for those who have cut back/eliminated sugars...

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calliope_music
calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
in Food and Nutrition
how do you do it?! i'm stuck. i love sweets, cakes, cookies, pies, etc. i don't eat nearly as much as i used to, but i still want them. i know from past experience that i can wean myself off them but the last time i tried i was a sophomore in college, home for the summer with nothing to do, so i could really focus on what i made and was able to cook tons of stuff with little sugar. now i have a job that requires me to often be on the go and while i pack lunch, sometimes i can't resist that cookie.

any tips to cut back? i already avoid things like HFCS if possible and am trying to gravitate towards more fruits, etc (which is easy in the summer!) but i'd really like to kick my cravings for cookies and stuff.

what health benefits have you noticed from cutting back? more energy, less midday crashing? that's also a problem i have.

any good sweeteners (natural) that you recommend? i'm trying to cut back on Splenda in my coffee but i need something to sweeten it! i love honey in tea.
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Replies

  • lpirie
    lpirie Posts: 24
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    Truvia is a zero calorie sweetner that is made with stevia so its not bad for you. I recently got these vitamuffin's that are chocolate and 90 calories with zero sugar. They may be good for your sweet tooth.
  • INKSFITNESS
    INKSFITNESS Posts: 7
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    Truvia is an excelent natural sweetner (Stevia). As far as helping your cravings try giving up sweets , you grow new tatse buds about every 2 weeks, so if you can cut back or give them up for that long you may find your cravings diminished. It worked for me. I also find I dont think the calories are worth the short pleasure of eating the sweets!
  • achampionsheart
    achampionsheart Posts: 1,020 Member
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    i am diabetic so i cant have alot of sugars.....i have cut way back on my sugars.....i try to google recipes that are sugar free and low carb.....i posted a dessert recipe in my blogs called "banana pudding pie" its fat free and sugar free.....you may want to try it if you like banana pudding....
  • Mmmary212
    Mmmary212 Posts: 410 Member
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    I went from eating cinnamon rolls for dinner (seriously, I'd starve all day and pig out on baked goods...especially when I wasn't counting calories/not caring) to cold turkey, no sweets. I'm going to pull the famous saying "If I can do it, anyone can" cause seriously I was sugar addict and I was in constant pain because of it. Headaches, etc etc.

    There's no other way around it except you just have to make the commitment and stick with it. I'm about 1 1/2 months sugar free (except for the sugar in peanut butter and stuff like that).

    There are tons of sugar free recipes to still make treats and desserts so you arent deprived. You don't have to go with "moderation is key" with this, you can work around it.

    you'll feel a millions time better once you drop the sugar.
  • Mmmary212
    Mmmary212 Posts: 410 Member
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    Oh and I don't use splenda (dry) or stevia....I use sugar free coffee syrups....there's tons of flavors and no aftertaste :) I use them for coffee and for baking.
  • aether74
    aether74 Posts: 3
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    Watch the documentary Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World and you might think twice about those artificial sweeteners everyone.

    Try using Raw Agave Nectar, it's a zero glycemic sweetener, is just as sweet as honey and no aftertaste.

    Also, honey that has been pasteurized is no different from cane sugar, so be careful. It will cause BS to spike just like sugar, caused those insulin crashes. So if you love honey as a sweetener, only use Raw Honey.
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
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    I went from eating cinnamon rolls for dinner (seriously, I'd starve all day and pig out on baked goods...especially when I wasn't counting calories/not caring) to cold turkey, no sweets. I'm going to pull the famous saying "If I can do it, anyone can" cause seriously I was sugar addict and I was in constant pain because of it. Headaches, etc etc.

    There's no other way around it except you just have to make the commitment and stick with it. I'm about 1 1/2 months sugar free (except for the sugar in peanut butter and stuff like that).

    There are tons of sugar free recipes to still make treats and desserts so you arent deprived. You don't have to go with "moderation is key" with this, you can work around it.

    you'll feel a millions time better once you drop the sugar.

    I second this, I was a sugar hound too and cut nearly all of it out of my diet. I do use Splenda in my morning tea, but other than that I get my sweets from fruits. It comes down to how bad to you want to change. If you fight thru the feeling like crap and headaches you will feel better, I promise. You will have no crashing or fiending for sugar like you have today. I avoid anything with white flour too as it just triggers that baked goods urge. Whole grain products are much better and have a lot of fiber, so no crash.
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
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    Oh and I don't use splenda (dry) or stevia....I use sugar free coffee syrups....there's tons of flavors and no aftertaste :) I use them for coffee and for baking.

    The sugar free coffee syrups I find all have Splenda in them, where did you find one with no sugar AND no artificial sweeteners in them?
  • sugarbeans
    sugarbeans Posts: 676 Member
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    I love baked goods as well, but also found that if i cut it out completely I just craved it more. I ended up baking a lot and cutting the sugar in half or adding homemade apple sauce to help reduce the sugar. I sometimes go over in sugar these days but mainly because of fruit and vegtables. I am more concerned about the refined stuff.

    For coffee I add honey if I need to sweeten it up but I have conditioned myself to just have milk in it, after all milk does have sugar.

    Reducing sugar I have had more energy, I'm not as moody and I just feel healthier overall.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    If you want Stevia get the plant so you can put it in your garden, or at the very least get it at your health food store will it be stevia, not the purevia / truvia Pepsi/Coke versions that while having Stevia in them also have something else as bulking agents.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/180927-truvia-and-purevia-leave-it-on-the-grocery-store-shelf

    There's another one that "measures cup for cup" like Sugar while being Stevia have bulking agents they aren't just plain ol Stevia... The bulking agent in the big bag like a bag of sugar is maltodextrin and the single-serve packets like you'd use for coffee are dextrose

    As for baked goods I just cut it out, I still have a sliver of cake at birthday parties and the like but not a sizable chunk like I used to do, freely.
  • mursey
    mursey Posts: 191 Member
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    I like Stevia.

    Getting off sugars takes around 2 weeks according to Atkins. I don't remember, I eat very very low sugars every day. Everything I sweeten it sweetened with Stevia, I carry the packets in my purse. I eat more veggies than fruits, and you can get most of the same vitamins in veggies as fruits but with less sugar.

    It is not a diet, it's a lifestyle where you just get to the point that you can eye up an food and figure out where the hidden sugars are. Any syrup, any sauce .. if you don't make it yourself you pretty much know someone added sugar to it.

    Stick with it and you won't have as many energy "crashes".
  • Happyoceangirl
    Happyoceangirl Posts: 1,993 Member
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    Bump
  • Mmmary212
    Mmmary212 Posts: 410 Member
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    Oh and I don't use splenda (dry) or stevia....I use sugar free coffee syrups....there's tons of flavors and no aftertaste :) I use them for coffee and for baking.

    The sugar free coffee syrups I find all have Splenda in them, where did you find one with no sugar AND no artificial sweeteners in them?

    No, they do have splenda... Torani and Davinci both have splenda but it's liquid splenda. The granual or packets splenda have an awful aftertaste and I don't use those. The liquid in the coffee syrups do not have the nasty aftertaste.
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
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    thank you all! i've started tracking sugars in my diary and have found that i eat quite a bit of fruit so that's where a lot of it is from. i've set a goal that i'll start tapering off in June - my work schedule becomes more flexible as i work in a school and the kids get out then...so if i am cranky or headachey, i can simply be more flexible in my work to allow for it.
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    I've got a sweet tooth too, but have to watch because of family history of diabetes.

    There is a lot of sugar hidden in *REAL FOODS* I try to avoid this so that I can have a sweet snack now and then.

    Some food advertised as healthy (like Nutri-grain bars and others) have a ton of sugar.
    Lots of those individual yogurts have a ton of sugar. When I get yogurt I get the big bucket of plain and add my own flavor at least that way I KNOW what I'm eating.
    Forgot to check one night and picked up a frozen dinner with 30g of sugar (I get 25g a day. and my favorite cookies are 9g for 15 cookies)

    It usually take between 2-3 weeks to get it out of your system. after that you cravings will cut back or go away completely. So while by enlarge I'm a believer in moderation. This is an area where it is worth it to hang tough for a couple of weeks.

    BOTH sugar and artificial sweeteners increase your appetite, so cutting back on them makes weight loss easier, because you are not hungry all the time.
  • Losingitin2011
    Losingitin2011 Posts: 572 Member
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    I eat a lot more protein throughout the day, and I crave sugar less. *shrug*
  • sizehealthy
    sizehealthy Posts: 13
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    I am 100% behind the idea of cutting down on sugars from a diet, but only in the sense of added and artificial ones. I think it is far too common for people to see things as black and white. For example, many avoid bananas because they are high in sugar. But I would argue that those sugars are 100% natural and we should have no qualms about eating them. I'm by no means saying that we should eat fruit all day long, but I think it is a great way to adjust in a reduction in added sweeteners.
  • Forensic
    Forensic Posts: 468 Member
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    I eat more protein/veggies and drink more water.

    Most of my sugars seem to come from yogurts. :/
  • risaiz
    risaiz Posts: 47
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    bump
  • milaxx
    milaxx Posts: 1,122 Member
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    Honestly when I cut out processed food, my sweet cravings decreased tremendously. the only sweetener I use is stevia, (not purvia or truvia). I occasionally snack on larabars . Dried cranberries are great in some greek yogurt or tossed in a salad. I still struggle with my sugar from some of the foods I eat. I just switched to the unsweetened rice or almond milk. One thing that has helped is I bought a popsicle mold from the dollar store and make my own popsicles with no sugar added. I just puree some fruit and blend it with some watermelon and put that in the freezer. the watermelon helps it freeze into the popsicle consistency without altering the flavor. I've heard of people using yogurt for a cream-sicle.

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