August 3, 2021 Day 21   I had my quarterly visit to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning.  All went well.  I love that feeling of clean teeth!  Do you ever think about sugar and your teeth?  Usually, we think about sugar and cavities with our children, but it can affect us all. Read More

August 2, 2021 Day 20   Even though desserts don’t tempt me, I am still getting an occasional craving for some dark chocolate.  So, last night when I prepped my morning green smoothie, I added cacao powder to see if that helps.  It’s so good and I’ll get a dose of magnesium too. Read More

Ultimate Blog Challenge August 1, 2021 Day 1   My super smart, and super nice friend Paul Taubman, aka The Gratitude Guru, runs a quarterly Ultimate Blog Challenge.  The challenge is to write a blog post each day for an entire month.  I’ve done the challenge before and have only gotten to day 15, but I thought I’d try again and see if I can make it for a full month.  Did you know that when you tell people what you are going to do, the chances of accomplishing it are dramatically increased because of the accountability that occurs? It is true! So, I’m not keeping this a secret and hope that you cheer me on.  Read More

August 1, 2021 Day 19   I made another batch of peppermint sun tea to have on hand, and found a delicious hydrating “lemonade” drink.  It’s just 3 ½ cups of water, the juice of one lemon, and a cup of spinach in a high-speed blender. If you can get over the green color, it tastes like lemonade, and is so healthy and hydrating. Read More

July 31, 2021 Day 18   The BBQ we’d been invited to for last night was cancelled, so instead I invited a few neighbors over for dinner.  It’s easy to control the food when you’re hosting.  Of course, I served wine too, but didn’t have any due to this no sugar year pledge to myself.  It would have been easy to have a glass of wine with dinner and carry on as others were, but thanks to my promise it was easy to say no. Read More

July 30, 2021 Day 17   Yesterday I got up and did beach yoga and played tennis.  My energy seemed really low all morning even though I had protein for breakfast. I had edamame, quinoa, and red pepper salad and a cup of homemade vegetable broth for lunch and just wanted to take a nap.  But of course, I had a whole afternoon of appointments so that was out of the question. I managed my way through the afternoon at my standing desk for one call, and then on the sofa for two more phone calls hoping I would somehow feel more energy. Then the migraine hit.  I very rarely (almost never) get headaches, and I don’t ever remember having a migraine.  But I couldn’t keep my eyes open and had to resort to Tylenol, no screens, and a nap. Read More

Thursday, July 29 Day 16   I was speaking with a friend yesterday who was following the sugar free diet and was trying to come up with ways to beat sugar cravings.  I suggested she eat more protein and fiber by filling up her plate with leafy greens, vegetables, and lean protein.  Like me, she also likes to follow a mostly plant based diet and was eating legumes and quinoa most of the time. I suggested she vary her food choices to include a wide variety of plant-based foods. Read More

July 28, 2021 Day 15   My first job at 17 was in a fine dining restaurant working in the kitchen making salads and desserts. Then when I proved myself, the cooks had me prep sauces and garnishes, and taught me how to debone and stuff ducks. I learned how to make baked Alaska, and more. At 18 I moved to the floor and learned about wines, and cocktails.  I learned the correct way to decant wine after doing it the wrong way the first time (long story for another time).  I learned how to pair wines with food, about aperitifs, dessert wines, cordials, and champagne. I continued to work in restaurants through my 20’s including full time at the Helmsley Palace in New York, and into my early 30’s even when I had a “real job”.  I devoured Kevin Zraly’s Window’s on the World Complete Wine Course book, dined at Window’s on the World, and visited wineries on weekends and when traveling to learn more. Read More

July 27, 2021 Day 14   After my visit to the brewery and distillery on Sunday, I had a comment about beer not being made with sugar. This got me thinking why do I think of alcohol as sugar?  So, I did some reading about how beer, wine, and spirits are made to clarify this for myself.   Beer and wine do contain sugar, and are made by fermenting the natural sugars from the plant ingredients. In beer, the sugar comes from the starch in malted cereal grain, typically barley. In wine it comes from grape juice. With spirits, starches such as grains or potatoes, and fruit are fermented, and in some spirits, the fermentation starts with cane sugar. No mistake there - that is added sugar. Read More

July 26, 2021 Day 13   If you’ve been keeping up with my daily sugar free lifestyle posts, you know that I had some digestive issues on Saturday. After a bit of reading and investigation, I learned that jackfruit can have a laxative effect.  Aha!  That must have been it.  I was feeling much better on Sunday and visited a lavender farm in Central NJ, and later discovered a farm to table restaurant nearby.  We drove in to the Brick Farm Tavern parking lot and little did we know there was a brewery and distillery on the 45-acre farm, with another 400 acres for the animals, produce, and herbs nearby. About 60 or 70 people were standing on line at a “take-out” window of the brewery.  What was going on?  It turns out that this brewery has a real following and today was the launch of a new brew. Each adult on line walked away happy with two cans of the new lager. Read More