Dessert-less December In Review

Dessert-less December has just about come to a close (two days left but I will NOT be consuming sugar on either of these days). If you will remember, I began my Dessert-less December as a way to consume less sugar so as to better fight inflammation. I allowed myself exactly seven days of sugar in the month of December. I am a bit of a sugar addict and so it was a challenge to really look in to how sugar (particularly fructose) might be affecting my Psoriatic Arthritis and my inflammation. Though I now know a lot more about what fructose is doing to my body, I don't plan to cut it out entirely. I plan to allow for five celebration days a month (not seven as I found that this was way too many) where sugar consumption can be done in moderation. Starting in 2016, I'll have five celebration days: one day a week, plus a floater celebration day in case anything comes up.

Reducing my sugar consumption this month has really made me more aware of how much sugar affects my body, my mood, and my general inflammation and soreness. It was a great experiment to come up with the seven days that I would allow for sugar consumption in my Dessert-less (-ish) December. During a season of party after party, I really had to prioritize which days would be celebrated with sugar consumption and which would have to be celebrated in other ways.

This is how the breakdown of my seven days went:

1. December 5th: My Annual Crafting and Cookie Decorating Party
2. December 13th: Family Friend's Annual Christmas Pancake Brunch
3. December 16th: Day one of All Staff Retreat For Work
4. December 19th: Annual Cookie (and Castle Cake) Decorating Day With Nieces
5. December 22nd: Annual Fancy Christmas Lunch 
6. December 24th: Christmas Eve Party
7. December 25th: Christmas Day

My main take aways were these:

1. I noticed, most drastically, the positive effects of limiting my sugar intake on December 13th because that was the longest period in a row where I did not consume sugar (the 6th through 13th). During the Pancake Brunch I found the syrup and spiced hot apple cider jarring though the pancakes were fabulous as always! (Persimmon pancakes, walnut date pancakes, and lemon pancakes! Yum!)
2. I really wish that I'd avoided consuming sugar for the entirety of my work All Staff Retreat. I'd allotted for both the 16th and 17th as possible sugar consumption days. I was able to minimize it to only consume sugar one one of the days. I feel that I could very easily have avoided sugar both days, though that is sometimes hard when food is being supplied by an outside source. In the future, I'll prioritize homemade sweets over extremely sweet donuts or other store bought pastries. I found that though it was fun to be able to consume these treats, they were overwhelming and unnecessary. 
3. Because of the craziness of the holidays, I felt like from December 13th - December 25th, I was eating sugar pretty much every three days or so. Due to consuming sugar so often during that time, I was aware that I felt much more inflamed and generally sorer during that period of the month. 
4. I will never regret decorating cookies with my nieces or celebrating Christmas day with my family. These two days, above all, are the main days that I could not see myself removing sugar from. Sugar is so integral to both of those celebrations. 
5. In addition to general inflammation and autoimmune arthritic soreness, on the days after I consumed sugar, I often felt almost as though I had a hangover (even though I no longer consume alcohol).

This is an exact list of all of the sweet things I consumed during those seven days:

Hot spiced apple cider, homemade sugar cookies with and without frosting, a single brownie, candied nuts, a couple chocolate covered graham crackers, maple syrup, a donut, a churro, a single Ferrero Rocher, one dark chocolate dipped pretzel stick, one slice of S'more Pie from Buckeye's, a slice of vegan gingerbread with coconut whipped cream, coconut chocolate pudding, two square of homemade fudge (one made by each of my aunt's who make homemade fudge), gingerbread cookie dough while I was making mini-gingerbread houses for everyone for Christmas dinner, and a slice of homemade chocolate coconut cake (also made by me!).

All in all I think that I did fairly well. It was very hard to cut down to 7 days of sugar consumption in the celebratory month of December. As it was, I felt pressure to add more sugar days here and there. I had to really priorities the days where sugar was integral to the celebrations. In some cases I had to opt out of eating desserts or conversely was guilted in to consuming sugar when I didn't feel I actually really needed it to celebrate. In the future I will find it important to prioritize homemade treats as these really are the best. Often store bought treats are overly sweet and their costs to my joints are not worth it to me.

I believe that anyone can do an (almost) Dessert-less  month and that the more reduce fructose in our diets, the better. In the coming months, I'll continue to share how my sugar reduction is going. In the mean time, best of luck to you as you reduce your sugar intake! 

10 Sugar-Free Stocking Stuffers (For Teens and Adults)

Not just kids have sugar thrust on them all throughout the holiday season, everyone does! Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and all of the sugary goodies leading up to them are hard to avoid. Homemade cookies, cakes, pies, fancy warm adult beverages (if you partake). Not all teens and adults get stockings, but those who do, often find them full of candies, gum, and other sweets just like kids do! So, in an effort to help out Santa and his elves, I've come up with a list of 10 things that he can put in our stockings that won't cause inflammation. 

Some are the same as what I suggested for kids:

1. Flower or herb seed packets!

If your parents are anything like mine, they love to garden. Though we may be deep in the depths of winter, spring is just around the corner. Getting seeds to grow veggies and flowers will give folks a reason to get excited for spring.

2. Nail Polish (or a gift certificate to get a manicure or pedicure)!

Spa day, need I say more?

3. Color Pencils, paints, and crafting supplies!

Just because someone is an adult, doesn't mean they've lost their creativity. Filling stockings with knitting supplies, glue guns, or general art supplies is guaranteed to make many people happy.

Some are more specific to teens and adults:

4. Role of Quarters!

I know that some people will find it crass to give out money for Christmas, but there is nothing more useful than a role of quarters. Particularly college students and folks who live in apartment buildings without laundry machines. Quarters are also helpful for those cities where they have yet to adopt credit card payment options for parking meters.

5. Books!

Though not all books will fit in a stocking, small books will. Over the years Santa has given me many short poetry books, Spanish/English translation books, small dictionaries, and even a novel!

6. Soaps or miniature toiletries!

I love getting toiletries as stocking stuffers! Everyone needs small toothpaste bottles or mini shampoos when they go on vacation. It is sometimes even handy to bring a travel toothbrush or mouth wash to work for those days when you have an important meeting right after you eat your garlic-y leftovers.

7. Tea bags or tea strainers!

Nothing is more calming than tea. Nothing.

8. Tools!

Hammers! Wrenches! Screwdrivers! Measuring tape!

9. USB!

We could all be better about backing our files up and an extra USB in our stocking is a great way to remind us!

10. Fancy Corkscrew or bottle opener!

Whether you're popping open some bubbly or opening a ginger ale, having a bottle opener is an important tool in your adult arsenal.

10 Sugar-Free Stocking Stuffers (for Kids)!

Between Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and all of the treats leading up to it, there seems to be sugar everywhere we go. Hot cocoa, homemade cookies, cakes, pies, and then on top of all of that, there are all of the treats we find in our Christmas stockings. So, in an effort to help out Santa and his elves, I've come up with a list of 10 things that he can put in our stockings that won't cause inflammation. 

1. Flower or herb seed packets!

Though we may be deep in the depths of winter, spring is just around the corner. These seeds will give children something to look forward to and will be fun to watch as they grow.

2. Bubbles!

Children, dogs, cats, and even grown-ups, love bubbles! If Santa puts a bottle of bubbles in your stocking, you're certain to have a good time.

3. Toy cars, trains, or dinosaurs!

These small vehicles and animals are great because they are not only fun to play with but they're great for the imagination.

4. Nail Polish!

Honestly I think this can be given to anyone. Not only is it fun to paint our nails, but the posh is also great for paint jobs of toy cars and other fun creativity.

5. Crayons and Color Pencils!

Kids are super creative and giving them the tools to build up their creativity helps them to feel inspired and motivated.

6. Stickers!

Whether or not they are car stickers, flower stickers, stickers with characters from their favorite movie, sparkly stickers, glow in the dark stickers, or even fuzzy stickers, kids love to decorate their school supplies, their rooms, and even themselves with stickers.

7. Temporary Tattoos!

Temporary tattoos are fun and make kids feel tough. Get them some fun temporary tattoos that they can cover their arms with.

8. Glow in the dark Stars!

I had these as a kid and they were great! They made me feel like every time I was laying in my bed starring up at them, I was looking out in to the great expanding universe!

9. Finger puppets!

Kids can build up their imagining skills by creating whole stories between their puppets.  

10. Mittens or gloves!
For warm fingers on cold days!

Recipe: Fructose-Free Swedish Snowball Cookies // Adapted Family Recipe

I am becoming more contentious about my sugar intake to reduce my inflammation.

Despite my desire to fight inflammation and generally be more aware of the effects sugar (fructose) has on my body, it has been hard getting through the holiday season without my holiday go to treats. One treat in particular has been hard to go without: Swedish Snowball cookies. These cookies consist of powdered sugar, SO MUCH BUTTER, walnuts, flour, and really nut much else. They are a tradition in my family and are really only made once a year during the holiday season. 

A christmas without Swedish Snowballs seemed impossible. So, in an effort to think outside of the box, I decided to purchase Dextrose. Dextrose is also called d-glucose and is what our body converts in to energy. So, unlike fructose or sucrose (table sugar usually used in baking), it is not solely absorbed by the liver. 

I did have to make a few adaptations because Dextrose absorbs moisture in a different way than sugar does. 

Ingredients:

1 Pound Butter (2 cups)

1 Cup sifted Dextrose

2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/3 Cup almond milk 

4 Cups unsifted flour

1 1/2 Cups chopped walnuts

Note: These directions can be made VEGAN by replacing the pound of butter with a pound of Earth Balance or other butter replacement. 

Directions:
1. To begin, pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees. Then use your hand or stand mixer to mix together the pound of butter and cup of sifted Dextrose.

2. Add in the vanilla extract. 

3. Slowly add in the 4 cups of flour. Mix until one solid ball of dough. 

4. If the dough isn't solidifying in to one whole unit, slowly add in the 1/3 cup almond milk.

5. Chop up walnuts.  

6. Add chopped walnuts into the dough until they are evenly distributed.

7. Once the dough is fully incorporated, roll dough in to balls that are approximately one inch in diameter. 

8. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.

9. Let cookies cool for about half an hour or until they are not warm to the touch. 

10. Once cookies are cool, roll them in Dextrose to make them look like they are covered in snow!

11. Enjoy!

I hope that you enjoy this recipe and that it helps you get through the holiday season! Adapting this family recipe has really helped me make the holidays better and made me feel like I wasn't missing out on my favorite holiday treat. I like knowing that though there is still a lot of butter and flour in them (and thus, I should still consume them in moderation, at least I know that the sugar I am consuming in the form of Dextrose/Glucose is giving me energy rather than just feeding my sugar addiction and inflammation. Despite the fact that these cookies turned out deliciously, they were nowhere near as sweet as traditional Swedish Snowballs. Though I love eating and enjoying them, I haven't felt an uncontrollable urge to eat all of them at once. 

***Warning: Just because these are made out of all healthy whole foods and natural sugars, does not mean you should eat a crazy ton of them. Just like with regular cookies, you should eat them in moderation. Enjoy!

Dessert-less December: 1/3 Check In!

We are 1/3 of the way through December, the hardest month to go sugar-free! Just like I recommended to all of you, I chose 6 days that I knew I'd be tempted to consume sugar and left one extra sugar day for any spontaneous celebrations that might come up. For every other day, I've remained diligently sugar-free. On my Sugar-Free Advent Calendar, the strips of purple paper are slipped in to each date that I have gone without sugar. The green slips are placed on any days I'm planning ahead to celebrate and consume sugar.

To keep myself on track, here are some tricks I used:

1. I allowed for my exception sugar (85% or higher dark chocolate). Though I didn't eat much of it, a small square every day or two, really helped me feel like I wasn't missing out. 
2. I reminded myself any time that I saw store bought cookies, cakes, pies, or treats (which, unfortunately are around quite often at the office during the holiday season) that homemade holiday treats were so much more worth it! This worked in my favor when, four days in, I was really craving sugar. I was able to look ahead to my pre-planned celebration day on the 5th when I knew that I'd have homemade treats that were much better than any store bought sugary treats I might get to satisfy my mid-afternoon sugar cravings. Waiting until my celebration day was really worth it as I was more able to appreciate the sugar I consumed because I knew everything that went in to it. 
3. I brought to work my own tea bags, almond milk, and even a larger mug. Often times in the winter months, I'm tempted to go out and buy myself a nice warm cup of almond milk hot cocoa from the cafe across the street from where I work. Instead of doing that (in an effort to both avoid sugar AND save money), I made my own large cups of tea to drink daily.
4. I brought my own lunch daily as well as small healthy snacks to tide me over in the late afternoons when I often crave sugar.
5. I did use a celebration day and did not make myself feel guilty for doing so. Because I'd planned ahead for the day, I did not feel like I was going off track. 

See some of the hand decorated holiday cookies my friends and I decorated during my holiday party on my celebration day (I don't generally follow the traditional holiday colors or holiday shapes):

My key takeaways from the first 1/3 of my Dessert-less December are:

1. My skin is slowly beginning to become more clear. I've found that the more sugar I consume, the less clear my skin becomes. This is partially in reference to general acne, but also in reference to my psoriasis. 
2. Though the first few days were hard, I've generally become pretty okay with removing sugar. Reading more about Fructose and the effects it has on our body has made me feel more and more like I'm making the right decision in reducing my intake of sugar.
3. Post-celebration day I was certainly feeling the difference. In past months, I'd cut out sugar and had a similar reaction the days after I'd eat sugar again. This time I felt a strong sense of fatigue and a dull ache in many of my joints that had been less apparent during the sugar-free days leading up to the celebration. Though I generally do have sore joints (due to my psoriatic arthritis), I hadn't had a flare up in a few weeks. 

All in all, I think that the endeavor to minimize my sugar intake has really proven to be the right decision and I hope that I can keep it up for the upcoming 2/3 of the month and ideally in to future months! Over the coming week, I have 3 pre-scheduled celebration days, though I'd like to minimize how many I actually use because three in one week seems a bit much. Ideally, I would cut out one or two of them so that sugar-free days are more spread out. However, I will not let myself feel guilty if I do use them to celebrate, as I've already planned ahead for the celebrations. I hope that you're doing just as well on your Dessert-less December! Let me know if I can help you more in your process of cutting out fructose!

10 Steps To Begin Your Sugar-Free (-ish) December!

If you, too, are planning on joining me in my Sugar-Free (-ish) Advent Calendar this December, but don't really know how to move forward, here are a few tips as well as a few great reads on the subject:

1. First, enjoy this song about being Sugar Free by a K-Pop band called T-ara.
2. Then gain a little more insight in to Why We Focus on Fructose (Even Though It Is Not In Our Name) by I Quit Sugar
3. Now, start to begin the process of defining your sugar parameters by reading these 4 Tips To Become Sugar-Free.
4. Now, look over your monthly calendar. What 1-5 days this month have celebrations and situations during which you think it would be hard to avoid sugar? Place a marker (whatever color you've chosen to represent your celebration days) in each of your advent pockets that align with the date of the celebration. Make sure to leave at least one-to-two marker(s) for any spontaneous celebrations that may come up.
5. Then, create a clean eating grocery list. This list should include many vegetables, proteins, and supplies to make sugar free sauces or dressings. I highly recommend prioritizing how you're going to make sugar-free breakfasts as this is often the hardest meal to make, sugar-free. Over the coming weeks, I'll be suggesting various sugar-free breakfast ideas that you can try! 
6. If you know that it will be hard to avoid sugars that are already in your house, place them all in a box to put in your pantry. Then label the box "CELEBRATIONS." This way, if you get the urge to pull them out or use them, you're making the intentional decision to consider this one of your 7 celebration days.
7. Know that you WILL crave sugar. It will happen. During these times, either acknowledge the feeling and then let the feeling pass or allow yourself a small serving of your exception food. Often times when we are craving sugar, it is actually our body in want of protein. Try feeding yourself your protein of choice. If you're a dairy eater, this could be cheese. If you're an egg eater this could be a hard boiled or fried egg. If you're a vegetarian or vegan this could be a combination of a legume and a grain. Or if you're a meat eater, this may be a slice of (non-processed) meat.
8. Then if you're feeling like you JUST HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING WARM AND SWEET TO DRINK WHILE SITTING BY THE FIRE/ READING A BOOK ON YOUR SOFA WHILE IT GENTLY RAINS, go out and buy some fructose-free Rice Malt Syrup and make this amazing Anti-Inflammatory Hot Chocolate. 
9. Make sure to assess how you feel each week. Do you notice that your skin is clearer? Are your joints feeling less inflamed? Has your Psoriasis cleared up? What small victories are you accomplishing by minimizing your sugar intake? Note these victories and write them down so that you may look at them again when you're feeling frustrated about minimizing your sugar intake (and about the fact that sugar seems to be in literally everything).
10. If you are just having a hard time with removing sugar, message me. Lets be accountability buddies!

Dessert-less December*

*Alright, you caught me. It is not an entirely dessert-less December. But, certainly a minimal dessert December.

If you're like me, December is the hardest month to avoid sugar. Sugar is everywhere in December: in Christmas cookies, hot cocoa, warm spiced apple cider, pies, cakes, fudge, divinity, and candy canes. December is a month of celebrations and feast days. So, how do you even begin to avoid sugar?

For the past few months, I haven't been able to cut sugar out of my life as much as I would have liked (And thus haven't been great about posting here). I slid down the slippery slope of one small cookie here, one cup of hot cocoa there. I wasn't able to follow my once a week sugar rule of last spring. So, as the months creeped closer and closer to the HOLIDAY SEASON, I felt worried that I'd never get back on track with my reduction of sugar (and thus inflammation). 

Two books have really helped get me back on track: I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson and Year of No Sugar: A Memoir by Eve O. Schaub. In these two books, Wilson and Schaub share their process of detoxing from sugar and minimizing sugar intake. Additionally, I recommend watching this lecture by Dr. Lustig entitled Sugar: The Bitter Truth.

Through reading these books and watching Dr. Lustig's 90 minute lecture, I found a renewed sense of urgency in cutting out sugar but didn't know how to hold myself accountable through the holiday season. 

Because I have been overly excited for it to be Christmas this year, I started looking up holiday decoration inspirations early. One decoration that kept popping up was the Christmas Advent calendar. If you are not familiar with an Advent calendar, it is a 25 day calendar leading up to Christmas day. For each of those 25 days before christmas, the owner of the advent calendar is to open a window or package to receive a small treat (usually sugar). This gave me an idea. What if I made an opposite advent calendar? What if I gave myself a treat for every day that I didn't have sugar in the month of December? Instead of a small piece of candy each day, I'd get one small purple strip of paper for each day that I didn't eat sugar. At the end of the month, I'd get to count up how many purple strips were in the calendar and each strip would be valued at $1. At the end of the month I could buy myself a guilt free Holiday gift (but not a sweet one) with my advent money! 

I do not want to deprive myself of feast days and celebrations though, because that would not be sustainable. So, I am making an alteration to my spring time sugar reduction plan: instead of sugar being allowed once a week, I will allow a maximum of 7 (one week out of the month) days of sugar eating in December. (In future months if I follow this plan, this will be limited to 4-5 sugar days in a month. But, because it is the holiday season, I made an additional 2-3 day add on exception.) I have looked ahead at my month to see what days I know I'll be very tempted to consume sugar. For each of those days I have slipped one of  7 green celebration slips in to that day. A green slip does not mean I HAVE TO EAT SUGAR that day, but instead means that I'm prepared ahead of time to know that I have to avoid sugar on other days so as to be able to celebration that day if I want to. I am hoping that this calendar will hold me accountable because I put it in a very visible place in my studio apartment, where I can see it from my bed at night and where others would be able to see it if they were in my living room area during holiday festivities. I believe that this public and ongoing display will keep me honest with myself. 

In this whole process, it is very important for me that:

1. I call my sugar eating days "Celebration Days" rather than "Cheat Days." The point is not to feel like I am cheating myself, but rather to feel like I am being reflective and thoughtful about when to celebrate and allow sugar in to my life.
2. That I create 1-2 small exceptions. In Year of No Sugar: A Memoir, Schaub and her whole family follow a simple set of rules. One of those rules is that each member of their family is allowed 1 exception sweet that they can have regularly with the caveat that though it has sugar in it, the amount of sugar in that item is low. So, I am choosing chocolate that is 85% or more cocoa. I am also allowing a minimal amount of trace local honey because I add a small amount of it to my homemade almond butter.  Here are my exceptions: 

For the sake of avoiding community defensiveness, I'd like to state that I am trying to minimize my Sucrose and Fructose intake, not my Glucose or Dextrose intake. Glucose is pretty much our life force and extremely essential to everything we do. Dextrose is essentially Glucose so it is fine as well. Many people may think it sounds crazy to remove Fructose because we all think of fruit as Fructose and we think of fruit as being healthy. Fruit is fine. It is when Fructose is removed from it's fibrous encasings when it becomes more dangerous. Schaub explains:

"How Fructose Makes You Fat and Sick:

1. All sugar contains fructose.
2. Fructose does not satisfy hunger, so you eat more food than your body needs.
3. Fructose may not be used by any of the cells in your body, except the liver.
4. In processing fructose, the liver produces bad things: uric acid and fatty acids.
5. Too much uric acid causes:
1. Gout
2. Hypertension
6. Too many fatty acids cause:
1. Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
2. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
3. Insulin Resistance & Type 2 Diabetes
4. Obesity
7. The clustering of two or more of the four conditions above is called Metabolic Syndrome. Virtually unheard of only a few decades ago, one in five Americans suffers from it today.
8. Additionally, circulating fatty acids have been proven to speed the growth of cancer cells.
9. Consumption of fructose has risen 341% in the last century and continues to climb.
10. So what do you call something that your body has no need for and that, when we take it in, creates toxic by-products in our bodies resulting in debilitation, disease, and untimely death? Well, doctors call that a poison."

So, as you can see, I'm starting to realize that my sugar intake is a bit of a problem. Now I am doing something about it. My plan is to make this my New Years resolution (one month early). One. Month. At. A. Time. I'll be sharing my progress here with all of you and would love to hear about others who are creating their own Sugar-Free Advent calendars! Please send me photos of your Sugar-Free advent calendars and we can work to make sure that our Holiday is still filled with joy  and celebration... without much sugar!