Sugar Free

Eat whatever you want just stay in a calorie deficit and you'll lose.

...weight, and health, and hair, and energy.

Pretty sure I have a TON of healthy hair, I'm in great shape, and have energy. I eat what I want.

Then clearly "whatever you want" is pretty well balanced.

if "Whatever I want" is nothing but double quarter pounders, then in the long run, my results will probably be considerably different from yours.

Eat whatever you want just stay in a calorie deficit and you'll lose.

...weight, and health, and hair, and energy.

Pretty sure I have a TON of healthy hair, I'm in great shape, and have energy. I eat what I want.

Then clearly "whatever you want" is pretty well balanced.

if "Whatever I want" is nothing but double quarter pounders, then in the long run, my results will probably be considerably different from yours.

Of course, if you read all my other posts, you'll see I'm talking about eating in moderation. I just don't understand those who talk about giving up entire food groups because they're "evil" or "cancer-causing", etc, etc. Eating a well-balanced diet, with treats fit in occasionally works out very well for many people. There are a lot of people telling others to give up sugar, and carbs, and processed foods, and meat, and other things, for no good reason. Eating any of those things in moderation is just fine, is basically the heart of what I'm saying.

Of course, if you read all my other posts, you'll see I'm talking about eating in moderation. I just don't understand those who talk about giving up entire food groups because they're "evil" or "cancer-causing", etc, etc. Eating a well-balanced diet, with treats fit in occasionally works out very well for many people. There are a lot of people telling others to give up sugar, and carbs, and processed foods, and meat, and other things, for no good reason. Eating any of those things in moderation is just fine, is basically the heart of what I'm saying.

Agreed! I just found that not eating processed sugar took out a lot of nutritionally useless foods, that I found I actually don't like, and don't miss.

I still love fresh squeezed orange juice, and fruit, and such. So I'm not "removing sugar from my diet", just choosing to aim for things that are more than sugar. THat's all.

And I occasionally DO get a hankering for chocolate chip cookies.. and will make maybe one batch a year, going on the low side for the sugar in the recipe, and using all natural chocolate chips.

I'll eat one or two, and the family will eat the rest, or they'll go in the freezer.

I have noticed, though, that in eliminating that constant "sweet" and retraining my taste buds, I can eliminate sugar from a lot of recipes and have it taste just as good, when cooking. (I'm lookin at you Paula Deen)

I don't do completely sugar free but I've tried to lower my sugar intake. I got low sugar oatmeal and no sugar pudding which those are delicious. sugar free boysenberry jelly was disgusting tho! so dont get that lol

People also need to be careful, because when sugar is removed, it is replaced with either artificial sweeteners, salt, or other flavorings to replace the taste (in some products). It's very important to read labels and research ingredient names so you know what you are getting isn't more harmful than the basically harmless sugar you are cutting out,

Don't get me wrong here, I keep my sugar intake to a sensible level (I have cancer and sugar can be inflammatory to cancer), but I try to be very careful about what sugar is replaced with that might be worse.

Yea too much refined sugars and what not cause some issues for my body which is why I've been trying to lower it, I loooove sweets (and still eat them in moderation).

I've heard that about "fat free" or "sugar free" stuff has chemicals and things put back in them, but what do you watch out for in the labels?

I don't do completely sugar free but I've tried to lower my sugar intake. I got low sugar oatmeal and no sugar pudding which those are delicious. sugar free boysenberry jelly was disgusting tho! so dont get that lol

People also need to be careful, because when sugar is removed, it is replaced with either artificial sweeteners, salt, or other flavorings to replace the taste (in some products). It's very important to read labels and research ingredient names so you know what you are getting isn't more harmful than the basically harmless sugar you are cutting out,

Don't get me wrong here, I keep my sugar intake to a sensible level (I have cancer and sugar can be inflammatory to cancer), but I try to be very careful about what sugar is replaced with that might be worse.

Yea too much refined sugars and what not cause some issues for my body which is why I've been trying to lower it, I loooove sweets (and still eat them in moderation).

I've heard that about "fat free" or "sugar free" stuff has chemicals and things put back in them, but what do you watch out for in the labels?

First off, read the nutrition and look at the amounts under "Sugars" and "carbs".

Nutrasweet, splenda, etc.. those would be "chemicals" by most people's judgement.

Agave nectar, honey.. those are just sugar with a prettier name, and some misbegotten belief that the same amount of calories in agave nectar is somehow "better' than the equivalent in sugar.

stevia is something else entirely, as it's not actually a sugar, it's a flavor. It has no glycemic response, and is 30 to 400 times sweeter tasting than sugar.

Thanks for the info!

I did about 17 days on the 21Day Sugar Detox before a head cold derailed me. However, in those 17 days, I lost 7lbs, upped my vegetable intake and ate some really great food. I gave myself a week to get off the cold and am now back on the 21 DSD and feeling great. You food does not have to be boring, just unprocessed. Tastes sooo much better. Google some 21DSD recipes.

BTW there are treats on the 21DSD and they are delicious!

Should have clarified - I mean to refined or added sugar. Fruit, veggies, etc are still a main component.

I've hear such positive things from friends who have taken it on as a lifestyle now - more energy, weight loss, better skin. Seems as though as long as I can hold out for the first 21 days, the addiction and reliance should be broken!

The sugar in fruit is exactly the same as refined sugar. What exactly do you expect to accomplish? It's like saying "I'm going to give up alcohol, so I'm only going to drink wine instead of rum." It makes no sense.

+1

Should have clarified - I mean to refined or added sugar. Fruit, veggies, etc are still a main component.

I've hear such positive things from friends who have taken it on as a lifestyle now - more energy, weight loss, better skin. Seems as though as long as I can hold out for the first 21 days, the addiction and reliance should be broken!

The sugar in fruit is exactly the same as refined sugar. What exactly do you expect to accomplish? It's like saying "I'm going to give up alcohol, so I'm only going to drink wine instead of rum." It makes no sense.

Volume? Total intake? Aiming for better macro and micronutrition within your daily calorie intake?

There's plenty of reasons.

There's zero dietary need for coke. If you enjoy it, great, go nuts. I thought I did, till I stopped it for a while. Now I realize it tastes like carbonated battery acid, and gives me an upset stomach.

Sure the "Exact same" (sorta) sugar may be in a glass of grape juice.. but that has micronutrition the coke doesn't, and doesn't taste like boiled azz.

There many reasons to eat, and some superlative need to meet some predefined nutrtional list doesn't have to be one of them. As long as you are well-rounded, and have met other nutrtitional needs (and like Coke), it's perfectly fine to still have Coke and the sugar contained therein. Or wine (my preference, personally).

From January 2nd - January 31st, I did my own 'take' on going 'sugar-free.' For me, that basically meant avoiding all processed "sweet" things - no cookies, cakes, jams, cereals, peanut butter, ice cream, yogurt, etc.... Basically trying to avoid all "refined" sugars. I still ate fruit occasionally, and complex carbs - like sprouted bread and on occasion, brown rice - but basically anything sweet other than a piece of fruit, I avoided. I did this with the goal of sticking to it for 30 days. Which I did.

I will say, the first few days were the hardest - I was a sugar ADDICT so it was massive headaches and cravings the first few days... After that though, it was much easier. My advice is to just keep anything you don't want to eat OUT of your home. If it's in your house, you WILL eat it - if it's not, you probably won't. So just make your home sugar-free friendly, if possible. I found that going without sugar helped with my energy levels (no more mid-afternoon tiredness, or sugar-coma sleepiness) and overall just made me feel better. Again, the first week or so I felt worse (craving sugar badly) but after that week, it was mostly smooth sailing.

During that 30-day period, I lost 17 lbs. Mind you, at the same time, I incorporated calorie counting and exercise as well for January, so that loss probably isn't all sugar-related, but I honestly don't know if I would've been as committed to the calorie counting and exercise if I wasn't doing the no-sugar thing too.

Anyway... planning to keep sugar out of my diet from now on, but less stringently - figure 1 sweet "treat" on the weekend, and that's my thing. I tried that this weekend though - had a piece of cheesecake. But my tastes have changed, apparently. I normally LOVE the cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory, but this weekend, I could only finish half my piece and then felt sick after. A piece of cheesecake may have been the wrong choice for a treat though, after going 30 days without that kind of desserty stuff.