Sugar again??? Didn’t we suffer through this during week 2 with No Treats?
Yes.
And no.
In week 2 we all became a little more mindful of all the sweet little tidbits of joy we were putting in our mouths; for me that was A LOT.
However, those were just the little treats. It didn’t include the loads of sugar that are in condiments, flavored yogurts, sauces, breads, cereals, frozen foods, and unfortunately the list goes on.
Did you know that the average American consumes ½ a cup of sugar per day?
HALF A CUP!!
Most of it unknowingly which I think is so not fair. That much sugar in one day should knowingly be in the form of chocolate molten lava cake. Not from daily eating attempts at being healthy.
The biggest culprits are beverages. Which of course makes sense when a 12oz can of the regular non diet stuff scores you almost 10tsp at a whopping 39g. Vitamin Water has 32g for 20oz. VITAMIN WATER? What the ….?!?
After doing this challenge several times on my own (it’s honestly a great detox and great way to get your body back from “calorie free” vacation mode) and then comparing it to week 2 No Treats, for me this should be easier. I’ve been streamlining my products with less sugar options for the past few years. By doing so, I can easily fit in a dove chocolate or 2 during the day.
However, if this is your first time concentrating on added sugars in your foods, there is a learning curve that can seem daunting.
There are 3 steps when looking at the nutrition label.
- Look at the serving size and determine if that’s reasonable or will you already know you’ll be eating more.
- Look at Sugars, listed below Total Carbohydrates. If you have diabetes, this is opposite of what you’ve probably been told
- 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon
- Look at the ingredients. Is there sugar in some form like ‘natural organic pear juice, honey, fructose (or anything ending in –ose)’ added to your product of choice? There are a plenty of different ways to list “sugar” without saying it. When in doubt pop me a question or head to Google.
Step 3b. Some foods have natural sugar in them, think dairy, some veggies and obviously fruit. This is where it can get tricky. Say you’re favorite strawberry yogurt has 19g of sugar listed per serving but yogurt is made from milk which contains lactose a natural sugar. You then have to look at the plain yogurt, see it has only 11g and then conclude your usual yogurt than has 8g of added sugar or 2 tsp. Which in a 6oz container is quite excessive.
Some things are just impossible to figure out such as Raisin Bran cereal. Until the nutrition label clarifies what comes from added sugar ie the white stuff added in vs stuff from the dried fruit, you’ll drive yourself bonkers. So in this instance, I count the whole thing as added sugar. Yep. I’m that evil.
If you’re eating just a piece of fruit all by itself, no need to count it.
Fruit is your friend!
Step3c. During previous, similar challenges, where I must brag, MANY followers shed some serious weight and inches I did NOT allow artificial sweeteners including splenda, agave nectar, stevia (unless they had their growing their own stevia plant). Since I got flack from some of my Diet Coke junkies a few weeks back, I’ll leave it up to you. (But I know you can do it again!! Plus why would you want to consume something that’s 50-100X sweeter than sugar?? You’re sweet enough! I promise you!!)
I’ve created a little chart for you with some favorites and a few shockers.
| Coke 12oz, 20oz | 39g (10tsp), 65g (16tsp) |
| Red Bull- 1 can | 27g |
| Vitamin Water- 20oz | 32g |
| Arizona Lemon Ice Tea- 24oz | 72g (18tsp) |
| Apple juice – 16oz
1 cup of Apple Slices- 11g |
52g |
| Starbucks Grande Mocha Frappuccino | 47g |
| McDonald’s Medium Chocolate shake
Small Shamrock Shake |
97g
73g |
| Skittles- 2.6oz | 47g |
| Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups | 20g |
| Cheerio’s Yellow box- 1 cup
Multigrain Honey Nut, Frosted, Chocolate |
1g
6g 9g |
| Special K Original- 1 cup | 4g |
| Nutrigrain Bars | 13g |
| Trader Joes honey Greek yogurt- 1 cup
Plain Greek |
24g
6g |
| Prego Spaghetti Sauce- ½ cup | 7g |
| Trader Joes Pad Thai | 29g |
| Ketchup- 1 tablespoon | 4g |
| McDonald’s Premium Southwest salad w/ crispy chicken | 12g |
I must admit, I’m losing steam. 12 weeks doesn’t seem like a long time until you’re in the thick of something that at times leaves me screaming out “why?!?”
The one thing I keep learning and relearning though is that it’s all a mindset shift. So instead of going into week 7 out of steam, I’m pretending this is week 1 and I’m fired up!!
Anyone else feel that way too? Comment below and let’s get back on the self challenge train together and rock this out!!
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