Sugar free in 09 - Page 4

[wendyland]

Megan, I totally understand how you feel. I'm taking everything day by day so that I don't feel overwhelmed by the thought of never having sugar again. I don't think that's realistic, anyway. I watched a PBS show with Wayne Dyer and he was talking about giving up alcohol. He said that everyday he resolved to not have sugar that day (and that day only). He didn't think about what he was going to do the next day. And eventually, he made it several years without it.

I'd like to be able to have a dessert once in a while. Or I may get to a point where the aftershock is not worth it. I'm only going to think about today.

I recommend cutting out sugar completely for at least 2 weeks. Then, see how you feel and what you can handle without cravings. You'll also get a feel for how great it feels without sugar.

[wendyland]

Fern, I got "The Glucose Revolution", "It must be my metabolism", and "The ultra metabolism diet". I have some symptoms of being pre diabetic, so I thought these would be good books to read. I also have a lot of weight to lose.

[akmeg]

Thanks for the ideas.......I think it's a great idea to go for two weeks. I've done it in the past, I did a candida cleanse for 4 months and felt great, it's just that when I'm eating sugar again, I totally forget what it's like to do without it. I guess I just need to try it again.

[MamaFern]

wendyland: thanks for the book titles. im going to see if my library has them. i like to know about whats going on with my body. i trained for 2 years in jin shin do acupressure, which is based on Chinese acupuncture theory and western psychotherapy, it included a lot of anatomy and body knowledge, but i still have a lot to learn, and to remind myself about. im going to look up this whole realm of health in my Chinese medicine books and see what they say. ive never delved deeply into this subject before.

and i too have weight to loose, although i didn't decide to go sugar-free solely because of that. i figure despite the fact that im heavy, i still have a lot of energy, i do a lot of exercise (i can walk7 km in a day and still feel fine. with a baby on my back) and i eat healthy..i should in my eyes, be a healthy weight and im not, so that indicates to me something out of whack with my body. thats more why im doing this, to figure out whats going on with me!

akmeg: welcome to the group. i decided that i was going to go a month, but now that im 2 weeks in i think its going to be much longer than that. im not thinking about wanting to eat sweet things, but i know that when that bridge comes ill cross it, or not. i have a good friend getting married at the end of march and i would consider eating a bit of sugar there but we will see. right now i really have no want for it. i dont really understand it. but its true. im amazed actually. i thought that this would be so hard for me.

that said, i just licked maple syrup from my finger after making my sons breakfast, and yesterday i ate a piece of xylitol gum which tasted sickly sweet and i spit it out..so i have tasted "sweet" in the last few days,. but it didnt at all make me want more, quite the opposite actually

[wendyland]

I fell off the wagon today. I had some blood drawn today. 10 vials. I almost passed out. The office was really close to my favorite vietnamese restaurant. I went there and had the sesame tofu. I don't know if it had sugar in it, but probably. I also had a little bit of soda at a fast food place tonight. After a couple drinks, the soda tasted bad. So, I switched to half sweet tea/ half unsweetened.

Now that I've typed it out, it doesn't sound as bad as I first thought. I'm back on plan tomorrow. I really think that I need to spice up my meal recipes. I'm getting bored. Especially with eating steel cut oats every morning. I'm not much of an egg eater, but I want to eat foods in the morning that are filling. It really helps me for the rest of the day.

[rebirth]

Wendy- that is not bad at all! I think you needed the sugars to help your regulate your blood sugar after the appt.

for breakfasts I have been doing english muffin sandwiches- eggs, some lamb sausage and a bit of grits, really yummy!

I also occassionally do breakfast barritos, grits, toast with sugar free jam, leftovers, sandwiches, etc.

[wendyland]

Thanks for the breakfast suggestions. I love breakfast burritos, but I don't think about making them. I had eggs, cheese, and french toast this morning. My husband made me breakfast.

[Elizabeth2008]

ok girls, so I have been with you on this for almost 2 weeks (i had 2 slip-ups with of all things a bran muffin and then ketchup!). : But here's the problem, i'm still eating a lot of fruit and i made some homemade treats with agave nectar. So, yes, i haven't had any real sugar or evaporated cane juice or corn syrup, but I'm still eating "sweets" - although not as much as before. I'm worried that I still have the addiction a bit and am wondering what you all think. Should I completely go off the sweet stuff, including natural sugar substitutes??

[wendyland]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth2008

ok girls, so I have been with you on this for almost 2 weeks (i had 2 slip-ups with of all things a bran muffin and then ketchup!). : But here's the problem, i'm still eating a lot of fruit and i made some homemade treats with agave nectar. So, yes, i haven't had any real sugar or evaporated cane juice or corn syrup, but I'm still eating "sweets" - although not as much as before. I'm worried that I still have the addiction a bit and am wondering what you all think. Should I completely go off the sweet stuff, including natural sugar substitutes??

If you're still having cravings for sweets, than you may want to cut it all out. But, if you feel satisfied with fruit, then there's probably no harm. I'm not sure about the agave, tho. From what I've read, it's still a refined sugar. I think it all depend on how you feel, how your moods are, etc..

[wendyland]

I've been reading this sugar blog. http://myyearwithout.blogspot.com/ her latest entry talks about how much is too much sugar.

[MamaFern]

wendyland and thanks for the link.

elizabeth: im nak but i wanted to give you a it takes time..im just over two weeks too.

i kind of fell off the wagon this week too..though it was not a big fall. after 4 days of having cookie dough in my house i ate..1 chocolate chip and about 1/4 tsp of the oatmeal cookie dough. it wasn't great and i didn't at all want more after. then today i made pancakes and i threw in some plain yogurt and there wasn't quite enough so i added some organic vanilla yogurt without thinking. it had organic raw cane sugar. i ate a pancake. it didn't taste sweet but it did have sweet in it. i just really wanted to partake in our heart shaped valentines pancakes!! I was making them egg free so my little bro could eat them, hence the yogurt..but otherwise im doint well. no sugar cravings but still having carb issues.

[rebirth]

I was BAD for valentines!!!!

I made my sweetie homemade lemonaid, and had a few sips, and I ate a bit of desert at dinner. it was totally a special treat, and I'm ok with it really. c'est la vie.

[lactivistmama]

I went through our cupboards today and got rid of almost everything that had sugar in it!! Dh is still alittle reluctant to go sugar free so I left a little jar on the top cupboard for him (but I won't buy more to add to it! when it is gone, it is gone.) So tell me.. what do you give your little ones for treats (beyond the fruits etc. that are "snacks")?

[MamaFern]

Originally Posted by lactivistmama

I went through our cupboards today and got rid of almost everything that had sugar in it!! Dh is still alittle reluctant to go sugar free so I left a little jar on the top cupboard for him (but I won't buy more to add to it! when it is gone, it is gone.) So tell me.. what do you give your little ones for treats (beyond the fruits etc. that are "snacks")?

im not totally getting rid of all sugar and sweet things from my home right now because i feel like i can handle having it around and not eat it. but mainly we use maple syrup, honey..im out of brown rice syrup but i plan to get some and agave syrup when my Credit Union Acct. isn't so drained i like to bake but i am low income (single mother, co-parenting but not financially supported) so sugar is kind of the most affordable option for me, but i usually cut down the sugar a lot in recipes. that said, a normal day i don't use sugar for the kids. if i want something to be a bit sweet like their morning oatmeal, french toast ect we use maple syrup and sometimes xylitol, which is a sugar sub that is natural and doesn't raise blood sugar

fruit is always a good sweet treat here too. my kids choose fruit over most other sweet things

[wendyland]

I've been letting my girls drink berry flavored kefir. I know it
still has sugar, but I'm trying to get more b12, calcium, and
probiotics in them. They eat a ton of apples, too. They haven't
really asked for sugar too much. My oldest is the main sugar freak.
she's old enough to understand that sugar is bad for you. My middle
and youngest don't even think about it.

[wendyland]

Originally Posted by MamaFern

im not totally getting rid of all sugar and sweet things from my home right now because i feel like i can handle having it around and not eat it. but mainly we use maple syrup, honey..im out of brown rice syrup but i plan to get some and agave syrup when my Credit Union Acct. isn't so drained i like to bake and i am low income so sugar is kind of the bets option for me, but i usually cut down the sugar a lot in recipes. that said, a normal day i dont use sugar for the kids. if i want something to be a bit sweet like their morning oatmeal, french toast ect we use maple syrup and sometimes xylitol, whicj is a sugar sub that is natural and doesnt raise blood sugar

fruit is always a good sweet treat here too. my kids choose fruit over most other sweet things

How does the xylitol taste? I've been curious.

[MamaFern]

xylitol

first i will say that im not one for sugar alternatives. im severely sensitive to anything like aspartame or any of those artificial sweeteners. im not a fan of Stevia for that same reason..they feel and taste the same way in my mouth. ug. it turns my stomach thinking of it. but xylitol, though alone tastes somewhat colder on my tongue, tastes very similar to white sugar. in baking or cooking it tastes exactly the same. i think its a great alternative, but its very $$ so i only use it sparingly.

[mommajb]

Hi I skimmed the first page and then just decided to jump in.

I gave up refined sugar but still ate maple syrup, honey, and fruit for most of 2008. I slipped up at Thanksgiving at my moms. It was the old environment surrounded by the old foods that did me in. I tried agave but decided not to enter into that world of controversy: natural but too much fructose, does it affect your body in a manner similar to HFCS, and so on. My rationale was that my grandma has never heard about it.

I have been teetering for 6 weeks now. I am off sugar for a few days and then a 'friend will bring us muffins or we'll celebrate a birthday, or some such excuse. I feel so much better when I do not eat sugar. Part of it is that giving up sugar also reduces my dairy and white flour consumption.

I did get most sources out of the house and my children's at home diet. I think a good environment makes up for what I lack in will-power. There will always be a stres that can trigger weakness in me. I try to figure out in advance how to cope but if my environment is clean there is a smaller chance I will find sugar to eat when I am not strong. That said I still bake and have lots of fruit and snacks for the kids I just do it with recipes with out sugar.

As to what I snack on w/o sugar I focus on protein, especially nuts. Keeping my protein intake up helps. I would take a look at my fat intake if I thought it had gotten too low but that is not usually a worry.

Thank you for letting me read along and gather support.

[Elizabeth2008]

does anyone have a good sugar free carrot cake or carrot muffin recipe?

[MamaFern]

i have a great carrot cake recipe, but it calls for sugar. you could sub the sugar with anything you want...maple syrup or xylitol would probably taste the best. let me know if you want it

sooo.. my mom is here and im finding myself thinking about shoving my face full of bad things. i know my eating habits are directly related to my feeling of loss related to my family. it sounds stupid but im the 3rd birth child to my mom who has had soooo many foster kids since before i was born and is now addopting a 2 year old boy who has been with her since 9 days after birth. i feel horrible because i shouldnt be jealous but i am. i have been my whole life. im angry that she isnt a grama to my kids and that when she visits its all baout her boy not my kids. i feel lonely for her, but if i tell her she gets very upset. i love her boy which makes it even worse. it just feels like instead of me and my kids having a visit with her, its me catering to her and her boy and me feeling just really put out. he has a lot of health concerns and she is soooo totally wrapped up in him. its a constant commentary about what he is doing and what he is saying and what he needs and when my kids do or say anything its like "shhhhh' or "go play in the other room" im not eating sweet things but its really bringing up a lot of feelings that i normally just try to cover up with food. its hard. im feeling really sad today.