Cut down sugar challenge!

coffeeaddict882

Hi all! I am trying to get out of a weight loss plateau and get healthier overall by cutting down on added sugar. I will give you the disclaimer of extreme for me may not be the same as extreme for you. I eat a lot of candy, particularly in the evenings, and I do use sweetened creamer in my coffee. My plan for the next 10 days is:
1. Milk instead of creamer in my coffee
2. No sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners (including stevia, sucralose, etc) added to any of my meals
3. One small piece of chocolate allowed for dessert each day.
4. Fruit is ok

Who is with me?! Post below if you are interested and your own personal goals. We will plan to post how we did every evening and be a source of motivation to one another!

stephaniejoy1618

This is similar to my goal! However, I can't stand the taste of water. I use the Propel drink mixes w/ every 32oz. of water. I've been trying to cut out coffee, but I will occasionally have 1-3 cups per week. I also add a little Splenda to that. I eat a lot of fruits as well! I've cut out candy and chocolate completely though. That's the hard part for me! I love chocolate. Good luck!

suruda

Same here...but I do use sugar free creamer and have sugar free werther caramels around for "emergencies". It feels good to get the sugar problem under control!

We eat fruit, but no processed sugar.

Treehugger_88

Yes I am in! Yours are very similar to my goals. I LOVE chocolate and about a year ago I cut it down by a lot and lost 15 lbs, then for work I was doing some really extreme remote field work for weeks at a time where I didn't have time to eat and ran out of food a few times. I'd get back to civilization and then have 3 days to eat as much as possible before going back into the wilderness again. So I got into this sort of "feast and famine" situation. Then field work season ended and now I'm struggling to get out of the feast part. Chocolate is my crutch (dark chocolate, hot chocolate, nutella, chocolate cake) and some days/weeks I can keep it to a minimum, but others I end up over-indulging, and now seem to need more and more to satisfy the cravings. I've gained 10 of the 15 pounds back. I will cut it out for 10 days then see how I feel, maybe slowly reintroduce it into my diet. I will open my food diary for accountability. I always log everything. I find that if I eat something with added/refined sugar (not sugar combined with fibre), then I become a sugar-fiend for the rest of the day.

1. No added sugar treats apart from one piece per day of the home-made chocolate peanut butter protein bites I made yesterday.
2. Fruit is okay. The fibre combined with the sugar fills me up enough that I don't feel the need to keep eating.

coffeeaddict882

Hi guys! Just checking in how the first day went. I will say, for me it was pretty easy until about 2-3pm and was even harder after dinner despite having my one allowed dessert. I stuck to it, and if nothing else it made me realize how much unhealthy sweet binging i have been doing after dinner by noting what feeling it was that I wasn't letting myself act on. It was also hard when my husband ate bread pudding with ice cream and hot chocolate for dessert!

TheCupcakeCounter

I have been doing this (successfully) for about 6 weeks now so feel fee to friend me and ask any questions. For the record I was going through 1 of the large bottles coffee creamer per week plus copious amounts of chocolate and other candy so it was not pleasant. A few things I found that help:
date rolls - very sweet and filling but with no added sugar
no-sugar added chocolate protein powder + unsweetened cocoa powder in fruit smoothies
mint leaves and raspberries in water or green tea for some flavor

Riskay123

I am also trying something similar.
I am on week 7 now of an 8-week sugar kicking program. I am not eat anything with added fructose. I am also staying away from dried fruit, sugar, honey, agave and artificial sweeteners. I do eat whole fruit but I try to stick to low fructose fruit such as berries and kiwi fruit. I did cut out fruit for about 4 weeks to try and make my pallet adjust to reduces sweetness in my diet. I did miss fruit when I couldn't have it but now that I am used to food that is not sweet I don't really want it anymore. Looking forward to reading all of your posts and watching your progress.

Treehugger_88

@coffeeaddict882 Way to go on day 1! I had already eaten chocolate when I replied to your post yesterday morning so my day 1 is today lol.

@Riskay123 Wow I can't imagine cutting out fruit too! I think I would go crazy! I am vegetarian by choice, HATE everything about meat, so fruit makes up a large part of my diet, especially drupes.

coffeeaddict882

Hey guys, how did the day go?! I had a similar midday craving but do feel that now that my breakfasts have been savory rather than sweet, that sets me up a little better for success. Knowing that I get a piece of chocolate or two at the end of the day is helpful too. Day 2 down, let me know how your day (no matter what day you're on) went!

Riskay123

My day has been pretty good. No sugar eaten here except one small kiwi fruit this afternoon.

DEBOO7

I don't do sugar or sweeteners (unless it's stevia or erythritol) and haven't for nearly 3 years. That's no ice cream, sweets, cakes, biscuits, soft drink, beer etc and only berries for fruit or the occasional piece of rock melon. It does get easier the longer you stick to it. In New Zealand there's an 'I Quit Sugar' program which is very popular and has good success.

Riskay123

Thats the program i'm doing. I am loving it. The meal plans make it easy and they support you the whole way through.

Treehugger_88

Yesterday went well! Had some blueberries for dessert. Mid-afternoon is also tough for me, but I will have tea/coffee or fruit instead of chocolate.

Keep it up!

coffeeaddict882

Great job everybody!

coffeeaddict882

How's everybody's day going? I had a little more dessert that I planned today but I'm staying positive and motivated. Still did well during the day and still doing better compared to normal.

Treehugger_88

I'm still good on the sugar front. I've been having some blueberries and a few tbsp of natural peanut butter as snack/dessert. And staying within my calories!

Riskay123

All good today. They had cake fruit and cheese platters at work today. I ate the cheese only so feeling pretty good about that.

wellthenwhat

I'm in! I'm a sugar addict. Plan is to stay under my sugar allowance on mfp

Treehugger_88

Well I didn't have any sugar today but was really craving it and went over my calorie allowance with peanut butter and sunflower seeds. Tomorrow will be better!

wellthenwhat

My office had root beer floats today. I had to turn mine down, didn't fit in my grams Did get a half a cup of ice cream with chocolate sauce, though. It is hard to come up with meals and snacks without sugar, though! Had an egg with cheese for supper, might get a buttered toast yet, if I'm still hungry after a while. Really craving a sugary drink

Riskay123

I didn't eat any sugar today they did have big fruit platter at work today and I was tempted to grab some water melon but I held out

wellthenwhat

I'm gonna have to cut down hard on the sugar in my breakfast tea to meet my sugar goals today

coffeeaddict882

@wellthenwhat welcome! And hang in there, it will get easier! I will say that though I will admit I've had some cravings, I do feel that cutting down has decreased them. @Treehugger_88 I agree, I have noticed that when I'm really craving, I tend to eat a lot more of other foods when I'm trying to resist. I hope that will get better as we get more used to it. Hang in there everybody!

trigden1991

You're cutting out sweeteners (which have zero calories) but allowing chocolate, on a "cut down sugar challenge"? What's the point?

Set your calories to a suitable level, eat any foods to hit your goal and you'll make progress.

Riskay123

@Riskay123 Wow I can't imagine cutting out fruit too! I think I would go crazy! I am vegetarian by choice, HATE everything about meat, so fruit makes up a large part of my diet, especially drupes.

I was a little difficult but I think it sped up getting over the cravings process considerably. It allows your pallet to reset so sweet things like bananas taste almost too sweet and hard to finish and things like cakes are not enjoyable because they are too sweet. I did have half a banana a few days after re introducing fruit and it was very sweet. I didn't want to eat the whole thing. I have not tried any cakes or cookies yet to I don't really know how I will find them.

The things I have noticed since cutting back are:

• The hormones that control appetite have kicked in and are no longer suppressed by the fructose. So my brain is telling my body when I have eaten enough. Before I was a huge overeater.
• I no longer track my calories or what I eat. I know most people on this site will think that is crazy but my brain is now its own calorie counter so I don't need to. I do make sure I eat a lot of veggies than I did before but that is the only conscious decision I make about my food.
• I hardly ever feel hungry anymore and if I do get hungry it isn't that crazy hungry feeling that I used to get where I wanted to rip the head of anyone who got between me and my next meal. I can acknowledge that I am feeling hungry and still keep working and wait an hour or so if I need to and still be able to remain focuses on what I am doing.
• My mind is very clear and I have a sense of calmness. I know that sounds a bit hippy dippy but I don't really know how to better explain it.
• I have lost 4kg in 8 weeks with very little exercise as I have an injured foot and had surgery during this 8 weeks I was on this program. I know my body has changed size in cm but I have not measured myself yet. I am waiting until next Saturday morning to do this once I have finished the program.

I know it isn't for everyone but for me this is the best thing I have ever done. And I honestly feel that I can keep living this way. Now that I no longer crave sweet things I don't feel like I am missing out when everyone at work is chomping down on a cake or sweet biscuits that seem to be there every day.

pioneermom2

I'll join!

simmoner4

Last day of sugar was dec. 31, holding out to my birthday in a week and a half then totally having froyo with a cookie on top

wellthenwhat

I am currently wanting to eat everything in the house, sweet or not!

ChaleGirl

I'm in! I was added sugar free for months. I was eating fruits. I felt so good but went on holiday and started eating sugar as I didn't want to be too restrictive and wanted to drink! I've been back 5 days and can't stop eating sugar. It's time to go cold turkey again!!! Once you're in the routine of doing it, it's not too bad!

wellthenwhat

Had a good day today. Got half a doughnut, brownie and some grapes, brownie was almost too much. Its starting to get easier to stay under my goal

coffeeaddict882

@trigden1991 everyone is doing heir own plan. The no artificial sweeteners for me is my personal goal and not something everyone else is necessarily doing. It is something I've been doing for a couple years now. Artificial sweeteners trigger the brain to think the body is ingesting sugar and get ready for a full stomach. Then when they doesn't happen, it can cause hunger. (Source: I'm a physician- I'm not just making things up). For me personally, it also causes headaches and stomach pain. Additionally, since stopping diet soda, i lost a few pounds and had less sweet cravings naturally. There are also a lot of hormonal and enzymatic factors that act in hunger, weight loss, and metabolism and I'm a firm believer that we don't know everything about everything yet. I personally find 1-2 pieces of chocolate a day healthier than artificial sweeteners. For me it's not just about weight loss, it's about good physical and mental health as well.