For those who are going without sugar

I keep trying. I don't mind the sugar in fruits and vegetables. I've made my own bread a few times. I've also found some light rye bread made with no sugar. I am trying to go by the guide lines of "The Year of No Sugar".
It is a difficult road.

I have not dropped all sugar but I have cut this down to nothing over 10% in packaged foods. no sugar in tea/coffee but a small amount of honey.. and now it is no honey.. Hubby and I have been doing this for over 12 months. He has lost over 20 kgs from this alone...me?, well I am a women and apparently weight loss is different for me

Op must be talking about sugary products like candy, soda or pastries.

I eat almost all my sugar from fruits, with once a week exception of a candy or ice cream. I don't eat it too much, I crave more salty foods like pizza, hamburgers etc.

I try to avoid sugar when I can and treat it as a special treat. Maybe a cookie or two once a week. Otherwise, I prefer to use artificial sweeteners like erythritol and stevia. Erythritol is my favourite: it behaves just like sugar in recipes and it has no weird aftertaste and it doesn't have any nasty side effects. It's super awesome. I buy mine on Amazon.

https://authoritynutrition.com/erythritol/

OP, I hope my reply will give you an appropriate answer to your question. why and how long I forewent added sugar/natural sweeteners, honey and syrups were off limits for reasons set out below. Artificial sugars can also cause spikes in blood sugar.

At the instigation of a nutritionist, in response to blood test results, to rid myself of yeast overgrowth and the inflammation it was causing. I gave up fruit for three weeks, along side that I gave up all added sugar for 9 months. I felt so much better as my system reset itself. Because I also have histamine intolerance I had to be careful to find suitable digestive microbes which I started taking later in the 9 months they are still need now. I felt so very much better for that period of abstinence.

I did not do the added sugar avoidance as a weight loss thing it was in an effort to regain my health. Which is still a work in progress.

I would not recommend anyone eliminate a food group for anything other than proven allergy or sensitivity reasons because you can unwittingly be exposing yourself to mineral and vitamin deficiencies and opening yourself up to greater problems.

No one should feel they must give up fruit as a means to loose weight, because of my salicylate sensitivity and historic use of antibiotics, I learned I had to give up high salicylate foods in order to stop various unpleasant symptoms, doing this which exposed me to yeast(s) overgrowth. I knew foregoing vitamins and minerals was compromising nutrition, it had to be done for the pain relief it probided.

Because my issues are complex, I now take digestive enzymes to counteract the phenols associated with fruits and vegetables enabling me to eat well again.

OP, are you talking about sugary foods/added sugars? Or all sugars, including those naturally present in foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk?

janejellyroll wrote: »

amyepdx wrote: »

louisaguzman wrote: »

I'm a bit frustrated. It's been almost 4 months of no sugar: no breads (except Ezekiel which has no sugar), no pasta, no honey, no artificial sweeteners, no fruit, no cereal, and of course, no desserts). I've lost 30 lbs, which is fantastic. But I thought my cravings would go away. NOT a bit! I crave sugar every day and it makes me insane. Any thoughts?

You've had absolutely no fruit in 4 months? I'd be worried about a lot more than sugar (like scurvy lol) Also, Artificial sweeteners have no sugar so why are they included in your no sugar list?

While I wouldn't personally give up fruit (don't see a reason to), you can meet all your nutritional needs without it. Many vegetables are high in vitamin C, so scurvy wouldn't be an issue.

Mmm broccoli! Didn't store as well as limes on ships though

I have given up sugar in the sense of processed food. I try to eat at least 90% clean.

Do you mean sweets? Or added sugars? Is this something you are wanting to do? It might help us have context if you give more information on your own goals.

That said, I have gone without sweets/added sugar from time to time. When I started I wanted to break an emotional eating habit and cut out snacking, and I thought this would be easier (given all the sweets at my office constantly) if I cut out added sugar. I also tend to do well with abstinence, have to work harder to do moderation sometimes, and wanted to experiment with a paleo diet anyway.

I did that for a little more than a month, felt good, but also felt like the structure that I had created (3 meals, no snacking) was more important than never eating sugar (or grains, blah, blah, and plus I had other issues with paleo), and I was getting more calories from working out and wanted to up my calories some, so I added sweets back in, in moderation -- basically an occasional after dinner dessert with the calories I had leftover if there were any.

That went well, but after a while (basically after a week long biking trip when I ate freely given all the calories we were burning every day) I got out of the habit and started getting tempted by office sweets again, so I cut added sugar for another month (but was not super hard core this time, and if I had a bit here and there in savory food at a restaurant I did not care). Again, it went well that month, and I got back to moderation afterwards.

Lately, for various reasons, I've been struggling a bit with maintenance and staying focused and also want to get motivated to lose a bit more, so I am trying a very low carb diet. I have not specifically cut out added sugar, but to hit my carb goal I basically have to limit them to vegetables, nuts, olives, dairy, a few other such things, and so added sugar is effectively excluded. I don't know how long I will do this, depends on how much I like it. I'm sure I will end up fitting in occasional sweets even if I stay mostly low carb, especially for special occasions/holidays.

Don't know if that helps, but it's my experience.

If only people understood and/or explained context when asking questions and giving answers.
I eat very little in the way of added sugars. If I am going to indulge on a treat it's going to be something homemade or from a good bakery/restaurant, and that's not going to be very often. I don't drink soda or add sugar to my coffee and eat very little processed food. I certainly don't avoid fruit, or starchy vegetables. I'm not the biggest consumer of bread, only because I'm not a fan of it.

louisaguzman wrote: »

I'm a bit frustrated. It's been almost 4 months of no sugar: no breads (except Ezekiel which has no sugar), no pasta, no honey, no artificial sweeteners, no fruit, no cereal, and of course, no desserts). I've lost 30 lbs, which is fantastic. But I thought my cravings would go away. NOT a bit! I crave sugar every day and it makes me insane. Any thoughts?

When you say you crave it every day, do you mean you are craving specific foods (cakes, cookies), or are you just craving the sweet taste? How do your macros look? Sometimes a slight shift in macros can help with cravings, and a lot of people report not having issues with cravings once they've figured out the macro ratio that works for them.