Thoughts on "Quiting Sugar"?

kimny72 wrote: »

shaddowstorm wrote: »

Hi,

What are your thoughts on quitting sugar?
Has anyone ever quit sugar and what were you results?

OP, sugar is a hot-button topic here!
While it is trendy right now to consider sugar the root of all evil, there are a lot of theories but nothing as far as proof.

Having said that, I used to eat treats like candy, cookies, ice cream, etc mindlessly and it added a lot of calories to my life! When I started making sure to get enough protein and fiber to fill me up, I had to eat less sweets to stay within my calorie goal.

So if you are having trouble staying within your goal, or if you are making your goal but hungry all the time, cutting back on sugary foods could help with satiety. But if you are hitting your calorie goal and doing well, there is no reason to waste your will-power avoiding sugar, unless you have a medical reason. Just make sure you are getting enough nutrition and food, and if a candy bar or an ice cream cone fit, enjoy!

I wanted to bump this post. This is a wonderful response.

GaleHawkins wrote: »

RhineDHP wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

shaddowstorm wrote: »

Hi,

What are your thoughts on quitting sugar?
Has anyone ever quit sugar and what were you results?

OP, sugar is a hot-button topic here!
While it is trendy right now to consider sugar the root of all evil, there are a lot of theories but nothing as far as proof.

Having said that, I used to eat treats like candy, cookies, ice cream, etc mindlessly and it added a lot of calories to my life! When I started making sure to get enough protein and fiber to fill me up, I had to eat less sweets to stay within my calorie goal.

So if you are having trouble staying within your goal, or if you are making your goal but hungry all the time, cutting back on sugary foods could help with satiety. But if you are hitting your calorie goal and doing well, there is no reason to waste your will-power avoiding sugar, unless you have a medical reason. Just make sure you are getting enough nutrition and food, and if a candy bar or an ice cream cone fit, enjoy!

I wanted to bump this post. This is a wonderful response.

Do the two of you understand short of breaking a sugar addiction (going 'cold turkey' for two weeks in my case) there is little to no will power required to cut out sugar because the actual cravings cease but the memory can persist.

If one has never had a sugar addiction at one has overcome getting off of sugar may sound crazy because it does not apply in that person.

Sugar is not evil just like beer is not evil because they are both just carbs. But if after one taste of either one consumes all in the house and goes out for more could be a sign of the problem with that food/food group.

To be brief, I disagree with your claim that a "sugar addiction" exists. Compulsions to eat or overeat, sure. Not an addiction though.

One should not compare sugar to alcohol, or drugs. Apples and oranges.

The post I quoted is a very reasonable response.

I have been on a "No Sugar" challenge for 21days. I just got off of the challenged so I decided to try a Dr. Pepper (which was my soda) and it tasted awful. So, my decision as been not to fully go back to eating sugar. But if you decide to continue to eat sugar do it in moderation. A little is ok, but anymore can or will be harmful to your health.

No thank you.

I cut back on adding sugar to my coffee and buying items that have a lot of sugar added. My goal was to appreciate the taste of food with less sugar in it. Before I thought many foods only tasted right with a lot of sugar in them (e.g., yogurt and oatmeal). Now I find that many things I used to like are too sweet. But, I didn't give up sugar. Besides that it naturally occurs in many foods, the range of food you would have to give up would be very limiting. I enjoy cakes and cookies occasionally; I just didn't want my preferred taste to be "tons of sugar added."

bperk420 wrote: »

I cut back on adding sugar to my coffee and buying items that have a lot of sugar added. My goal was to appreciate the taste of food with less sugar in it. Before I thought many foods only tasted right with a lot of sugar in them (e.g., yogurt and oatmeal). Now I find that many things I used to like are too sweet. But, I didn't give up sugar. Besides that it naturally occurs in many foods, the range of food you would have to give up would be very limiting. I enjoy cakes and cookies occasionally; I just didn't want my preferred taste to be "tons of sugar added."

I'm pretty much the same. Me and my husband really cut back on processed foods, and that included biscuits/cakes/pastries/takeaways etc etc, but our reason was to go back to more wholesome food and not binge on processed food on a very regular basis.

For my husband, it certainly was not a weight loss thing, and we are both happier to have curbed it. Food overall seems to be tasting much better.

As for sugar, we prefer brown, it contains molasses and that has goodness in it. I've even thought about switching to jaggery but I can't be bothered to be hacking away at it for a cup of coffee!

kururunfa wrote: »

I'm not doing this to lose weight, I'm doing it because I'm an athlete and a few people at my wrestling gym have tried it with good results. I've found it really hard because sugar is in so many things (even some pre-packaged chicken/turkey from supermarkets has sugar as an ingredient!). I've accidentally eaten things with sugar in them - such as dips that I use with my celery, but other than that I've been sugar free for a few weeks now.

It's made a massive difference to how I feel. I have more energy when I'm training and my recovery times are faster (I train six days a week and do two sessions a day on some days). I don't feel the urge to snack any more, and I generally just feel better. It takes some thought and planning, and makes eating out a pain, but that's only because I'm being super-strict about it. For people who are just trying to lose weight I could imagine that simply stopping adding sugar to drinks and moderating sugary snacks would go an incredibly long way.

Like I said above, I do this from time to time, and it really makes no difference in how I feel or to my athletic efforts (perhaps it would if I were more elite, but so far I see no reason to think so). Maybe the difference is that I typically eat a pretty moderate amount anyway, and few of the processed foods that people are so worried about sugar being in (I mostly cook at home).

As for weight-loss, a tsp of sugar in your coffee (which I think is disgusting, since I dislike sweet coffee, but it's not about my personal taste) adds few calories, so that seems a weird thing to worry about unless you are superstitious about sugar. A super sweet Starbucks drink that gets calories from all kinds of things besides sugar? Yeah, log it and see if you really want to make room--I wouldn't, but some might. If you eat enough sugary snacks that you might need to moderate them (which a huge number of people wanting to lose do, of course), you already know that and it's obvious--it's not what these silly quitting sugar threads are typically about. No one claims that's not an easy way to cut some calories.

There is nothing wrong with sugar if it is part of an overall balanced diet.

I am limiting my carbs (doctor's orders) so I drink diet soda and water, use only half and half in my coffee instead of highly sweetened flavored "creamer", eat candy, cakes, donuts, etc. only on occasion, eat more veggies than fruit, rarely add sugar if it is called for in a dinner recipe, etc. I do not cut out sugar. I just need to limit it for 2 reasons: 1) medical condition and 2) easiest way to cut calories. When I go into maintenance, I will probably be adding some in as long as I stay under my doctor's carb limit (180g/day)

GaleHawkins wrote: »

shaddowstorm wrote: »

goldthistime wrote: »

shaddowstorm wrote: »

goldthistime wrote: »

shaddowstorm wrote: »

Hi,

What are your thoughts on quitting sugar?
Has anyone ever quit sugar and what were you results?

OP are you considering quitting sugar because you have trouble resisting it or because you believe it to be very unhealthy or both?

I have thought about lessening my sugar intake as in from possessed foods. Which yesterday I realized that my 2 coffees per day with half a sugar was what was putting me over my intake which I changed to a sweetener. I pretty much wanted to know how sugar free people lived such as Sarah Wilson.

I have no addictions to high sugar foods

So are you saying you find it difficult to include calories from added sugar and still stay under goal? Then reducing sugar sounds like a good plan. I am going at it another way. I increased my goal calories and am including sugar.

I don't know how much sugar a day is good and how much is bad. my intake today says my goal is 45g and am currently on 26g today as I've already added my tea and it's only 3:20pm in Aus.
I'm surprised as my yoghurt is 170g per serving and 20.9g sugar to me this is high. Over my weight loss journey I worked from watching my calories to protein and fibre now looking at the sugar.

shaddowstorm I quit processed foods or most any food with added sugar or containing over 4-6 grams of natural sugar per serving. I cut out the grains because they go to sugar in the end.

The results is my arthritis pain dropped from a 7-8 to 2-3 most days now on a 1-10 scale.

I have dropped a good 15+ pounds and inches all over. My energy level is up and I can get out of a car or out to the theater seats after a movie without assistance.

I tried to cut back during Aug-Sept 2014 without luck so went cold turkey Oct 2014. I quit sugar because I was addicted to it and I learned it is very unhealthy for me.

Do not read farther unless you are a 60+ year old male. It is nice to now be able to urinate at will with a full stream pain free. I never plan to leave the low carb eating lifestyle. Helping preventing cataracts is also a plus as well chaperoned meditate autophagy to remove damaged protein particles from my cells. Google can find one more info on these points if interested.

I have been in ketosis for the past four months except after trying carbs twice. I do not plan to try carbs again unless I find a medical reason since carbs are not required for a healthy eating lifestyle and they make me feel like crap and the pain starts to return.

From other posts, you also don't eat food. You eat large quantities of coconut oil straight and supplement with protein shakes. That is completely disordered eating, and I would not recommend it to anyone else.

neanderthin wrote: »

nelliegirl6 wrote: »

I keep refined carbohydrates to a minimum but I do eat complex carbs. For me, the refined carbs tend to cause cravings... and up go the pounds. Call me weak, but I've done well and feel much better when I don't eat processed foods and keep refined carbs to a minimum.

Actually most refined carbs are complex Carbs.

Correct, most refined carbs are complex carbs.
I do find that I have more cravings when I eat more of some of the refined (complex) carbs.

GaleHawkins wrote: »

RhineDHP wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

shaddowstorm wrote: »

Hi,

What are your thoughts on quitting sugar?
Has anyone ever quit sugar and what were you results?

OP, sugar is a hot-button topic here!
While it is trendy right now to consider sugar the root of all evil, there are a lot of theories but nothing as far as proof.

Having said that, I used to eat treats like candy, cookies, ice cream, etc mindlessly and it added a lot of calories to my life! When I started making sure to get enough protein and fiber to fill me up, I had to eat less sweets to stay within my calorie goal.

So if you are having trouble staying within your goal, or if you are making your goal but hungry all the time, cutting back on sugary foods could help with satiety. But if you are hitting your calorie goal and doing well, there is no reason to waste your will-power avoiding sugar, unless you have a medical reason. Just make sure you are getting enough nutrition and food, and if a candy bar or an ice cream cone fit, enjoy!

I wanted to bump this post. This is a wonderful response.

Do the two of you understand short of breaking a sugar addiction (going 'cold turkey' for two weeks in my case) there is little to no will power required to cut out sugar because the actual cravings cease but the memory can persist.

If one has never had a sugar addiction at one has overcome getting off of sugar may sound crazy because it does not apply in that person.

Sugar is not evil just like beer is not evil because they are both just carbs. But if after one taste of either one consumes all in the house and goes out for more could be a sign of the problem with that food/food group.

@GaleHawkins‌
I second the motion that the kimny72's post was a good one. The OP stated that sugar didn't feel like an addiction for her.

Gale, although I am currently on Team Moderation, if you could go back to my earliest posts, you would see that I spent a good deal of time defending the idea that sugar is like an addiction for some, me specifically. I thought complete abstinence from sugary treats was the best solution. It's only been a month since I switched teams. I'm still a work in progress. Maybe when 2016 rolls around I will be back on Team Abstinence.

So why'd I switch teams?

First, because I agree with the idea that sugar gets more mystical power over us when we abstain completely, and when we think of ourselves as "victims" of addiction. I felt strong and a little righteous when I was abstaining. But fearful that one treat would be my undoing. I have a friend who had abstained for over a year when someone cruelly waved what had been her favourite treat under her nose. She was upset for days. That treat carried way too much power over her now.

Second, because I found some "coping mechanisms". Meat and exercise. Both of them stop my sugar cravings in it's tracks.

When I was on MFP in the early months of 2014 I abstained from treats and spent quite a bit of time fretting about my upcoming birthday. I knew my family would want to have cake. It's tradition. And just having it in the house would be challenging for me. When the time came, I started with a small slice. Yum. So yummy in fact, that I wanted a second. Then, you know what, I'm not going to log today so I will sneak in a third. Then I gave in to the cravings entirely and binged. I'd had titanium willpower until that moment. I thought I would be ok.

This month I have been adding sugar to my coffee or tea when I feel like I want something sweet. Trying to convince myself that I can have a little without going crazy. So far so good. It's much easier for me to have sugar alone than in the ultra alluring combination of sugar + fat, especially when it's wrapped up in a "special day" package, like cake. But even with daily reassurance that I can have SOME sugar without losing it, I found myself worrying about a cake-centric event coming up late February. Yesterday I very purposefully had a piece of chocolate cake. I had it BEFORE lunch. I followed it up immediately with a big serving of cooked chicken. Presto! Cravings halted before they even had a chance to get going.

Maybe it's more difficult for people like me to moderate than to abstain. But I'm going to continue to try.

You may argue that it's not worth the effort. That sugar is bad for me and my efforts are misdirected. I absolutely want to eat less sugar than I was eating. I was eating large amounts at times. Very unhealthy. I want to keep the amount of sugar in my diet at a reasonable level (and perhaps we may debate what amount is reasonable). But I also don't want to feel deprived. Because I love birthday cake. And fruitcake. And pumpkin pie. I could go on ad nauseam. Maybe you know what I mean when I say that as we age, food remains one of our greatest pleasures. I want it all and I'm determined to have it, in met-my-macros-and-calorie-goal moderation.

ljmorgi wrote: »

DeirdreWoodwardSanders wrote: »

Hi OP:
***disclaimer: Just for clarity, nowhere in this post do I claim the following:

• Sasquatch is real

Oh come on, surely a Bigfoot thread would be a refreshing change from yet another sugar thread.

Have you ever watched the show "Finding Bigfoot"? I have (unfortunately I was unemployed for a while and sometimes you just watch what's on). One guy starts to make Sasquatch sounds in the middle of the woods and all I can think is "how in the world do you know what a mythical creature sounds like?"

On another note, I just rewatched the Mythbusters episode that covers the fake moon landing myths. It's a great one.