Help! Terrified to give up sugar!

[AdalynsMama]

I've been in denial for a while now and it's time for me to come to terms. I am without a doubt completely addicted to sugar. It's controlling my life. Sadly, it's what I think about most of the time. The cravings are intense and often. I am always tired and just feel horrible. It needs to go. Cold turkey. I have no idea how I'm going to do this! I am so scared of the withdrawals. What am I going to eat?!?! Mostly, I need to do this for my children. DD immediately walks to the pantry for sugary snacks when she is bored. It's most definitely a learned behavior. Any motivation and/or support would be greatly appreciated. Can anyone point me to previous threads or a sugar free tribe? Thank you in advance!!!

[HappyMommy2]

Can you wean yourself off of it using agave? It is sweet but is much lower on the glycemic index.

I'm trying to stop using sugar in my coffee. So the first cup is just with milk. The second cup I sweeten with Agave. Baby steps for me!

[AAK]

I recently gave it up (I chose to give up artificial sweeteners too) and it has been great. The first week is the hardest, and then you start to feel better and then great. Unfortunately had broke down recently with the girl scout cookies But, I am hoping to turn it into a good thing--I felt awful after the cookies. I hope to remember that.

Make sure you have fruit and berries in the house. Crunchy sweet veggies too (like carrots). I found that munching on carrots would help with the mindless eating of sugary snacks. I found blueberries to be a favorite treat. (I liked them before, but now they are better!). I used to put them on top vanilla yogurt, but I gradually weaned myself from the vanilla and moved to plain. For this change, I was gradual. First I switched to half vanilla and half plain. For everything else, I went cold turkey.

Good luck, you CAN do this.

Amy

[berry987]

I gave up sugar and it was much easier when I added fats to replace the sugar. Read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" for why this is healthy. The first week I craved sugar, but ate an egg or some bacon instead. Now I just don't have cravings much at all...and they are mild when they do happen.

[Magelet]

you can do this. If you search sugar free there should be tons and tons of threads.

I agree about not going cold turkey off natural sugars, only refined sugars, though I disagree about agave. It is not a true natural sugar, the process of manufacturing it is much like high fructose corn syrup, and is about as bad for you (minus maybe the corn gmo issues), and it's horribly unsustainable. (no regulations/restrictions/just about EVERYONE goes and harvests as much as they want.) Honey or maple syrup are good bets.

Lots of fat. eggs, butter, coconut oil, nuts. When you are craving sweets, have on hand some easy protein and fat rich foods to eat instead. throw EVERYTHING out and don't buy it again. It's easier to not buy it at the store, than to not eat it out of the cupboard when you are hungry.

(sorry to be short, I'm about to run out the door.)

[AdalynsMama]

What does everyone think about diet soda? Is it going to trigger sugar cravings? Thinking I should also give up the coke zero and switch to deer park carbonated water instead.

Berry-- I'll check out the book, but I'm wondering are you gaining weight upping your fat intake? That sounds scary!!

[DevaMajka]

I looked around for the upper recommended limit for sugar, and used that to come up with a limit for ds. (I think the upper limit is 30g or something, and I made his sweets limit 15g per day, with one "free" bowl of cereal. Fruit is not limited at all.). 15g is not much sugar! 1/2 cup of ice cream has 15g!

I recently (in the last few days) decided to make this my limit as well. It's going better than I thought! I think, for me, it's easier to lower my sugar than to totally cut it out. It's obviously not that way for everyone, but so far it's working for me. I already refuse to consume artificial sweetener.

Originally Posted by AdalynsMama

Berry-- I'll check out the book, but I'm wondering are you gaining weight upping your fat intake? That sounds scary!!

I'm wondering about this too. I do think that eating more fat will help me with this. But I don't want to gain weight in the process. The reason I want to cut out sugar is to maintain my weight. lol.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by AdalynsMama

Berry-- I'll check out the book, but I'm wondering are you gaining weight upping your fat intake? That sounds scary!!

Most people do not gain weight. That is in fact the basis of low carb diets - cut the sugar and increase the fat/protein (where sugar includes refined grains).

After the initial adjustment period, most people will see a drastic drop in their appetite as their bodies adjust. It's because fat and protein are much more physiologically satisfying - they trigger the feeling of satiety, and take longer to burn than simple sugars. A dinner of meat and veggies will generally stick around a lot longer than a dinner of pasta, where you want something sweet 20 minutes later - that's a blood sugar crash.

[Magelet]

I definitely didn't gain weight. As I cut out sugar and sugary stuff, and ate a higher fat diet, I came down from being overweight, to being a healthy weight. Fat doesn't make you fat. It's a myth, as far as I have seen. Sugar, refined carbs, and too much food makes you fat.

[berry987]

Originally Posted by AdalynsMama

Berry-- I'll check out the book, but I'm wondering are you gaining weight upping your fat intake? That sounds scary!!

No, I didn't gain weight. In fact, I lost weight, lots of it. And am still losing (I had about 30 pounds to lose when I gave up sugar and refined carbs). The thing is, if you drop sugar and carbs and don't add fat, you'll starve. You'll go hungry and be grumpy and feel like you're "dieting" in the old fashioned sense. And you'll be miserable and have cravings and probably go back to eating sugar and carbs because hunger is not a natural state for humans. But if you add back fat, saturated fat in particular, you are giving your body what it needs and you won't have the cravings or hunger. I'm not the scientist, though...read the book and I guarantee you'll be a convert.

As for diet soda...I can't give much advice there. I still drink 12oz. a day and am trying to break that habit. It hasn't seemed to affect my sugar cravings at all - I just don't have them if I'm satiating my hunger with good foods. But, I also know they aren't good for you for different reasons, so I'd like to stop. But I did wait until I'd got a hold of my sugar craving before I even thought about stopping. The key is not using diet coke as a diet aid -- don't drink it when you're hungry, EAT when you're hungry. Use diet soda for a special drink treat.

[Eaglevoice]

I am right there with you, mama!!! I realized a few years ago that I am completely addicted to sugar. I discovered the Sonoma Diet and bought the book and it has changed my life dramatically. It is sort of a low carb, high protein, low sugar diet. But the nice thing is that it's not a no carb diet like Atkins, instead it emphasizes eating whole grains instead of refined flour. The first 10 days of the diet is geared toward getting you off of sugar. It's awesome. During those 10 days you don't eat anything with sugar, even natural sugars, like fruits. Then, after the initial 10 days you bring fruits back into your diet, and it's like at that point, they taste so sweet to you that you can substitute fruits like strawberries and blueberries for the sugary treats that you used to eat. I can't speak highly enough about the Sonoma Diet...it has really transformed the way that I think about my food. When I first started it, I stuck to it very closely, it's nice because it has daily menus for you to follow. Now, I just sort of incorporate the ideas into my daily life...and sugar has lost it's grip on me Good luck to you!

[AdalynsMama]

Thanks mamas!! You have been so helpful! I'm really excited to get this under control!

Berry-- I went and got the book this morning, I'll start reading it this afternoon! It's awesome that you've actually lost weight, way to go!!

Eaglevoice-- thanks for the info! It sounds a lot like the southbeach diet, are you familiar with both?

devamajka-- What a great idea! I think me and DD will start with that tomorrow!

magelet-- thanks so much for your advice and support!

[caiesmommy]

Originally Posted by Magelet

I definitely didn't gain weight. As I cut out sugar and sugary stuff, and ate a higher fat diet, I came down from being overweight, to being a healthy weight. Fat doesn't make you fat. It's a myth, as far as I have seen. Sugar, refined carbs, and too much food makes you fat.

I totally agree with this! though I don't eat meat, so the bacon/eggs that pps are talking about doesnt apply to me BUT things like avocados/nuts do and I feel a MILLION times better on a no sugar high fat diet! Trade in that chocolate bar for a small handful of nuts and you'll notice it right away!

Im a small person but Im addicted to sugar, and once I get it I cant stop. I gained 10ishlbs over xmas eating refined carbs/sugar and too much food in general. Once I stopped with the crap I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted in whatever amount I wanted and I lost 6lbs It just had to be HEALTHY.

Side note I walk lighter when Im off sugar, everyone sees it as well. It's like Im prancing or floating just slightly above air. As soon as I get a soda and a candy bar into me Im slow and lazy looking and feeling, and everyone notices

[laohaire]

I lost weight, lots of it, when I quit sugar years ago. At one point I was losing it so fast I was starting to get nervous, but once I hit what apparently was my ideal weight (119), I didn't lose a single pound more. I only quit eating sugar, I didn't make any other diet changes, and in fact losing weight wasn't even on my radar when I quit - just my health.

I'm sorry to say that after 9 months of being without any sugar, I caved to intense pressure from my mother and began eating it again. So I'm a veteran at quitting. I'm 2.5 weeks into my latest quit, but fortunately I didn't get nearly as addicted this last time so it's a lot easier.

Since I'm a veteran, here are the things that work for ME, though not necessarily for everyone.

- Cold turkey. I cannot moderate my sugar intake any more than a heroin addict can moderate heroin intake. It means 3 days of pain if you're seriously addicted, and another week of having to be stronger than your periodic cravings, but for me, weaning off of it is a joke.

- Bitter chocolate. For me, nibbling on completely bitter baking chocolate (NO SUGAR) when I'm having a craving, will subside the craving. It makes all my happy chemicals dance. Fortunately I don't get addicted to the chocolate (it is sort of nasty) but you'll want to watch that, if it works for you. Use it as a crutch for the first week.

- I don't limit my intake of whole fruit at all. Whole fruit doesn't really address the cravings, though, so I only eat more of it during the first three days. Personally I like oranges for quitting, nice and sweet and a tasty treat. But whole fruit, not juice or fruit "treats."

- Personally, I reject all "alternative" forms of sugar. I'm in the miinority on this, but I don't feel agave or the artificial sugars have a place in my diet. Honestly I'd rather eat cane sugar than aspartame.

- Remove temptations from your house and generally try to avoid them. I don't have TV programming, but if I did, I'd have a problem watching some commercials. If you have TV, consider avoiding it for a while, or just watch movies or something.

- Write down why you want to quit and print it out. The more details the better, it can be motivating. Then if you're having a craving, review your reasons. Remind yourself that the craving is temporary, the reasons you chose (health, etc.) are forever.

The one thing I have not been able to deal with, and so I don't have suggestions about, is the intense pressure from society to have birthday cake or sweets on holidays. I have even considered refusing to celebrate any birthday or holiday with family because of this. Hopefully you don't have the problem I have and can just say "I'll pass" without it being a freaking crime in your family. My mom actively campaigned to get me to eat sugar again, constantly supplying treats and waving them in front of me and so on. Hopefully you don't have that problem.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Eaglevoice

But the nice thing is that it's not a no carb diet like Atkins, instead it emphasizes eating whole grains instead of refined flour. The first 10 days of the diet is geared toward getting you off of sugar. It's awesome. During those 10 days you don't eat anything with sugar, even natural sugars, like fruits.

The Atkins diet is not "no carb" - that is an often repeated myth. Atkins is low carb - he advocates cutting out all forms of sugar for the induction period (14 days)... grains, fruits, everything, including caffeine. After the 14 days, then you're supposed to start adding things back in while tracking your body's response. In order to be NO carb, your diet would be restricted to meat, because dairy, nuts, vegetables and even eggs contain carbs, and Atkins is a proponent of them all.

[Eaglevoice]

You're right, I worded it wrong. I have done Atkins in the past, so I know how it works. I prefer the Sonoma Diet because it integrates the whole grains into the diet even from the beginning which works better for my body and the way I like to eat and lose weight.

[Ms. B. Sprout]

AdalynsMama! It's a difficult task to take on, but you can do it!

I agree with the others in this thread -- higher fat really works to cut/eliminate cravings. I have lost 19 pounds this way. I cut all sugar, processed junk, and grains while upping my fat, protein, & veg intake. Best of all -- no more cravings AT ALL!

Once you hop off the insulin rollercoaster, you will thank yourself.

[HappilyEvrAfter]

Also, you might research candida overgrowth.

I did the candida detox diet (as all my symptoms were pointing in that direction) using VCO and colloidal silver as anti-fungals.

I haven't had any sugar in 3 months and don't even have a second thought about it. I crave fruit and vegetables like there's no tomorrow...and I lost weight.

Just something to consider. Sugar addiction is one of the leading symptoms of an candida overgrowth in some circles.

[AdalynsMama]

Happily-- thanks for the heads up. I looked into and it doesn't sounds like that's an issue.

laohaire-- Can you be my mentor? It makes me sad that your mom isn't supportive of your desire for better health. Sorry you have to deal with that! Also wondering if you use honey??

caiesmommy-- your prancing around sounds lovely!! i hope i get the same results

So I'm wondering, how does everyone feel about grains? No bread, no rice, no quinoa??? What about legumes??

[JessicaS]

I am quiting soda (soda is my vice ) and switching to iced tea with stevia. It is going ok so far.


Healthy grains are good, quinoa, good whole wheat bread and brown rice are good. I stopped making white rice awhile back.

There is that Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book...http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Bread-.../dp/0312545525

I checked it out from the library