Sugar free in 09

[wendyland]

Is there already a thread going around for quitting sugar? I can't find one and I need support. I've tried before, but I'm serious this time. Sugar is not the friend that I once thought it was. I have been in denial about my addiction. It's the root of many problems for me. I have a really hard time losing weight. I have lots of candida symptoms. My brain in constantly in a fog.

I cut way down yesterday. I'm only going to have one sugar item today. Then, nothing. I figure if I can live without ever seeing my mom again in physical form, then I can live without sugar. It will be like a relative that has passed on or a broken relationship. I still have fond memories of that person, but the relationship just didn't work out.

I found a good free ebook on tips for quitting sugar. It's at http://www.firstourselves.com/. It has the best tips I've read. She really hits it from all angles. I'm just finishing up the last 20 pages.

[Anna06]

I'm in.


I have no resources, but I need help also!!!

I've tried this several times, and I always fail.


Wendyland I'm sorry about your mom

[wendyland]

I'm glad you're in, and I'm not alone! I edited my first post to include where I found the book for helping give up sugar. It's really changed my outlook and given me a lot more confidence to quit for good.

[kristinb]

I need to join yall. I like to tell myself silly little things like, "only candy bars are sugar. This is a granola bar so it doesn't count." lol I, too, have brain fog and I'm really trying to prevent gestational diabetes this time around.

[candynut]

Yes, this is something that's been at the front of my mind lately.

My big hurdle right now is that I'm due in a bit more than a month, so I'm having a hard time motivating myself (I know that life will be in a major upheaval very soon, so I think why should I bother. But of course the other part of me says that now is as good a time to start as any!)

Thanks for the link! I will read through it.

[wendyland]

I found a really good raw food bar last night at Trader Joes. I think it'll help me get through the transmission as long as I don't over do it. It's called pure and the flavor is chocolate brownie. I've had other bars that are similar, but this one is so much better. It does have agave and dates, but I definitely didn't have a big spike in blood sugar afterwards and it satisfied my cravings.

Yesterday was rough. I had a bad headache all day and I was really short-tempered. Today is better so far. I've read that the 4th day is the worst, but the second day usually seems the worst for me. I've never made it past a week. I usually feel so good at a week that I eat a little sugar. Then, it slowly creeps back.

[Magelet]

I'm in. I was almost completely off (only a couple natural sugars like honey and maple syrup, very very rarely) and then I got my wisdom teeth, and ate ice cream and pudding and well..... here i am.

I've been finding that eating something filling (usually with animal fat of some kind) as soon as I'm hungry has been helping me cut down these past couple days, because its when I get really hungry that I most often reach for the sugar fix. And lowering the sugar content of "dessert". I'm trying really hard to do heavy cream with maple syrup and fruit instead of ice cream for dessert. I know maple syrup is sugar, but last time it was easier to wean off to natural sugars and then lower them down slowly til I really have very little taste for sugar. *sighs* but it comes back so very fast.

I do find that when I'm trying to cut down on sugar, upping fat is key. It helps me feel "full", and sated when I'm full after a meal, and so I'm less likely to go for dessert.

[wendyland]

I woke up feeling great today! I really want something last night, but I didn't give in. I'm so glad. My mind feels so much clearer today. For breakfast, I had oatmeal with dried apples, raw pecans, and cinnamon. I usually like brown sugar in it, but I barely missed it.

[Anna06]

Wow wendyland your doing great!!

I will probably start Monday. I know....: I should not put this off.
But I'm baking banana nut bread right not, got to make some cookies, and probably a pie. I have company coming for the week-end. And my ds2 school is having a fund raiser Fri and Sat pm, which I'm baking some of this stuff for and I'm working in it. I'm going to try to cut down, but I'm not going to officially start until monday. (Sunday I have a Boy Scout dinner to go to, always great sweets!!) I did not even realize how many sweets I eat until writing all this!

I also need to read the web site listed by wendyland. It looks great.

Everyone keep the tips coming. :

[babygrant]

I know I need to get off sugar. I have a horrible sugar habit. I drink about 4 cups of caffinated tea a day....with 2 tsp of sugar in each cup. My face tingles everytime I finish it. Then I crash a little while later and have another cup. I've been so tired and moody....and I think it's becuase of the sugar. So here I go. From here on, no more sugar. Have to go grocery shopping tommorow on my super strict budget, argh.

[Empathmom]

I gave up sugar for my new year's resolution. I do have honey and maple syrup ocaisonally. I find my day to day life doesn't really have a lot of sugar in it so day to day isn't that difficult. I do find any special occaison hard, like having to go out to a restaurant. Last night I was at my inlaws and they ordered Thai Food. I'm pretty sure there is sugar in it. The first 3 weeks on it I have seen a three pound loss.

[laohaire]

I've quit sugar for 9 months, 6 years ago, but unfortunately fell off that wagon. I "quit" approximately 8,838,765,284 times since then, lol. But in December I had that same feeling I did 6 years ago and knew that this time really was different. I have been totally off of sugar since December 28. I do already feel noticeably better.

Last time I quit it took weeks and weeks (6 maybe) before I start losing weight. I'm still waiting (weighting? lol) for that to happen, but I'm that much closer.

As I did the first time, I ate totally unsweetened bitter chocolate when cravings hit me the first few days. I only need that crutch for a few days and then I'm fine.

I've also learned to make my own bread, whole wheat with a couple of bananas and an apple in there for moistness and sweetness. It's not sweet like most bread but it's sweet enough for a treat, and has all of the fiber intact.

[Magelet]

ugg I've been doing pretty badly eating sugar this weekend. Its my grandfather's 80th birthday party, and I volunteered to make a cake. And so of course, I ate a bit of the batter when I made it, and some of the frosting when I made that, and then I had such a terrible sweet tooth I ate a peice of apple pie a la mode last night and then more frosting today when I frosted the cake. *sighs* and then I'll eat cake tonight. looks like avoiding the brownie at lunch did me little good.

I think its even harder because I'm baking it and I'm not getting a lot of fat. My extended family eats REALLY low fat, almost all of them, and i need a really high animal fat diet for it to be any use in cutting the cravings. oh well, I'll try again tomarrow.

[MacroMama]

I haven't checked out the website but here are two tips:

1) The more salt you consume, the more sugar you will crave.

2) Eat squash, carrots, onions and other sweet veggies to help the sweet cravings. Baking them or cooking them with a little water for a long time will make them super sweet.

Brown rice syrup is a sweetener that is much milder than others out there. Very yummy!

[freespirited]

I'll join!: I noticed a HUGE difference in my moods when I went sugar-free last year, but I didn't last more than a couple of weeks. Now I really need to do this. My health is not so great these days, I have major adrenal fatigue, candida, PMS, depression, fatigue, low libido, etc. I have just gone gluten-free, now sugar-free is the next step!

According to Dr. Gabriel Cousens, a well-known raw food practitioner and author of some great books, the worst thing you can do for your health is consume sugar. If you are going to eat fruits, it's better to eat low- to moderate-glycemic fruits. The lowest are berries, grapefruit, lemons and limes. Moderate include apples and peaches. High sugar fruits would be bananas, mangos, and pineapple to name a few. Until we get our sugar addiction under control, we shouldn't eat any fruits, except lemons and limes.

Basically, sugar increases the fungus in your blood and gets your composting button pushed, which means you are on a fast-track to illness and worse. Needless to say, I am VERY motivated after having read Dr. Cousen's section on blood fungus and it's correlation to cancer and illness.

The big change I made today was switching to sugar-free coffee creamer. It isn't nearly as good as the sugary stuff but I can deal with it. If anyone has any suggestions, I for one would love to hear. It's hard to come up with decent sugar-free foods. I am just not big on the taste of artificial sweetners. One thing I did do is buy some Vanilla Creme stevia drops and add those to sparkling water. I actually like it, and so do my kiddos. I am really going to miss my sweet baked goods. And I guess alcohol is out? I read that one shot of vodka, for example, contains 8 teaspoons of sugar! I do know alcohol converts to sugar and I believe it because I never feel calm or balanced the day after drinking.

I really want to do this! I NEED to! Let's support each other. I think the first will be tough and then after that it should get easier.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by freespirited

I am just not big on the taste of artificial sweetners. One thing I did do is buy some Vanilla Creme stevia drops and add those to sparkling water.

I don't think it's a good idea to use artificial sweeteners, nor sugar "alternatives." Personally I still eat fruit but just not too much (and always whole rather than juiced), but I don't eat anything that my grandmother wouldn't recognize.

[wendyland]

I'm so glad to see more of you joining up. I've really felt like crap this week. I need the support. I'm fine early in the day, but the headache gets worse as the day goes on. Last night, I made myself some chocolate milk. I took a few drinks and dumped it out. I decided it wasn't worth it.

I've been trying to drink a lot of water. I had some water with squeezed lemon and stevia. It was good the stevia takes the edge off the water. The peppermint flavored is also good in water or tea.

I don't think I can quit the fruit right now. I really don't eat that much anyway. I had an orange today and a little bit of frozen pineapple.

It's also been psychologically hard the last few days. There have been a couple times where I wanted to cry. I wanted to give up. I can't. If I keep eating sugar, I'm going to have these problems the rest of my life. It's only going to get worse.

[allgirls]

I'm going to subscribe as well. For me it's about refined sugar. I'm ok with straight from mother-earth fruit in moderation. I can't convince myself that it's not good.

I have been up and down this month, so maybe a support group is in order!

[freespirited]

This is tough. I am having lots of sugar withdrawal/detox symptoms today like dizziness, headache and mood swings. I haven't touched a speck of sugar but I am really craving some So Delicious coconut ice cream ever since I was reminded of it in this forum. I am allowing myself blueberries but haven't had any today. Right now I'm going to make myself a cup of Candy Cane Lane herbal tea and add a couple drops of vanilla stevia and see if that helps with these cravings. It's strange how once you really get going with the withdrawal, you start craving more sugar than ever, at least I have been. Stuff like fruit juice, candies, marshmallows, gumdrops, my body is just screaming out for pure sugar. I read somewhere that for 2-4 days you will feel like this and then you will feel better than you ever have. I'm pretty much on day 2. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I just want to go to bed and hibernate through this.

[wendyland]

It is tough. It was harder for me to quit this year than it was last year when I tried. I had horrible headaches by the end of the day. Yesterday was great. I was still slightly irritable. I had a little squeeze of agave in my tea and that was it all day. My husband was amazed that I was able to eat oatmeal without sugar. I thought it tasted great. I did have some dried granny smiths in it and pecans, but not much. And cinnamon.

I'm barely craving anything. As long as I don't pay too much attention to the sweets that they show on commercials, I'm ok. I just try to keep my mind off of it. I'm glad I'm through the hardest part. Now, I need to stay focused and watch out for hidden sugars.