Ok, so that is the ‘sugar-deal’. Pretty scary. And i feel lucky to be fair – because i am cooking my food – never buy any stupid ‘ready-made’ meal from shops. Those are packed with sugar and lots of other stuff – u dont even know. Thats when i say – ‘hidden sugars’. Even in your curry or bolognese. Yes. Better do it yourself if u want to make sure u dont take any sugar in.

My biggest sugar issues –

1. alternative milk source. I stopped doing dairy milk when i realised im not a little cow baby anymore. LOL. I do love all sorts of vegan milk – coconut, oat, hemp, rice etc. BUT. If u see the labels closer – they all contain sugar. Some, but there is. And if u feel lucky to find one without sugar – it possibly be ‘oat’ – and not gluten-free. So i had two options. Or stop having it with my coffee and porridge – or make my own. Obviously i took the challenge and started to make my own. Picked coconut flavour – as i cant take gluten for now (oatmilk) and trying not to take nuts neither (almond, cashew) – also im not sure about the soy or hemp proccess – so coconut seems to be the easiest option and pretty much available.* Ok – its never gonna be like the one from the shop – only because i dont put tonns of gelatin agent and stabilzer and emulsifier innit to make a ‘barista edition’. I am experimenting to make it a bit thicker and adding only pure flavourings like vanilla or raspberry. And its great i tell u. So this is what i drink every day with my coffee and eat with my breakfast. Or also just drink by itself as im a bit bored of tap water (missing my smoothies).
2. cooking with wine. U know i have to avoid wine – as its alcohol so contains residual sugars and i should not have them at all. Its painful because i love to cook everything with a touch of wine or vermouth – but now im just trying to avoid it and use simply water – or make some sort of ‘herb infusions’ (like thyme-water) or seaweed dashi and use that to add more flavour.
3. no vinegar. i was very surprised how much i love vinegar – well i am making my own vinegars for a while with my ‘mother scooby’. Soo many gorgeous flavours sitting in my fridge, date and pineapple, pine and sloe, berries and rose, flower power vinegar… they all sooooo beautiful. But also – because they made out from wine – by natural fermentation – i also have to avoid them. Sadly i do love pickled things (beeeeetroooooot forever!!!!) so i starve now for a while. Instead – squeeze some lemon!
4. condiments – no mustard. no soy or tamari. no miso. Basically i have to avoid all the shop-bought seasonings because they all contain sugar. Not much but they do. Looks like im cheating on the miso – however im using miso brought back from Japan – its homemade stuff so contains no sugar. The one u can buy from the shop doesnt say sugar on the label but says alcohol (also trying to avoid).
5. ready-made-food. Im not buying stuff like this ever – but im sure most of us yes so i have to mention here. Check the labels. Unfortunatly im sure u will find some hidden sugar in your favourite creamy mushroom soup, baked beans or vegan spinach lasagne.
6. huel – only the unflavoured and gluten free version works here. At least there is an option right? (i didnt buy this one – i have a simple vanilla which will wait me when im ‘back’ from my diet – quite enjoying having it with fruits and contains not much sugar so i wont feel bad about it.
7. extra protein – it took me a week till i found some protein powder with no sugar and GF plus vegan. Usually i would not take unflavoured – but after the first week i was so bored of drinking water (and no wine) so got some unflavoured brown rice and pea one – and flavoured myself with matcha tea, berries or bitter cacao powder.

Yeeeeah. See – all these ‘boundaries’ mean i have to think and plan each meal ahead. This is never happened before – i ususally decide what i fancy a la’ minute and make a quick joyful plate of food. Everything in half hour. Now i m making a whole week plan ahead – to make sure i take all what my body needs (and avoid the things i should).

FISH AND SEAFOOD. At least 3 times a week. And because i cut off the protein sources from dairy products – advised lots of eggs (dont have cholesterol problems as far as i am aware of), tofu and tempeh. I did find out that my stomach has some difficulties with digesting soy – but not as bad to stop me eating it.

COOKED THOROUGHLY. I dont have vegetable restrictions – only one rule to follow – consume nothing RAW. Make it easier for your belly to cook through everything and/or blend it.

NO SNACKING – KEEPING THE 3 MEALS PER DAY. I also lower down my coffee intake to 2 cups.

I dont keep any ‘timings’ for each meal – mostly because im working in the night so i could not ever do a latest 6pm dinner for example. I love to have my yoga in the morning after coffee – them breakfast around midday or 1pm, coffee around 4-5pm, lunch around 7-8pm and very light snacky dinner around midnight. Im going to bed usually around 2-3 am so by that time i feel pretty much empty again. Most of the days im having my lunch and dinner at the bakery so i cook home and take it with me. Like this:

*MY COCONUT MILK –

For one batch u need approx 150g desiccated coconut, a big tablespoon of arrowroot powder, vanilla and 1 liter of water. Boil up the water with the coconut and arrowroot, whisking it a bit then cover and let it cool down (i just leave it on the stove overnight). Next day i strain it and whisk in the vanilla. Thats all. This is the ‘first press’ – u can re-use your coconut for another round, will have less flavour but here i add a handful of berries and blend in at the end so its gonna be my berry/coconut drink. Still ok. I use arrowroot cause i wanted to thicken up a bit using something natural. U dont have to do this – u can skip it and still have a pretty nice, runny coconut water. Also wont split anything in your coffee. LOL.

My week food-plan is coming up…