Break the Sugar Habit Challenge {Second Week Check In}

by Mandi on June 15, 2012

break-the-sugar-challengeWe’re two weeks into the Break the Sugar Habit Challenge…how are you doing so far?

If I’m being completely honest, I’m a bit worn out this week! I haven’t dealt with too many sugar cravings, and (surprisingly!) I’m not actually struggling with the sugar itself, but trying to feed my family while avoiding added sugar could easily be a full-time job, and I’m tired of having to think about and plan every single meal and snack!

In fact, yesterday I told Sean I didn’t care what he fed the girls for lunch because I was just too worn out to think about it. We do have some bread in the house because he’s not going 100% sugar free with us, so I expected that he’d make them peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, but he ended up serving them scrambled eggs and fruit instead, so it was encouraging that he took that initiative to feed them something on the “safe” list even after I gave him a way out.

I think discovering the sugar in tortillas last week is the straw that threatens to break the camel’s back, honestly. We’ve already eliminated pretty much every “easy” meal, and to have to give up store-bought tortillas too (making them from scratch is on my list to try, but I didn’t want to deal with it yet!) is just a little discouraging. I’m still stewing over it a week later!

On the other hand, I found lunch time to be fairly easy this week while we were out of town. My homemade strawberry fields salad was amazing (if I do say so myself!) on Monday, and thanks to my rocket blender, it was easy enough to make peanut butter & banana smoothies on Wednesday.

I did let the girls have bagels (with all natural, no sweetener jelly) while we were at the hotel, because there were no eggs for breakfast and I felt like they needed something more substantial than just fruit. They also each tried a few nibbles of various friends’ snacks at camp, but they told me what they had and also shared their snacks with their friends, so all-in-all I felt pretty good about the way that went.

Despite my discouragement and the challenges of this week, we’re doing pretty good at sticking to the challenge, and I’m hopeful that adding some of the meal & snack ideas from this week’s list to our meal plan will help as well.

I also love this quote from Amy’s post today: “This challenge really is teaching the girls to be proactive about their food and know what they are eating. If that’s what comes out of this I will be very pleased. The point of this challenge isn’t to deny them, but for them to see there is more to everything than meets the eye.”

I love her perspective (and the lessons her girls are learning along the way), and I couldn’t agree more — that really is the goal!

The Backstory

If you’re just learning about the Break the Sugar Habit Challenge, be sure to visit these posts for more details:

Share Your Story

Are you participating in the Break the Sugar Habit Challenge? Submit your post in the linky below or leave me a comment!

Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

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  • Courtney

    FYI – the Santa Fe Tortilla Company Homestyle Whole Grain Tortillas sold at Costco do not have sugar (unless you are not eating gum blend – arabic, xanthate, locust bean, guar)

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Yay, thank you!!

  • Darcey

    Totally understand.  I started giving up sugar this week and was completely frustrated with all the grocery products with sugar in it.  I cannot get rid of my whole pantry so I have had to do this gradually and not eat sugar as best as I can.  We are on a very limited budget for food and the cost of eating better can be completely overwhelming.  Thanks for the honesty.

  • Sheand3

    I started the challenge two weeks ago also, and I’ve been amazed at the impact it’s had on my kids.  Because I found out about it at the last minute, I didn’t ask my husband and 3 kids to join in with me.  However, my 7 yo daughter in particular has jumped on the bandwagon with me!  The kids are always asking, “Is there sugar in this?”, and often I find that if it does, the kids make different choices.  I’m so excited to see that they are being smarter about  their food choices without me having to “force” it on them. 
    I’ve been surprised to see that at times I do not miss the sugar at all, but when I really crave it is when I’m stressed and tired.  I has really shown me how much I’ve used sugar as an emotional crutch! 

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Ah, yes — the stressed and tired moments. Me too!

      I love that your kids have taken the initiative to do it with you; that is so very cool!

  • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

    LOL, this made me laugh: “had me wondering if the time I may be extending my life by through
    better eating is being consumed by the process of having to plan and
    make just about every meal component from scratch.”

    It would be easy to get consumed by the need to make everything from scratch, so I’m trying to make lots of large batches so that I only have to make each item once a month instead of making it fresh every time. Going to have to plug in my chest freezer soon because my side-by-side is almost overflowing!

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