"No Sugar" - Week 2 & Beyond.

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

Day 9 Alhamdulillaah.

[neelu]

I seem to have some sort of cavity which is making me a lot more anxious about my teeth. I know I really should give up the sugar but don't know if it's feasible. There are some times when I'm too weak to get up without it- the rest of the time I try to reduce or cut it out but on those days or when I get migraines, nothing else seems to work.

I never used to be that worried about the risk of diabetes or other health issues, but yeah for the sake of my teeth I'm a lot more cautious and more willing to take more precautions regarding sugar. I'll see how I get on inshaAllah with my next cup of tea (I normally have a little sugar in my tea)

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

Day 8. Alhamdulillaah.

[neelu]

Always those pesky sharers out to sabotage our efforts(!!)
(And wasters. Yes. Wasters, too.)
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Alhamdulillaah. On day 7.

Last time mum's friend brought round a box of chocolates, mum told her off. For years if we received anything like that, we'd politely accept it and then give some to my nieces and give some away to a family friend or something- we'd hardly eat any of it ourselves, but mum now straight up tells people this is not a good idea as a gift. She reminds them that she is diabetic and that I have health issues and it wouldn't be right to expect my dad to finish a box like that either so we'd rather not have them.

On top of that, I think half the time we can't even give them to my nieces either cos my brother is on a health kick and doesn't like it when we give them sweets and desserts. I remember when they were little, I wanted to put something sweet on the table for their birthday. I had a decorative empty Cadburys fingers tin that I wanted to fill up with mini packets of fingers, buttons and other chocolates but my brother wouldn't allow it and said the only sweet thing they'll have that day is the birthday cake. I get where he's coming from but for me, it sucked the joy out of the occasion and it's not like something I would've done every year- it was just a one off, but never mind. The tin just sits in a corner gathering dust now :(

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

You will be so disappointed in me but on teachers day someone gifted me a massive lego box full of chocolate and let’s just say it’s not with us anymore 😬

it’s basically all done. I am very disgusted really. I won’t eat sugar again until Friday.

Always those pesky sharers out to sabotage our efforts(!!)
(And wasters. Yes. Wasters, too.)
​​​​​​


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Alhamdulillaah. On day 7.

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

Day 6. Alhamdulillaah.

​​​​​​

[aelmo]

You will be so disappointed in me but on teachers day someone gifted me a massive lego box full of chocolate and let’s just say it’s not with us anymore 😬

it’s basically all done. I am very disgusted really. I won’t eat sugar again until Friday.

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

Day 5, I think. Alhamdulillaah.

[A Wandering Soul]

These sound like really good precautions. I have a ton of other health issues (Lyme disease, coinfections and dysautonomia) which includes having a ton of food intolerances which means I wouldn't be able to have stuff like ginger or pea protein. My illness started off as just C based IBS (recurrent constipating, bloating and stomach gas) and it took YEARS for me to accept that my body has a problem with gluten because I was so hooked to all the foods I grew up with and was used to. It turned out there were loads of trigger foods that weren't allowing me to digest things properly and were causing inflammation: corn and gluten were the worst culprits so had to cut those out. It's only when I started getting a whole ton of new symptoms that I became desperate enough to change my diet properly and then I realised that even eating a little wheat would trigger joint pains and severe weakness in my hands. So I've needed quite a restrictive diet to avoid worsening symptoms.

My specialist did say I should give up sugar and although I reduced my intake, but never really could stop having it completely. I am in the UK and yes, there are good alternatives in the shops. Cutting out dairy with the exception of organic butter/ghee sounds like a really good idea. I've reduced my dairy intake but my diet is so restrictive already, I wouldn't know what to eat if I didn't have that. I know there are alternatives but I've heard dairy free cheeses are dreadful so not interested in trying them though I have tried to reduce my dairy intake. I don't drink milk anymore and use hemp milk in my smoothies. On top of that I need to avoid soy and nuts as well so those alternatives are not really an option.

There's two ways I have fenugreek. One is as alu methi which involves chopping and cooking the fresh fenugreek leaves with potatoes. The other is something I take for pain relief (I get pains if I don't take this): in a dry pan or tava, toast some fenugreek seeds, black nigella seeds and gram flour on a low heat until they lose any moisture or raw flavour, then leave it to cool. Once it's cool, put it in a grinder- we mix sugar in this because it's quite bitter but some people can tolerate eating it without the sugar. I eat almost a teaspoon of it everyday.

A few other ingredients that are meant to be good for diabetes in case you're interested: Karela, bhindi/okra and makhane (fox nuts). I don't digest bhindi or makhane that well but try to incorporate them in my diet from time to time. I can only eat a tiny amount of karela cos it's so bitter that if I ate more, I'd want sugar to get rid of the bitterness but in small amounts I'm okay with it.

SubhanAllah. May Allah swt make it easy for you. It sounds really tough having to restrict on foods. I find it super confusing because food intolerances are becoming super common and I don't get where they are coming from. But alhamdulillah I have to say gluten free options are becoming more and more widely available. Have you had these health issues since a young age or did they develop slowly over the years?

Giving up sugar completely is a big ask. These days so many savory foods have so much sugar in them as well, so its super hard. Sometimes it feels like its just best to make everything from scratch. I think having fruits have health benefits so i personally try to have one a day. Like berries and dark foods in general are high in antioxidants which is good to help lower inflammation in the body.

I can understand your pain of giving up dairy if you're already limited. I noticed a lovely dairy free section in Asda recently, I'm not sure if it was there before and i just hadn't noticed it but i was pleasantly surprised and will be trying it out for sure. Maybe its worth trying some of the stuff, might not be that bad.. hmm your milk options are very limited. How bad is your intolerance to nuts? I'm only asking because the milks arn't exactly the whole nut itself so its quite diluted in that sense..

I been trying to look after my gut too. I added kimchi recently and have been drinking kombucha and dairy free kefir. I dont know how these things are individually impacting my body, i wish i knew..

Aloo and methi sounds lovely. Omg I just realised fenugreek is methi in urdu lol, i know we have methi in the house but I didnt know what it was. I wish i had more energy to cook, I'm terrible at making food. If it was upto me I'd ve eating toast for dinner everyday lol. That powdered mix sounds interesting. Where did you get that recipe from? I worry about toasting stuff like that because i worry i may burn some of the nutrition. I dont know if theres any truth in that..

Thanks for sharing, i didn't know about the okra and kerala but bih are things i dont usually like eating. But i will tryto incorperate them as they will be good for me. I'm guessing makhane is the white puffy ball thing right? We only started buying them recently, I've not heard much about the health benefits but do try and have a few when i remember to.

[neelu]

I've added a lot of things to help with insulin resistance, I have cinnamon in my porridge and chia seed breakfast, i drink fennel tea, tumeric and ginger are also good, i add them in with smoothies or milk tea. I was told i was almost pre diabetic, and as you said being south Asian and also having PCOS made me at higher risk for developing diabetes. How do you have fenugreek? I havn't tried that yet

Hmm yeah maybe you're right. I think it depends in where you are in your journey as well. I have 1 portion of fruit a day and usually around 10g from a protein bar and dark chocolate. I really like 90% dark but i realised later that doesnt mean just because it has less sugar in it doesn't mean you can eat loads of it as its very high in fat. No I'm in the UK.. but youre right 25g added sugar is maybe too much.

So I came across two women who have specially designed programms for PCOS and both of them recommend women to go gluten, dairy and sugar free. They said gluten and dairy could be causing inflammation in womens bodies and if you've been eating it your whole life you wouldn't even think you're body is reacting badly. So they suggest cut them out completely for a good few months and then add one thing back in and see how does your body react. Some women struggle with bloating, acne, constipation etc.

Personally I have cut out dairy (milk and cheese), i still have ghee and butter and i generally avoid white carbs, but still have one slice of wholemeal bread a day so am not strictly gluten free. I think it's difficult to say what exactly is going well in my bodyand what isn't as I've made several changes. So i can't say for sure if going dairy free has been good for me. I have lost a lot of weight since following this type of lifestyle so I'm doing something right but can't pinpoint what has been helpful/ unhelpful. I've never really struggled with acne, bloating or any digestive issues either alhamdulillah

I'm not sure where you are from but I think in the UK there are a lot of good alternatives. I noticed just recently one supermarket had a lot of nice cheese alternatives and yoghurt alternatives. I switch between coconut milk, soya milk and pea protein milk. I dont miss dairy much. I've cut out caffeine as well as i think it just stresses my body out but do occasionally miss my desi chai so i have that when i really fancy a treat but i stick with my milk alternatives

These sound like really good precautions. I have a ton of other health issues (Lyme disease, coinfections and dysautonomia) which includes having a ton of food intolerances which means I wouldn't be able to have stuff like ginger or pea protein. My illness started off as just C based IBS (recurrent constipating, bloating and stomach gas) and it took YEARS for me to accept that my body has a problem with gluten because I was so hooked to all the foods I grew up with and was used to. It turned out there were loads of trigger foods that weren't allowing me to digest things properly and were causing inflammation: corn and gluten were the worst culprits so had to cut those out. It's only when I started getting a whole ton of new symptoms that I became desperate enough to change my diet properly and then I realised that even eating a little wheat would trigger joint pains and severe weakness in my hands. So I've needed quite a restrictive diet to avoid worsening symptoms.

My specialist did say I should give up sugar and although I reduced my intake, but never really could stop having it completely. I am in the UK and yes, there are good alternatives in the shops. Cutting out dairy with the exception of organic butter/ghee sounds like a really good idea. I've reduced my dairy intake but my diet is so restrictive already, I wouldn't know what to eat if I didn't have that. I know there are alternatives but I've heard dairy free cheeses are dreadful so not interested in trying them though I have tried to reduce my dairy intake. I don't drink milk anymore and use hemp milk in my smoothies. On top of that I need to avoid soy and nuts as well so those alternatives are not really an option.

There's two ways I have fenugreek. One is as alu methi which involves chopping and cooking the fresh fenugreek leaves with potatoes. The other is something I take for pain relief (I get pains if I don't take this): in a dry pan or tava, toast some fenugreek seeds, black nigella seeds and gram flour on a low heat until they lose any moisture or raw flavour, then leave it to cool. Once it's cool, put it in a grinder- we mix sugar in this because it's quite bitter but some people can tolerate eating it without the sugar. I eat almost a teaspoon of it everyday.

A few other ingredients that are meant to be good for diabetes in case you're interested: Karela, bhindi/okra and makhane (fox nuts). I don't digest bhindi or makhane that well but try to incorporate them in my diet from time to time. I can only eat a tiny amount of karela cos it's so bitter that if I ate more, I'd want sugar to get rid of the bitterness but in small amounts I'm okay with it.

[A Wandering Soul]

I'm concerned that I might have some sort of insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome, even though I'm average sized and not overweight but among Asians, even average sized people have high risk factors for type two diabetes. I am prediabetic. I try to have fenugreek regularly and I think it helps.


I still think 25g a day of added sugars is a lot. If it's 25g a day of total sugars (meaning including natural sugars that are found in fruits and sweet vegetables such as bell peppers etc) then that's okay, but 25g "added sugars" suggests the amount of refined sugar per day (that's "added") on top of naturally occurring sugars found in fruit and veg etc. Are you in the US by any chance? Also mind if I ask why you cut out dairy and what difference it made? I suspect dairy isn't good for me but already have such a restrictive diet, I wouldn't know what to eat if I cut that out as well.

I've added a lot of things to help with insulin resistance, I have cinnamon in my porridge and chia seed breakfast, i drink fennel tea, tumeric and ginger are also good, i add them in with smoothies or milk tea. I was told i was almost pre diabetic, and as you said being south Asian and also having PCOS made me at higher risk for developing diabetes. How do you have fenugreek? I havn't tried that yet

Hmm yeah maybe you're right. I think it depends in where you are in your journey as well. I have 1 portion of fruit a day and usually around 10g from a protein bar and dark chocolate. I really like 90% dark but i realised later that doesnt mean just because it has less sugar in it doesn't mean you can eat loads of it as its very high in fat. No I'm in the UK.. but youre right 25g added sugar is maybe too much.

So I came across two women who have specially designed programms for PCOS and both of them recommend women to go gluten, dairy and sugar free. They said gluten and dairy could be causing inflammation in womens bodies and if you've been eating it your whole life you wouldn't even think you're body is reacting badly. So they suggest cut them out completely for a good few months and then add one thing back in and see how does your body react. Some women struggle with bloating, acne, constipation etc.

Personally I have cut out dairy (milk and cheese), i still have ghee and butter and i generally avoid white carbs, but still have one slice of wholemeal bread a day so am not strictly gluten free. I think it's difficult to say what exactly is going well in my bodyand what isn't as I've made several changes. So i can't say for sure if going dairy free has been good for me. I have lost a lot of weight since following this type of lifestyle so I'm doing something right but can't pinpoint what has been helpful/ unhelpful. I've never really struggled with acne, bloating or any digestive issues either alhamdulillah

I'm not sure where you are from but I think in the UK there are a lot of good alternatives. I noticed just recently one supermarket had a lot of nice cheese alternatives and yoghurt alternatives. I switch between coconut milk, soya milk and pea protein milk. I dont miss dairy much. I've cut out caffeine as well as i think it just stresses my body out but do occasionally miss my desi chai so i have that when i really fancy a treat but i stick with my milk alternatives

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

Just an idea seeing as your comment is about taking kids out for dessert: I was watching a TV show (I think it was Dr Phil) in which they were talking about weight loss and how people develop bad eating habits. One person pointed out that when kids do something good, then consider giving them a treat that is not junk food related as giving them sweets and junk can cause them to develop that kind of emotional connection between comfort/happiness and sweets/junk. I used to give my pupils little chocolates (such as miniature heroes etc) as treats for doing well in quizzes and stuff but after that, I did that a lot less and started giving them novelty stationery instead, which they also really liked. I watched that years ago but that particular idea really stuck with me.

I'm not saying they can't have dessert on special occasions or can't be taken to a dessert or cake shop, but from time to time consider alternative treat ideas as well.

It's not actually too often, tbh, Sr Neelu (not from me anyway) when it comes to chocolates/desserts. They do get those other kinds of gifts / prizes much more often from me. It's a really important point that sister has made, though, and something we overlook too commonly. We're shaping and moulding their minds with these harmful tendancies potentially for life.

[neelu]

Nah, I'm not going to beat myself up over it at all, tbh. It's been good, Alhamdulillaah. I'll go again, inshaa'Allah. I had a feeling the two monkeys would only need a box between them, if even that, and I expected their mum and dad to have more than they did, seeing as they like the stuff from there normally, but instead... Too much of it was just left there to eventually end up in the bin unless I had it myself.

Last time It was cake from the local cake-shop for them that was left to go to the bin unless I ate it. The thing is, their mum and dad tell me to not get them anything, but you can't really help it when they're so eager... If they were my own kids It'd probably be different. I'd make them finish off every last bit of it or nothing at all next time. (I like to think, anyway.) ​​​​​​


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Yeah. Do whatever is manageable, insha'Allah, without becoming bad-tempered and grouchy... My thought process behind this really is to just rid the self of any temptation and laziness with grabbing chocolate / junk that's lying about by going those 30-40 days or so.
And Alhamdulillaah, that's what's happened. No desire to eat any of that... I was kind of hoping it would do the same for others but I guess we all have different mindsets and tendancies, which is fine, Alhamdulillaah - just as long as we are careful and keep in control.
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Just an idea seeing as your comment is about taking kids out for dessert: I was watching a TV show (I think it was Dr Phil) in which they were talking about weight loss and how people develop bad eating habits. One person pointed out that when kids do something good, then consider giving them a treat that is not junk food related as giving them sweets and junk can cause them to develop that kind of emotional connection between comfort/happiness and sweets/junk. I used to give my pupils little chocolates (such as miniature heroes etc) as treats for doing well in quizzes and stuff but after that, I did that a lot less and started giving them novelty stationery instead, which they also really liked. I watched that years ago but that particular idea really stuck with me.

I'm not saying they can't have dessert on special occasions or can't be taken to a dessert or cake shop, but from time to time consider alternative treat ideas as well.

[Mintchocchip]

I am doing no/low sugar. I have found that after eating no sugar for a good while just makes food like ice cream, cakes and chocolates taste really sweet and I don't like that kind of taste. Low sugar days for me would be either having a biscuit or two or a bite of chocolate or a couple of spoons of icecream.

I used to give in easily when at someone elses houses or if someone offered me something sweet. Alhumdulillah can now confidently say "No thanks" and stick to that even though they insist I have some.

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

You finished the month so don't beat yourself up over it.

The pumpkin spice latte was so good. I got a venti and finished it in like 5 minutes.

I got my banana pudding today but it was so rich that I gave half of it to my dad.

I wouldn't mind going back on the no sugar thing but I will do it the way I said earlier.

Nah, I'm not going to beat myself up over it at all, tbh. It's been good, Alhamdulillaah. I'll go again, inshaa'Allah. I had a feeling the two monkeys would only need a box between them, if even that, and I expected their mum and dad to have more than they did, seeing as they like the stuff from there normally, but instead... Too much of it was just left there to eventually end up in the bin unless I had it myself.

Last time It was cake from the local cake-shop for them that was left to go to the bin unless I ate it. The thing is, their mum and dad tell me to not get them anything, but you can't really help it when they're so eager... If they were my own kids It'd probably be different. I'd make them finish off every last bit of it or nothing at all next time. (I like to think, anyway.) ​​​​​​


-------
Yeah. Do whatever is manageable, insha'Allah, without becoming bad-tempered and grouchy... My thought process behind this really is to just rid the self of any temptation and laziness with grabbing chocolate / junk that's lying about by going those 30-40 days or so.
And Alhamdulillaah, that's what's happened. No desire to eat any of that... I was kind of hoping it would do the same for others but I guess we all have different mindsets and tendancies, which is fine, Alhamdulillaah - just as long as we are careful and keep in control.
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