Stupid stupid stupid!

Kali112

UGH! I am so frustrated right now. I only have around 15-20lbs to lose and i have been trying for so, so long and I just can't do it! io have been trying to lose the same amount of weight for THREE YEARS and just succeeded in going up and down which is reall, really disheartening.

A few days ago i decided to cut out carbs and sugar, yesterday and today I felt soooo depressed and odd-can't explain it-i just felt very flat and irritable to the point of crying. nothing else has happened to cause it so I can only assume it is sugar withdrawal. So, after a few days of doing well, today as usual i broke it and caved in and ended up eating biscuits which totally ruined everything.

Has anyone ever tried to quit sugar before? Am i being stupid to go cold-turkey? I guess i know the answer myself but just wanted to discuss it as i am feeling so unbelievably FED UP right now.

BranMuffin86

From personal experience I wouldn't cut anything out of my diet. Cut back but not out. That lead me to binge when the craving just got to strong. Plus when you reintroduce carbs and sugar to your diet again there's a huge chance you might gain the weight back. That's just what happened to me. It might be different for you. Good luck!

Matt24442

IF M NOT MISTAKEN, COLD TURKEY HAS SOME SUGAR IN IT

sammniamii

Cutting sugar cold-turkey WILL produce exactly as you described. It will SUCK, you will be miserable and grumpy. It gets worse if you cut other things like caffeine as well, which can have a true withdraw effect.

Best tip - start off SLOW. Find a number (of carbs) and see where you are normally. Minus 50 a week. If you do too much too fast, you won't be able to keep at it for long.

Good luck.

PLUS - if you can't drop those last 20 pounds - hit the doctor. Make sure nothing unseen is going on.

Cutting a food unless you have a medical issues isn't always a good thing. Trying to find a happy medium is always best.

laserturkey

I think you would be smart to give yourself a break and eat at maintenance calories for a few weeks. Then try eating at a slight deficit. Since you don't have all that much weight to lose, set MFP to a half pound a week and stick to that for slow, comfortable weight loss. Unless you have a medical reason to restrict sugar, you needn't bother.

Shuuma

I'm pretty sure that not budging weight wise has more to do with calories in vs. calories out than actual sugar consumption. I'm not an expert on sugar withdrawal, but I am an expert on pigging out on things I'm supposed to stop eating. If I allow myself a little portion when I want it, I have less desire to eat every cookie in the tri-state area.

Don't beat yourself up, start over today if you're determined to cut sugar out of your diet, and maybe re-evaluate your caloric intake vs. your exercise regimen. As an aside, carbs will boost your blood sugar, too, so cutting both out may have caused a bit of a crash.

Hang in there!

Edited for typos.

kbolton322

I've cut out bread before... it was hard the first few days but I ended up doing it for 40days ( its was for lent)... I also cut out my sodas for 90days then started stressing and started drinking them again... but I'm going to cut both out again after christmas...

JessyLovesJCS

Oh, same for me! I was weepy and moody and snappy....and I never am! I didn't even cut out all sugar or carbs (70g/day)! At 110-120g carbs per day, my mood is so much more pleasant! I figure I'll stay here for a while and then cut back to 90-110g in January.

Debbjones

I cut out nearly all sugar from my diet (one can never cut out ALL sugar!)... cold turkey... but that was for medical reasons (type II Diabetic) and I used (still use) sugar substitutes. It is doable, but unless you have a medical reason, I would not jump on the "no sugar bandwagon". Going cold turkey will make you feel deprived... that could be what you are experiencing... Best of luck to you!

mhopp71

you should look at my diary as i eat sugar everyday. you just have to find what works for you. a healthy calorie deficit with exercise is the way to go. make sure to log everything and weigh your food to assure accuracy. If you look at this as i will never be able to eat this or that again you most likely won't make it. I still eat a whole frozen pizza once in a while and donuts every now and again. it is just not 4 times a week with 1000 calorie ice cream chaser anymore. You can do this!

losingwhatican

I've been trying to lose weight for three years, too. It is so frustrating. I've tried eliminating certain foods from my diet, not eating after hours at night, going raw, and just out-exercising a bad diet. None of it works because it's not sustainable! Eventually you get sick of it, or frustrated because there are no results, so you give up and then feel even worse.

I think there are very few people who could keep up with a no-sugar diet. It takes a lot of mental and emotional energy. What I'm trying now is If It Fits Your Macros, which allows for "junk" in moderation as long as you get the nutrients you need within your daily caloric allowance. While I still slip up here and there (more often than I'd like to admit), I'm not driving myself crazy with "forbidden" foods and obsessing over deprivation - I'm focusing on nourishing myself and eating enough of what I need. It's too soon to know if it's working for weight loss, but I'm much happier, and that means a lot for someone who's been struggling for so long.

I hope you find something that works for you and makes you happy!

lighteningjeanne855

I applaud your decision to cut sugar out of your diet.
You have what Aktins called, The Low-Carb Flu.
It will pass in a few days, just 'soldier through'.
Atkins.com is an excellent website for your challenge.

Furthermore, I gave up sugar and all grains back in July.
My 'kick in the pants' was the desire to control my diabetes.
The outcome?
I have NO PROBLEMS with hunger or any kind of cravings,
AT ALL!

Forgive yourself for the slip-up.
The best things in life are worth repeated attempts at success!

Best wishes!

Kali112

Thanks so much for your replies...even the one about cold turkey having sugar in it-which actually made me laugh, although i'm not sure if you were saying it to be sarcastic or not!

There is no medical reason for my lack of weightloss. It is just lack of willpower and constant binging/dieting when I am not eating 'normally'. Looks like I will be starting over tomorrow with some sugar. Feel a bit better now (after eating sugar, haha).

fitmomhappymom

Sugar is my weakness as well. I have successfully cut down on sugar by cutting out a few things from my daily routine little by little. I like eating something sweet every night after dinner, so I started with 1 single serve cup of ice cream (160 cals) and then transitioned to frozen chocolate covered banana slices (made by Dole, in the frozen food section, 100 calories per package) and then to 45 calorie ice cream bars which didn’t taste like much. I’m proud to say the past 2 weeks I’ve done without dessert completely.
I’ve also cut coffee out of my routine, which coffee for me was 60% coffee, 20% creamer, 20% sugar and replaced that ritual with hot tea, nothing added. Its definitely still a work in progress, especially as I LOVE wine, but my progress is trending upwards.

TeaBea

Lifestyle changes ..............yes it sucks. I too love my sugar, but I know that giving up sugar for the rest of my life for 15 pounds.....ain't gonna happen.

So I decided to incorporate sugar into my diet. I eat low (processed) sugar meals, but I am allowed 1 or 2 sugary snacks...that's all. I choose wisely, and eat sugar later in the day. My biggest craving is chocolate....so a snack is a Ghiradelli chocolate square......another chocolate goodie ...Oreos thin crisps ....these come in a 100 calorie pack.

When I do lose the weight ......I still have to manage my sugar craving. Going "cold turkey" ....helps to kick start a diet......but it's not a miracle cure.

skullshank

I applaud your decision to cut sugar out of your diet.
You have what Aktins called, The Low-Carb Flu.
It will pass in a few days, just 'soldier through'.
Atkins.com is an excellent website for your challenge.

Best wishes!

Sabine_Stroehm

Thanks so much for your replies...even the one about cold turkey having sugar in it-which actually made me laugh, although i'm not sure if you were saying it to be sarcastic or not!

There is no medical reason for my lack of weightloss. It is just lack of willpower and constant binging/dieting when I am not eating 'normally'. Looks like I will be starting over tomorrow with some sugar. Feel a bit better now (after eating sugar, haha).

I cut most added sugar out of my diet years ago. The first few days were tough. Then it wasn't tough. Then I found it much easier NOT to over eat when I was trying to eat at a deficit.
I didn't cut out fruit. I did cut out white sugar, and looked carefully at added sugars in things like sauces and dressings, and cut out white bread.
Oh, and I stopped eating any foods I knew to have HFCS as well.

For ME (ymmv) that was the key. Losing weight is about finding the right number of calories to create a deficit. How you manage it is up to personal preference.

twixlepennie

Calories in. Calories out. Period.

jofjltncb6

Calories in. Calories out. Period.

*except for sugar...because sugar is different...and special...and evil.

Bad, sugar...bad.

Myhaloslipped

IF M NOT MISTAKEN, COLD TURKEY HAS SOME SUGAR IN IT

I have no idea why this comment made me laugh really, really hard. :laugh:

Cranquistador

honey, honey.

Phoenix_Warrior

Calories in. Calories out. Period.

*except for sugar...because sugar is different...and special...and awesome.

Tasty, sugar is tasty.

Fixed for yous

vjohn04

awww , honey, honey.

fify

Escloflowne

I applaud your decision to cut sugar out of your diet.
You have what Aktins called, The Low-Carb Flu.
It will pass in a few days, just 'soldier through'.
Atkins.com is an excellent website for your challenge.

Furthermore, I gave up sugar and all grains back in July.
My 'kick in the pants' was the desire to control my diabetes.
The outcome?
I have NO PROBLEMS with hunger or any kind of cravings,
AT ALL!

Forgive yourself for the slip-up.
The best things in life are worth repeated attempts at success!

Best wishes!

BenjaminMFP88

I applaud your decision to cut sugar out of your diet.
You have what Aktins called, The Low-Carb Flu.
It will pass in a few days, just 'soldier through'.
Atkins.com is an excellent website for your challenge.

Huh?

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Have you tried a consistent, small-moderate calorie deficit where no food is "off-limits" as long as you get enough protein and fat?

skullshank

honey, honey.

HAZ SHOOGER! THERE4 IT IZ DA DEBIL!

jofjltncb6

Have you tried a consistent, small-moderate calorie deficit where no food is "off-limits" as long as you get enough protein and fat?

Don't be ridiculous.

This crazy idea would never work...for anyone...ever.

Okay, now, back to the serious discussion...

...which is, sugar is bad. Surely everyone can agree on this important point, right?

cmriverside

Where are the Sugar Police with their walls o' links?

OP, maybe you just need to weigh out your food and enter it into a Food Diary, sort of like the one on Myfitnesspal. It worked for me...and a few thousand others.

JoRocka

Cutting sugar cold-turkey WILL produce exactly as you described. It will SUCK, you will be miserable and grumpy. It gets worse if you cut other things like caffeine as well, which can have a true withdraw effect.

Best tip - start off SLOW. Find a number (of carbs) and see where you are normally. Minus 50 a week. If you do too much too fast, you won't be able to keep at it for long.

Good luck.

PLUS - if you can't drop those last 20 pounds - hit the doctor. Make sure nothing unseen is going on.

Cutting a food unless you have a medical issues isn't always a good thing. Trying to find a happy medium is always best.

this is pretty on point.

I cut processed sugar on purpose for a discipline challenge and it was BRUTAL- I ate a CRAP load of fruit to compensate for it.

Then the next 6 weeks I tapered off the fruit. it wasn't pretty -sometimes you do it JUST for the pure discipline- but I never cut anything on purpose permanently other than for health reasons. it's just not sustainable.

DavidSTC

I once quit caffeine and all carbs, including sugar, to start Atkins many moons ago. I thought my head was going to explode. I walked through the grocery store, and I swear to you that I could smell the candy section from three aisles away. I had no idea that I had such an addiction. I don't do Atkins anymore, but I will credit it for getting me off all of the sugar I was eating before. I can have some now in small doses, and I'm fine. But, back then, I was completely addicted. And, mostly it was addictions to those so-called "no-fat" treats ... you know, the ones that turn into fat if you don't burn them off. Hell, even now, I'm amazed how I go over the recommended sugar daily intake, and that's if I just have some honey, sweetened granola and fruit.