Day three

Today has been a bad day - I ate sugar!! but I have my reasons

• Firstly I ran out of my happy pills a few days ago and I was feeling very emotional
• Secondly, it is SO HOT today, good god I was walking around sweating like a pig
• Thirdly, I am so POOR at the moment. So so poor, it was getting me down...

And there I was wandering through town, sweating like a pig feeling sorry for myself and I walked past a coffee shop BB'S coffee and muffins and they have the most delicious iced still strawberry lemonade refresher. AND I HAD ONE. A LARGE ONE. but.. I did share it with my boyfriend, and I was hot and sad so I think it is okay. One slip up is okay. In fact, on page 25 of IQS4LIFE book, Sarah (the author) describes that actually, lapses are okay! They help you to learn and quitting sugar is after all an experiment, not a mean diet. So I am okay with it. It wasnt awful. I cannot find the nutritional values for it online, but I am hoping it wasnt TOO much sugar. 

On  a positive note: I actually ate really well for the rest of the day, apart from my lapse, and I stuck nicely to the meal plan!

Breakfast
Wake-up-Whip

I tried this two days ago, and I wasn't overly keen on it. The texture was all wrong, and it was a little bit bitter and too warm. Today I made some changes, I ran out of weetabix, so i only used one and replaced the rest with oats. I used less vanilla powder, I used raspberries instead of strawberries, and I used ice cubes. And guess what. I actually preferred it. It was smoother and the taste of weetabix was much less overpowering. I think this is definitely a recipe that I will have to fiddle with until I find what works for me.

Lunch
Chicken salad

In this I had chicken, lettuce, spinach, yellow pepper, tomato, spring onion and homemade mayonnaise (recipe for this on page 208 of IQS4Life). It was yummy!

Dinner
"KFC" Chicken
The recipe for this can be found on page 92 of the IQS4life book. I went for the full works with the minty mash, coleslaw (leftover from yesterday) and cheesy sauce. 

 My Verdict
AMAZING. All of it. Every single bit of it. Loved it. Definitely will be having this again!

Day 3 summary
It has been a bad day, and I cannot work out if I feel bad because I have quit sugar, or because of personal circumstances. I have a feeling it is more to do with personal circumstances, but I will know for sure tomorrow!!   
 

Day two

Breakfast
Not-quite-Apple-Crumble Muffins
The recipe for this can be found on page 62 of the IQS4LIFE book. It makes 12 muffins, and they are very delicious! I did have to make a few substitutions because I ran out of almond meal halfway through, so I replaced this with self-raising flour, and replaced the arrowroot with corn flour (after a lot of googling!)
They are so easy to make (I made them yesterday cos I am always way to hungry in the morning to wait!), you basically just mix the wet ingredients (which contains real apple pieces!) with the dry ingredients and then mix them all together and you have this delicious looking mixture

 

Put the mixture in a greased muffin tin (you are meant to use muffin cases, but I didnt have any - they still came out fine!)

 Bake for 30 mins on gas mark 4/180c/350f

I served mine with full fat greek style yoghurt and raspberries which I got from the farmers market on Tuesday, and a cup of Chai tea.

My Verdict:
YUM! definitely better than the breakfast I had yesterday. It has good textures and tasted lovely. It kept my full for about four hours which is brilliant!

Lunch
Roasted Red Pepper Soup & Finnish Scones
You can find the recipe for this on page 136 of IQS. I had to make more substitutions for my finish scones, I did not have any wholemeal spelt flour, so I just used bread flour. 
You basically roast some peppers

Until they look like this

   Then you peel off the skin and blend with some bread, almond meal, vegetable stock and pepper

I made my own almond meal by blending a handful of almonds! Smart eh ;)

A novel way to measure bread

The finished item:

 

My verdict:

Loved it! so nice, and so filling - it filled me up for about four hours. really delicious and really easy to make. Will definitely be making this again! Yum 

Dinner

Fish and Chips

The recipe for this can be found in the IQS4LIFE book. The chips are sweet potato chips and I served it with homemade coleslaw using red cabbage, carrots and homemade mayo (recipe also in the IQS4Life book)

 My Verdict:

This was really nice, the fish tasted lovely. I am not really a massive fan of overly fishy fish, and the recipe for the fish made it taste good. The sweet potato chips and coleslaw were a lovely accomplishment, and it was good to know I was getting my five-a-day in!

Review of the day

I liked all the meals today, and I am still feeling good! I have not had any major sugar "crashes" yet or craved anything. So far, so good!!!  

 

Day one

Breakfast
Up & Go Whip

So for breakfast I have my "Up & Go" Mix. This is basically a mixture of Weetabix® (or any other wheaty cereal products- I have morrisons value. YES), with fruit, milk and some powders (vanilla). The recipe for this can be found on pg 84 of the IQS4LIFE book.

I had to make a few changes to this recipe because I did not have vanilla protein powder OR the alternative of nut butter. So i used a mixture of vanilla powder and almond powder - still getting my protein in.


Before:

 

During:

 (yum...)

After:

 clearly my presentation skills are not the best

My Verdict: 

It was okay. Not my favourite breakfast of all time, but it was bearable. I was able to eat it all (yay). I think the main problem was the texture, I am really funny about textures so I found it hard to swallow. I think if I actually followed the recipe and used ice-cubes instead of water, and frozen strawberries instead of non-frozen ones, it would have been better. Because everything is better when it is cooler! ALSO i think I used too much vanilla powder, it was strong, so next time I will only use half a tablespoon. I would eat it again, but would make sure to make the changes I have suggested. it is a LEARNING curve!


I had my breakfast whip with some chai tea:

Why chai tea?
Well I was on the IQS blog and I came across "9 drinks that will wake you up better than coffee" and chai tea was one of them. The black tea base still has some caffeine in it - but less than normal coffee (bonus), and it is rich in antioxidants. Couple this with the benefits of the added spices and you're onto a winner:

• Cinnamon is meant to increase circulation, awareness and vitality and reduce fatigue
• Cardamom is meant to benefit the heart, kidneys, lungs (and you're mood!)
• Cloves have pain relieving and antiseptic properties
• Black pepper helps circulation & metabolism
• Nutmeg is meant to aid digestion & sciatica
• Star Anise can be used to freshen breath, and can also improve circulation and the immune system,
• Ginger can be used to treat impotence (so a good one for the men!) and motion sickness
• Finally, fennel can treat kidney problems and laryngitis.

Read more about this here.


My verdict: 
I actually liked it. And I was surprised about this. It has a subtle spicy/cinamony flavour, and it is really warming and comforting. I will definitely be drinking this again!

 Lunch

Basic great grated salad with french style salad dressing

The recipe for the great grated salad can be found on pg 82 the IQS4Life book, and the French style dressing can be found on page 205 of the same book.

I coupled this salad with some home made bread and cheese that I picked up from the farmers market yesterday. I know I had planned to have this with quinoa crisps, but by the time I got round to lunch, it was already 2pm and I was starving and I opted for bread instead. This did not break my meal plan as bread is low in sugar and still safe to eat whilst quitting sugar. It was super delicious! and it filled me right up, I wasnt hungry again until dinner time - bonus!

Dinner
Roast chicken with roasted vegetables
I adopted the roast chicken recipe found on page 111 of the IQS4Life book, and mixed it up with my favourite Jamie Oliver roast chicken recipe. 
For the chicken I used:

• Two onions -Quartered
• One Aubergine/eggplant - chopped into chunks
• Four massive garlic cloves - unpeeled
• Three big carrots - chopped into chunks
• Two parsnips - chopped into chunks
• Two sweet potatoes - roughly chopped
• One chicken
• Few sprigs of thyme & rosemary
• One lemon - pricked
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

To make the roast chicken:

1. Pre-heat oven to gas 9/240c/475F
2. Chop up all the veggies and chuck them in a massive baking tray, drizzle with some olive oil
3. Shove a lemon and some sprigs of rosemary and thyme up the chickens bum and place the chicken on top of all the veggies
4. Rub the chicken with olive oil and salt & pepper
5. Put it in the oven - as soon as you have done this turn the oven temperature down to gas 6/200c/400f.
6. Bake for about 1.5-2.5 hours depending on the size of the chicken
7. To check if your chicken is cooked it should be 75c in the deepest part of the breast

Before baking:

After:

This picture does not do the taste justice! My phone camera isnt the best

Roast was so delicious. I loved it. And we have LOADS left over for tomorrow. Bonus!!

A little bit of pudding...

Sugar free HobNobs®

I absolutely love biscuits - I used to eat a packet of biscuits everyday in the first year of my undergraduate degree. My doctor soon told me off when she saw my cholesterol levels! Since then, I have cut back majorly, but still like to eat them every now and then. So I decided to make some hobnobs for after a healthy lunch/dinner if I felt like something sweet. Today I had one after dinner, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The recipe for the sugarfree hobnobs can be found here

Dry ingredients

+

Wet ingredients

Melted

=

Wet cookie mixture

Uncooked cookies

+ oven

=

HOBNOBS!!!

My Verdict: 

These are amazing! I really struggled to only eat one (but I managed). They honestly taste so amazing. Not exactly like hobnobs but who cares when they taste this good!

Day one verdict:

I enjoyed every single meal except for breakfast, which was a bit of a let down, but as I said bearable. I feel okay, I do not appear to have any sugar withdrawal symptoms or anything like that. Today has been easy, and I have not craved any sugar (yet!). Lets hope tomorrow is this successful!!

Preparing my meal plans

I have decided I am going to mix and match all the recipes provided in both the IQS books to create my own meal plans. Isn't that what this is all about? There is no point opting for a meal plan if I don't like the food on the menu. It wont work!

So I will plan my meals out each week based on all the recipes provided. I will chuck bits out I dont like, and maybe replace with some of my own favourite recipes (obviously only the sugar free ones).

Here is my meal plan for the first week. This week I have stuck to recipes only provided in the two books. I have mixed and matched all the recipes so I like everything I am eating. I have tried to repeat meals throughout the week too - to save cooking!
 

Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
Up n Go breakfast whip	Apple crumble muffins (8)	Up n go breakfast whip	Apple crumble muffins(4)	Berry omelet	Chia & Quinoa Parfait	Apple Pancakes
Grated salad + quinoa crisps +1 "hob nob"	Pepper soup +quinoa crisps +1 "hob nob"	Grated salad +quinoa crisps +1 "hob nob"	Pepper soup +quinoa crisps +1 "hob nob"	Nacho muffins + vegetable crisps +"1 hob nob"	Grated salad +chickpea bombs +Almond butter bark	Nacho muffins +vegetable crisps +Almond butter bark
Roast chicken (who cares its a Wednesday - I'm on annual leave!)	Fish & chips	"KFC" Chicken	BBQ pork	Jamboree	Pork tacos	Cauliflower pizza

Yeah it starts on a Wednesday (tomorrow)- who says lifestyle changes have to begin on a Monday?

Wish me luck!

The build up to quitting sugar

So i have decided to quit sugar, I have read the facts, and now I want to reap the rewards, but... how on earth do I go about doing this? In the IQS and IQS4Life books, Sarah (the author) provides some very handy hints and tips about preparing to and living on  a sugar free diet. Such as creating a freezer stash of par-cooked and frozen veggies (CLEVER!).  AND in the back of her book she has a really handy section called "the shopping list" which provides all the ingredients you will ever need to follow her recipes. SO handy.

So I spent the next few weeks analysing the recipes in both of her books, and the shopping list at the back and decided to bulk buy food that she seems to use a lot of in her recipes:

• Ground almonds to be used as a substitute for "normal" flour in some recipes

• Coconut water
• Rice Syrup - a natural sweetner 
• Mixed nuts
• Coconut flakes/chips
• Raw cacao nibs
• Raw cacao powder
• Pumpkin seeds
• Golden linseed

I found it SO much cheaper to buy in bulk - although this was a juicy one off payment, it should last me for AGES and I am definitely benefiting from economies of scale here!I am all about shopping on a budget (I am a student!)

After spending my whole evening (and what a bloomin good evening it was) on her website, and reading through the IQS books, I found some other money saving tips. FARMERS MARKETS. there are so many in Kent, I had no idea. They are a really cheap way to get fresh organic produce from local farmers. So you are doing two good things: benefiting your body, whilst  helping your local farmers.

So off I went to the Hildenborough farmers market. It was a bit of a treck, but I am on annual leave and I fancied a day out (luckily there are ones closer to me). here is what I have purchased from the farmers market today: 

Such a bargain, i think I spent about £7 on all of this FRESH, ORGANIC produce!

Next thing to chat about is meat - preferably organic, but this is not always possible - I love to shop at Morrisons, because everything they sell is clearly labelled and it almost has the "market" feel to it anyway. Check the labels - make sure it is 100% pure mince for example. I also made sure it was sourced from the UK. I am still a poor student so I couldnt quite stretch to organic, but I did stretch to a higher welfare chicken, which made me feel good (especially as it was so cheap - £1.74) I bought two, and am freezing one.

I also got some extra cheap veggies from morrisons - ones which I couldnt find at the farmers market such as peppers, and lemons & limes.

So now I have all my ingredients, I think I am ready to quit sugar.