How I survived a sugar deficit in February

      I cut sugar and meat from my diet for the month of February. The meat was not as horrible as the sugar. I struggled for the first couple of days without it. I saw plenty different candies and cookies that I wanted to put into my mouth hole. It was soo hard to resist. I had to quickly come up with alternative snacks to stop the cravings. I had heard about banana ice cream before but never had the desire to make it. I made it a few times this moth. It's the simplest snack in the world. I froze two bananas in a freezer bag overnight. At snack time, I took them out, put them in my Ninja and pulsed until they were creamy and smooth, the consistency of soft serve. I added additional ingredients to flavor it after that. My favorite was peanut butter and honey. I have read on other sites that it doesn't taste like banana. I don't think that's true. It was very banana-y to me. I also make sugar free cranberry muffins. They are naturally sweetened. I found a recipe on Instagram and altered it a bit. The recipe for the muffins is: 3 ripe bananas. 3 cups of oats. 1 cup of milk. 1 tsp vanilla, 2 eggs, 1Tbsp Baking powder. I added in honey, cinnamon, craisins and walnuts after the muffin batter was completely mixed. We also make our own granola bars. They are an easy sweet treat. The base for the bars is very similar to the muffins. They are made of: 3ripe bananas. 1/3 cup applesauce. 2 cups oats. 1/4 cup milk. 1tsp vanilla. 1 tsp cinnamon. You can add any kind of additional fruits or nuts or chocolate chips you want. You bake them at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I have also been making fruit smoothies. I think my favorite was one with Tazo Passion Tea. I used 4 pears, 4 kiwi, 1 apple, 1 banana, about a cup of plain unsweetened yogurt, honey and about 4 ounces of Tazo passion tea. I had made hot tea (with no sugar)earlier in the day. I poured it into a container and allowed it to cool. It was just perfect when it was time to make the smoothies!!I have also been eating a few processed snacks. A couple of my favorites are Nature's Pantry Fig Bars and Turbana Plantain Chips.

     During my sugar hiatus, I discovered that a couple of foods that I love are triggers for my IBS. I love dried apricots. I can eat a bag of them throughout the day at work. If I do eat a bag, there will be dire consequences and my stomach will punish me. When I was eating all kinds of sweets and junk, I could not isolate which foods were causing problems. This was a very disappointing find. The MOST disappointing find was peanuts or peanut butter. I love peanut butter. I usually have about 4 different jars open at one time. I can eat PBJ for anymeal and feel satisfied. I had to work early one Saturday morning and I ate peanuts as a snack before seeing a patient. I started to feel a little sick. It was like my normal everyday sick that I have been feeling for quite some time. I will not gross you out with the specific symptoms but it was an a-ha moment for me. Also a devastating moment for me. How will I live without peanut butter?????