Like
all of us, the holiday season meant lots of eating and drinking with friends
and family, and as a consequence…. weight gain. New Years came around and I decided
enough is enough, my resolution is to lose 30 lbs. Unlike the past, this would
be the year I would get serious and lose the weight for real, I just had to get
my diet on track.
In the past I tried many different diet styles like fasting, paleo, weight watchers, calorie counting and more, but nothing worked for me. My problem was I always ended up craving sugary sweets so badly it’d cause me to cheat on my diet.
I’m
good at going to the gym and getting my workouts in, but to truly lose the
weight, I knew I needed a way to curb my cravings
After talking to one of my friends and hearing their success
story, I decided to also try the Keto diet so I could lose some of the weight
that I had gained during the holidays. I took my first steps into the familiar
and comfortable environment of my neighbourhood health store and I was
immediately immersed by the smell of the freshness of the produce and the
natural goodness of their products. Although the store was small, it was always
a pleasure and favourite pastime of mine to walk around and converse with their
friendly staff. I started to look for one of my favourite staff members,
Lindsay, who I had the pleasure of calling my friend. She was known to be the
most knowledgeable about the products carried by the store, as well as being
one of the friendliest, never forgetting to ask about how your day went. I
spotted Lindsay in the corner of the store stocking up on some products and
walked over to her.
“Hi Lindsay! How are you?”
“Oh Rachel! So nice to see you again. How were your products from last week? I
hope my recommendations were satisfying for you?”
“They were great Lindsay; I’ve never hated any of the products you’ve
recommended to me. Anyways, I’m actually looking for some advice.” She nodded,
waiting for me to go on so she could work her magic once again. “I’m planning
to start Keto this week and honestly the hardest thing for me will be the cut
of sugar.” I started thinking of all the sweets I consumed at home in my
pastime as snacks. I ate way too much for my own good and I was in desperate
need for something, anything, to let me eat sweet things to my heart's content.
I continued, “I was wondering if you had any good replacements that I could use
for when I bake or for my coffee?” Lindsay thought for a minute and gestured me
to their sweetener aisle.
“Honestly Rachel,
our sweeteners are pretty limited. If you want to use something for your
baking, then I recommend not buying a liquid sweetener. However, that only
leaves you with one or two options.” I stood patiently waiting for her
recommendations and saw that she was quite troubled as well. “Hmmm, if you want
a good sugar replacement that tastes just like sugar, I’m not sure if any of
these is what you’re looking for. Even I’m not one hundred percent satisfied
with the selection here. It doesn’t cater that well to diabetics at all.” She
tapped her foot and crossed her arms, eyebrows furrowed at the shelves. “My
best bet would be the powder from Better Stevia, since it has no calories; you
can try that out and see if you like it?” I gave my thanks and put the product
in my basket, promising her to give her an update to see how the product went
for me. This is why I love Lindsay; she really cares. I just hope this product
pulls through despite the lack of excitement that I usually get from her
recommendations.
After arriving home with my groceries, the first thing that came to mind was to
bake some cupcakes. My friends were coming over for our monthly board game
night, and today I was to be the host. Since Elisabeth, the friend who
convinced me to start Keto, was also coming over, it felt like the perfect time
to try out the sweetener. I opened the bag and was hit with an off-putting smell
to start. Then I found the sweetener was caking together in the batter…needless
to say, baking the cupcakes was not off to a good start.
Soon after, just as the ding of the oven went off, so did the ring
of my door-bell. It was Elisabeth.
“Mmmm, cupcakes? You always know what I want.”
“Haha, of course Elisabeth. I’m also trying a new sweetener in these ones so
let me know what you think.”
Elisabeth, who was mesmerized by the smell, was already on her way to the tray
of cupcakes, which had been cooling for a few minutes now. “Mind if I try some
now?” she said with pouting eyes. I gave her a nod of approval and she happily
dug in, as did I. However, our reaction to them was not as happy as when we
first started.
“There’s something off about these.” I sighed. I had made the cupcakes in the
exact same way as I always did, so I knew the only reason could be the
sweetener that I had used. There was some sort of aftertaste, it was way too
sweet and the cupcakes crumbled apart in my hand when I went to eat them.
“Don’t get me wrong Rachel, they’re still good. It’s just not as good as they
were when you used normal sugar. I guess it’s something to be expected when you
use a replacement though. It’s tough. I had to put up with it when I was doing
Keto.”
It was hard to hide my upset feelings. I didn’t want to just put up with it.
What I wanted to find a good sugar replacement that could curb my sugar
cravings despite being on the Keto diet. I figured there was nothing I could
do.
The next week, I visited Sunnyside Natural Market again to get
some groceries and Lindsay immediately noticed my entrance. She walked up to me
with a smile on her face and asked what I thought about the product.
“I’m sorry Lindsay but it just wasn’t for me. There was an off-taste, it
clumped together in my baking and caused my cupcakes to crumble and fall apart
once done.”
“Oh it’s alright Rachel. I wasn’t satisfied with what I recommended to you
either that day; that’s why I did some research on my own. There’s this product
called SugarLike, you can get it on Amazon, and I got mine 2 days ago.” There
was happiness and pure excitement in her voice, “It’s perfect for you Rachel,
the ratio it bakes in is 1:1, and it tastes just like sugar. I promise, this one
I back fully.” From the joy in her eyes, I also found some excitement in me.
Maybe I wouldn’t need to compromise during my keto diet!
I went home that afternoon and took Lindsay’s advice. I ordered
some SugarLike online and it was amazing! Lindsay wasn’t kidding, SugarLike
really is a great product. It had no off tastes, it measures 1:1 like sugar,
and it’s great for baking!
Lindsay’s recommendations have rarely ever failed me. And after
ordering and trying my own SugarLike bag, that point still stands.
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