Hi I'm Jenny and I'm addicted to sugar... 30 day challenge

j_courter

:ohwell: okay, now that the cookie dough is out of my fridge, i'm ready to get serious about my eating. just because i've consistantly stayed under my calories each day doesn't mean i'm making healthy eating choices... i KNOW some of you know what i'm talking about!

october is probably one of the most difficult months fo me to eat healthy because i have four little kiddos who love nothing more than to share their halloween candy with their dear old mom. this is the challenge, avoiding processed sugars. i know even sugar from fruit can cause issues for some people, but i've got to start somewhere so for this challenge, sugar from fruit and other natural sources is fine but processed sugar is evil. is there anyone out there who would like to do this with me? i know i'm going to need all the support i can get! i repeat, this will NOT be easy for me and i need your help! :sad:

if you've already kicked the sugar habit and would like to support the rest of us, PLEASE do! is there anyone brave enough to do this with me?

Monica_has_a_goal

I'm also a sugar addict.. I always go over on sugar and protein..
Idk if i'd be much of a support but its good to know im not the only one struggling..

Keep your chin up and keep striving towards your goals

SallieBeige

Hello Jenny, I'm Sallie and I'm pretending I dislike that sickly stuff that melts in your mouth and thrills your tastebuds and ... moving quickly on ....

I find I am less tempted by sugar when I am not hungry so I have tried to fall in love with lots of veggies (or salad) instead.
Its not lot, but its all I've got! Good luck

christmre

Hi Jenny, I too have a serious sugar addiction. I am def. up for giving up sugar for October. I think that is a brilliant idea. I will send you a friend request and we can hopefully keep each other sane this month

wadesha

You can try turbinado sugar its 100% natural and less grams of sugar per serving than regular granulated sugar.

bds23

Hi Jenny! Im kind of new here also and have the same problem!!! Sweets are very hard for me to kick! I could definitely use a friend to help me out. Friend me if you would like :flowerforyou:

ohitefin

I severely limited my sugar intake for the last 6 months, no candy, no juices, no sodas (Of any kind), no rice, no corn (basically refined carbohydrates, which are pretty much just sugar). Trust me it's weird, since once you start cutting out sugar, you realize how much stuff actually has crazy amounts of sugar. A Can of Coke for example has 37 grams of Sugar (HFCS, which is worse, but still sugar). Go through the shopping aisle sometime soon and just look at the labels, everything, and I mean everything has HFCS.

To keep you motivated though, I've lost a little over 40 pounds since I gave up the sugar and started eating healthy food. If you want something sweet to satiate yourself try liquid Stevia, it's great and tastes awesome.

steffiejoe

Jenny you can do this I know you can. I have not touched any sugar (besides from veg/fruit) since I started my LC diet. Honestly the first 3 days were tough, I had a serious heachache but I pushed through. Good luck!!

linbee83

I am stalking you! No, I'm kidding. But, I joined another challenge to give up fast food for October, and added that I wanted to give up candy for October. (Seems like Lent in fall!). So, I'll stick by you on this challenge too if you stick by me! (As I know you are awesome at!)

j_courter

I am stalking you! No, I'm kidding. But, I joined another challenge to give up fast food for October, and added that I wanted to give up candy for October. (Seems like Lent in fall!). So, I'll stick by you on this challenge too if you stick by me! (As I know you are awesome at!)

i heart you linbee! you're the best! :-) i'll do what i can and i'll encourage you to do your best too!

so, who's officially in??? i've got christmre, and linbee... any other takers?

j_courter

okay, no one else has to start until october... that ought to give you a chance to finish up some last minute yummies! :blushing: we'll hit it starting october 1st. i started tonight, opting for dill pickles when i really wanted ice cream or oreos, or even better... oreo ice cream! :embarassed: yeah, i know... like i said, this isn't going to be easy for me. i might die. if i do, just know that i loved all of my mfp peeps till the very end!

j_courter

day one- no (or drastically reduced) processed sugar challenge: well, it's only 1:15 here, but i'm checking in. i gave up my usual packed teaspoon of brown sugar on my oatmeal this morning. instead, i mixed my protien powder in with it, some pumpkin, cinnamon, and about 1/4 c of vanilla soy milk. breakfast sugar successfully avoided! for lunch i wanted a salad, but what on earth do you use as dressing if you can't use dressing with added sugar??? i didn't have any here without sugar in the ingredient list, so i opted for rice vinegar... not the tastiest stuff in the world, but it helped with the dryness of the salad. so far, so good...

brendalyne

Jenny - I actually really like a mixture of balsamic vinegar & a little olive oil on my salad.....no salt & no sugar! Stevia is also a good sugar alternative. I bought some liquid stevia on-line (chocolate raspberry flavored!) that I put in my smoothies...oatmeal.....yogurt. Pretty much anything!

It sounds like a great challenge....but that would mean giving up my dark chocolate! :frown: Hmmm.....thinking about it........

j_courter

brendalyne... i know what you mean- i looked at your diary and decided i HAD to buy some of that dove chocolate... it's awesome! oh rats, there i go again! i am determined to do this... even if it's only for a month! after that i guess it will depend on how different i feel. i've read a lot of studies that say sugar weakens our immunity, so that is going to be my driving force this month! we'll see how it goes. i may have to try your salad dressing, thanks!

Adrenaline_Queen

No one knows how hard it is, unless they to have a sugar habit... After I have eaten, I always want a sweet for afters... Must be from my childhood (always works blame the parents , )

I found the only way to get over the carbs is to stop all cakes and such... It is hard, very hard, but after about 3 days, you are over it!!

You can so this xxx

Adrenaline_Queen

brendalyne... i know what you mean- i looked at your diary and decided i HAD to buy some of that dove chocolate... it's awesome! oh rats, there i go again! i am determined to do this... even if it's only for a month! after that i guess it will depend on how different i feel. i've read a lot of studies that say sugar weakens our immunity, so that is going to be my driving force this month! we'll see how it goes. i may have to try your salad dressing, thanks!

Dont do it for a month.. Just try for one day!! Only one day... xx Then on the next day look back and try it again... xx Take it one day at a time.. Or just try a morning... xx

j_courter

adrenaline queen- thank you so much for the support. it's so nice to see there are people who have done this and lived!!!!

so what does everyone think about the more natural things that are still sugar??? i have sorghum in the cupboard, pure maple syrup, i've heard of stevia but never tried it... i'm at a loss here really, just trying to figure things out myself! i am certainly going to avoid adding EXTRA sugar to my food... no brown sugar, white sugar, baked goodies (except sandwich bread), def. no high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, oh my goodness sugar has a lot of names and i've barely scratched the surface here!

i know for sure i DON'T want to end up using artificial sweetners instead... i'd probably be better off with the sugar! however, i don't want to be BETTER off, i want the best! :happy:

day one down and i don't feel too depressed about it yet. i had a nice glass of grapefruit juice, some raisins, and some veggies with a bit of sugar but this is probably the first day in i don't know how long that i didn't go OVER on my sugar! (if you look back and see days where i didn't it was probably because the chocolate chip cookie entry i used must not have included sugar... didn't even think about it until the cookie week was over!)

best of luck over the weekend! i am determined, but i can see myself getting side-railed at a family gathering, birthday party, or something of the sort when i'm singled out for not eating sweeties... my family has a bad tendency to try to force things on me. i need to grow a pair of kahoonas and stand up to them! here's to me growing a spine!!!!:drinker:

j_courter

another day down! boy this is rough... i actually had a headache and felt a bit dizzy today. i'm telling you, i am addicted! i bought steel cut groats at the local farmer's market, so it was no trouble to eat them without brown sugar or maple syrup. i love their taste, texture, and nuttiness!

lunch was a bit of a challenge as well. i fixed hamburger, beans, and rice for the family... the #2 and 3 ingredients in bush's baked beans are brown sugar and sugar! argh! fortunately i had some leftover veggies in the fridge, so i was able to eat that instead.

i also bought some cheese at the market, so that has been a satisfying snack food... probably not so good for the waistline, but i'm still staying under my calories, so i guess i'll be okay. it seems like my brain is saying, "fine, if i can't have the sugar at least give me some salt!" lol. anyone else notice this?

hubby is evil- he got the zucchini muffins out of the freezer... how mean is that? so far i've avoided them....

oh yeah, grapefruit juice is great for the sugar cravings too... i've limited myself to 8 oz. a day so hopefully i won't go over on my sugar intake, even with the natural sugar.

i'm not dead yet!

j_courter

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/siabevis

this post has inspired me! :-) give it a look... and a read! :glasses:

Pebble321

Hi Jenny, I read your post a few days ago but dismissed it, thinking " I can't do that in October, it's my birthday, and I like cider on the weekend.... and I need a sugar hit when I run.... and I'll be going out to dinner and...."
I bet you are familiar with this train of thought.

So, I've decided that I AM going to cut out processed sugar... with a few exceptions.
I will have a cider or two on the weekend, I will have something sweet when I do a long run and I will throw all the rules out the window when I go out for my birthday.

This might seem like a half assed approach but I think if I cut out processed sugar for even half the days in October, I will be a whole lot better off. And definitely better than making excuses for why I'm not going to do anything at all.

So, thanks for inspiring me, I'd love to share ideas of snacks and options with no added sugar

j_courter

Hi Jenny, I read your post a few days ago but dismissed it, thinking " I can't do that in October, it's my birthday, and I like cider on the weekend.... and I need a sugar hit when I run.... and I'll be going out to dinner and...."
I bet you are familiar with this train of thought.

So, I've decided that I AM going to cut out processed sugar... with a few exceptions.
I will have a cider or two on the weekend, I will have something sweet when I do a long run and I will throw all the rules out the window when I go out for my birthday.

This might seem like a half assed approach but I think if I cut out processed sugar for even half the days in October, I will be a whole lot better off. And definitely better than making excuses for why I'm not going to do anything at all.

So, thanks for inspiring me, I'd love to share ideas of snacks and options with no added sugar

YEAH! welcome! oh my, yes! those sounds like words that could have come right out of my mouth!!! i think reducing the sugars is awesome! whether you have a cheat day or not, you're still doing your body a big favor! i made excuses far too long and i'm finally ready to DO something about it! :-)

i did have some sugar (in multigrain french bread) yesterday for lunch. then, when i had dinner i had some black bean and corn salsa. halfway through i noticed that even my salsa had sugar in it! argh! i can't believe the things sugar is added to... it's in nearly every processed food we eat! still, i have avoided the ice cream, cookies, zucchini bread, baby ruths, snickers, and other just plain bad for you, loaded with sugar foods i used to eat way too much of! this is progress for sure! i'm going to keep on trucking this month. maybe others will join us as well? the rules are pretty lax... do your best, reduce some sugar.... :bigsmile:

so far my favorite breakfast food without sugar is steel cut oats. normally i just add boiling water to my oats and the 1/2 C (dry) that i eat doesn't fill me up... today i actually simmered them on the stove and i'm not kidding you, there was 3x as much food from the same 1/2 C of oats! crazy! i had to eat half for breakfast and the other half for lunch!

besided the obvious apples, bananas, and other fruits for snacks, i've come to enjoy carrots, sliced red, orange, yellow, and green bell peppers, sugar snap peas (YUM!), and still my personal favorite for the times i'm craving snacks: dill pickles! i am wondering if there is a nut butter without added sugar? even the natural almond butter i bought has organic unrefined cane sugar added...

i also put back 3 cartons of milk at my last trip to the store... vanilla soy, plain soy, and vanilla coconut before i found unsweetened coconut milk! one sugar bullet dodged! whew!

brendalyne

Have you tried the unsweetened almond milk Jenny? My husband & I both LOVE IT - especially on our "oatmeal" (steel cut oats, multi-grain cereal, etc.)

j_courter

i think i tried the sweetened vanilla almond milk... how many calories are in the unsweetened?

brendalyne

i think i tried the sweetened vanilla almond milk... how many calories are in the unsweetened?

Silk brand is 35 cals, Blue Diamond brand is 40 measly little calories. We much prefer the unsweetened version. If I can't find that, then I get the unsweetened vanilla almond milk - which is just a few more cals (5-10 if I remember correctly.)

Pebble321

Hi guys, I made it through my first "low sugar day" yesterday, 4 more to go til the weekend.
It really wasn't so hard, but I did have to pay attention to snacks - I often have muesli bars as a late afternoon snack so I've put them away for a while. And I managed to NOT eat a snack sized choccy that was a present for a work colleague. That is sitting in my desk drawer taunting me now

Jenny, I have Sanitarium brand peanut butter - no sugar, no salt. And a Naturals brand almond/cashew/brazil spread that is SERIOUSLY delicious and doesn't have anything in it except the nuts.
The only catch is that I'm in Australia, so you probably won't find these brands in your part of the world. But, keep looking I'm sure you'll find them. I remember a few years ago I bought peanut butter from a whole foods store where they ground up peanuts on demand - maybe you can find something like close to home.

Here's my list of snacks that I'm working from... any more "no-sugar "ideas would be very welcome:
- raw almonds
- lite swiss cheese slices (only 40 cals each!)
- 9 grain crackers (OK, these actually do have sugar in them, but it's the last ingredient, after salt so that must mean there isn't very much. I already had these in my pantry, next time I"ll see if I can get some without the sugar).
- hommus
- wholegrain bread (the label lists molasses but not sugar and pretty far down the list so I can live with that!)
- peanut butter, almond/brazil/cashew spread
- vegemite (do you know this? It's classic Australian and Oprah hated it!)
- cherry tomatoes
- celery sticks
- raw cauliflower
- boiled egg
- homemade mocha mix (skim milk powder, unsweetened cocoa, coffee powder). This really would be better with a bit of sugar but I'm going to see if I get used to it like this!)
- natural yoghurt with strawberries and cinnamon

I have some pickles in the fridge at home, I must check them out for snacks. Though, I have a suspicion that they will have sugar in the ingredients list
Hmmm, I have olives too.. maybe a few of those would make a good snack, along side some fresh veggies.

It seems that the best way to avoid processed sugars is to avoid processed food... which just means that I have to be creative with snacks, meals aren't such a problem as we cook everything at home anyway (unless we eat out )

Keep up the good work guys!

linbee83

Well, so far so good. Except last night, I cheated and had a lemon drop after dinner. Just 1 though, which is great for me. Normally, I'd eat the whole jar! So far, not too much sugar & no fast food! Lol...except a pre-made sandwich at publix. Mmm...turkey!

j_courter

rubybelle- wow! thanks for all the snack ideas! :happy: for some reason i had forgotten all about hard boiled eggs. that would be a great snack.

i've heard a great deal about stevia being a good replacement for sugar... i wonder if that would be good in your mocha mix?

last night i baked butternut squash for dinner. i was a little leary about eating it without all the brown sugar i usually load it down with, but it was actually quite sweet and wonderful with just a little butter.

i also tried 2t. of cocoa powder in my steel cut oats this morning... i was worried that it would taste a bit bitter without sugar, but it was awesome. i think i have a new breakfast favorite!

another favorite snack i thought of is sweet potato fries. you cut the potato into 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick strips, toss it in a bit of olive oil and season it with whatever seasoning you like... i use mrs. dash's seasoning blend, but seasoned salt or regular salt tastes great too. then bake at 425 for somewhere around 15 minutes or until tender.

linbee- great job! one lemon drop is FAR better than the whole jar! you should be proud of yourself! way to go! i have always had that "binge" mentality with food too, so just being to the point where i can control that has been a HUGE step for me!

Pebble321

Hi guys,
Jenny I don't know if stevia would be good, I haven't tried it and I'm trying to keep away from alternative sweeteners too - I find that if you just don't add them then you really start tasting the natural sweetness in things like milk and fruit.
I went to the supermarket this morning and browsed for more snack ideas - it's astounding how much stuff has added sugar - I mean why would they you it to dried pineapple? The packet I picked up (and promptly put down again) said it was made of 52% pineapple. Which leaves 48% ot be something else and as the only other ingredients were sugar and preservatives, it sounded like bad news to me!
And all the pretzels and savoury snacks have sugar too - except for some yummy looking beetroot chips in the health food aisle. I'm going to go back and get sone of them another day
I ended up buying string cheese, sliced roast beef and spicy capsicum dip - though I forgot to look at the ingredients list on the dip - I'll check that out later.
Oh, and I bought a mix of dried apple and sultanas - I'm going to try that out as a long run snack instead of jelly beans this weekend - they are both concentrated sugar so should be ok.

This is a really great learning exercise, I'm finding that I have to eat more at meals/snacks now I'm not filling up empty cals in my diary with chocolate and wine. (of course, running for 45 mins this morning gave me extra cals to fill up too).

Linbee you did really well to walk away from the lemon drops - I actually find it harder to eat just one than none - once I have one, the sweet tooth kicks in and I want them ALL!

Keep up the good work everyone!

j_courter

i was a little worried about going out to dinner with my mom tonight, but we went to a cute little hole in the wall greek restaurant. called "friends 2." the jolly greek owner comes over, gives you a hearty handshake, and seats you himself! i ordered a mediterranean salad which was pretty tasty. it did come with mediterranean dressing, which i was unsure of, so i ordered red vinegar on the side. i ended up liking the vinegar better than the house choice, so i may have dodged a bullet there. (maybe not, though, because it tasted like olive oil with herbs.)

i don't have much to add today, except i agree... why on earth do they have to add sugar to pineapple??? to peanutbutter? to applesauce? to pretzels?!?!?! argh!

i know these have a lot of salt, but i'm really liking just a few fritos corn chips as a snack! i am also finding that i tend to eat more at mealtime now instead of filling up on "healthy" sugar laden granola bars, or cookies, or muffins, or any of the other horrible foods i thought constituted a good snack!

one day at a time!!! thanks for the support!

mice152

I stumbled on this and had to laugh - I started a 4-week sugar fast on Monday (coincidentally it will end on the 30th, just in time for Halloween) as I try and sort out what the heck to do about chocolate and sugar because they are surely my downfall and as I keep losing weight, my wiggle room to indulge in these treats daily is growing slimmer and slimmer.

My favorite discovery in trying to avoid processed sugar has been dates. They are nature's candy and they come with fiber, which helps all that sugar I'm thinking. I made some "cookies" today from apples, dates, whole wheat flour, cashews and pecans. Everyone else says they're "okay" but I think they're amazing. And while I've indulged in those a bit today, I feel at least it's better than several peanut butter cups or m&ms.

Cheese, nuts and fresh fruits top my list of "no refined sugar" snacks.

j_courter

mice- "there are no accidents." you were meant to join us! :flowerforyou: welcome!

this isn't really a sugar related post, but i thought i'd share anyway.... i had mac-n-cheese with hotdogs for lunch today because it was left in the fridge and boy am i sorry now! i should have taken the extra time to put together the salad stuff i bought at the store last night. i FEEL SO MUCH BETTER when i eat a more natural diet. hopefully that's a lesson learned for next time! just because it is available and easy doesn't mean i should eat it! :glasses: