I want to cut sugar, help needed

I would love to hear anything as well on this topic. Sweets are my weakness. While I have been able to curb them throughout the week, I know if I were to find a substitute; body fat would melt off! So tough though when kids are in the house!

I have not been able to cut sugars completely, and I am a diabetic. I have however greatly reduced refined sweets. I don't eat them everyday, and if I do eat them, I make sure to reduce the amount of rice/potatoe/noodle that goes with my meal whether at lunch or dinner. One thing I found that was helpful for me was slim a bear. If I get one of these it feels like a real dessert and I don't feel deprived. I think that is a key. Not feeling as if you are missing so much. If you start cutting back it gets to a point where some things are just too sweet anymore. Lastly I normally make my own so I can control the sugar and replace some of it with splenda. I generally prefer things like a fruit cobbler, being very heavy on the fruit.

I've made drastic differences in my diet since i decided I wanted to be healthier, but i continue to drink 3/4/5/6 cups of coffee with sugar daily. i really like coffee...it tastes good. I tried coffee black, but that seems like punishment rather than enjoyment. I think my fat loss would be quicker if I gave it up, but that wouldn't be a long term sustainable change for me...so I continue to work it into my diet, and it seems that it works.

You can't cut all sugar from your diet. Dairy products have lactose, which is a natural sugar. Many fruits and vegetables (many of what we think are vegetables are really fruits) have natural sugar. Added sugar is what we need to limit, but it's everywhere. Salad dressings, cereals, EVERYWHERE. The ADA gives guidelines on how much ADDED sugar we have in our diets. The key here is ADDED. MFP counts all sugar grams. I subtract the natural sugar grams from my total and then see what I have left. This way I can have a treat (if I want to) but my treat will depend on how much added sugar grams I have left for the day.

I HATE artificial sweeteners, I add 1/2 teaspoon to one large mug of coffee (2 grams added sugar, plus 1 gram from one tablespoon half and half). A big treat for me is non fat plain greek yogurt (7 grams natural sugar from lactose) with one very carefully measured out level teaspoon of REAL CANADIAN MAPLE SYRUP (so yummy but 4 grams of sugar. Even though it's natural it's still added).

I am sure that for most people when refined sugar is cut from the diet there is a lot more focus put into eating something better. So not necessarily anti-sugar but more pro-health? I would suggest not cutting ALL sugar, simply because fruit contains a lot of natural sugars (fructose) and other wonderful things that our diet needs. Refined sugar, however, is challenging because there are so many different forms. For example, not eating a Hershey chocolate bar because of sugar is fine, but what about high fructose corn syrup, which is in so very many processed foods? Not to mention, all carbohydrates turn into sugar (maltose I believe it's called) during digestion so perhaps it would be good to cut back on bread too? Not all... just the highly processed stuff of course.

I guess that is a long way of saying that you might be able to have more success by aiming for something, not aiming against something if that makes sense. Try reading the book In Defense of Food.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

There is no reason to cut sugar out unless you are diabetic. It wont improve weight loss. You lose weight by cutting calories. There is no reason to eliminate fruits because they are great for micronutrients. Just set a moderate deficit and try to get high protein and plenty of fats.

This times a million. No one macro or micronutrient will make you fat. Certainly not sugar. Only going over calories will. I'm personally trying to avoid sugary treats but only because it's a trigger for me. Once I get this under control you can bet I'll be eating ice cream, cookies, cake etc in moderation. As long as it fits in your macro and calorie limit, there is no reason to deprive yourself.

You have to go cold turkey. This may mean avoiding foods and drink that you associate sugar with in meals.

Your body fools you into needing it because it is so refined it gets an instant kick from it.

It only took me two days and I have not looked back.

What to do about sweets with kids in the house:

Introduce new breakfast options instead of sugar-sweetened cereal (waffles, bagels, grilled cheese sandwiches). I know those take more work, but the payoff will benefit all of you. Experiment with alternatives to syrup on waffles (applesauce, jam, peanut butter), but pay attention to how much you're using!!

Grilled cheese sandwiches have a bad reputation, but if you use something like Brummel and Brown spread instead of margarine or butter (and spread it thinly), it doesn't have to be a fat-fest. Also, use real cheese (e.g. kraft or store brand mild cheddar) NOT processed cheese squares)

Get rid of the bags of cookies in the cupboard. Just go cold turkey. The kids will complain at first, but they will get used to it. Switch to pretzels with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter for dipping or tortilla chips with a dip made of 2T sour cream and 1-2 T of salsa.

Switch to Skinny Cow ice cream treats instead of bowls of ice cream.

Keep PLAIN dark or milk chocolate in the house for emergencies. My experience as a chocoholic and recovering sweet addict is that I have to know chocolate is in the house--otherwise I go crazy. But if I know it's there, I don't have to eat it. And if there is only one kind of chocolate, I eat it only as needed, not recreationally.

To be honest, the most important change I made with my kids (besides breakfast and snacks as listed above) was to 1) stop buying cookies, and 2) only buy one kind of chocolate. When we had a variety of candy choices, we all ate more and ate just because it tasted good. Now that we only have plain milk chocolate Hershey nuggets, we eat what we need to satisfy chocolate cravings. Some days that's none at all. We have it in the house, so nobody feels deprived.

Stop buying sugar sweetened beverages. I use Jitterbeans for my caffiene fix because I was getting a lot of sugar in coffee. I still drink one sugar-sweetened coffee a day as a mood enhancer, but I save a lot of sugar not drinking the other 2 (or 3!).

I've made drastic differences in my diet since i decided I wanted to be healthier, but i continue to drink 3/4/5/6 cups of coffee with sugar daily. i really like coffee...it tastes good. I tried coffee black, but that seems like punishment rather than enjoyment. I think my fat loss would be quicker if I gave it up, but that wouldn't be a long term sustainable change for me...so I continue to work it into my diet, and it seems that it works.

Doesn't sound like the coffee tastes good. Sounds like the sugar in your coffee tastes good.

There is no reason to cut sugar out unless you are diabetic. It wont improve weight loss. You lose weight by cutting calories. There is no reason to eliminate fruits because they are great for micronutrients. Just set a moderate deficit and try to get high protein and plenty of fats.

I actually disagree with this. I know its not a 'scientific' fact, but for me, sugar hinders my weight. Anything else i can work around but sugar alters my mood as well as my phsyique.... I actually think there is some truth in the fact it assists weight loss.

Research is starting to say that fructose is the REAL culprit in obesity. This video is super long but explains it all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dBnniua6-oM

I didn't eat a ton of sugar to begin with (I never have been a soda drinker, I prefer water and I don't eat many sweets) but I found I had trouble at first when I wanted to cut out some of the sugar I was consuming (from my french vanilla coffee creamer for example lol)

I HATE splenda and all of that other crap - BAD aftertaste lol. I am also unsure if splenda is all that good for you

but I did find Xylitol was a good substitution. It has been used in Europe for decades for diabetics because it does have a very low GI of 7 and won't spike the blood sugar. It also apparently has 40% of the calories of sugar but it also doesn't have the aftertaste that I hate in things like splenda

It is a sugar alcohol made from Birch trees or corn and can be substituted one for one with sugar because it has the same sweetness The only downside is you cannot consume too much daily or it can give intestinal issues because it is an alcohol but I have no issue putting it in my coffee with half and half every morning

It is also good for dental health

Someone else said it already, but I want to reiterate that replacing natural sugars with foods that have high fructose corn syrup is a bad choice. I wanted to increase the yogurt that I eat to get more protein and I thought I would go with the "light" versions. Except that when they take out the sugar, they put in the HFCS. I found a brand that only one local store carries that is high protein, low sugar, and not full of HFCS, so I use it exclusively. I don't even do flavored Greek yogurt for the same reason. It is really hard to get rid of added sugars, but it is possible. I can only tolerate a small amount of sugar-filled food before getting sick, but fruit does not have that effect on me, so I am pretty certain that the refined sugar is specifically what makes me ill. With that knowledge, and knowing that natural sugars are not as bad, I agree with so many other posters that keeping fruit in your diet will not hurt, and may even be helpful. Good luck finding those things that are lower in sugar.

Oh, it's in things like BBQ sauce too, but there are recipes available online for simple versions of things like BBQ sauce, ketchup, cole slaw, etc, that have minimal sugar. Although most call for sweetener (usually splenda), I have found that I don't want even half the amount that is called for in the recipe. You definitely have to be willing to play around with the recipe to make it fit you and your family!

Replacing things gradually is helping for me. One of my favorite breakfasts is oatmeal, and I used to add about 4 spoonfuls of sugar to it... then two plus some raisins, and now it's just raisins. I also keep fruity flavored yogurt on hand along with plain and greek, and hope to cut that out eventually too. Luckily, I prefer the flavor of wheat and whole grains so those sneaky simple carbs only get in when they're forced on me.

Cutting all sweetened drinks (EXCEPT my own coffee and tea) has helped me too. Make sure you portion out spoonfuls of sugar.

As for sweets, individually-wrapped chocolates were doing wonders for curving my cravings (70 or less calories for full sugar, flavor, etc.), though I've heard it triggers binges for some people. I might actually quit those too... I'm getting into a habit of having one every day instead of just when I crave it.

Refined sugar is tough to kick... I can't imagine trying to kick fruits as well! Good luck to you all!