Quitting sugar!?
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soukyfitness
Posts: 16 Member
Hey guys, so I'm eager to quit sugar since I have quite a sweet tooth. However I've been finding it really difficult since it's all around me. I need motivation! How did you guys quit sugar and how has it made you feel- hopefully better? Thanks in advance everyone!
And feel free to add me, always happy to have new friends!
And feel free to add me, always happy to have new friends!
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Replies
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Why do you want to "quit" sugar? I think you'll find that many of us have not quit sugar - just learned how to control portions and fit into our calories.
Sugar is not the devil. If you think it's the key for you and you can quit it cold turkey, then give it a shot, but it appears (I could be wrong) that you're assuming anybody with success in weight loss has stopped eating sugar. You don't have to do that. It won't hurt you if you do....9 -
Changing profile pics might help, yours surely has to keep reminding you of it.
Seriously I never gave up 'sugar' and it does not make me feel bad as needing to rid my body of it. Having a sweet treat is something I do each day.. I fit dessert in my calories everyday.14 -
Changing profile pics might help, yours surely has to keep reminding you of it.
Seriously I never gave up 'sugar' and it does not make me feel bad as needing to rid my body of it. Having a sweet treat is something I do each day.. I fit dessert in my calories everyday.
Ditto. If I did not have something sweet everyday I am sure I would go crazy and binge out on everything sweet when I did. To each their own, but I look forward to my dessert every night.3 -
Are you quitting all sugar or just reducing added sugars or something in between? I think that there's a lot to be said for identifying how much sugar you're comfortable with and working your food plan around that through more home-cooking, prelogging, finding savory dishes, trying new foods, etc. Knowing how much you want to have and how far you need to cut it and what kind of things you like to eat might help.
But if you want to quit all sugars, including natural sugars, I think the only way to do that is with an all-animal/oil keto-type diet? (I can't for the life of me remember what it's called right now) If so, you're going to need to get a lot stricter than I've ever been. You might seek out some of the keto groups or see if there's a group for the type of no dairy, no carb, zero sugar type diet that could help you out.
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soukyfitness wrote: »Hey guys, so I'm eager to quit sugar since I have quite a sweet tooth. However I've been finding it really difficult since it's all around me. I need motivation! How did you guys quit sugar and how has it made you feel- hopefully better? Thanks in advance everyone!
And feel free to add me, always happy to have new friends!
BTW I also have a sweet tooth. If you think that is what you need to do then try it. I think it would be difficult to cut sugar out entirely. You might want to try figuring something into your daily calories. If that does not work for you, then you can try other alternatives. There are foods that I did not eat initially because I did not think I could control how much I would eat. I have learned that it is okay to eat what I want, within reason. Good luck.1 -
I don't quit sugar anymore because it's always a temporary thing for me. Quitting sugar helps me diet, but it doesn't help me maintenance.
Instead I manage my sugar intake. I find individual portion packs help. Dark chocolate squares instead of Hershey kisses. I allow myself 2 snacks. One snack is always something sweet. The second snack can be sweet or salty (it just depends).
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That's going to be a pretty hopeless endeavour, as you say, there's sugar in so many things, including foods that are really good for you, like fruit and dairy. So some people aim to just cut out added sugar, which is fine, just difficult, because you'll be making everything you eat from scratch, and you can't add sugar to anything, so you'll indirectly be banning many nutritious foods, and possibly contraproductive, because feeling deprived usually leads to feelings of resentment, and as temptation is all around us, we're bound to cave, sooner or later, and when our goal is pefection, any misstep is total failure.
What has made me feel better, like in, normal weight, and more energetic, confident, relaxed, happy, is - in addition to stop the quest for motivation - education and clearing up the food-fear-hype - sugar is sugar, sugar is made from plants, different foods offer different nutrition, no foods are in themselves healthy or unhealthy, anything in moderation, I can even say no thanks. Now I really enjoy cooking from scratch, but I also enjoy my occasional treats a lot more.6 -
I echo the above questions about why you think it’s necessary to quit sugar in order to be successful? And I assume you’re referring to added sugar, as it would be next to impossible (and not to mention not very healthy) to quit all sugars since fruit, vegetables and many other Whole Foods contain natural sugars which biochemically are no different from the added sugars once they are broken down in your body.
That said if you have difficulty controlling your intake of certain foods there’s nothing wrong with cutting back or cutting those out for a period of time - but I suggest you try to find the source of the actual problem and not make sweeping changes that will likely be too difficult to sustain.6 -
The first thing you need to do is be more specific. It helps set goals.
To "quit sugar" you would need to give up all plant based foods, 99% of prepared foods, and dairy. So, basically become a carnivore.
To quit overeating sugary delights, you can set goals to stop eating them except for X occassions or you can limit how many you have per day or week. Those are all reasonable goals, depending on your personal targets.7 -
I cut it out for a month as an experiment and do from time to time, but I have no desire to quit it for good.
I didn't find it difficult (and don't find it difficult to moderate). Assuming you mean added sugar (I don't think quitting the sugar from fruit, veg, and dairy, and things like sweet potatoes, is healthful), here are tips:
Read labels and cook most things from whole foods if you find you are buying packaged savory foods with sugar in them (this wasn't an issue for me, but some claim it is -- I've always read labels and mostly cooked from whole foods).
Watch condiments -- again, I don't find the amount in a condiment like, say, sriracha is enough to care about, unless you drown your food, but something to look at if you are trying to cut it all out for an experiment (most people have trouble moderating sweets and don't get lots of calories from sriracha, though).
If you put it in your coffee or tea or drink soda, switch to artificial or just start cutting back the amount you add (I didn't do this either -- I adore black coffee).
If you eat lots of sweets, well, just don't. What I found was the key for me was not snacking between meals. This actually demonstrated to me that I could consume sweets and moderate just fine too, but instead of snacking just because foods were available or I felt bad -- emotional eating was really my problem -- I would have a planned dessert after dinner IF and ONLY IF I had the calories available. But for a while I just didn't, and if I wanted something special after dinner I'd have cheese or nuts or fruit or a nice brewing chocolate (there are kinds with no sugar and which aren't sweet at all) or an iced herbal tea, again no sugar added. If you drink a glass of wine or something would work too, but I don't.3 -
Oh, about feeling better, I don't find I feel better or worse not eating any sugar vs. eating moderate amounts.
I felt bad when I was regularly overeating (which for me wasn't specifically about sugar at all) and didn't have a sense of control over what I was eating. What helped with that, for me, was understanding how and why I was overeating and taking steps to stop -- which for me was mostly about eating only at meals and not snacking or grazing, but different things work for different people.5 -
I cut back on added sugar but I was eating quite a bit of it when I first started logging. The key for me was finding reasonable replacements for my cravings. Like with soda I just crave flavored bubbly water and not necessarily the sugar content so I can get away with drinking la croix instead. Sometimes a piece of fruit satisfies my sweet tooth or just eating the correct portion of the sugary thing I'm craving. My self control varies so I try to buy single serving sizes. If I know it's a food I will overeat despite better judgement, I don't bring it into my home unless I have friends over to share it. I don't think I could quit eating added sugar completely though.., there are too many delicious desserts out there. Plus eating desserts less frequently makes me appreciate them a lot more now. Good luck
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I am currently trying to steer clear of most of the usual sugary suspects (soda/chocolate/sweets) and I have instead eaten 2-3 pieces of fruit a day (usually an apple, banana and raspberries). I get a sweet hit but with the bonus of the fibre that fruit gives me.
I would say it took me 10 days to feel like I no longer had sugar cravings, and I have been successful at resisting cakes in the office.
I now add maple flavour agave to unsweetened things like Greek yoghurt or porridge oats as I feel I can control the portion I have and I don’t seem to be suffering from blood sugar spikes anymore.1 -
I am always going over my sugar limit on MFP. It is mostly because of the fruit I eat. I am wondering if fruit should be counted as it has health benefits.1
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It's counting sugar. There's sugar in fruit, so it should be counted. It's not saying not to eat fruit -- whether you think it's a problem to go over a particular number in total sugar is the more significant question, and that's a call for you, not MFP (personally I don't care about sugar from fruit, veg, or dairy, but I also don't care much about total sugar -- I just make sure that my calories from non nutrient dense foods in general aren't too high).
Many think counting fiber is a better option (I look at sugar and fiber, but the sugar just for interest).2 -
I have quit eating sweets for 6 weeks; although I have quite a sweet tooth, for the most part it was not that difficult. I just resolved not to eat sweets (sweet baked goods, candy, jam, sugar, honey, syrup, etc.), and hence just don't eat them. I do have sweets on Sundays (and also St. Patrick's Day: Irish scones, jam and clotted cream!) but on the other days, if I start craving things, I will just have a banana or a glass of orange juice instead. Some days it can be harder than others, especially since we have a lot of cake and really delicious cookies in our house from my daughter's birthday. Over the past month I have had a couple of lapses: jam on a piece of toast one day, and a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats on another day. I just brushed myself off and moved on. It does make it a lot easier to stay within my calories (I am in a cut) when I don't give into that siren song of cookies, chocolate and cake!3
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I have not quit sugar.
(probably should reduce further than I have for ideal nutrition)
But I think the key should be sensible moderation, not absolute quitting - which would be almost impossible and unrealistic and unhealthy anyway.3 -
Hi... I’m not quitting it but I am starting to cut the sugary snacks out. I started eating fruit as snacks and it’s working. Today I ate a candy it was too sweet after not eating candy for a while. So it gets easier. I was eating a lot of cereal bars before. After Easter I will be more committed.
I sent you a request2
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