GIVING UP SUGAR!!!! SUGAR IS THE ENEMY!!!!! Lol

lizlucas1
lizlucas1 Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I need some serious help. After looking back on this past month, (my second month with My Fitness Pal), I realized that although I am getting the hang of things with tracking my food and exercise, I'm making bad choices when it comes to HIGH SUGAR FOODS and either high fat or high protein foods. The sugar is the worst part. I'm human. I'm obese. And I have a hard time giving up something that I've drank almost all my life: soda.

I've tried going cold turkey before, but in all honesty, it seems to backfire on me. I'm currently trying to cut down and then eventually cut off soda, but what I'm doing now is apparently not working so I'm making no excuses, but I want to know if anyone else has suffered from this as well? I need help cutting back tremendously on sugar (my numbers are embarrassing), and I would like some advice and tips on cutting sugar out. Not completely (still need it), but to keep from going over.

SODA is the primary reason for my high sugar numbers. Second is candy and/or eating out, but I've managed to restrict myself to low amounts on both (went from eating out almost every day to not as often, and I have small amount of candy once a week). It's soda I have the main problem with.

Replies

  • annagoodner
    annagoodner Posts: 18 Member
    I've always found that when I want to stop drinking pop, the first week or 2 is really hard and then after that I don't really crave it anymore. This last month my husband and I made ourselves a rule of only 2 pops a week, and it helped. I kept thinking I'd want one later in the week so I wouldn't have any, and ended up not missing it too much.
  • pamwhite712
    pamwhite712 Posts: 193 Member
    If you're having a hard time giving up soda, do it gradually. I pretty much went cold turkey and it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, because I drank flavored water at first. Now I just drink plain water.

    You can do it!
  • WilliamAndrewPilgrim
    WilliamAndrewPilgrim Posts: 6 Member
    Long before I decided to do MFP I had decided to cut back on my soda intake. I drank several a day. I know many will tell you that diet drinks are bad and what not and they may be but for me at this time, they are what is helping me cut back my soda intake to a controllable level. I can address the possible diet drink issue at a later time.

    I started out by trying to change the random day sodas (mid afternoon mid morning or just relaxing around the house) to diet and keeping all my soda I had with a meal still regular. I felt that if I was paying for a meal I wanted to enjoy it and I was at least cutting my regular sodas intake in half. That really helped me get the regular under control and in the mean time help me get over the hump of "I don't like how diet drinks taste" Little by little I have completely phased out regular soda and it has currently been three weeks since I have had one. I enjoy the taste of the diet soda (even if I know the reg tastes better) and actually I am only having one diet drink per day total and that is while eating my lunch (still need a sugary fix during a meal, my other meals I have been drinking milk). The rest of the day I have been trying to up my water intake so I don't stay thirsty and it has been working like a charm.

    I just had to slowly move away from it while "rewarding" myself with it on special instances, daily or every other day in the beginning.

    Hope that helps.
  • skjerve12
    skjerve12 Posts: 40 Member
    I have done the same thing, I have three vices in life for my diet - one is sugar, two is bread, and three is milk. Do you realize how much sugar is in milk, in fact there is more sugar in skim milk than in 2%.

    It is like an addiction, I cut myself off it completely, and there will be some really rough days, but once the cravings subside, you will not miss it. But, you have to be careful, once you reincorporate a little in your diet, your addiction will return.
    Advice, stay away from milk, simple sugars.....just eat the really good complex carbs
  • lightdiva1
    lightdiva1 Posts: 935 Member
    I gave up soda cold turkey. I didn't tell myself I couldn't ever have it again, I just said, not right now. Lets learn to be healthy. I gave away all of the soda in the house that I liked. I found Spark, which I love, and it only has 45 calories in it, and is way cheaper per drink than soda and coffee. (I still have my Starbucks, I just have it rarely, and the skinny version)

    If your an addict, (like I was) give yourself time. If you are a stubborn person like I am I made a bet with my husband. I bet him an hour long foot rub that I would last longer than him without soda. So far, neither of us have had one, its been a month and a half. If you don't think you can give it up cold turkey, set a limit per day. 2 sodas a day and the rest water. Or whatever magic number you come up with. My mother is struggling to give up her coke, so she has 1 a day. She only puts one in the fridge in the morning and she has it with dinner. Or you can say for every 8 cups of water I drink I can have 1 soda. Setting goals that are obtainable are more helpful than setting goals that are too hard.

    I set my first goal of weight loss at getting under 290 for my birthday. That gave me a little less than a month to loose 16 pounds. (I stated at 305) During that time I made small goals. Drink more water than anything else. Make more healthy choices than non healthy choices. By my birthday I had lost 17 pounds. My new short term goal was to get under 280 by March 25th. Again a month and a half to get there. I am now at 280.8..So CLOSE! Small goals that I can reach with little effort keep me motivated.

    If you need encouragement, here is a little. If you can cut out soda and candy completely for 10 days you will lose weight. (What is your starting weight?) I lost 11 pounds in 2 weeks just by cutting out soda and crap. (Remember I started at 305, so a lot of weight loss is normal for bigger people) I have way more energy!!!!! I also am no longer bloated. I move better, feel amazing, and the best part is my skin is amazing now!!!

    You can give it up. You can do whatever you set your mind to. I keep a little jar in my kitchen and every time I leave without making a bad choice I put a quarter in the jar. Once it is full I get to spend the money on a treat for myself. I saved up the change and paid for my hair to get done! Good choices should equal rewards. Make a plan for yourself. Small goals you can meet. Baby steps to a healthier you.
  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
    If sugar is an enemy, I don't want any friends....:)
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,282 Member
    I've always found that when I want to stop drinking pop, the first week or 2 is really hard and then after that I don't really crave it anymore. This last month my husband and I made ourselves a rule of only 2 pops a week, and it helped. I kept thinking I'd want one later in the week so I wouldn't have any, and ended up not missing it too much.

    ^^Try this. Sometimes you can change a habit by "allowing" yourself to have something, but you have to weigh whether you *really* want it bad enough, or if you'd rather wait until later in the day/week/whatever. I don't drink soda, but I love Pellegrino lemon sparkling water. One of those cans is the same as a glass of wine. My husband and I decided that we'd water it down (since the Pelligrino is already carbonated) with some mineral water. We still get the yummy lemon flavor, but waaaay fewer calories/less sugar. I have no idea if it would work, but maybe little by little water down your soda? Pour the can into a glass, but not all of it, and fill the rest with mineral water? Just a thought. Sometimes you have to get creative. Sugar IS the enemy, you're right! Having a sweet tooth makes losing weight hard. I know that logging in those empty, non-nutritious foods and drinks is enough to make me not want them...
  • PosterGuy1
    PosterGuy1 Posts: 163 Member
    I eat things like yogurt and apples for my sweets.

    I see in your diary that you like McDonalds. Try their oatmeal and fruit and yogurt parfaits.
  • BillRicks1
    BillRicks1 Posts: 473 Member
    An interesting report by CBS NEWS on sugar......it is a toxic enemy.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Everyone talks trash on diet soda, but it's a great way to temporarily transition away from full-sugar sodas. Some people need to take baby steps. With diet, you get the feeling and sweetness of soda, but not the sugar/empty calories.

    I went to diet soda for a few months, then transitioned away from diet soda to crystal light in water, then to weak tea, then finally to plain water. Now all I drink is water and the occasional green tea with no sweetener. I don't even need or want it anymore. Full sugar soda tastes like I'm drinking syrup now and it grosses me out and makes me nauseous.

    Soda really is the biggest waste of calories and it's an easy thing to eliminate if you want to make gradual changes.:drinker:
  • sally_jeffswife
    sally_jeffswife Posts: 766 Member
    I've taken a liking to Coke Zero cuz it has no calories but tastes pretty much like regular coke. I tried going with the diet coke and it just doesn't taste the same.
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
    Of course sugar is the enemy!! It has zero nutritional value and high calories, and not even good complex calories/carbs at that. The only option is diet sodas or other drinks that are sugar free, and food is the same. Just look at the ingredients of your average breakfast cereal! High up on the list is sugar. Sugar gives you an instant hit of comfort and satisfaction, and food companies know this. They use it to their advantage to make you eat more!

    Look at http://cereal.findthebest.com/ and it is easy to find cereals that are 30% sugar!
    Sodas at http://sodas.findthebest.com/

    Sugar is the enemy!:explode:
  • smokinjackd
    smokinjackd Posts: 341
    Try this, a splash of cranberry juice and sparkling water. Is it pop, hell no, but it gives you the same sensation while being 100% healthy.
  • sallyaj
    sallyaj Posts: 207 Member
    Switch to sugar-free drinks, then slowly wean yourself off those. You will start to see weight loss immediately and that will keep you going.
  • ohenry78
    ohenry78 Posts: 228
    Like others have said, despite everyone being all like "AHHH ASPARTAME YOU'RE GOING TO DIE A HORRIBLE FIERY DEATH", diet soda is a good way to wean yourself off of regular soda, if nothing else. Pepsi Max and Coke Zero tend to be good tasting sodas that don't give you quite as much aftertaste as some diet sodas. I used to drink a good amount of soda, and then I switched to diet, and I still drank a TON. Now it's to the point where I can get a six pack of bottles and they will last me for two weeks. Once you start to understand your body and its dietary needs more, you'll find that you can appease your body's demands for energy with food instead of caffiene, and it will get easier to drink less soda in general.

    Maybe. Everyone's different. That's just how it's been for me :)
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    An interesting report by CBS NEWS on sugar......it is a toxic enemy.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n

    Dr Lolstig?
  • sz8soon
    sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
    Too high in protein? I doubt it, even if you were, which I don't think you are that is certainly nothing to worry about.
  • Counttheshadows
    Counttheshadows Posts: 2
    Okay. Soda. So I am an art student, and as an art student late nights loads of them. Sometimes I need that kick from the sugar to keep me up. So I'll get a real soda then.

    What I suggest is this. Try Pepsi Next. It drastically cuts the sugar from the regular sodas and is a good step down. Another alternative is just Diet Pepsi. Dont try pepsi max, that has way more added chemicals and such than good ole diet. For my caffeine purposes from day to day, I use diet pepsi. Then sometimes if I really need that jolt, Ill go to regular soda, the bad places like coke and mellow yellow, or mountain dew. Cause their caffeine plus sugar does it.

    Also, stop eating out. Like right now. Trust me. I has Sonic today, and all I got was a plain cheeseburger (just cheese, nothing else but that on it) tots, and admittedly a large cherry limeade, and bam my whole day went to hell. Trust me, stop eating out places. Instead, if you are out of the house alot at school (like me) bring food with you. I always bring a lean cuisine chicken club, or right now I enjoy ravioli so I get a single serving can of that, and I take that with me and warm it up in the microwaves we have in school. Obviously you can transfer this into things not needing to be heated.

    Another thing I do is carry grapes and pretzels lately. If I feel like snacking, I just start popping grapes. Sweet, delicious, and addicting. And they fill you up so quickly. Same with the pretzels. Just regular old pretzels. I'll bring a baggie of them, and have them sitting there with me, and I might grab a couple from time to time. Which is how you're supposed to eat. You're supposed to have several small snacks throughout the day, and I think what I'm doing qualifies as such, especially since I practically live at school and don't have time really to eat much of anything normally.

    As for candy. If you find you really want something, either find a replacement in a fruit (like grapes!), or let yourself eat the candy but do it a certain way. Like, with gummy things, that you would normally just chew up right away, suck on them and make them last longer. That way you keep your mouth busy (from eating other pieces) and you satisfy your sweet tooth. I do this with any candy I get...never been one to chew it right away. Things like sour gummy worms, Ill bite it off, then suck on it forever til its nothing and finally finish it. So I can have candy around for months before its done with, and in that case, all you do is keep it fresh by having it in ziplocks.

    Hope I helped any!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Sugar is certainly not good, but it's not bad enough to cut it from your diet... especially when you consider fruits are full of sugar!

    Sugar is not the enemy. Fat is not the enemy. Nothing is the enemy. That's not a healthy way to think about food! There are no "enemies" except your cravings. You need to work with all nutrients and all ingredients to hit your goals for the day. You need to make sure you don't get too many calories, but also make sure you get enough. You want enough fats, you want enough protein. You want carbs. Sugar is fine as long as it fits in and isn't excessive.

    There are no demons. There's no evil nutrient. There's nothing you need to get rid of that's the key to weight loss. It's all about working with food in a healthy way, not demonizing certain types of food.
  • sz8soon
    sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
    Looking through your diary it appears you are having difficulty choosing food period. Unless you aren't logging 100%- your diary is filled with holes and many days you didn't eat anything but a fast food breakfast and a dessert of some sort in the evening.

    Work on some sort of meal plan and getting sustenance, instead of worrying about something like sugar
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
    Sugar is certainly not good, but it's not bad enough to cut it from your diet... especially when you consider fruits are full of sugar!

    Sugar is not the enemy. Fat is not the enemy. Nothing is the enemy. That's not a healthy way to think about food! There are no "enemies" except your cravings. You need to work with all nutrients and all ingredients to hit your goals for the day. You need to make sure you don't get too many calories, but also make sure you get enough. You want enough fats, you want enough protein. You want carbs. Sugar is fine as long as it fits in and isn't excessive.

    There are no demons. There's no evil nutrient. There's nothing you need to get rid of that's the key to weight loss. It's all about working with food in a healthy way, not demonizing certain types of food.

    Fruit sugar (or fructose to give it's proper name) is naturally occurring sugar, and completely unprocessed. Sugar that you buy at the supermarket is totally refined, and has every scrap of nutrition removed from it. Everything in moderation may not be the enemy, don't forget that the caveman grew up reliant on fruits, berries and whatever they could catch. What they didn't do was dump 10 teaspoons of refined sugar in their river water when they wanted a drink, or sprinkle it over the wild boar they had caught that morning. Excessive sugar in the diet, and particularly spikes of sugar in the blood causes havoc with the body's chemistry, sending insulin levels rocketing. In the short term it leads to the cravings for sugar to maintain a constant level in the blood. In the long term it leads to obesity and diabetes, as well a other related diseases.

    Moderation is the key; several sugar loaded sodas per day is not moderation. Several chocolate bars a day is not moderation..... Te list goes on. You can get all the sugar you need from a sensible diet based on unprocessed food. Sugar loaded chocolate, drinks,, sweets, cake, breakfast cereals et al are treats and should be treated as such - assuming that you want to loose some weight!!

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