Why 10 days and why #nosugar?

I realise I was constantly lethargic and feeling bloated all the time and my mood was always up and down. I know I snack a lot and despite working out 5x a week, eat healthy on a regular basis. So why was I feeling lethargic and moody all the time? It just didn’t make sense to me and I didn’t quite saw the physical changes in my body for all the effort that I have put into my training. So.. the minute I was back from Singapore, I started the #10daynosugarchallenge. Because I knew if I gave myself anymore excuses, I am only delaying myself from the result and 10 days is just long enough for the body to adapt to changes, and it’s a good time frame for beginners to remove sugar out of the diet.

What is it about?

1. No simple carbohydrates and sugar

my weaknesses are; frozen yoghurt, mochi, sour patch kids, no milk tea with pearls, no mango sticky rice, no chips, no fried food. No dipping sauce and worst of all, no fruits.

What do I eat?

2. A fistful of complex carbohydrates a day, couscous, quinoa, sweet potato, brown rice and organic, gluten-free rice crackers when I’m desperate. Double portions of vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, beans, kale, celery, tomatoes but only one day because tomatoes are high in sugar. Also, if I really want a fruit juice, ill choose a fruit juice that is high in fiber and fats content than just fruits.
3. Snacks? A handful of nuts and rice crackers when desperate but in all honesty when I do reach for rice crackers, it was only during the 4^th – 5^th day during the 10-day challenge and I only reach for about 6-8 pieces and stopped.
   

   

*REMINDER*

carbohydrates convert into sugar form once it enters into your blood stream. Glucose = carbohydrates and we need glucose to function thus quality and quantity of the amount of carbohydrates we consume is important. Thus, the challenge is to NOT avoid good carbohydrates all together but to be aware of the type of glucose/sugar we consume.

Fructose:

 

There’s no reason to cut all fruit out of your diet in an attempt to remove all sugar; you’d be giving up all those antioxidants, phytochemicals, fiber, minerals, and vitamins at the same time.

The problem with fructose is that when you consume large amounts of it in its concentrated form such as syrups, juices and fruit-based candy, it goes straight to your liver, avoiding the gastrointestinal tract altogether. This places a heavy toxic job on your liver, which must work very hard to process it.

SUGAR CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE.

Its safe to say I am a relatively healthy eater, I like meal prepping, I like cooking my own meals, for my man and sometimes even for my cats. Haha. So the hard part of the whole 10 days challenge was really my bad snacking habits and being able to be creative with different kind of vegetables. The key to this challenge was to eliminate those annoying cravings for snacks/ carbs and sugar such as dried fruits or chocolates that causes me to overeat and sugar levels to spike.

Yes there are a lot of restrictions and requires some knowledge on nutrition, knowing what are good carbs and protein control. Did you know? A tomato has tons of sugar! And so does many other fruits such as mangoes and pineapples.

I did miss eating more carbs during the 10 days challenge but at least right now I know that I don’t need a whole plate of carbs to feel full. Its about filling the plate with a balance portion of different macros; carbs, fats, protein.

Here’s the thing, when you start being aware of what goes into the bod, you realise you don’t need as much as you think you do. When you start resetting the body like that, you understand your body better and how different carbohydrates affects or help your body.

I’ve wired my habits and morning routine from a bowl of fruit loops to a plate of omelette and half an avocado.

It is the whole truth when people say, abs are made in the kitchen. To lose weight or gain muscle mass, its important to watch your macros, cut unnecessary calories and increase calories on protein, fats and complex carbs.

To understand better on what carbs and sugar is, read my previous post!

No matter what Sugar is. Sugar is sugar. it negatively affects the body in many ways when consume in excess. Sugar pump the body with dopamine. A feel-good hormone burst of energy chemical but very quick to crash as well.

Now that I am back on my regular lifestyle, where I don’t see a chocolate bar and say no or say restrict myself some fresh mangoes. But i now know what sugar can do to me so I am a little more cautious with it and watchful of where I am getting my sugar from the entire day.

I am now very sensitive in sugar. when I have consumed too much sugar, I can feel it in my body and my digestive system isn’t happy, I am thirsty and even more jittery and only wanting more sugar. Which bring me to the next topic! On ho Sugar gives me Anxiety & Depression. But that’s a whole another topic! So stay tune!

Thank you for reading! Please reach out to me if you have any questions or enquries by email: chenruiminbee@gmail.com 🙂