Having increased 35 pounds in weight from my second pregnancy (while giving birth to a 5 pound 3 ounze baby), I realized that some of the gained weight was because I lost some self-control during my pregnancy.  I would tell myself that I would easily lose the weight post-birth because of breastfeeding and splurged on goodies like Mc D’s sundaes, Haagen Daaz ice cream, sour candies, soda or cola and desserts of all kinds.  Post birth?  Cold turkey the sugar and went back to my original pre-baby weight in about 3 months.  Keep in mind that this is on the basis that I was not exercising either (and barely have had time to do so since being pregnant with my first baby).

Let me explain my “sugar”-free diet.  It doesn’t mean I in take NO sugar at all.  Some things are unavoidable like sugars found in dishes when I eat out or cook with or sugars found in cereals (that I sample for my children).  I have made a committed effort to cut out all sweets, which included desserts, sugared drinks (like iced tea and pop and even hot milk tea), snacks (cookies, sponge cakes, roll cakes, coconut cakes, pound cakes) and unhealthy foods in general.  My liquid source is water and healthy Chinese soups.  I try to eat at a minimum, one fruit per day and loads of vegetables.  I also avoid processed foods (check out this interesting article on 10 weird and disgusting things found in processed foods) and “sugar-free” snacks because sugar free doesn’t mean calorie free.  It’s not to say that I don’t indulge on cravings, but I try to substitute healthy snacks like fruits and reduced-salt seaweed or nachos or yogurt and muesli.  I also drink at least one cup of skim milk everyday and a multi-vitamin (if I happen to remember, which is far and few inbetween). 

Lately however, especially since I’ve started work, I’ve found that I’ve started to have more sweet cravings.  And because I’m in the comfort of an office chair ALL DAY LONG, my stay-at-home-mom-fat-burning body is beginning to lose some of its effectiveness.  Double whammy.  So now I am contemplating whether I should re-join the gym and rush over during my lunch hour.  My other option is to wake up at 5:00 AM and work out at home off videos until 6:00 AM.  Maybe I will try that first.  Ah, the pains we go through to stay looking fine.  I think there is a fine balance between healthy eating, a healthy weight, healthy snacking and living a healthy lifestyle.  My motto is always everything in moderation.  Of course, you win some and you lose some.  But for those who live similar lifestyles to me where there are young kids, work, projects and barely anytime for a fixed exercise regime, this “sugar”-free eating plan is a winner.