Anyone else going sugar free in 2015?

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  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    Sugar free for a short period of time is a great idea. Reset your eating habits at a minimum and possibly reduce your cravings. But a whole year might be tough. Although I did have an MFP friend who did just that, so not impossible. Easier to eliminate than moderate, they say. But you will have to learn to moderate at some point. I've been reading about "disinhibition" after restriction, and it gives fuel to the argument many posters here make, that elimination/severe restriction ultimately ends in tears (and binging behavior). Whatever you choose to do, I wish you success.
  • shartran
    shartran Posts: 304 Member
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    I 'gave' up refined sugar years ago. It also eliminated all those packages items that I thought I couldn't live without. My sugars now come from baking with stevia/dates/figs/bananas/apple sauce/raw honey, etc., I am loving making my own stuff and find the packaged items I thought were SO good...actually do not taste very good to me! I find eating a banana a sweet treat! So, I don't feel deprived I feel it's opened a whole culinary world to me that I have embraced!

    Good luck to you!

    P.S. I am sorry you have to read all those postings stating that they have issues with anyone giving up their sugar, etc., That is not what you wanted...you wanted people that wish to join you in your new endeavor!
  • Go_Mizzou99
    Go_Mizzou99 Posts: 2,628 Member
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    I minimize it as much as possible so I can have more bourbon ;-)
  • happieharpie
    happieharpie Posts: 229 Member
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    I believe the rhetoric of neither camp. FOR MYSELF- life is better without added sugar. I eat lowish carb fruit every day and sometimes add a third portion of fruit.
    I sweeten with Truvia or Stevia.
    Do not consider what I say as advice. I'm just stating what makes me happy.
  • hebrewhauler
    hebrewhauler Posts: 1
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    I believe it is wise to avoid REFINED sugar or too much sugar period. There is a reason why we have a type 2 diabetes epidemic.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
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    shartran wrote: »
    I 'gave' up refined sugar years ago. It also eliminated all those packages items that I thought I couldn't live without. My sugars now come from baking with stevia/dates/figs/bananas/apple sauce/raw honey, etc., I am loving making my own stuff and find the packaged items I thought were SO good...actually do not taste very good to me! I find eating a banana a sweet treat! So, I don't feel deprived I feel it's opened a whole culinary world to me that I have embraced!

    Good luck to you!

    P.S. I am sorry you have to read all those postings stating that they have issues with anyone giving up their sugar, etc., That is not what you wanted...you wanted people that wish to join you in your new endeavor!
    I think this is more like what the OP intended the thread to be about. If someone wants to give up added sugar, I don't think they'd want people telling them that they shouldn't.

  • Halbared
    Halbared Posts: 24 Member
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    LumberJacck wrote: »
    Back in the first half of the year I happened to read online about the Schaub family who went sugar free, and their health and energy improved. I thought I'd try this since I do have a few health and energy issues. I have no idea how long I'll last, but I thought I'd give it a try. Are there any others of you who will do the same?

    I'll be reducing carbs (most processed sugars) in Jan to cut fat for a shoot. Sugary treats are killers, it works great if you can do it. Post Jan depending on level of success reached, I'll re-add treat days no doubt. :D
  • PearlAng
    PearlAng Posts: 681 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I gave up my beloved pastries and sweet treats up for lent about two years ago. No, it wasn't because sugar was "the devil", I just figured I needed to give up something and besides, I heard that some people feel better when they do it. I didn't feel any different, I didn't lose weight (which wasn't the point anyway) and because Easter marks the end of lent, it was choco-binge city.
    ETA: This is just my experience of course, it may be different for you OP. Good luck in whatever you decide.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    Lumberjacck, I just had a peek at your profile pic. Is it a current pic? Because you don't look like you have 27lbs to lose! I also wonder about the statement that weight loss has become a "hobby", taken together with the desire to eliminate sugar entirely for a year. I'm probably way off base, but watch out for "disordered" thinking. I went down that rabbit hole after my first diet many years ago. I see that you are 50. I'm 53. May I brazenly suggest that you throw away the scales for a bit and look at channelling your energy into strength training and aerobic conditioning? Preserving muscle tone (and increasing it if I can manage it) is high on my priority list and perhaps should be high on the list of everyone in their fifties and beyond. Ditto for heart healthy cardio.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    This thread makes me:

    20120622052737!Rofl.gif
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
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    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    I think this is more like what the OP intended the thread to be about. If someone wants to give up added sugar, I don't think they'd want people telling them that they shouldn't.

    IMO no one is saying they shouldn't. The important message is they don't have to. Obviously, highly refined foods have a lot more sugar and fat in them... also, and no big shocker, they have more calories. It's the calorie surplus that does the damage, not the sugar per se.

    If you want to give up added sugar, rock on, I don't care what you do. But don't do it because you think there is no other road to success...
  • StellaCooke
    StellaCooke Posts: 1
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    I am new to My Fitness Pal but... In response to your query about sugar free. I have been 'refined sugar free' since August 2000. My weight has yo yo'd all my adult life until I accepted that I was addicted to chocolate, sweets and really anything with refined sugar in. I am no expert in the diet department and don't profess to be. But I now have peace of mind around my weight (have maintained a 60lb + weight loss for the last 14 years). I eat fruit and do accept that food converts to sugar - but there is clearly something in the process of either the way or the speed it is broken down that leads me to be able to eat say 1 apple where I could never just eat a few squares of chocolate. Needless to say - I don't intend to go back to eating the types of food that include refined sugar any time soon. 14 years is pretty well proof that it's not faddy. Won't be the answer for everyone but it works for me. :)
    2001.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    LumberJacck wrote: »
    Back in the first half of the year I happened to read online about the Schaub family who went sugar free, and their health and energy improved. I thought I'd try this since I do have a few health and energy issues. I have no idea how long I'll last, but I thought I'd give it a try. Are there any others of you who will do the same?

    I did it Oct 2014 because I learned sugar is toxic to my body.

    Tried to cut back in Aug-Sept but no luck so I got ticked and when off sugar cold turkey start of Oct.

    Thought I was going to die the first two weeks but I was facing a cancer risk if I got on the injections for pain management for my arthritis so the cancer risk drove me to stay off of sugar.

    After two weeks the carb cravings just left. My 7-8+ pain level is like 2-3 now on a scale of 1-10. I plan to stay at <50 grams of carbs daily which means no sugar until I die.

    Remember I had abused carbs for 40 years and sugar had wrecked my health so breaking my addiction was not easy.

    Best of luck and doing it can save you a lot of grief if you plan to live to be old.

    giphy.gif

    You really need to stop giving out bad advice!!!
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    hebrewhauler wrote: »
    I believe it is wise to avoid REFINED sugar or too much sugar period. There is a reason why we have a type 2 diabetes epidemic.

    Yes there is a reason. Because people over eat everything, not just sugar

    Yep...
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    J72FIT wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    hebrewhauler wrote: »
    I believe it is wise to avoid REFINED sugar or too much sugar period. There is a reason why we have a type 2 diabetes epidemic.

    Yes there is a reason. Because people over eat everything, not just sugar

    Yep...

    Well...Not to say that your weight couldn't creep up over time eating a healthy well balanced diet. But I think you need a diet heavy in sugar/carbs and fat to force your body to achieve rapid or extreme weight gain. Otherwise you feel too full to manage to eat a big excess of calories.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    I used to sound like a lot of these posters--that sugar was awful, that I was addicted to it, that I was stuck in a cycle of cravings with it. And I did give it up and cut it completely out of my diet for several years.

    During that time, I realized something. When I was growing up, we didn't eat sweets that often. Every meal didn't end with something sweet. They were only occasional treats, maybe after Sunday dinner and on holidays. Portions of them were limited. I realized that my consumption of them had gone beyond what the norm for them should have been.

    I was able to add them back into my diet in moderation in the way I used to eat them when I was growing up. I still have to watch because sugar can trigger migraines for me, but I realized... it's not sugar that was the issue. It was my behavior that was. I just put too much sugary food into my mouth too often. I didn't need to end every meal with dessert.

    I didn't indulge in anything over the holidays because I didn't want anything. But if I had, I would have made myself something and had a small amount and enjoyed. In moderation. And gone on my way. I'm in control of what goes in my mouth.
  • JoanaMHill
    JoanaMHill Posts: 265 Member
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    mamapeach910 wrote: »
    I'm in control of what goes in my mouth.

    You mean there ISN'T someone holding a gun to your head until you eat an entire batch of fudge?!
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    JoanaMHill wrote: »
    mamapeach910 wrote: »
    I'm in control of what goes in my mouth.

    You mean there ISN'T someone holding a gun to your head until you eat an entire batch of fudge?!

    The ebil sugar in the fudge is too refined for that kind of behavior. :p

  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    StellaCooke wrote: »
    I am new to My Fitness Pal but... In response to your query about sugar free. I have been 'refined sugar free' since August 2000. My weight has yo yo'd all my adult life until I accepted that I was addicted to chocolate, sweets and really anything with refined sugar in. I am no expert in the diet department and don't profess to be. But I now have peace of mind around my weight (have maintained a 60lb + weight loss for the last 14 years). I eat fruit and do accept that food converts to sugar - but there is clearly something in the process of either the way or the speed it is broken down that leads me to be able to eat say 1 apple where I could never just eat a few squares of chocolate. Needless to say - I don't intend to go back to eating the types of food that include refined sugar any time soon. 14 years is pretty well proof that it's not faddy. Won't be the answer for everyone but it works for me. :)
    2001.

    Wow! Maintained a 60 lb weight loss for 14 years? That puts you in superhero status in my book. Congratulations! Out of curiosity, where has exercise fit in?

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