no added sugar: day one

WOW.  I woke up this morning and the first thing I wanted to eat was Starburst jelly beans!  They aren't kidding when they say that sugar is more addicting than cocaine!

I wanted to document this journey here so that you guys can follow the process and see that A) it's not easy 100% of the time and B) YOU CAN DO THIS, TOO!

So I wanted to start off by telling you guys what I did about my insane jelly bean craving this morning!  First, I put the jelly beans in a Ziploc and will be dropping them off at work tonight so that I can't be tempted.  Then, I drank a HUGE glass of cold water...I try to do this every morning to kick start my system anyway.  Finally, I made a wholesome breakfast of oats and fruit and hard boiled eggs to energize me for the day and the strawberries gave me a little sweetness.  THAT'S IT!

Now, for the fun part....going through my pantry, fridge, and what my grocery list looks like for this week!

For this challenge, I put everything with added sugar in the BACK of the pantry/fridge so that I wouldn't be tempted.  It's amazing how many foods (vegetable broth?!?!) have added sugar in them!

First, here's the pantry:

So I like to keep my breakfast and snack foods on the top shelf and foods I might cook on the bottom shelf.  On the top shelf: old fashioned oats, museli cereal (sweetened with dates & raisins), organic natural peanut butter, raw & roasted nuts and seeds (cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds), nutritional yeast, roasted chickpeas, dried/freeze-dried fruits, herbal teas.

On the bottom shelf: several types of boxed beans, canned veggies, whole wheat pastas (lasagna & spaghetti), lentils, quinoa, brown rice, spirulina, vegetable broth (off limits :[)

Now onward and upwards to the fridge:

For the record, I have NO idea why this one won't upload in the right orientation, but whatever.  In my fridge: organic eggs, basil pesto, ground flax meal, hard-boiled eggs, cottage cheese, unsweetened greek yogurt, cold water, hummus, steamed asparagus, kombucha, fresh berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry), cheese :]

This one is tough!  The only items here that are no sugar added are the unsweetened vanilla almond milk, organic maple syrup, grated cheese, and soy sauce.  So all of the dressings, ketchup, and even teriyaki sauce are OUT!

Finally, my drawer:  carrots, snap peas, peppers, lettuce, and an apple.

Last but not least....the freezer:

This one is pretty self explanatory: frozen veggies, frozen strawberries, and bread.  Believe it or not, Simply Balanced makes a bread that is stored in the freezer that has no added sugar! The pizzas and even the meatless burgers are OFF limits for this month!

Now believe it or not, in addition to these items, I have a fruit bowl on my table with grapefruits, bananas, an apple, and clementines and a potato bowl in the pantry with sweet potatoes, onion, and garlic.

This got kind of long, so I will save my grocery list for next week!

Stay fit!

xoxo

Anne