Celebrating Success…#LowSugarNaturally

Today I’m excited to share a #lowsugarnaturally success story with you since we are just completing the first week of the free Sugar Pretox Challenge. I met Stephanie through a Facebook group when I shared about this article I wrote for our local paper. I asked her to share her story and she graciously agreed…

Tell me about yourself…

I am a stay-at-home mom to my five-year old daughter McKenna! My husband and I will be married for six years on May 15th! I love crafts and spending time with family and friends. Laughing as much as I can, and making others laugh too- sort of the class clown! I like to cook and decorate and honestly do a little of this, a little of that!

Why did you decide to cut sugar from your diet?

I have always struggled with my weight, especially after having my daughter when I topped out at around 380 lbs. I tried random diets and counting calories, I added walking with my daughter to my weekly routines….nothing helped.

One of my friends suggested I try cutting carbs and sugar from my diet. So on January 6^th, 2014 I decided to stop eating sugar, processed foods and most carbs. The weight melted off and within about a month I felt the best I can remember. I was sleeping better, my skin improved, had more energy, and of course lost weight at a pretty steady pace.

In about a year and a half I had dropped 125 lbs. But then I hit a plateau and didn’t lose much after that year and a half.

This past November, I was frustrated and decided for the holidays to go ahead and add sugar back in my diet…..horrible idea! I gained about 25 lbs super fast and felt like garbage! So, after the new year, I went right back to no sugar and low carbs and have already lost 15 lbs.

It was a good reminder of how I used to feel and how I never want to feel again!

Any other benefits? My blood pressure and cholesterol levels also have improved.

What was the hardest part of cutting out sugar for you? The first 2 weeks. It feels like you have the flu as you go through withdrawal. Plus, being around tons of sweets at parties and holidays and the fact that people don’t “get it” and can’t seem to see why I won’t just have the cake or some cookies, etc.

How can you encourage others in trying to go sugar-free? Keep at it for 3 weeks, no matter how you feel. It may not be fun or easy at first but it gets better! I’ve also found that foods with processed sugar crap don’t even taste good to me at all anymore! It coats your mouth with this weird taste and immediately feels like a brick in my stomach! I also try to encourage people through my low-card Instagram account: Lowcarb_stephaknee

Favorite recipe?

My Brussel sprouts that I get great compliments on:

1.5 lbs of halved Brussel sprouts
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons stevia
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 to 3 cloves garlic, minced.
Splash of apple cider vinegar.

Add the butter and Brussels to a pan and keep on medium heat, stirring every few min.

Add the rest of the ingredients to a sauce pan and whisk up (sometimes I add more stevia, sometimes more mustard….I do it to taste). Keep both on medium heat stirring occasionally. Once the Brussels are cooked to your liking, and the sauce has thickened a bit pour the sauce over the Brussels and keep on low heat for a few min. These are like a sweet and sour glazed Brussel sprouts…I make them 1 to 3 Times a week and there’s never leftovers!!!

Thanks, Stephanie!

If you are interested in learning more about the Sugar Pretox/Detox Challenge and would like to take this on yourself, please visit this blog post. If you would like to join the #lowsugarnaturally community, please follow this link to my #lowsugarnaturally facebook group.