Hi Hayley,
I am the definition of someone who wants to all delicious things but still look like a bombshell - I hate exercise (I am trying) and try to eat healthy but still want to enjoy my favourite foods.
I recently embarked on a sugar free week - no dairy, no fruit, nothing processed, no white sugar, no starch, no bread - I am basically eating a lot of veggies and lean meat.
I am getting a craving for pizza - I found a no sugar pizza sauce, can do a cauliflower crust, but what about the cheese? Since I gave up dairy what about lactose free cheese? Would you recommend that on a sugar free diet?
Thanks!
P
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I would recommend that you get off the sugar free diet to be honest. I know there have been a lot of studies reported lately in the media how sugar is the new drug that we are all addicted to and governments are trying to find ways of regulating our sugar intake so how about…everything in moderation?
I eat sugar. And you would not want to know me if I gave it up (trust me, you can ask anyone of my friends what I am like without sugar). But I get my sugar from real foods. From fruit, and yoghurt, and dairy and good quality chocolate, and homemade chocolate chip cookies and desserts. I do not drink pop or juice or a lot of foods that come out of packages. I cook with olive oil and butter, I eat full fat cheese and I eat the entire egg, because yolks are the best part and they actually have a protein in them that we need to break down fat.
So the problem is not just sugar; the problem is eating too much of it or using sweeteners in replacement of sugar.
The diet you described can actually be quite sustainable and there is nothing wrong with cutting back on carbs and white bread but the problem is if you are not educated on what else you can eat then you are stuck with vegetables and lean protein. The result? You end up hating your life and after a week’s worth of steamed vegetables you grab the first bag of potato chips you can find and have at them.
So enjoy your pizza but make it from scratch, because unless you are suffering from celiac disease and/or are lactose intolerant, no sugar pizza sauce with a cauliflower crust and lactose free cheese isn’t your only option. Go to an Italian deli in your neighbourhood and buy some premade dough, load it with tons of veggies, healthy protein, your favourite cheese, a little bit of sauce and enjoy it with a fresh side salad. My favourite trick to do for my homemade pizza is pile arugula on top of it once it is out of the oven. Adds vitamin A and C, fibre and flavour.
You have to learn what you can eat as an alternative if you give up everything you are used to. And you have to learn how to make the alternatives taste as good as the food you have grown to love so much. Making alternatives does not have to mean trying to recreate foods you love with new, sugar free and chemically processed ingredients, but rather an entire new regimen of breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
If you really want to make this lifestyle work, you are going to need to start researching new ways of cooking and creating new menus because as the famous saying goes “you cannot have your cake and eat it too”.
Attached: Lucy Hale leaves the gym in West Hollywood.
