30 Day Sugar Free Challenge Conclusion

35 days of a sugar-free living and I am loving it, as are my 2 friends who joined the Sugar-Free Revolution (I named it that 😇).

After posting my challenge on social media, I was thrilled that my friend Paul (the inspiration behind #sugarfreefeb) and I got a new recruit, Martyn. We started a Facebook Messenger chat and took pictures of our meals every day providing each other with accountability, encouragement, and inspiration.

I’ll admit I did slip up 4 times throughout the challenge, twice accidentally and twice on purpose. When visiting a friend’s for an Indian takeaway, I got lost in conversation and whacked a big dollop of mango chutney on a poppadom and threw it down my neck. Doh! And then whilst making a delicious homemade salad dressing, I added a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard only to then find out it had added sugar in. Who knew mustard had sugar in??? I was so disappointed.

I was also shocked to discover supermarket sushi has added sugar in the rice which I will now be avoiding.

On 2 occasions I added some local honey to my porridge as fruits just weren’t hitting the spot after a long training session. That was before I discovered adding kiwi to my porridge instead. This was a revelation! Who knew?

I am so pleased to have finally stepped off the sugar train. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought as each day the desire to eat sugar decreased.

The results
My energy levels are more consistent and my thinking is clearer.

I did the challenge for health reasons but it’s always an added bonus to get an aesthetic benefit too. I have lost the fluid-looking, adipose tissue that was building up around my body mostly on my waist and face. I have a flatter stomach too. Both Paul and Martyn have reported similar benefits.

Having suffered from acne from aged 14 – 32, my skin is now much clearer, brighter and takes far less management to keep it pimple-free.

Doing the challenge has encouraged me to make conscious decisions about what I eat, rather than scoffing anything and sending my insulin levels sky high when I’m over-hungry.

Below is a gallery of some of the meals the sugar-free gang and I got involved with:

After 30 days of doing the Sugar-Free Challenge, on March 1st, Paul announced ‘Day 1 of a sugar-free life’ in our chat and we all agreed we are going to continue as we are feeling so good.

The boys are eating honey, agave syrup, dates, dried fruit and similar but I’m going to stay clear of them as I was eating too much of them before and I’ll likely get hooked again. Sugar-free has given me the opportunity to rediscover my love of fruit, especially kiwis and blueberries which I am now using as a substitute for sweetness.

I am so grateful to have had the sugar free gang around for support.
One weekend Martyn ran 2 marathons back to back and only fell into the sugar trap once with an electrolyte drink. He made conscious decisions on food pre and post event and stuck to the challenge.
Paul went on a hiking trip with his children and remained sugar free throughout despite them getting involved in Haribo.