Thanks for participating!

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's Sugar-Free Day. I hope it was an eye-opening experience for you. I welcome any comments!

SUGAR FREE DAY TODAY!

Let us know what you're eating today. 
Are you finding it difficult to find foods without added sugar? 
Have you tried anything new?
Are you craving sugar?


I hope this is an eye-opening experience for everyone!

TOMORROW's CHALLENGE!

Tomorrow is Sugar Free Day!!


See my previous blog entry for more details.


Dare to join us!

Some Really Good Reasons to Avoid Sugar

I thought I would post a quick note about why we should all be avoiding sugar. Most people know that excess sugar can lead to weight gain and problems with cavities.

However, possibly more serious effects of sugar result from the inflammation that excess sugar causes. Inflammation within the body is linked to various diseases such as arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, Crohn's, Alzheimer's, asthma, heart disease and 'clogging of the arteries' to name just a few. Excess sugar consumption also increases your cholesterol and can lead to osteoporosis. Of course, sugar is not the only culprit, but it's a BIG one.

So, why not spare yourself some future health problems by reducing your sugar intake. Try one day without sugar - Wednesday June 1st, 2011.


Life can still be sweet without sugar! (maybe even sweeter...)

JUNE 1ST is SUGAR FREE DAY!

   Go 'sugar-free' on Wednesday June 1st. And before you ask, this does NOT mean that you should stock up on artificially sweetened food - that's even worse, in my opinion.


The guidelines are simple:
1) Eat whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible.
2) Stay away from foods that have refined sugar (most boxed foods). Look for ingredients that end with the letters 'ose' such as glucose and dextrose.
3) Natural sweeteners are optional. These would include honey, agave, black strap molasses and maple syrup. If you really want to go 'all out', try to avoid all sweeteners unless they occur in their whole form (think FRUIT!).
4) Avoid white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup.


Really, the whole point is to get you to think about how much sugar you're putting into your body each day and to read food labels. You might be surprised to see how much sugar is added to processed foods, even food that you don't consider to be 'sweet' like some salad dressings or deli meat.  Most people know that when reading the ingredient list, the items are listed from highest amount to the lowest amount. So naturally, you would assume that a product is low in sugar if sugar is near the end of that list. However, the manufacturers use a little trick: they sweeten a product with several different sweeteners so that they can be used in smaller amounts and therefore included in the latter part of the ingredient list. Sneaky...


Join us on Wednesday June 1st and keep that white sugar out of your body for one day.
Feel free to add your comments about your experience.


Good luck and good health!

New Challenge

OK. The next challenge is much shorter - only 1 day- but you may find it somewhat more difficult than trying to drink 8 cups of water per day.

Can you go a whole day without eating any processed sugar?

Join us on June 1st for this no-sugar challenge and share your progress on this blog.

Check back early next week for 'the rules'.

See you then!

CHALLENGE!

Hi everyone!

I've started a women's support group here in Woodstock, to encourage women who are trying to make healthy nutrition and lifestyle changes. As busy women/mothers/caregivers, we often help others and neglect our own health. This group supports women by connecting members with other who share the same goals and needs some mentoring or someone to be accountable to while making positive changes in their lives. If you're interested in joining this group, send me your email address and I'll add you to the list. Support is offered through email, and if you live in the Woodstock area, you can take part in walking groups or other health initiatives. Contact me at paulettekydd@gmail.com for more information.

The most recent challenge is to drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day. Here are a few helpful hints:

1) Meyer lemons are a tasty way to add some juicey flavour to your water - they are sweeter than regular lemons and give you more juice per slice. If you live in the Woodstock area you can buy these lemons at Maya Health Food Centre.

2) If you have a digital watch that chimes on the hour, use that as a reminder to drink some water. Alternatively, set your alarm or a timer to sound every hour as a reminder.

3) Get a co-worker, friend or family member to join you in this challenge and 'bug' each other by email, text, phone call or however is most convenient, to drink your water!

4) If you find that you are running to the ladies room too often, try sipping your water throughout the day rather than drinking a full cup at a time. You may also find that after a week or two of drinking your 8 glasses per day, your body gets used to it and you'll make fewer trips.

If you decide to take this challenge, let me know how you're doing and if you have any tips that might help others!

Cheers!!