the party if people would come, so would you come? What time/dates would work best?