Has anyone given up refined sugar???
gypsyrose85
Posts: 206 Member
If so do you have any advice on how to make the transition so you don't relapse??
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Nope, I'm a firm believer in not restricting myself. I try to eat it all in moderation as it usually has limited nutritional value and I have only a limited amount of calories. but I generally have ice cream every night and am currently munching on lucky charms0
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Why would I do that? It makes things yummy, right?0
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No I haven't, but I'm sure there are some threads where people have tried.0
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Trying not to eat too much of it but it's hard to give up totally. I allow myself treats.0
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Don't worry OP...there will be people who do this, they will probably be along eventually talking about the evils of sugar
Then this thread will descend into the abyss like so many others of its sort
If you want to give up sugar to hit your calorie defecit, then good luck...wouldn't work for me I like baking and ice cream and all da foodz..and that everything in moderation approach worked for me0 -
Not specifically no.
I'm sure I probably eat less now than I used to, simply because I'm eating less calories/food overall than I used to. But I don't go out of my way looking to reduce sugar (or any one particular thing) specifically.0 -
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gypsyrose85 wrote: »If so do you have any advice on how to make the transition so you don't relapse??
Nope. I don't feel that's an approach that's healthy for me - total elimination seems to set up a sort of white-knuckle "I won't I won't I won't" then binge or cravings cycle that just seemed crazy to me (just talking about myself here, by the way), especially since I don't feel that any food is necessarily "bad" in and of itself. It's a matter of developing OVERALL eating patterns that support my health and fitness goals, rather than pointing the finger at any specific food or nutrient.
I did cut waaaay back on refined sugar for a few months so that I could re-assess the way I handle sugars. That worked well for me, so now I treat foods with refined sugar as an occasional treat rather than including them as a daily part of my food intake.
My problem is I am a all or nothing girl. I had quit soda cold turkey for 6 months. I had surgery and was throwing up so drank ginger ale...got hooked again
smoking cigarettes same thing. I had one after 4 years of not smoking and then kept doing it for 2months the cold turkey again. My impulse control sucks. (I have a few brain tumors which affect the way I think and process stuff) 0 -
gypsyrose85 wrote: »
My problem is I am a all or nothing girl.
I am on day 4 of the 30 day 'Whole30" eating approach, which seems essentially to be a strict Paleo-type diet designed to eliminate, for a 30 day period, ALL added sugar (in addition to all dairy, all grains, all legumes, all booze - the latter restriction has forced me to come up with a new breakfast plan). This might be of interest for you if you are an all or nothing sort of person.
It is still too early for me to say, but I am feeling great so far, and giving up the sugar did not seem that hard for some reason, perhaps because it is buried in such an over-all restrictive diet. I am even drinking black coffee now (instead of how I used to take it: double cream, double sugar, with a shooter of donut or three on the side). I made my own mayonnaise yesterday, just to avoid the added sugar in commercially-prepared mayonnaise.
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We've been greatly limiting added sugar, we both have maybe 5-10 grams daily from added sugars. I'm not the best on avoiding it after I start eating it. So for me the way to not go wacko on it is don't start eating it. I know it's hard to avoid, the way I did it was examine everything that we eat. Ketchup was the thing that surprised me the most, almost 25% sugar.0 -
I don't eat much of it so i've never worried about giving it up. I don't eat much in the way of processed foods and what I do eat is minimally processed and not much, if any added sugar and I don't add sugar to anything I cook on a regular basis.
I do enjoy a desert treat most nights...usually some kind of dark chocolate but occasionally something fun like jelly beans or a cookie. really, my intake of refined sugar is pretty negligible relative to my overall diet, so I just don't worry about it.
If I was sucking down multiple 40 ounce Big Gulps daily or something, I might sing a different tune0 -
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Yes, I gave it up years ago. For me, the difficult part was getting through the first two weeks. Since you're giving up refined sugar, you can substitute fruit or dried fruit. If you find yourself struggling, these cookies are delicious and so easy to make. I obviously make them without the chocolate chips.
http://detoxinista.com/2014/07/the-healthiest-cookies-ever-paleo-vegan/
Good luck!0 -
try doing paleo. it cuts out refined sugars but in moderation you can still eat other natural sugars/sweeteners.0
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Yes, I gave it up years ago. For me, the difficult part was getting through the first two weeks. Since you're giving up refined sugar, you can substitute fruit or dried fruit. If you find yourself struggling, these cookies are delicious and so easy to make. I obviously make them without the chocolate chips.
http://detoxinista.com/2014/07/the-healthiest-cookies-ever-paleo-vegan/
Good luck!
May I ask why you would replace sugar with sugar?0 -
Nope.0
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gypsyrose85 wrote: »gypsyrose85 wrote: »If so do you have any advice on how to make the transition so you don't relapse??
Nope. I don't feel that's an approach that's healthy for me - total elimination seems to set up a sort of white-knuckle "I won't I won't I won't" then binge or cravings cycle that just seemed crazy to me (just talking about myself here, by the way), especially since I don't feel that any food is necessarily "bad" in and of itself. It's a matter of developing OVERALL eating patterns that support my health and fitness goals, rather than pointing the finger at any specific food or nutrient.
I did cut waaaay back on refined sugar for a few months so that I could re-assess the way I handle sugars. That worked well for me, so now I treat foods with refined sugar as an occasional treat rather than including them as a daily part of my food intake.
My problem is I am a all or nothing girl. I had quit soda cold turkey for 6 months. I had surgery and was throwing up so drank ginger ale...got hooked again smoking cigarettes same thing. I had one after 4 years of not smoking and then kept doing it for 2months the cold turkey again. My impulse control sucks. (I have a few brain tumors which affect the way I think and process stuff)
OK, fair enough. You know that about yourself, and that's a good thing. I'd just like to point out, though - using your smoking as an example - that you DID in fact succeed with smoking. Relapsing is part of recovery, and you quit after two months. That's a victory. Own it and realize that you obviously DO have a lot of the skills needed to succeed in maintaining healthy eating habits over the long term (however you end up defining them).
Without wanting to completely dissect your personal situation, in general it might be a good idea to maybe analyze more specifically what goes on with you and refined sugar (not saying you should do it on these boards - that often doesn't go well =P).
The problem with taking an all-or-nothing approach to refined sugar is it puts you in a position where you have to be a little obsessive about checking ingredients, and putting a whole lot of foods into a black/white good/bad category. And that, in and of itself, can lead to unhealthy eating patterns.
But consider taking a closer look at what specific foods are problematic for you - and how they're problems. Do they lead to binges, or do you just generally feel they aren't good for you? Is this more about specific emotional states or circumstances that lead to craving sugar? If so, then focus more on developing good coping strategies to deal with those states or circumstances, because sugar there is the symptom, not the problem.
You're probably doing better than you think you are. Just sayin.
Pretty much any baked good or sweet. I will just eat and eat anything starchy or sugary.0 -
unless you have a medical condition there is absolutely no need to give up sugar...0
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Hell no! XD I've lowered the amount of sweet things I do eat, mostly because I can eat something with meat and veggies that's the same calorie amount and be able to eat more, but I don't cut out anything from my diet. If I'm unable to enjoy what I eat, what's the point?
If you have a medical reason for it, then that's one thing. But refined sugar isn't evil, the only way it can cause weight gain is if you eat too much of it. Which is true of ANY food; the difference is the amount that qualifies as 'too much' changes.0 -
Yes, I gave it up years ago. For me, the difficult part was getting through the first two weeks. Since you're giving up refined sugar, you can substitute fruit or dried fruit. If you find yourself struggling, these cookies are delicious and so easy to make. I obviously make them without the chocolate chips.
http://detoxinista.com/2014/07/the-healthiest-cookies-ever-paleo-vegan/
Good luck!
Dried fruits are probably the food with the most concentrated amounts of sugar short of eating it straight by the teaspoon full.
(not that I'm objecting to that, but seems counter to this poster's claim that she's given up sugar).0 -
The problem with taking an all-or-nothing approach to refined sugar is it puts you in a position where you have to be a little obsessive about checking ingredients, and putting a whole lot of foods into a black/white good/bad category. And that, in and of itself, can lead to unhealthy eating patterns.
But consider taking a closer look at what specific foods are problematic for you - and how they're problems. Do they lead to binges, or do you just generally feel they aren't good for you? Is this more about specific emotional states or circumstances that lead to craving sugar? If so, then focus more on developing good coping strategies to deal with those states or circumstances, because sugar there is the symptom, not the problem.
+1
You really need to tell us more on why refined sugar. For instance, those paleo vegan cookies above have about the same amount sugar as chips ahoy, it just comes from dates. If you eat those cookies they same way you eat chips ahoy, than you haven't addressed the issue.
Instead of focusing on refined sugar, you need to make better food choices. I don't like to have blacklisted foods, but perhaps you need to do that for a while. Sugary sodas and things that make you binge should be on the list.
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gypsyrose85 wrote: »gypsyrose85 wrote: »If so do you have any advice on how to make the transition so you don't relapse??
Nope. I don't feel that's an approach that's healthy for me - total elimination seems to set up a sort of white-knuckle "I won't I won't I won't" then binge or cravings cycle that just seemed crazy to me (just talking about myself here, by the way), especially since I don't feel that any food is necessarily "bad" in and of itself. It's a matter of developing OVERALL eating patterns that support my health and fitness goals, rather than pointing the finger at any specific food or nutrient.
I did cut waaaay back on refined sugar for a few months so that I could re-assess the way I handle sugars. That worked well for me, so now I treat foods with refined sugar as an occasional treat rather than including them as a daily part of my food intake.
My problem is I am a all or nothing girl. I had quit soda cold turkey for 6 months. I had surgery and was throwing up so drank ginger ale...got hooked again smoking cigarettes same thing. I had one after 4 years of not smoking and then kept doing it for 2months the cold turkey again. My impulse control sucks. (I have a few brain tumors which affect the way I think and process stuff)
you might want to examine the reasons as to why your impulse control is off and maybe not point to one macronutrient as the source of the problem.0 -
Oh yes. And after about three weeks I stopped having food cravings, for the first time ever. I eat plenty of fruit, but I no longer eat candy or cookies or bread. And now I don't miss them either. My goal is to keep my blood sugar levels steady. My advice on making the transition is to eat a bit of protein with each meal (or most meals), whether that be hard-boiled eggs (or egg whites), a cheese stick, a handful of nuts (pistachios are low-cal and satisfying), a small piece of meat. And try eating a hearty soup and salad for dinner, and don't stay up too late (so you don't get the munchies later).0
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I gave up most of it. I avoid soda, most sweets, drink my coffee black, etc. But I am NOT going to pass up a piece of pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, and if you make carrot cake...I get a piece. Moderation is king!
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man thats a tough one...cut back yes...completely give it up...probably one of the harder things to go cold turkey on.0
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Mister_Ladyfingers wrote: »They came to take my meat and I said nothing. But now they are trying to take my sugar! Brothers and sisters it's time for revolution! *runs off to find my Guy Fawkes mask*
LOL0 -
All sugars are not created equal. Sugars like honey, maple syrup, fruit and so on come with the added bonus of minerals, vitamins and have lower calories than refined sugar.0
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