Bit of a strange title, I know however the two go hand in hand really. Yes quitting sugar and eating breakfast! Strange I know but if you really think about it doesn't most breakfast options contain grotesque amounts of sugar? Think boxed cereals for example. I cringe when I looked at the nutrition panel on the box as I pour the cereal into my bowl. What else am I suppose to eat?

This subject is probably not something I have ever really talked about to anyone apart from family. It's about my relationship with sugar - and how we had to break up. I may be talking about strange concepts with you but hear me out. I had a bad relationship with sugar for many many many years. So bad in fact it left me very ill and sick for a long time and I didn't understand why.

There are two events in my life that stand out to me when sugar affected me quite badly. One was when I was about eight or nine years old. We were in Brisbane shopping at the Myer center. I think we were visiting some Lego exhibition and somehow I got my hands on some fairy floss. Within a short time of consuming it I was basically legless and “drunk” on fairy floss. It had made my blood sugar levels sky-rocket out of control and left me feeling very ill. My dad had to carry me out of the shopping center to the car as I did not have the strength to carry myself. The second time was a similar situation which resulted in one too many chocolate biscuits, a migraine which made me lose my vision and once again was carried to the car.

I remember back through my childhood feeling quite unwell at times and never understanding why I felt that way. I just thought that’s the way I was supposed to feel. I do not blame my parents at all for my relationship with sugar. They are not to blame – I was. We had a healthy diet and ate what normal families ate back in the day. I just had a penchant for sweets, white bread and pasta, biscuits and chocolate, oh the chocolate. As I got older and had to make food decisions for myself, the symptoms got even worse. I remember waking up many a morning dry retching in the toilet and having severe shakes from unstable blood sugar.

I saw many naturopaths and health professionals to try and figure out why I felt so unwell all the time. They told me many times to stop eating white processed foods, sugar, cakes and biscuits and starting eating more whole grains, protein and vegetables to help stabilise my blood sugar levels. I remember one particular naturopath telling me there was something “big” happening in my body and it would one day show itself. It was an ominous statement for sure. I was an independent, headstrong teenager at the time and did not want to be told what to eat. I hated anything “healthy”. I considered wholemeal bread to be healthy and wouldn’t even eat that. I wasn’t obese or over weight, in fact I was the opposite. I could never put weight on and thought by eating “junk” food this would help me put the kilos on. It didn’t, it just made me sicker.

When I had a “sugar attack” (i.e. low blood sugar) I thought I had to eat something sweet to counteract the problem. So the solution that I thought best was to have a big glass of Milo to help bring my sugar levels back up. It didn’t work and I ended up feeling worse at the end of it. I literally had no idea of what healthy eating was about.

Fast forward ten years; I was married and had just been diagnosed with Dairy Intolerance. I think this probably was partially a lifesaver in my relationship with sugar. It meant cutting out a lot of baked goods, chocolate, ice cream and my favourite caramello koalas. However once I discovered dairy alternatives for cooking my favourite baked goods I was back to my old ways. In my early 20’s I had improved my diet somewhat to when I was younger, I swapped the white bread for rye, stopped eating as much pasta and wasn’t eating as many lollies and chocolates as I once did. However the day I found out I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome was the day my bad relationship with sugar made sense and I knew it was time to make some serious changes. You can read about my fertility story here. People with PCOS have something that is called Insulin Resistance: With insulin resistance, the pancreas produces more and more insulin until the pancreas can no longer produce sufficient insulin for the body's demands, then blood sugar rises. Insulin resistance is a risk factor for development of diabetes and heart disease. Sugar makes your insulin spike which in turn was not something I should be eating with the pre-dipostion of Insulin Resistance.

I was freaked out none the less and decided to change my eating habits for good. It was time to make a change for the better and start looking after myself. I was desperately trying to have a family at this point and really wanted to eat the best that I could to give myself the best chance possible to conceive. Since that day it has taken me a couple of years to fully turn around my diet for the better – I finally broke up with my dear friend sugar. Sugar just did not agree with my body. I cleaned up my diet and I am now eating a lot more unprocessed, whole foods. My approach to eating includes a lot more vegetables and protein which is eaten at every meal (yes including breakfast sometimes - such as this zucchini pasta & poached egg pictured) and healthier snacks such as nuts or homemade almond milk yoghurt with a smattering of homemade muesli, NOT a caramello koala or a piece of brownie. I have also stopped using sugar in my tea and coffee. Sugar is no longer a BIG part of my life. I avoid it where possible and if I want to treat myself I try to limit the intensity of the sugar hit that I eat. It has taken me some time to slowly implement the changes into my diet and it won’t happen overnight but making small changes to your everyday eating will soon make a difference.

Why am I telling you about this today? Because I think it is important. You may not suffer PCOS or have insulin resistance but the effect that sugar has on our bodies is still bad. Yes I post a lot of “baked” goods which are full or sugar. Limit to eating them to a treat food not an everyday snack. Why not make a few simple changes to your diet such as swapping sugary cereals for breakfast to a poached or fried egg served with toasted rye bread. So I am not preaching fire and brimstone to you but just putting my experiences out there for others to maybe identify with.

If you want to make a change towards eating less sugar, I would highly recommend Sarah Wilson’s new EBook – I Quit Sugar and her new IQuit Sugar cookbook. These are helpful tools to give you the head start to making a change in your life – for the better. You can learn more about Sarah here. You will notice I have these two icons on the right-hand sidebar of my blog. I have signed up to be on the affiliate program to Sarah’s I Quit Sugar campaign. If you buy the I Quite Sugar EBooks through my blog I receive a percentage of the sale, which is much appreciated.

The I Quit Sugar EBook is an 8 week program helping you slowly reduce and remove sugar out of your diet. Sarah holds your hands and cheers you on each week as you slowly overcome your sugar cravings and move onto a healthier and more nutritious way of eating. She tells her own story in this book imparting her struggles and triumphs on her own journey of quitting sugar.

The I Quit Sugar Ecookbook is a wonderful companion to the 8 week program. This book has some big name contributors such as Aran from Cannelle Et Vanille, GwynethPaltrow, Angela Liddon from Oh She Glows and Maggie Beer just to name a few. Sarah has compiled a bunch of tasty, nutritious recipes for meal times that would likely induce the sugar addict to struggle with finding something healthy to eat such as breakfast or snack times. She has included some wonderful recipe ideas for breakfast which include Coco-Nutty Granola, Grain Free Power Bars and a finger licking Breakfast Casserole. Snacks that would appease the pickiest of eaters include, Salted Caramel Haloumi with Apple and Chick Pea Bombs just to name a few.

The photography and styling of each recipe in this book is crisp, clean but comforting in a way. The food takes center stage and all styling is kept simple yet bringing warmth and character to the food. It tells a story with minimal props and lets the food do the talking. Photography is a big thing for me when I pick up a cookbook and the photos in this cookbook were exceptional.

If you are considering cleaning up your diet why not purchase these books and start making some changes to your diet. You only live once....

Through Sarahs I Quit Sugar cook book I was inspired to create a sugar-free, healthy breaksfast dish that can easily be whipped up in minutes. This is what I have been eating for breakfast through the summer months. It may seem a little strange at first to be eating veggies for breakfast but after a while you think nothing of it. If it doesnt appeal to you to eat this first thing in the morning why not whip it up for a quick lunch or week night meal. This dish is all home grown - from the garlic to the zucchini, eggs, tomato and basil. They have all been picked, plucked and cut from our veggie patch or our chickens. I resorted to eating Zucchini's for breakfast because of the glut we were experiencing in the veggie patch. Now that the season has slowed down a bit I am conserving my rations of zucchini's left in the crisper of the fridge.

Poached Egg with Zucchini Pasta

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Keywords: saute breakfast main dairy free gluten-free sugar-free

Ingredients (1 serving)

2 x medium zucchini
8 x cherry tomatoes
2 x eggs
2 Tbls vinegar
2 Tbls fresh basil, finely sliced
1 x clove garlic, crushed

Instructions

Place a small saucepan filled half way with water, over a medium heat. Add the vingear. Bring to the boil.

Meanwhile peel the zucchini into ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Set aside.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Set aside.

Meanwhile once the water has started boiling, stir with a wooden spoon to create a “whirlpool” effect. Crack each egg into the water – working quickly before the whirlpool stops. Place the timer on for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon onto some paper towell to soak up any extra water.

Heat a cast iron fry pan over a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the tomatoes and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes start to soften.

Add the zucchini ribbons and stirfry for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften slightly.

Sprinkle the fresh basil over the zucchini pasta and season generously with salt and pepper.

Serve the zucchini pasta and place the poached eggs on top.