Sugar

Annadel

Hi All

Anyone here successfully reduced their sugar intake. I have a huge belly despite doing decent amount of excercise/running. I am not a big eater but sugar is my definite weakness. I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day loaded with sugar. How do I kick this habbit. It is really sabotaging my efforts to get fit.

Thanks

T1DCarnivoreRunner

Instead of coffee with sugar, have you tried using non-caloric sweeteners like sucralose, aspartame, or saccharin? That way you get the sweet taste, but not the calories.

TropicalParaMonster

Well I was like you when it came to coffee. Now I drink my coffee dark, no cream or sugar.
You can take one of two approaches, or try them out both to see what works:

• Decrease the amount of sugar gradually in your coffee. If you have 2 spoonfuls, try 1 &1/2 -> 1 -> half etc.
• Cold turkey. Try to go dark right away. That's what I did, it's an acquired taste I trained myself to like. Nowadays when I have coffee or tea that's how I have it.

The thing is with sugar, like carbs, activates a "reward system pathway" in your brain. When you have some now, you're going to crave some tomorrow at the same time and the day after that too. That's why some people figure cold turkey is great because it's hard at first but it kicks the habit. Once you've mastered that, you can try to limit yourself and your amounts.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Ive cut out my refined/processed sugars to 99% of the time. I did it by eating healthy foods that fill me up and making sure I have enough protein in my diet.I just made the choice to cut those things out for a month and went from there. The first 2 weeks I was able to eat that stuff in moderation and could control how much of it I consumed.

I dont have the cravings for it now and can go weeks without it at a time if I want to. If I want it I will eat a very small bit.If you want to completely cut it out you have to get it out of the house if you can or think it will tempt you.I couldnt do that in my house because others eat what they want and wont go along with my lifestyle.so I had to just make the decision for myself. If you can get past the first 2 weeks you should be ok

cut down on the amount of sugar you put in your coffee and keep cutting down until you dont add any.for some you have to wean yourself off it slowly. for me I did it cold turkey.

Tea_Mistress

Maybe try going a few days completely without any sugar, I've heard that going cold turkey can sometimes reduce cravings for sugar altogether
Sweeteners are also an option to save calories

ndj1979

if you are not losing fat then you are not in a calorie deficit, sugar consumption has nothing to do with it…unless of course, your sugar consumption is putting you in a surplus...

ndj1979

TropicalParaMonster wrote: »

Well I was like you when it came to coffee. Now I drink my coffee dark, no cream or sugar.
You can take one of two approaches, or try them out both to see what works:

• Decrease the amount of sugar gradually in your coffee. If you have 2 spoonfuls, try 1 &1/2 -> 1 -> half etc.
• Cold turkey. Try to go dark right away. That's what I did, it's an acquired taste I trained myself to like. Nowadays when I have coffee or tea that's how I have it.

The thing is with sugar, like carbs, activates a "reward system pathway" in your brain. When you have some now, you're going to crave some tomorrow at the same time and the day after that too. That's why some people figure cold turkey is great because it's hard at first but it kicks the habit. Once you've mastered that, you can try to limit yourself and your amounts.

LOL no …

Annadel

I did try artificial sweeteners but it just made the coffee taste so bad and gave me headaches. Today I went from 1.5 spoons to 1 spoon. Hope I can gradually go to no sugar completely. My big belly makes me look 5 mo preggers. I struggle so much with food.

ndj1979

Annadel wrote: »

I did try artificial sweeteners but it just made the coffee taste so bad and gave me headaches. Today I went from 1.5 spoons to 1 spoon. Hope I can gradually go to no sugar completely. My big belly makes me look 5 mo preggers. I struggle so much with food.

do you own a food scale?

Do you weigh/log/measure everything?

If the answer is no, then you need to start doing both. Your problem is more likely not correctly estimating calories/overeating and has nothing to do with sugar….

Annadel

I dont own a food scale and I also dont really measure much. I just have lacked the discipline. I do excecise very regularly and eat mostly healthy. But i tend to eat more than I burnt off in calories hence the huge belly?

Kalikel

When experts say you should cut back on sugar, they mean added sugars. Cut the cakes, candies, cookies, donuts, pop - that kind of stuff. They don't mean you must eliminate fruit and all carbohydrates.

Fruit is yummy, nutritious and good for you. Grains and fiber are good for you.

When I cut the donuts, et cetera, I did it cold turkey. It was difficult for a while, but I cut a lot of other stuff at the same time, too.

Once it is not a habit, it's really easy to skip that stuff. Honestly. I can walk past the Oreos without wanting to grab them. I can see a box of donuts and resist the urge to pick one up.

It gets easier.

If your goal is to be healthy, you will not eliminate all sugars.

MoochieRama

Do kettleWorx, your belly will go down!

zoeysasha37

ndj1979 wrote: »

if you are not losing fat then you are not in a calorie deficit, sugar consumption has nothing to do with it…unless of course, your sugar consumption is putting you in a surplus...

This. If your not losing, then your not in a deficit. I have sugar everyday, it hasn't affected me at all

FatFreeFrolicking

Annadel wrote: »

I dont own a food scale and I also dont really measure much. I just have lacked the discipline. I do excecise very regularly and eat mostly healthy. But i tend to eat more than I burnt off in calories hence the huge belly?

Your 'huge belly' isn't from sugar- it's from a calorie surplus.

I highly suggest going out and purchasing a food scale. You MUST weigh your food. If you don't, you won't know how many calories you are consuming and will likely overeat.

wesleytf

I cut out sugar from my coffee cold turkey--like you, 2-3 cups a day or more and loaded with cream sugar. I had a slight headache for almost a week, but it's gone away now, and I find myself not even reaching for the sugar anymore. I've just made it off limits.

I had a friend who used to put in a jar the same amount of sugar as he put in his coffee/on his cereal, etc, to see how much it added up to in a week. That's some motivation that's easy to see.

xael1234

I cut out all soda and also sugar in my coffee. I had to do it in steps and definitely felt the lack of sugar but feel much better now without it. It took a few months to stop soda completely. I had flavored coffee the other day and it was way too sweet, this coming from someone who use to put 3-4 tsp of sugar in her coffee lol, like it so much better without any now

YesIAm17

MoochieRama wrote: »

Do kettleWorx, your belly will go down!

Even in a surplus? who knew!

Sabine_Stroehm

wesleytf wrote: »

I cut out sugar from my coffee cold turkey--like you, 2-3 cups a day or more and loaded with cream sugar. I had a slight headache for almost a week, but it's gone away now, and I find myself not even reaching for the sugar anymore. I've just made it off limits.

I had a friend who used to put in a jar the same amount of sugar as he put in his coffee/on his cereal, etc, to see how much it added up to in a week. That's some motivation that's easy to see.

That's smart.

Sabine_Stroehm

Thorsmom05 wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

if you are not losing fat then you are not in a calorie deficit, sugar consumption has nothing to do with it…unless of course, your sugar consumption is putting you in a surplus...

This. If your not losing, then your not in a deficit. I have sugar everyday, it hasn't affected me at all

How do you know?

ndj1979

Annadel wrote: »

I dont own a food scale and I also dont really measure much. I just have lacked the discipline. I do excecise very regularly and eat mostly healthy. But i tend to eat more than I burnt off in calories hence the huge belly?

you need to get a food scale and weigh/log/measure everything ….you are more than likely underestimating calories and eating more than you think…

lemurcat12

Annadel wrote: »

Anyone here successfully reduced their sugar intake.

Sure. IMO, logging helps a lot, as if you are getting a disproportionate number of calories from sweets or sugar in the coffee or the like, you will see it and can start cutting it.

For me, focusing on cutting things alone isn't especially helpful. What works is focusing on eating a healthy balanced diet and getting enough of the other stuff, like protein and vegetables and the like. Then, don't eat more of the extras than fit in your calories. If I have room at the end of the day (I often do) I have ice cream, but if I don't, I don't.

If you feel like you are not able to exercise control over certain kinds of sweet things, you might want to try and focus on why that is. I was in the habit of using sweet treats (because they are always around at work) as a reward when I felt bad, and so had fallen into some patterns of emotional eating. Thus, for me it helped to just cut out snacking in general and cut out sweets for a couple of weeks, just so I'd learn I didn't need the crutch and break the habit. Other people have specific triggers they have to learn to deal with.

If it's just sugar in your coffee why not try cutting it down. I never liked sugar in coffee, but that's how I went from drinking it with milk/cream to black years ago. Keeping in a spoonful probably isn't many calories.