Some things from our past are easier to remember than others. Having issues with food began for me early on around the age of 11. I remember for no apparent reason sneaking a salty snack in my parents basement. I remember the pediatrician constantly commenting at every annual visit that if I could just lose 10 pounds I would be at my ideal weight for my height. I am as an adult only 5’2 tall so that number was 110 pds! I have not seen that number since I was 11. I was never overweight as a kid but I wasn’t skinny either. The problem was I thought I was chubby, you know the peer-pressure thing of wanting to look like friends who were twice my height and had fabulously long, lean legs.
So began the crazy fad diets at the age of 13, then the continued yo-yo diet cycle. At 18 I simply decided to let myself eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. Of course the comfort I found was in sugar-laden snack foods. My highest weight was 155 pds at the age of 22. At that point in my life I found Jesus as my savior and that’s when I decided I was really ready to clean up my act. I started walking and stopped eating in between meals and lost weight and by 6 months I was what I felt was the right weight for my body, 124 pds.I didn’t have to exercise like a maniac to maintain it and I was thrilled.
In 1997 I married my sweet hubby Jim and continued to maintain a healthy weight. Unfortunately, blame it on hormones, I was having the worst PMS symptoms. I was completely out of control with my emotions. I started researching causes and natural solutions to alleviate symptoms.I found a yeast free diet plan , not to lose any weight, but to see if this could help with my PMS craziness. All sugar, which yeast thrives on, was eliminated except if it was the 5th ingredient on labels. Within 2 months I felt better and my PMS symptoms were gone. My skin looked fabulous and I actually even lost weight. Of course now that I had fixed the problem, that was when we decided to get pregnant. I tossed all my good habits out the door and gained 70 pounds! I had never seen 190 pds before when I delivered and boy was I frightened to see that number! I knew getting rid of white refined sugar was incredibly helpful, but I could not stop eating it. I chose Weight Watchers to take off the baby weight. It is a great program and it did help me lose weight, but after baby #2 came along it just was much harder to lose the weight. I could not get away from the cravings for sugary foods.
In 2004, I heard about a Christian program called Prism. It eliminated typical binge foods and products which contain white refined sugar and white flour. It helped me detox my body , taught me how to read labels and gradually add back some things into my food plan. In 6 months I got back to my right weight of 124 pds and started teaching the classes at my church. It was during this time I started creating recipes without white flour or white refined sugar. I continued on this food plan but then had baby #3 and again went straight for those sugary foods. (You’d think I would have learned my lesson the last time, but clearly I was addicted to white refined sugar!)
My baby is now almost 6 and it took me almost a year to get back to what I believe to be my right weight by following that food plan.
Today I no longer teach classes but I truly believe that program was such a blessing and can and does help many people who struggle with the sugar cravings. Today I keep a food journal to help keep me accountable. I do not weigh myself except for once a month and certainly can tell by how my clothes feel if I have been overeating. Since I am a Life Time Weight Watcher member I check in once a month at a meeting to keep me accountable. They are a group of fabulously encouraging people!
I eat 3 meals a day with one snack either in the afternoon or evening. I found I must pray daily to receive HIS strength to abstain from overeating. (I honestly could overeat on broccoli!) I need to ask God each day for self-control and discipline. Staying away from the refined sugar has stopped my cravings, ravenous hunger and binges and yo-yo weight cycles. It may not be the life style for everyone but it works for me. God knows the desires of my heart and how I want to glorify Him in all that I do. For me, choosing to abstain from sugar is saying I choose all that God has for me. I want to be all He sees that I can be. I no longer turn to food for comfort, no longer live in a brain fog from sugar-laden foods. I feel fabulous and I am maintaining my weight which makes me joyful and grateful and I think because of this joy I am a better wife and mother -My greatest calling of all!
Awesome Brenda! You look awesome too. This is a great blog and I am excited to get some more yummy sugar free recipes!!! Gotta love that sucanat! Love you! Jen
Thank you Jenny! I’m so excited because I’ve been wanting to do this
for years! Finally took the plunge! I hope it will be a great support for many!
Excited to find this blog by accident ( ha ha). We have alot in common and I’m excited to read more. God IS good!
Glad you found it! Yes, HE is!! Thanks for visiting!
Great Job on the blog Bren.. Love the after pic!!! Check out those guns on you…and love the hats too, lol. Luv ya.. Have fun with this, you are off to a good start..
Hi,
I am so happy to have found this blog. Do you by chance send out emails when you post something new? Thank you and keep up the great work! I look forward to your new recipes.
JR
I am new to blogging, but I will be looking into setting up emails for when I post something new. Thank you for visiting!
Brenda, so enjoyed reading your blog. It’s really inspiring to read your journey.
Thank you so much Ellen!
I thought I was the only one that could over eat on broccoli!!! Thanks for sharing. We are trying your chicken fingers tonight!
What a wonderful testimony! So glad I found your site. I am looking forward to trying your recipes. I too have “issues” with sugar! Just now going through “Craving God”!
Thank you Pam! Getting rid of the refined sugar has been such a freedom in my life! You can do it one day at a time!
I am so happy to have found you! My hubby & I try to eat the way you do BUT do eat the artificial sweeteners & I may have found the reasons for my cravings! Thank You so much, & GOD Bless you & your precious family.
I was searching the internet for some low-sugar recipes I could make to put in my children’s school lunches. I love your site! Thank you for taking time to do this for others. God bless you.
I just read your before and after journey and that’s amazing, it is really similar to my own battle with weight and food issues. I realized that I am also addicted to sugar and flour (more sugar though) and went 2 years successfully (including through a pregnancy) obstaining from sugar and flour (including honey, agave, any kinds of flours) and only doing whole grains, weighing my food for portion sizes, etc. It really wasn’t for everyone but it helped me to focus my heart on God rather than on obsessing over food, seeking comfort from food, worrying about my weight/looks. I am so glad to find someone else in the blogosphere that also found that journey. I am still trying to live a life free from white refined flour and sugar but not as crazy trying to weigh all my foods and checking to see if there is even a tiny drop of sugar in every product, food dish at parties, etc. Good luck on your journey!
By the way, found you through Blogelina’s class, hope you’re open to keeping in touch!
Kangaroo Mama
I would love to keep in touch and thanks for checking out my blog! Good Luck to you as well!
Stumbled on your site tonight and looked through it briefly and thought it was absolutely wonderful. Which my husband and I have toyed around with the ideas of getting rid of all the “White stuff”…like sugar and flour and things over the past year….but we havent done soo well lately. Do you have any ideas of convenient lunch items that would be good for him to take to work or do you have any ided on where I could find recipes like that? Its soo hard to find recipes that dont use sugar or flours in abundance if your not sure what things you should be looking for. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Welcome and YES! I have a bunch becuase my hubby needs easy for work too! The freezer easy burritto recipe is made ahead and we make aLOT of them so he just has to pop it out of the freezer or thaw over night and done! I made Beef, Spinach, whole wheat orzo soup and Leftover Chicken & Bean stew. Look around at the recipes, there are a ton!
Thank you. I cant imagine getting at a point where you dont have cravings for sugar or flour or things like that…but your proof that its possible. Plus I just gave birth to my second son, and me and my hubby both agree that we definately need to try to eat healthier now more then ever. I developed gestational diabetes with this last pregnancy and it was a wake up call that if I dont change on how we eat, then within a few years Ill probably drop into the full diabetic zone…and we definately dont want that. We want to have a long fulfilling life with our children and getting healthy will help us achieve that. Thank you for sharing your journey and providing recipes and things to let us all know that its possible. Your probably shaping more lives then you realize with this website. It is appreciated!!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words and you and the hubby can do it together. It will be challenging at first but it gets easier I promise.
Although weight management is not an issue for me/my family, I am looking to reduce sugar consumption to control hypoglycemia and maintain blood sugar levels throughout the day (I have a tendency to get really dizzy/faint if I go longer than 3 hrs between meals which is super-annoying with a busy schedule and active children). I, too, am relatively new to blogging and look forward to following you on your journey!
God is so good and awesome that you give HIM the glory! Best wishes and blessings. Sarah
Thanks Sarah, He is so good!
Wow, I have all those horrible symptoms too, The only time i ever did a cleanse and got rid of the sugar the first 3 days were SO horrible that I could not do that alone and I’m caring for my 2 small kids every day. It was like I was on PMS on steriods! I know I have to get rid of it though, I can’t think, I’m exhausted, I can’t get off the weight, my skin is horrible. I just don’t understand how to do it. My family loves rolls and pasta etc…. All the organic food is so expensive. I just don’t know how to do it. :/
I too have just stumbled onto your blog and just today read your weight loss experience. Mine is very similar! Eating healthy is expensive. What are your tricks to buying within your budget?
I follow Money Saving Mom and clip coupons. She is fantastic about sharing weekly buys and with coupons eating healthy can be within a food budget. I also purchase more frozen veggies instead of fresh and when they go on sale I stock my freezer. I shop at Aldi’s, not sure if you have a small discount market but I’ve found some great deals on fresh produce and eggs and milk. I will be writing a post on this to get into more details for everyone. Thanks!
I shop primarily at Aldi, so that’s a post I want to read!
one thing i have found is yes clip your coupons and shop around, but also, if you are not buying junkfood, you have more money for food that fuels your body.
Thank you sooo very much for starting this site!! I also “stumbled” across your site, but in my heart I know it was God who brought me here!! I’m starting the Made to Crave study by Lysa Terkeust which is about satisfying our deepest desires with God instead of food. So many of us can relate to this very difficult struggle with food. I’m excited to be on this new journey and again, very thankful for the recipes and encouragement you are providing for us all!! May God bless you in this journey!
Thank you Lisa! I loved reading the Made To Crave book, it was fantstic! I wish you the very best on your journey!
Wow! What an inspiration you are. I am totally triggered by sugar and cannot stop once I start eating. I notice a HUGE change in my cravings when I completely abstain. I will be adding your site to my resources page here: http://www.easylunchboxes.com/neat_ideas/recipes/index.htm Thank you!!!
Thank you so much Kelly! I hope my story helps encourage others to make changes and have some freedom! I appreciate you adding me to the resources page!
i also found you by accident. my highest was 270, now am at 146. i am 5 foot five and still want to drop 11 lbs to be half the lady i used to be. i enjoy following clean eating, which sounds similar to prism. will prob comment frequently on the facebook page.
Glad to have you comment any time and congrats on your great weight loss!
Brenda… I so have loved reading your blog since you started. Who would have known that you would do this and become such a success and inspiration to others including myself. Where are the pictures of your from kindergarten? LOL.
I can’t wait to see and try more of your recipes. Also, where did you find that multi loaf pan?
Thank you my life long friend! Kindergarten pics will never appear on this blog LOL! There is a link on the product Love page for the mutli loaf pan. Thank you for reading and always encouraging me!
Loved reading your story and hope that your recipes will help me make it to my weight loss goal (so far 31 lbs – 15 to go!), but more importantly maintain it when I get there! Sugar is evil! You look fabulous and congratulations on your success and happiness! Thank you for sharing with others who need the support to live healthier lives. All the best to you and yours
.
Thank you! I am sure you will reach your goals one day at a time! Keep it up and you will!
What an Awsome blog. So inspirational
I’m so excited to have found your blog! You have such an inspirational story to tell. I can relate to many of the same things. God has given me the strength to be in recovery from an eating disorder and I have been sugar free for over a year now
can’t wait to try some of your recipes!
So glad you are here! Congrats on a year of being sugar free!
Thanks for this. Our stories are almost exactly alike, down to the childhood details, that’s what drew me in here… I am so addicted to sugar and have been thinking about trying to kick it. It’s scary, but I’m slowly getting there. Thanks for making it a little easier.
So glad that I found your blog tonight. I have 4 little kids: 6.5, 4.5, 3, and 6 months and I feel like I eat sugar to survive. It is terrible and I feel like an addict!! I think about baking sugary treats daily… I’m overweight and feel pretty down about it. I know that I can trust in the Lord and look to him for strength but that doesn’t always make the struggle easier. Thanks for your encouraging words and a story of hope to think about! Oh– and I’m 6 days into eating no sugar (except a little honey in my tea)… when do the cravings slow down/stop?
Wow you are busy with the little ones but good for you for recognizing the issue and desiring to do something about it because I know your hands are full. I can tell you it does get easier but the first two weeks you may experience withdrawals just like an addict would so just get through it and after that the cravings will be less. And keep checking in online to get support from others
So glad I found your blog. I can relate so well with the sugar addiction and I know how much better I feel when I stay away from sugar-it’s a daily battle that I can only do by the grace of God. Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice.
Only by the Grace Of God is right , thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your struggles and journey! It helps me to not feel alone in my struggles with cravings and weight loss. I LOVE all of your recipes, especially because they not only avoid refined sugar, but also are low in saturated fat. I cook your recipes regularly. Thank you for helping to keep my family eating healthful meals. Thank you so very, very much!!!
I found your blog because a friend of mine told me about one of your recipes which she pinned on Pinterest. Though I have suspected for a while, I have recently been diagnosed with hypoglycemia. I have also struggled with my weight over the last several years along with fatigue and other symptoms of not feeling well. I am just now starting to consider the idea of becoming completely sugar free. My mother-in-law has been cutting sugar for a while now and many of her recipes seem a bit tasteless. Finding your blog gives me hope that I may just be able to change my eating. Your last paragraph especially hit home. In so many ways I work to glorify God, but I am realizing that I am not glorifying him in the foods that I eat. Thank you for sharing your journey and your recipes with others.
You are welcome and I’m so glad you found my blog. I know you will have much success when you give each day to HIM to help you!
Hello. I am so glad to have found your blog today. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to get rid of sugar in my diet; for weight loss and overall health reasons. I’ve decided to go cold turkey for 30 days and then add back in only natural, non-refined sweeteners. I’ve been at it for a week now and it has not been easy, but I already feel better. I am grateful that there are other people, like you, who are walking this path and offering help to others through recipes and encouragement. And thank you for sharing your faith connection. All things are possible through God.
That’s my prayer that others who choose and need to follow this sugar free life style that they will not feel isolated and alone in this battle. Thank you for sharing Kim!
I absolutely love your testimony! Your story makes so much sense to me because its evident that the Lord was your greatest help! Ive often wondered if anyone else sees this “sugar” thing as a spiritual issue, for me I know it is. I recently went on a sugar fast to see what the Lord would teach me. I learned that I seek joy in sugar, that it sometimes fills voids and controls my emotions. I learned how wrong and disobedient that is, this in NOT why our father in heaven gave us sugar! I’m now on the same journey of eliminating refined sugars from my diet. I found your blog and looooove it. Thanks for opening up your life to all of us.Thank you for your inspiration, thank you for being real about this issue.
Doing this blog was my way of giving back what freedom I’ve received, a way for me to continue to stay accountable to HIM as well as the readers of this blog, a way for me to do my part to encourage others and acknowledge the fact that I alone can not do anything in my own strength. I’m thrilled you have found my blog and for your kind and encouraging words to me!
As a dietitian who has also struggled with sugar and a Christian, I loved your story!
I was just thinking this morning as I took my walk how eating healthy and exercising has made me feel so great and full of energy.
And when I feel that way I am a much more patient wife and mama to 3 so I particularly liked your comment – “I feel fabulous and I am maintaining my weight which makes me joyful and grateful and I think because of this joy I am a better wife and mother -My greatest calling of all!”
I am 5’2″ also so I completely understand, lol! God bless!
Thank you for your kind words. I just want my story to help other women who struggle as well, that they too can have freedom! Blessings to you!