Thoughts on/experience with eliminating refined sugar/processed foods?

It could refocus your commitment but it's probably not sustainable and then what happens when you do consume some refined sugar or something heavily processed.......nothing is what happens unless you start to over consume, funny how that works.

Quite recently I decided to massively cut back on all the refined sugar I was eating. My problem used to be that the more I ate it, the more I craved it, and looking back the amount of sugary junk I was getting through really wasn't healthy.

At the moment, the 'worst' thing I eat on a regular basis is a 125g pot of fruit yoghurt, which I have on most mornings with my muesli and fruit for breakfast. There are probably healthier yoghurts out there (I understand Greek yoghurt is something a lot of people go for), but because that's more or less the only 'bad' thing I eat, and I eat it along with healthy stuff, I figured I could be doing far worse.

As for things like chocolate, fizzy drinks, etc, I've gone more or less completely cold turkey. I think last week I may have had one Toffee Crisp, but that was literally it and even then I could very easily have done without it. That method won't work for everyone, and I suppose strictly speaking moderation might be a better approach, but I know that with me it's very easy for one bar of chocolate to lead to another one (and another one) and completely cutting it out just seemed to make more sense, at least in these early stages. I can't imagine staying completely refined-sugar-free forever, though, and so whenever I feel like I want to have it again I'll make sure that I wean myself back onto it carefully and with a more active effort to consume it in moderation. But in the mean time I'm simply not craving it all, and I'm not exactly going to eat it just for the sake of eating it! I can't believe that I can go into shops now and honestly not be tempted in the slightest by any of the sweets on offer. Like I said before, it genuinely felt like the more I ate the more I needed, and now that I'm not having it as much that constant craving appears to have abated.

So, the long and short of it is I'm very glad to have cut down and become less dependent on it. A friend even commented today that my skin was looking good, but I don't know how much of that is due to the lack of sugar!

Regardless of your weight goals, if you suspect changing some things in your diet will make you feel better (more energetic, for example) and it won't do you harm, why not try it?

That said, I'm slamming my head repeatedly into that last ten pounds wall right now and I eat no grain and nothing with added sugar in it and I cook from scratch, so it's no guarantee of weight loss. The last ten is just terrible anyway. If I had remembered how awful and slow it was losing it last time, I probably wouldn't have to be losing it again right now because I wouldn't have let myself gain any back. So be prepared to weigh and measure every bite and watch yourself like a hawk. A grass fed, organic, cage free hawk.

I did a Whole30 in January. I felt good during it and the food was great! If you don't know what Whole30 is, it's basically an extreme paleo. No sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol, or grains. Unfortunately, I didn't lose any weight at all. It was SO disappointing to cut out all sugar and processed foods and not lose anything. I always thought that my over-consumption of sugar was the primary roadblock to weight loss for me.

So now I'm back to counting calories. I'm avoiding processed food as much as possible. After that month of cooking such great food, I learned some really good habits like batch cooking.

I've cut out refined sugar and 99% of processed foods - I still sometimes have protein powder and some wasa crackers....but at the moment, that's it. It also helps to not be in the US these days and not be barraged with processed food constantly - so its easy to buy tomatoes and onions instead of pasta sauce, or regular yogurt instead of fruit yogurt, natural cheese instead of sliced crap, and just fresh chicken or fish instead of prepared foods. There are cookies and chips in the markets where I am, but those are easier to avoid. The chocolates are also manageable to avoid. I eat lots of fruits, vegetables including starchy vegetables at times, beans, quinoa and unprocessed grains, chicken, fish, cheese, and rarely rice. Olives and natural cheddar cheese are a regular treat, as are avocados. I don't miss much - but once in a blue moon, I wish I could have a slice of fresh baked cake with strawberries.... I have more energy normally and I only crave clean flavors when I'm hungry....like oranges and cheese etc.

I hope I'm able to make this last - but I may re-introduce once in a few months options of cake and ice cream and may bake some cake myself...