Sugar-Free or Trying-to-be? It's May!

[MamaE]

Hi Mamas,

So, I've been on this little sugar bender... :

And, I really have no place starting the May thread...

But, I need to get back on track and if I don't do it soon, I'm going to have to buy a whole new *larger* summer wardrobe - and I don't mean that in the sense of *more* clothing, I mean that in the sense of *bigger* clothing . Besides that being the most depressing way to start summer, I can't afford it.

So, who's with me? I know there's another thread out there about giving up sugar, so come on and join me!!!! New 'members' welcome - I need as much reinforcement as I can get. And, as you can see, if you're only a "wannabe" like me, you're welcome anyway!

This thread is for support and motivation! Sorry, but I have neither at the moment. :LOL

[Aiti]

Hey MamaE! I was just looking to see if someone had started a May sugar-free thread. I am so glad you did.

I've been a sugar-eater lately, : and I feel so horrible physically. At least my depression has not yet returned, probably because the weather's been beautiful and we've been outside a lot. But I know I'm headed down that road again if I don't get my act together.

If you will go back on the wagon, I will. C'mon now, who else is with us?

[the_lissa]

I'm doing pretty well. I bought a thing of strawberry marchmallow candies on impulse the other day. :

I had a couple, felt gross, though what am I doing, and made dh bring the rest to work.

[roses1001]

nak

I've been trying to go sugar-free for a month or two. Doing pretty well, but it seems that every couple weeks there's some sugar that sneaks into my diet. Ok, sometimes it's clearly my fault (mmm, brownies ), but, for example, last week we went to someone's house for dinner--that was terrible.

In general, though, dh and I are doing the sugar-free thing together so that's a BIG help! He's strong when I'm tempted, and I'm strong when he's tempted...

My hardest thing is that I feel like I need a pick-me-up at the end of the day. I raid the fridge every night hoping to find something yummy, but I'm always disappointed when all I can find is veggies, etc.

[KariM]

I had been doing SO good and then my DS wanted me to bake some chocolate chip cookies a few weeks ago.

Well...that one batch bred another and another and...well...I've had cookies every day now for at least two weeks.

Your post inspired me to bake a batch of blueberry muffins (sugar free, but they have some honey) today instead of more cookies.

--Kari

On a side note, does anyone have a sugar free chocolate chip cookie recipe? Can I just substitute honey for the sugar or will that mess up the "chemistry" of the cookies?

[Aiti]

Originally Posted by roses1001

My hardest thing is that I feel like I need a pick-me-up at the end of the day. I raid the fridge every night hoping to find something yummy, but I'm always disappointed when all I can find is veggies, etc.

That's funny! I do that too. As if the sugar fairy will have magically stopped by that day and left me some sweets. :LOL

[Aiti]

Originally Posted by KariM

On a side note, does anyone have a sugar free chocolate chip cookie recipe? Can I just substitute honey for the sugar or will that mess up the "chemistry" of the cookies?

Kari, I know you can substitute honey for sugar in muffins or quick breads and it will work, so maybe it would work with cookies too. When substituting honey, you just have to make two adjustments: (1) use a little less honey because it's sweeter than the equal amount of sugar - my honey bottle says 3/4 cup honey = 1 cup sugar; (2) you may have to decrease the amount of other liquids in the recipe because the honey adds more liquid. Also, I just checked my honey bottle and it says you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent over-browning.

You may just have to experiment a little to get the results you want. If you do come up with a good cookie recipe, please share it here. Yum!

[moma justice]

i am with you
we moved and the extra stress and work of late night packing (the only time i could pack with out dd's "help") made me eat a lot more than i should, and as a result my depression IS back
i TOO look in my fridge every night (and morning ) to find SOMETHING!!!!
i have been making oatmeal with spoon fulls of almond butter and some maple syrup, i know that maple syrup is a sugar, but it is not THE sugar.
i have done lots of cooking with maple syrup and/or honey instead of sugar, even made my dd's birth day cake that way...you do have to look at the ratios of liquid to solids but, lets face it, you can't mess up, it would have to have caught on fire for me not to eat a cookie!!!!!

i bought a bag of newman o's and ate 4ish and handed the bag to my dh and made him take them to work.
but that has been my worst moment of the week...and for 3 days i have had nothing naughty what so ever!
i am eating the BEST salads for lunch and frozen mango chunks for dessert....

i even felt like running today, so i did!

i want to be lean again, and sugar makes me CRAZY (or at least crazier than i should be )

so i am here on board with you.

i bought a bikini at target (on sale for 6$$$) and i WILL be wearing it to the beach in july
I WILL

i mean i see lots of people that have never been preg, looking way worse than me in a binkini, so i have every right.

i will also be starting yoga and a belly dancing class this summer.
my treat to myself, sinc emy dh is FIANLLY out of grad school, and will be able to spend some time with dd!!!!!!

staying active makes me crave less sugar, so does eating lots of raw fruits and veggies, something about having a lot of thoes in my diet makes me react more strongly and more quickly to any sugar i migh tbe tempted to try!

stay atrong, pm me if you need any support
s

[SereneBabe]

I find the most helpful thing for me has to do with the language I use... If I use language that includes being "good" or "bad," or if I talk about "never" having sugar, or stuff that's really sounding like deprivation, I don't have as much success.

I like the idea of eating a balanced diet, or sticking with mostly whole foods, or "staying away from refined carbohydrates" -- I think the last one's the one I used the most.

Anyway, I'm new to motheringdotcommune and am psyched to see this discussion. :-)

--Heather

[the_lissa]

That's a good idea Heather and welcome!

[Hibou]

Subscribing.

We are trying to be sugar free since my dc's had so many colds and flus this year, it was the worst. I figured that nixxing the sugar might help their immune systems (well, ds #1 anyways, the baby is still almost entirely bfed). I'm not totally opposed to sugar, but I think that it needs to be cut waaaaaayyyyyy back from what the typical north american diet consumes. For me in the house it was easy because I crave salty foods, not sweet stuff. For dh it's harder because he has a sweet tooth, so I told him I was going to throw out ALL the candy in the house, so if he wanted to keep anything he had to take it to work. Admittedly though it was kind of hard throwing it away because I was like "this stuff costs money" but then when I thought about all the garbage that's in it, and how I don't want my family eating it, it was way easier to just dump it in the trash.

The other challenge is to get relatives and friends to stop feeding junk to my preschooler. I have always discouraged it, but I feel like now having said "he is off sugar, he can't have any candy or junk food" they are finally listening, although they did give him a few mini marshmallows last week because "he ate such a good lunch" when he was babysat. : The other thing is my neighbours are constantly giving junk food to their kids, and they play outside with ds almost every day. They would always ask if he could have some too, and for awhile I was giving in because I didn't want him to feel left out, but finally I started saying no because I was really trying to keep him off sugar, and then we'd go in and get a healthy snack. I was really shocked when after 2 days they started saying no (or later) to their kids when they'd ask for candy while playing outside!!! I plan to start bringing healthy treats out to share with them and see if I can be a further positive influence. They are really great people but the kids have major tooth decay and I never see them eating anything healthy so, who knows what some fresh fruit might do, right?

The only other thing I want to add for now is that it's really nice being able to make choc chip cookies once in a blue moon or go out for a treat on occasion, and it REALLY is a treat instead of just run-of-the-mill, kwim?

I read (or rather paraphrased) a story to my ds that was inside the NT cookbook. It talked about 2 rats, Junkie and Goodie, and what eating junkfood and good food did to their bodies, and how eventually junkie got sick and died while goodie had nice fur and got big and strong. He was really interested and it was a great teaching tool. Now when he asks why he can't have junk food, we just talk about junkie and goodie and what happened to them and he understands how healthy food is better for his body.

Anyways, I'm really rambling on here. It's nice to join in though and have the support here!

[tug]

i'll join too! i'm from the other sugar thread and the eat to live thread, but i need as much support and motivation as i can get!!

hibou- did your son find it scary about the rat dying? my ds gets really sad about stuff (like he cries if daddy and i speak harshly to eachother or i speak harshly to my father who lives with us or when he sees a picture that he thinks is sad). i do talk to him about healthy food making him big and strong and other food making him tired and sad.

in any case, i'm on day 4 of only whole food sugars (i.e. fruit vs. refined sugar in a baked good or candy). the first two were miserable but it's getting a little easier today although i had the weirdest, very strong urge to go eat chocolate this morning (possibly related to not sleeping last night b/c ds is sick, and having to stay home with ds today, and needing to get some serious office work done at the same time).

anyway, hi!

[Goddess3_2005]

Can I join? I have been sugar free for a week and I lots 5 lbs! yeay! I am also not eating any honey, wheat, rice, and avoiding fruit juices. I eat minimal fruit to avoid the sugar too. I am a chocoholic and suffering! Oh and I can't remember who said that they were battling depression, but pick up some whey protien and drink it 2xs a day, it really helps. ;0)

[Aiti]

Originally Posted by moma justice

staying active makes me crave less sugar, so does eating lots of raw fruits and veggies,

I agree with this. I have had a lot more success with healthy eating when I exercise regularly and include plenty of fruits and vegetables. I have a heck of a time managing my time well enough to get my exercise in. I need to figure out a way to get back into that routine. I know it would help me a lot with staying sugar-free. Thanks for the reminder!

[Hibou]

Originally Posted by tug

hibou- did your son find it scary about the rat dying? my ds gets really sad about stuff (like he cries if daddy and i speak harshly to eachother or i speak harshly to my father who lives with us or when he sees a picture that he thinks is sad). i do talk to him about healthy food making him big and strong and other food making him tired and sad.

He was a little sad about the rat, but we have talked about death and he asks questions and I answer them as best and appropriately as I can. We talk about how eating junk food makes you feel sick and eating healthy food makes you grow big and strong. He's not afraid that he'll die if he eats junk food or anything like that though.

[memory maker]

Im in too. I have been so bad with this pregnancy by the way I eat. Some days im glad I take a vitamin. I have had terrible sugar cravings. I polished off a box of fruity pepples cereal in one day : My other two pregnancies I made sure and ate so good. I am kind of doing a version (the parts I like) of south beach. I dont like the using splenda as a sweetener, but the level 2 part is fruits, veggies, meats, whole grains and some dairy. we will see how it goes

[ChasingPeace]

I've been virtually sugar-free since 1/1/05. I lost 30 pounds in the first three months, but have plateaued for the last 6 weeks. But I've remained sugarfree! I promise, it gets easier after the first 3 weeks. It's just getting past the first 3 weeks, right? Here's what worked for me:
-don't eat starches at dinner or at night (not forever, just until you get past the first 3 weeks). Eat your starches at breakfast or lunch.
-don't eat lowfat foods. You'll feel much more satisfied eating whole milk plain yogurt, nut butters, and fullfat dressing. Again, you might decide to lower your fat intake later on.
-exercise.

I allow myself occasional indulgences, but I would not do it until after the first 3 weeks. I've had desserts 3 x since I started.

[moma justice]

i am doing sooooooooooooooo good
i have to brag...
last night
i got take out food from a local veggie rest. and they forgot to include part of my dinner, which i did not realize until i got back in the car and got home, so for my "trouble" the mangr added in a choc chip cookie that was as big as my head for free.
i got home and just held it in my hand and gave the whole thing to dh and told him to take it away from me....it was a big moment.
i could hear the "self talk" going strong in my head as i held it...the kind drug addicts must feel:
it is ok, it is just one cookie, you have had a long day, it was free, i will stop eating sugar again tomorrow......."

but i stayed strong and this morning i did not buy any treats at the grocery store (that is my weak spot.....)

so i had another big bowl of oat meal with almond butter cooked into it and maple syrup for lunch and a salad
totally satisfied and energized
and we are walking to the park after nap time and that will be my exercise for today

i am doing good. 4 days sugar free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and i can already tell a difference in my body.
i feel leaner and stronger.

[Melis]

Hello Everyone! Welcome to all of our new subscribers! Heather, I live in Rochester, NH...not too far from you, right?

Well, I didn't do so well last month. I think I'm trying to make too many changes at once and it's overwhelmed me. Summer is always so rough because we break out the BBQ sauce and the temptation to go out for ice-cream is overwhelming! Also, iced-coffee!!!! Erggghhh...I stopped putting sugar in my coffee, but now I don't really enjoy the taste, but still crave it like mad. So when I indulge (daily), not only do I feel guilty, but I'm not satisfied My husband successfully quit Mt. Dew last month and I'm so proud of him. Why does coffee have to be so bad for you? Oh, and what goes hand-in-hand with the Dunkin' Donut trips? : Don't even get me started. SO - the coffee really has to go to make our sugar-free way of life happen. Darn those "nonuts" and "puffins" (my 2 yo's name for donuts and muffins). Sorry for the rant...

I am ordering some Tupperware Ice Tups to make frozen treats this summer. Smoothies are also some good ways to substitute the afternoon ice-coffee. I know many of you mentioned making your own ice-cream and frozen yogurt treats. How do you do this successfully without using sugar? I would like to buy an ice-cream maker...what machine do you recommend without breaking the bank?

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

[Aiti]

Hey Melissa! It's good to see you here, and everyone else too!
I haven't tried making sugar-free ice cream or frozen yogurt, but I do like to make popsicles out of pureed fruit and a little juice. YUM

OK, so I need advice. I'm having a little trouble getting going again with the sugar-free thing after some time off basically disregarding my healthy eating plan. I feel certain that once I can get started and get through day 1 I will be fine. Just can't seem to get it in gear for one solid day. : Help please? Thanks.