Letting go of sugar

me too!
I am trying to avoid all sugars that are not fruit ( this is so i don't try to go cold turkey)
my solution at the moment is to plan everything
today :
b'fast - egg on toast.
morning snack - babban berry yoghurt smoothie (total yoghurt and no added sugar)
lunch chicken salad
afternoon snack - vegges and hummus
dinner smoked haddock risotto.

this way i have no excuses to reach for the chocolate / sweets / sweet snacks.
we'll have to see how long it lasts!

if you want cold turkey & motivation the 'clean lean diet' is extreme anti sugar almost non in a 2 week meal plan which I found quite good but hard to stick for any longer. but the book is very informative and easy

It never good to deprive your body of something all together. I personally noticed that when I do, I don't feel well, I would switch over to sugar free items if you can try splenda instead of sugar, and dark chocolate instead of milk, processed chocolate. I have not had much of a desire to eat the bad stuff!! Good luck.

Hi I'm trying to ween myself from having sugar. Its hard. My minds constantly trying to trick my into eating it. As soon as I woke up this morning before my self-control kicked properly in I was wanting biscutes, I could taste the lovely sugar in them.lol. I didn't give in.
I have been cutting sugar out for about two weeks. its not easy. i dont know of any quick detox's. all I know is you just have to take it one step at a time, hour by hour and day by day. I'm cutting down all carbs for a while. I'm getting better results and its only been a few weeks. I think you just have to make yourself a deal and get on with it. I only set a small gaol the first few days of doing it. I was to have no carbs for one day. then i said the second day I could have a small amount, I take one sugar in my coffee, and have around three a day. then i tried using splenda for the rest of the week but i dont like it. so i can have 1/4 of normal sugar now. thats working fine. And i'm not liking a whole sugar now. so its working.I've also cut out bread and potatos.I've only had one of each in two weeks. but i'm going to re-introduce some of them back in the next few weeks, but I'll keep the sugars and the sweet things out.
I hope that helps a bit.

I love real sugar, but I know it must be limited. Mainstream sugar substitutes are very unhealthy -- try using stevia or xylitol sugars. Both are natural and contain no calories. Unfortunately, neither tastes good in coffee, but are great in tea and home made desserts.

I agree, fake sugar is not real food and for some brings on even bigger sugar cravings as your body can't digest it properly.

Trader Joe's carries fruit strips, fiber and regular, they also carry a pkg. called "Bit & Ends" it's a bit like scraps that didn't turn out perfect for the fruit strip individual pkgs. They are good sized and have fruit/veggie in them with nothing else. That's tamed the sugar monster in me...it's tasty, I know how good it is for me & no cravings from it. I eat the fiber ones..they have 12g of fiber in one serving.

I'm also working on this. It's HARD! I agree with the poster who suggested staying away from sugar substitutes; not only are they bad for you, but they increase your cravings for sweet foods and can lead to overeating. I have been buying stevia-sweetened soda and allow myself one a day. Other than that, the only sugar I'm eating is fruit.

@Tricia19444 - it is fabulous to hear that after the first three days, you stopped craving sugar. That's how I felt after weaning myself off diet coke and coffee, but I wasn't sure if I could EVER stop craving sugar.

Best of luck to everyone. We can do this!

Bump....I need to read this later! One week I will do so well with sugar, the next week is a disaster.

GkMusic...I so understand exactly that feeling!! But with anything it's a habit and we have to push through the change, I'm speaking to myself here as much as you or anyone else that might benefits from those words. The awesome thing is?? You know you CAN do it for a week...that's HUGE, that's PROGRESS.... please do try and realize a week is a long time to pull back from sugar and maybe even adding one more day to each time will help us push ourselves forward toward a longer time frame away from it.

Baby steps (hee hee, thinking of the "What About Bob" movie)... I find those work better than anything and find I beat myself up far less when I take it slow and consciencely (**really focus**) on it.

This may or may not help anyone else but writing this out has helped me to reinforce it for myself and it's importance.... so thanks for the outlet gang and to the OP for beginning this thread.:flowerforyou:

I cut out all added sugar two weeks ago. Now the only sugar I have is in fruits or whatever is occurring naturally in foods.
IT was tough. I had three days of headaches, but now I don't crave it. And I was a sugar junkie - Starbucks, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Ice Cream, cupcakes and so on. I haven't had any added sugar in two weeks. I was amazed when I started reading labels and what sugar has been added to...like Chicken Broth, even.
I also cut out all refined carbs like cakes, cookies, white bread, because even if you think the fake sugar in them is safe, the refined carbs will cause your insulin to spike. And that rapid rise in insulin makes us more hungry.
What the sugars and such has been doing in me is creating a chemical imbalance which created an addiction.

I learned a lot based on what I read in "Clean Eating for Dummies" (Those yellow books at Barnes & Noble). I couldn't afford to buy the book so I sat there and read it (I figured they have made a lot of money on me buying diet books I brought home and never touch ed through the years). I actually used my iPhone camera to take a couple pictures of paragraphs I found important.

I just wanted to encourage you to cut the sugars, and even the fake sugars. Not just for weight loss, but its better for the body.

I'd love to add friends that are struggling but eating like this.

First off...Congratulations for dropping the sugar. WOW Girl, I am SO impressed with your fortitude! That is never easy to go through..as you shared the withdrawal symptoms are rough, really rough. So worth it in the end though. I'm up and down on exactly what you shared and the only way I've found for myself is to go cold turkey and deal with the headaches rather than taper off! For some tapering off might work (guess it depends on how hooked your body is on the sugar and how it reacts personally to the chemicals in the foods) but I've found if I'm caught up in the black hole of sugar H:devil: LL then backing off completely is the only method that works for me. Seems after about 2 days I've not got the cravings anywhere near what it was... what an awesome feeling of freedom!!

Though there is a lot I need to learn on how to cut it out completely, like yogurt, I know it has sugar in it but so much of our foods do, cereal, breads,milk, yikes it's tough sometimes to keep track of it all! I think your book suggestion might really help me with finding out WHAT foods contain that trigger me, so I really can back off from those I may currently think aren't the culprits but could very well be the very ones keeping me hooked in. :blushing: :flowerforyou:

How smart are you taking photos of certain paragraphs at the book store...what a neat idea ...so glad you shared the title as now I'll take a peak at my library and see what I can find!

Hi I'm trying to ween myself from having sugar. Its hard. My minds constantly trying to trick my into eating it. As soon as I woke up this morning before my self-control kicked properly in I was wanting biscutes, I could taste the lovely sugar in them.lol. I didn't give in.
I have been cutting sugar out for about two weeks. its not easy. i dont know of any quick detox's. all I know is you just have to take it one step at a time, hour by hour and day by day. I'm cutting down all carbs for a while. I'm getting better results and its only been a few weeks. I think you just have to make yourself a deal and get on with it. I only set a small gaol the first few days of doing it. I was to have no carbs for one day. then i said the second day I could have a small amount, I take one sugar in my coffee, and have around three a day. then i tried using splenda for the rest of the week but i dont like it. so i can have 1/4 of normal sugar now. thats working fine. And i'm not liking a whole sugar now. so its working.I've also cut out bread and potatos.I've only had one of each in two weeks. but i'm going to re-introduce some of them back in the next few weeks, but I'll keep the sugars and the sweet things out.
I hope that helps a bit.

valerierackly74 - Love your attitude and tips shared!! Thanks:flowerforyou: