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Thanks for being such loyal readers of Spoonful of Sugar Free. As many of you know, I’m in the process of learning to be a Registered Dietitian. This keeps my life pretty busy and as much as I’d love to keep posting recipes weekly, it is difficult to fit into my schedule. My thesis on sugar is coming along nicely, and I’m currently applying for Dietetic Internships. I’ll graduate this spring with my degree and will hopefully be a Dietitian around this time next year (fingers crossed!). Hopefully once my schedule opens back up again, I’ll have lots more time to recipe test, take pictures, and share recipes with you all!

I’ll keep posting from time to time, but in the meantime follow me on instagram where I post my daily eats and healthy activities! I post recipes and meal ideas, along with some of my favorite restaurant spots.

Follow me @SugarFreeAlex on Instagram to keep up to date with me!

You can also find me on twitter and facebook, but instagram is my favorite because of all the pictures.

This past weekend I’ve really felt the start of winter with a sharp dip in temperatures overnight. The day is getting shorter and darker. I really miss this:

For now I’ll just pretend I’m sitting on a beach and sipping Piña Coladas. Only these Piña Coladas are healthy, hydrating, alcohol-free, and can be a whole meal. I’ve made this for breakfast every single morning this past week, and I am not tired of it yet! It tastes so yummy and tropical. Beware, it is high in fiber so I usually have to go to the bathroom right after drinking it!

The ingredients don’t have to be exact. I usually just throw it all into my Ninja individual cup blender and make sure there is enough liquid for it to blend smoothly. Don’t be afraid of adding the spinach! You won’t taste it at all and you get your serving of vegetables in. This smoothie is ultra-hydrating from the coconut water, banana, and chia seed. Perfect for a post-workout snack or if you had too many real Piña Coladas with rum the night before.

(without the spinach)

Health Benefits

• Pineapple: I wanted to make this smoothie when I had a cold, and I looked at the nutrition facts of my frozen pineapple bag and to my surprise one serving of pineapple has 130% your daily value of vitamin C! This also acts as an antioxidant to fight free radicals that can cause cancer in the body. It’s been thought to help inflammation in the joints and muscles, particularly those with arthritis.
• Banana: Rich in potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. This also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body. It also contains tryptophan to help relax you and lift your spirits!
• Coconut Milk: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body is less likely to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz!
• Coconut Water: I use coconut water as a substitute for Gatorade when I exercise because it naturally contains high levels of potassium and electrolytes without the added sugar. It can help with high blood pressure, and keep your skin healthy and hydrated.
• Chia Seeds: Chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times it’s weight in water, so it is also a great hydrator. Chia seed is also a great source of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. It can also help balance blood-sugar levels, so it is great for diabetics. It helps blood sugar levels by slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar. Read more here.
• Spinach: A nutritional powerhouse that contains very high levels of vitamin A and K. This phytonutrients in spinach have certain anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. In a study, spinach extracts were shown to slow cell division in stomach cancer. Another study showed increased spinach consumption to lower the rate of breast cancer in women.

Hello Sugar Free Challengers!

Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free: 

The single largest source of calories for Americans comes from sugar—specifically high fructose corn syrup. Just take a look at the sugar consumption trends of the past 300 years:

-In 1700, the average person consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year.

-In 1800, the average person consumed about 18 pounds of sugar per year.

-In 1900, individual consumption had risen to 90 pounds of sugar per year.

-In 2009, more than 50 percent of all Americans consume one-half pound of sugar PER DAY—translating to a whopping 180 pounds of sugar per year! It comes to no surprise that America is the leading weight loss pill resource.

Today, 32 percent of Americans are obese and an additional one-third are overweight. Compare that to 1890, when a survey of white males in their fifties revealed an obesity rate of just 3.4 percent. In 1975, the obesity rate in America had reached 15 percent, and since then it has doubled.   —Dr. Johnson via Dr. Mercola

A lot of you have been asking for it, so here is a sample meal plan for a day of sugar free eats.

Breakfast: Roasted Sweet Potato and Rosemary Frittata

Lunch: Chopped BLT Cobb Salad

Snack: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with carrots, celery, olives, or gluten-free crackers

Dinner: Oven Baked Boneless BBQ Chicken Breast with homemade sauce, side salad, and side of starch of choice (rice, potato, sweet potato)

Dessert: Peach Crisp with Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream 

Meal-prepping is a great way to stay on track. Choose a day to prepare all foods in advance and stock up for the week to stay on track! There are so many fun, new meal prep containers to use, too, click here for a great review. Glass containers are my personal favorite.

It is day 4 of the sugar-free challenge, so I hope everyone is off to a great start!

Grocery shopping can be worrisome for a lot of challengers because of the confusing labels, etc. It’s important to have food on hand at home and a stocked fridge when hunger hits because an empty fridge makes you a lot more likely to grab something more processed and higher in sugar. Here are some tips to make your next trip a whole lot easier!

The Basics

Stick to foods that are as close to their original state as possible. Not only is this a healthier, but minimally processed foods tend to be lower in sugar and not have any added sugar. This means fruit, vegetables, grains, meat, nuts, and seeds.

• Meats: chicken breast or whole chicken, ground beef, eggs, deli meats (with no added sugar, watch for words like honey roasted)
• Grains: brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, homemade whole grain breads, pasta, corn tortillas, popcorn
• Fruit: bananas, apples, grapes, mango, and all sorts of fresh/frozen fruit, dried fruit (check for added sugar)
• Vegetables: baby carrots for snacking, sweet potatoes, spinach, etc frozen and fresh, check canned veggies for added sugar.
• Nuts: raw or salted nuts and seeds, all natural peanut butter or almond butter
• Dairy: unsweetened almond milk, yogurt (sugar free), cheeses
• Extra: olive oil, coconut oil, balsamic and red wine vinegar, spices, hummus, olives, herbs, pickles (no sweet pickles!), chia seed, flax seed

Check the Labels

I go into more detail about labeling in this post, but it can hide anywhere! Above are two different brands of hot sauce. One contains sugar and one doesn’t. Always check labels! Not every brand has the same ingredient list.

Same idea with this jelly. Most jellies and jams contain added sugar, but there are varieties that are only fruit-juice sweetened. Check the labels for this. Beware of the label “Sugar-Free Jelly” because this can contain sugar substitutes like splenda and aspartame. Normal peanut butter brands also contains added sugar, so look for all-natural brands or freshly ground. My favorite brand is Smucker’s Natural because it is carried in almost every grocery store and is relatively inexpensive.

Careful of the Middle Aisles

The middle aisles are where all of the foods that do not need refrigeration are, so these are usually very processed. Processed foods are much more likely to have added sugar. Some of the cereals and granola in the picture above look healthy, but are actually very high in sugar. Try making your own granola like this Pumpkin Spice Latte Granola!

The produce aisles are your friend!!

Use spices to liven these foods up. Like cinnamon in oatmeal, smoked paprika and garlic on chicken, dill on potatoes, and basil on pasta.

Have Fun and Shop Locally

This is an awesome opportunity to support your local farmers by buying what is in-season. Fall is great for squash and apples-my favorite!

I went to an apple orchard this weekend and picked buckets of my own fresh apples. Not only are these a tasty afternoon snack with some natural sugars, but I can use them in lots of recipes! Like this no sugar-added apple pie.

While I always love a good trip to the grocery store, I’ve been dreaming about a trip to Paris to try all of their culinary creations. Jasmine from Leisure Jobs notified me of a competition they are holding to win a trip for two to Paris and a Michelin Star Meal! I’ve never been to Europe, and I’ve been wanting to try their famous cuisine. The meal included in the trip may be the most exciting part for me. I would definitely order the escargot in Paris because I have never tried it before and it is very famous there. What would you like to try?

 You can enter to win the trip HERE. I’ve already entered, so I wanted to let my lovely readers know about it, too. Good luck!

Do you have any grocery shopping trips? Also, have you ever been to Paris?

This is a sponsored post, but all thoughts and ideas are my own.

Hey everyone!

If you haven’t signed up for the sugar-free challenge yet, here’s another incentive to take the plunge. I partnered with Laura Thomas from Happy Sugar Habits to give away weekly 1-2-1 Skype counseling sessions for the month of October.

There will be one winner, so sign up here while there’s still time! It starts in one week.

New this year! If you have signed up (yay!), we have a Facebook group just for challengers. I highly encourage you to join. You can connect with other challengers to encourage each other, post your meals, and ask questions. Request to join here.

• What Your Sugar Craving Means
• Beware of the BBQ -Surprising places sugar lurks
• 10 Ways to Kick Sugar’s Butt! 
• How to Reduce Sugar Consumption
• Just a Spoonful of Sugar (or 20) -A look at Sugar addictions
• The Psychology Behind Sugar Addictions

I’m looking forward to another great challenge! We have 85 participants so far, and I’m hoping we get many more. One week until go-time!