^- Peanut butter and jelly.
- Poo poo.
- Cool, I love having boys!
(upbeat music)
Sugar.
Everything has sugar!
^I'm Hannah.
^I'm the world's OK-est mom
and my family has a sugar problem.
Now, I feel like it's my fault
because I'm a busy working mom
and I let a lot of things slide,
and I kind of say yes a little bit too much.
So now my kids are expecting treats all the time.
And I feel like their behavior is suffering as a result.
They're not getting good sleep.
And they're throwing a lot of tantrums lately.
Now, I'm not a nutritionist, but I think we can all agree
that too much sugar is not good for you.
So I want to try something.
For one whole week, I'm gonna cut out all added sugar
from my family's diets.
Now I'm not saying we're gonna last a whole week.
I'm not saying we're gonna be okay with this.
And we might end up eating each other at the end.
But I'm gonna stay positive and see what happens.
So wish us luck!
So some ground rules for the week
because sugar is kind of a broad term.
The sugar that we were cutting out
was added, processed sugar.
We weren't cutting out fruit,
we're not cutting out fruit juice.
But anything that has sugar added to it,
or any processed sugar at all was off the table.
So I went specially grocery shopping
at the beginning of the week for this experiment.
Goodbye!
So I am pretty shaken up
over how much stuff actually has sugar in it.
I felt completely lost in that grocery store
and I was like, checking every label.
And I'd get through like 90% of the ingredients,
and then boom, at the bottom, sugar!
I was very surprised to see just how much has sugar in it
that I've thrown in my cart and not even thought about.
Like tomato sauce.
When I was looking at the different brands,
I actually found one that didn't have sugar in it.
So had I just taken the time before to check,
I wouldn't be purchasing tomato sauce
^with sugar all this time.
^He's upset 'cause he really wanted Kix cereal
and we're doing cottage cheese and fruit.
Hmm. - I do not like this.
- Well, you're eating your oranges.
I'm proud of you.
^Okay, so I totally forgot we have catered lunch today.
Nope.
I don't know what's on this.
Nope.
This is my plate.
It looks like a rabbit's plate.
This is Allison's plate 'cause she eats meat.
(laughing)
But I literally I,
I'm like not looking forward to this.
It's like wet kale.
Getting hungry really dawned on me
that I'm gonna be doing a lot of cooking this week.
^You want dinner?
^- Sure.
- [Hannah] You wanna eat the broccoli I'm making?
- No.
- Yes!
Tonight we're gonna have some roasted broccoli
and some chicken and tri-tip for the boys.
You did pretty good!
Jackson got some broccoli, tri-tip, chicken.
Inside-out PJ shirt.
It is 8 p.m. and we are currently eating.
So in addition to changing my shopping habits,
I had to change my whole wind down, evening,
me time, relaxation habits.
I get home from work, we do dinner, get the kids in bed.
And then that's my time to shine.
And I park my butt right here on this couch,
grab a pint of ice cream, turn on my true crime shows,
and I just
slug out.
Now, I try to deny this to my kids.
I try to pretend like it doesn't happen.
But they know.
^I'm not eating sugar.
^- [Hannah] No I'm not.
^- No.
So the kids are asleep and this is typically the time
that I would raid the freezer
and get some ice cream,
or get some candy.
But I'm not gonna do that.
My body is like, come on, it's time!
But no.
So I'm gonna eat some kale snacks that my mom gave me.
^So, I made this oatmeal this morning.
^It took forever and I'm gonna throw some blackberries on it.
And that's breakfast!
I ended up having to make oatmeal from scratch
because a lot of the packaged oatmeal
and the instant oatmeal has sugar in it if it's flavored.
- The oatmeal is really good.
^- [Hannah] Oh my god, you like it?
^- Yeah!
^- Nice!
They were super excited about the oatmeal I made,
and were like, oh, it's actually good!
That's some dank oatmeal.
I probably shouldn't say dank.
Dank is done 'cause I said it.
Dank is officially over.
No one can say that anymore.
I'm sorry to the youth.
So very quickly, I realized that at work,
I needed to bring all of my own food
because I work at Tasty.
It's the most epic food channel ever
and there's always the most delicious food
just coming out of that kitchen 24/7.
It's just too tempting with all the snacks,
and all the catered lunches
and all this delicious food that's always there.
^Nick and I are having our healthy lunches.
- [Nick] Well, mine's not that healthy.
- Kind of.
I want dessert!
I didn't bring a piece of fruit.
I should have brought like a piece of fruit with me.
And I ended up starting to live vicariously
through my co-workers.
Can you just taste it and tell me how it tastes?
- Yeah.
Mm, mm.
- [Hannah] Am I missing out?
- Yeah.
- There's something really satisfying
about watching someone else enjoy food.
I'd be like all up in their mouth.
Like let me see.
It's chocolate and white chocolate and shortbread.
Is it good? - Mm.
^- All right, another morning, another breakfast grind
and lunch grind.
What do you want?
- I want a cheese quesadilla.
- Jackson has requested oatmeal,
and Wyatt has requested a quesadilla this morning.
So I'm making it because it doesn't have any sugar.
But it's really tough when they each ask
for something different.
And I have to make two breakfasts.
I'm actually feeling okay today.
My face is a little less puffy.
Usually it's really puffy when I wake up.
And I think that's partially due to the excessive amount
of ice cream I eat at night (laughs).
For me, I have a really big sweet tooth
and I realized throughout this week how much
I rely on sugar for energy throughout the day.
I am the first one home this evening.
So I'm going to go ahead and start making dinner.
Today was pretty difficult
but I feel like it's getting easier.
Although, I do have a crazy work week this week
and I have noticed that me craving sugar
has kind of clouded my ability to work a little.
'Cause I'm thinking about it a lot more
and kind of craving it.
But I have a great dinner planned tonight.
I'm making a falafel feast with this flatbread,
and hummus, and garlic spread,
and tabboleh, and tzatziki, and olives,
and it's gonna be delicious.
I'm very happy with this dinner.
The kids already ate.
I do feed them, I promise.
^Towards the end of the week, I really thought
^we had jumped over a hurdle.
Like we were on our way and doing great.
But then, I made the mistake of deviating
from my usual, special oatmeal
and I decided to make pancakes.
And I used this pancake mix that's, you know,
full of wheat flour, and protein, and no added sugar.
But then when I served 'em, I realized
I had nothing to put on top of them.
And that did not go over well.
He's crying cause I won't put syrup on his pancakes.
(crying)
I'm sorry sweetheart.
(crying)
So Matt agreed to participate in this experiment as well,
which I was really excited about
'cause we're all doing it as a family.
Obviously, we eat breakfast and dinner together
but I wanted him to suffer,
(laughs) like I was suffering.
But I don't know if I quite trust that he followed through
every day when he was gone at work.
How'd you do today?
- No added sugar.
- Oh, really? - I had a veggie burrito.
- Oh, really? - Mm-hmm.
- Hmm, really?
In his defense, I didn't make it easy for him.
Do you want ice cream?
Should we cheat?
- No. - No?
- It's been like five days.
Let's keep going.
- [Hannah] We have Magnum bars in the freezer.
- Why are you saying this?
- And just so you guys know
that I haven't edited this to make myself
look completely guilt-free
and like I did this experiment perfectly,
I have a confession.
^I messed up.
^- She cheated!
^- I messed up, I didn't mean to.
It was totally by accident.
I had a co-worker who was like, tasting all these things,
and she's like, can you taste this
and tell me if it's spicy?
And I'm like, oh, I love spicy food.
And I put it in my mouth and the second I did
I was like, ah, I can taste the sugar on it!
I just, my hands just grab food if it's offered.
And they just move right to my mouth.
My hands have a mind of their own, okay?
^Day six.
^Got my eye pads on.
For breakfast we are doing
a totally health food packed smoothie.
Oh, okay.
- Doughnuts, doughnuts!
- [Hannah] No, he's joking!
- I want doughnuts!
- Now, on the final day of this week we had an event.
My really good friend's son was turning three.
And she's having a big backyard birthday party for him.
There is nothing more tempting, sugar-wise,
^than a birthday party.
^So we're on the way to the birthday party.
^We have two arguing kids in the back.
So I'm a little nervous because they're already
in kind of gnarly moods and they haven't napped today.
How do you think we're gonna do
at this birthday party with no sugar?
- Oh yeah.
To be continued on that.
- So far, so good.
There's a bounce house.
- There he is.
- So, so far, so good.
At the end of the party, we were doing so well.
We're packing up our stuff to go
and I made the fatal mistake of peeing.
You parents out there know, you can never go
to the bathroom without something horrible happening.
Would you take a cupcake out
of your very temperamental three year old's hands
at a party with a bunch of other parents?
Yeah, no, I was not about to go there.
But then (laughs), when Wyatt has a cupcake in his hands,
that's not fair to Jackson.
So Jackson needs a cupcake and it just triggered
this chain of events of, like, ah you get a cupcake,
and you get a cupcake,
and I had to literally, like, yell at Matt
to back away from the cake.
Think about it.
Drop the knife.
Walk away.
Stop the cupcake cycle!
Like, stop.
Everybody stop.
And here's the kicker of the whole cupcake situation.
While I was in the bathroom,
Matt was outside with the kids.
Now, I'm not accusing him
of giving Wyatt the cupcake himself.
But all I know is that he assisted in unwrapping it.
- [Matt] Here, buddy.
- So, in total, we made it six and 3/4 of a day,
which is six days longer
than I really thought we would last.
Good enough.
So in conclusion, my learnings from this week.
One of the main reasons why I did this experiment
is because I was looking to see how it would affect my kids.
I was looking at their temperament, their behavior,
and their sleeping habits.
And I definitely saw improvement in all three.
They really did seem to have an improved mood
and more energy and just not crashing
so much at the end of the day.
Now for me, it kind of had the opposite effect.
I was so aware that we weren't eating any sugar,
it just made me think about it all the time.
And so I felt very distracted throughout the week.
(crunches) I'm really happy.
I love kale.
I love grass.
I kind of envy my kids, 'cause they were,
for the most part, oblivious to this experiment
because they have someone just making food for them.
I kind of wish I had this magic food maker
who just decided everything I got to eat.
Instead of me just eating a bunch
of cottage cheese all week.
So going forward, I really think
that there are a lot of swaps that we can do
and a lot of things we can be more conscious of.
Instead of cereal, serving oatmeal.
Or instead of packaged fruit bars,
we'll just eat fresh fruit.
I think those are little swaps and little changes
that are gonna help us long-term.
And I'm definitely gonna be more mindful
shopping in the grocery store to look at the ingredients
and really look for what I'm bringing into our house.
Because all of it has freakin' sugar!
All of it!
Ugh!
So that's all I got for today.
I'm Hannah and if you have any tips or tricks
to get your kids to eat better,
please leave them in the comments.
But be nice to each other, guys.
Because we're all just trying to get by here.
^Or you can text me, this is a real number,
^and I do read each and every one.
^I don't always respond because I get a lot
^but I love hearing what you guys have to say.
Now, if you'll please excuse me.
My kids are asleep.
This is my time to sit on the couch, like the sloth
that I am and enjoy a box of Girl Scout cookies.
Till next time!
(upbeat music)
I missed them.
I missed you!
Don't look at me! (laughs)