Jemma Skeat wrote: Completely new here- just wanted to say hi. 

If you had asked me last Saturday, I would have said I had no intention of pursuing a sugar-free lifestyle- hadn't even considered it. Then a friend posted a link on Facebook to David's Raisin-Hell blog, and I became curious...a bit of reading and looking at the Sweet Poison site and suddenly it all made sense.  There are some things you can't unlearn, and can't ignore once you learn them! 

I've now read the Sweet Poison Quit plan (so compelling- I read it in one afternoon) and have been sugar free for 5 days (today)...I am lucky in not finding it difficult so far- but I also know it's early days. I'm completely determined though. I found David's summary of the history of sugar to be the most interesting - I guess growing up in the 1980s when sugar was already everywhere an in everything, I NEVER even considered that things hadn't always been this way- that sugar used to be rare and barely used, and certainly not consumed without knowing it as it is today. 

I've a few questions for those who are more expert in sugar free-ness than I am:

1) How did you go about convincing (if they needed it) your spouse or partner? My husband is not interested. He has previously had an experience of reducing sugar in his diet (completely voluntarily because he felt he was eating too much) and went through HUGE withdrawal. He didn't cut sugar completely, so he never got through the withdrawal to the other side- so he's not seen the benefits. He also gave me the 'oh right, another fad diet' look when I tried to tell him about the book- the research and links between sugar and diabetes, cancers, etc. It was a pretty dirty look, so I left it, but any advice on this would be great. I don't think he will read the book voluntarily. Did anyone find a previously hostile/uninterested partner later became interested after seeing the benefits for you?

2) I have a son who is 1 year old, and would like to keep his diet sugar free. This is pretty easy when it comes to meals/dinners, but snacks (previously sultanas/dried fruit) are hard to think of. He's not yet at the stage where he will eat say an apple or even a banana (not that I want to give him more than 1 serve of fruit a day anyway). I also don't like him to have salt (also very bad for littlies) so things like rice crackers (usually salted) are no good. Nuts also no good at this stage (choking hazard). My list is rice cakes (no salt), cheese, piece of bread with cheese...??

Sorry for the very long post!

Thanks for any help

Jemma

Hi Jemma,
Congratulations on going sugar free.  One little hint, if you do the cooking, you basically have control of what every one eats.  There are heaps of recipes on this site, and the free site http://sweetpoison.myfreeforum.org/index.php that have lots of recipes substituting dextrose for sugar. It is available in the brewing sections at Big W, and some Woolworths.  There are other women who have small children and post ideas on food/treats for them. There is also a jelly snake recipe on the boards that is really easy to do.  You will have to learn to read the labels on foods carefully, as nearly everything has sugar added. Quite a nice cracker is the Vita Wheat rice crackers (plain). Also a great snack is: spread a sheet of puff pastry with grated cheese and vegemite, roll it up, refridgerate for a little while to firm up, then slice into about 1cm rings and then bake in the oven. There are lots of little hints on both the web sites.  Also there are some really nice recipes David and his wife have published on this web site.  Good Luck.

Thank you both! I am still exploring the recipes and will definitely play with the idea of puff pastry- that's a great idea- maybe some kind of twists of pastry with cheese. He does love cheese. I just made some plain and some cheese scones as well (for me and for him!).

I agree with all the previous comments. I don't preach to my partner but have slowly changed the way I cook certain meals (ie making curry, satay or pasta sauce from scratch to control sugar content) and he doesn't notice it. I've recently tried a few new things like quiche and homemade pasties which have all gone down well. He drinks bundy & cola and loves chocolate but that is up to him to buy it if he wants it.

I also have a toddler and am slowly changing her diet too. Once your little one is a bit older you will find more & more options. My daughter loves to snack on nuts, crackers, cheese, slices of ham, rice wheels, popcorn, small amts of fruit and sometimes potato crisps. She goes to childcare 3 days a week and I've not tried changing what she eats there (maybe in future I will). The hardest part is visiting friends and family who don't know yet that we are sugar free. Oh, and I am dreading Easter as she loves chocolate!