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Welcome to Day 7 of the Summer Kick-Off Challenge!

You are almost there! You can do it!

Today is National Chocolate Pudding Day, so what better way to celebrate than eat a big bow of chocolate pudding?

Here is Today’s Sample Menu:

Breakfast: Chocolate-Covered Monkey Tail Oatmeal. This is a basic chocolate oatmeal recipe with bananas. Tastes like chocolate pudding, but you can eat it for breakfast!

Lunch: Chocolate Chia Pudding Parfait. it is chocolate pudding, layered!

Snack: Chocolate Chia Pudding. The Original healthy chocolate pudding. You can’t resist!

Dinner: Bitter Chocolate Waffles. Ok, fine, technically this is not a pudding. But it is chocolate!

Dessert: Vegan Chocolate Pudding. This vegan pudding uses agar agar flakes as thickener. Don’t have any? Just eat an extra helping of the chia pudding.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Are you tired of all this chocolate (mostly) pudding yet? What are you doing to celebrate National Chocolate Pudding Day?

Tweet or Instagram your sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals in the Sugar-Free Food Forum, and  chat with other challengers in the Free Thoughts Forum.

Welcome to Day 6 of the Summer Kick-Off Challenge!

Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free: 

The single largest source of calories for Americans comes from sugar—specifically high fructose corn syrup. Just take a look at the sugar consumption trends of the past 300 years:

-In 1700, the average person consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year.

-In 1800, the average person consumed about 18 pounds of sugar per year.

-In 1900, individual consumption had risen to 90 pounds of sugar per year.

-In 2009, more than 50 percent of all Americans consume one-half pound of sugar PER DAY—translating to a whopping 180 pounds of sugar per year!

Today, 32 percent of Americans are obese and an additional one-third are overweight. Compare that to 1890, when a survey of white males in their fifties revealed an obesity rate of just 3.4 percent. In 1975, the obesity rate in America had reached 15 percent, and since then it has doubled.   –Dr. Johnson via Dr. Mercola

Here is Today’s Sample Menu:

Breakfast: Ultimate Vegetarian Omelette

Lunch: Plum Socca Tart with Rosemary

Snack: Chocolate Chia Pudding

Dinner: Garrick Stuffed Steak with side of roasted vegetables. Vegan Option: Dairy-Free Nachos

Dessert: Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream Sundae

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

It is pouring very hard here in Florida. Huge tropical storm, and I am stuck in the house! The front of my house has turned into a lake! What do you do on rainy days?

Tweet or Instagram your sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals in the Sugar-Free Food Forum, and  chat with other challengers in the Free Thoughts Forum.

Welcome to Day 5 of the Summer Kick-Off Challenge!

We are halfway there! Wow! Can you believe how fast this challenge is going? At least for me it is, maybe it is extremely slow for you?

In my opinion, eating sugar is a habit most people have. Yes, they may crave it when they are tired or hungry, but it is also something most may have programmed into their eating schedule. Perhaps they have coffee with sugar every morning, and they reach for dessert automatically after dinner. I’m not saying this is a terrible thing to do, but if you want to break that habit, sometimes you have to force yourself out of the habit. It might take 10 days or even a month to break that habit. Then you won’t find yourself reaching for sugar at those certain times of day because you don’t feel like you have to have it. 

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: Flourless Berry Puffed Pancake.  Vegan Option: Baked Banana Oatmeal

Lunch: Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Apples and Pecans

Snack: A Fluffy Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie smeared with your favorite nut butter (in my case, peanut butter!).

Dinner: Quiche with Brown Rice Crust. Vegan Option: Brown Rice Stir Fry

Dessert: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you find that you eat sugar out of habit at certain times of day?

Tweet or Instagram your sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals in the Sugar-Free Food Forum, and  chat with other challengers in the Free Thoughts Forum.

Welcome to Day 4 of the Summer Kick-Off Challenge!

Summer is bountiful with plenty of fresh produce. Farmer’s markets around the country are stock full of fresh, summer fruit bursting with juice, and freshly picked veggies just waiting to be eaten. Take advantage of this time by buying locally-grown, fresh produce.

What’s in Season Now?

This website is a great resource to find out what is in season in your state for each month.

Where I live, Blueberries, Corn, Watermelon, Peppers, Mangoes, Tomatoes, and Cucumbers are in season.

Here is today’s sample menu, inspired by what’s in season:

Breakfast: Fresh berries drizzled with coconut milk

Lunch: Salad made with in-season veggies (like cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes) with Dijon Dressing

Snack: A sampling of in-season raw fruits and veggies with a handful of nuts or a bar of unsweetened chocolate

 

Dinner: Steak, Corn on the Cob, Mashed Potatoes, and Watermelon-a real summer dinner!

Dessert: Pick your favorite in-season fruit or nut and cover it with chocolate!

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What is your favorite  in-season fruit or veggie right now?

Mine is watermelon! Mmmm…Can’t get enough. 

Tweet or Instagram your sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals in the Sugar-Free Food Forum, and  chat with other challengers in the Free Thoughts Forum.

Welcome to Day 3 of the Summer Kick-Off Challenge!

How is everyone doing? I’ve had a couple people tell me they experienced some sugar-withdrawal headaches, and this is normal. If you are used to eating a lot of sugar, your body might take the no-sugar as a bit of a shock. Just give it a couple of days and keep your eye on the prize! It will get better.

Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free: 

Some evidence from animal studies suggests that sugar can be addictive. A Princeton University research team has shown that lab rats accustomed to sugar display the cravings and the relapses that signal addiction, as well as brain changes similar to those associated with addiction to narcotics and nicotine. For example, the investigators found that the brain chemical dopamine is released when hungry rats drink sugared water and that a surge of dopamine occurs in the brains of hungry rats that binge on sugar. Over time, these increased dopamine levels resulted in fewer of a certain type of dopamine receptor and more opioid receptors in the animals’ brains. The same studies showed that rats deprived of sugar exhibited anxiety characteristic of withdrawal.  ~Dr. Andrew Weil

Sugar is Addictive. 

Sugar is a highly refined substance that does not appear alone in nature. It looks very similar to cocaine, and sugar acts like heroin when it hits the brain. A study shows that sugar affects the brain chemistry and thus might be expected to cause addictive behavior. In the study, written by Nicole Avena and others, it was shown that sugar bingeing can cause withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

The effects sugar has on behavior is quite similar to the neurochemical changes in the brain that also occur with addictive drugs. One finding shows that sugar and the taste of sweet activate beta endorphin receptor sites in the brain, the same receptor sites that are activated by heroin and morphine.

You can read more about this topic, ways to get over sugar addictions, and watch a video on a post I wrote HERE.

Here is Today’s Sample Menu:

Breakfast: Roasted Sweet Potato and Rosemary Frittata. Vegan Option: Get Up and Go Muffins

Lunch: Heart Stopping Chicken Salad. Vegan Option: Substitute chicken for beans or vegan protein of choice.

Snack: Apple Crisps with Peanut Butter Hummus Dip

Dinner: Slow Cooker Chicken with Artichoke and Olives Vegan Option: Brown Rice Stir Fry

Dessert: Carnival Cookies

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

How are your first few days of sugar-free going? 

Tweet or Instagram your sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals in the Sugar-Free Food Forum, and  chat with other challengers in the Free Thoughts Forum.

Welcome to to day 2 of the Summer-Kick off Challenge!

When you think of summer, what do you imagine?

Maybe iced tea, popsicles, swimming, going to the beach, barbecues, fireworks, sweat, board games under the shade, reading into the afternoon, watermelon, fresh produce…that’s what I think of!

Here is today’s Summer-Inspired sample menu:

Breakfast: Tropical Chia Pudding Parfait

Lunch: Fresh Summer Gazpacho

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: A big bowl of fresh Watermelon and a Hydrating Coconut Lime Sparkler

Dinner: Homemade Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Dessert:  Raw Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Crust

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What do you think of when you think of summer? What are some of your favorite summer-inspired recipes? 

Tweet or Instagram your summer-inspired sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals and chat with other challengers in the Sugar-Free Food Forum.