[arcenciel]

Another day, another month, and I'm going to try REALLY hard this time!

I decided to keep a food diary so I can try and work out why my health changes sometimes. And when I was writing it, I realised that I there was sugar in the breakfast cereal I ate yesterday

so I'm back at day 1!

I'm not really discouraged though as I'm starting to see it as a heck of a long journey. As for the 1 day at a time thing, I guess that's how I'm taking it, but I'm hoping that one day I just won't eat any sugar ever any more. At the moment, I still allow myself to think that for example at Christmas I'll allow myself some treats, but I'm really hoping that in general I just won't want the sugar any more. I'm hoping that I just won't enjoy the flavour any more.

Eventually...

 

[greensmile]

I decided to keep a food log today also, should I post here, elsewhere or is that to boring? I thought if I posted it, it may keep me in line!

 

[EyesOfTheWorld]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greensmile I decided to keep a food log today also, should I post here, elsewhere or is that to boring? I thought if I posted it, it may keep me in line!

Someone started a thread just for what we're eating here, that would be a good place to post your food diary! I need to get myself in gear and post there too

 

[member]

I won't be officially sugar-free again until Monday as I have finals and there are grad parties galore. I am here and listening, soaking up the good advice and convo.

 

[RaRa7]

June is going to be a GREAT month--I can feel it!

I like the idea of keeping a food diary too........
As for the one day at a time: my dh asks me this question all the time---"ARE YOU NEVER GOING TO LET POOR ARI HAVE SUGAR??!!"
I am hopipng , like someone else just said, that eventually we will lose our taste for it and treats will just seem TOO sweet. I'm hoping.......ans hoping....

 

[memory maker]

this time I am in for the long haul. My ds has been having some behavior problems that I think are due to sugar. We have to stop having it in our house. Im glad that it is farmers market season so we can go get some great deals on fruit and veggies, which my ds loves if there is no sugar.

 

[arcenciel]

God I am craving chocolate today! There is some in the fridge which I brought back from the UK for the kids so for that reason alone I shouldn't eat it! Actually, if it wasn't for them and special, I would throw it away. They are not supposed to eat it until the weekend, I don't know if I can resist that long....thinking about this is making it worse....

 

[JaneS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arcenciel God I am craving chocolate today! There is some in the fridge which I brought back from the UK for the kids so for that reason alone I shouldn't eat it! Actually, if it wasn't for them and special, I would throw it away. They are not supposed to eat it until the weekend, I don't know if I can resist that long....thinking about this is making it worse....

Since we are doing so well I'm experienting with my diet a little for the first time in well...over a year! I made some very healthy chocolate: coconut oil, raw butter, stevia and Wonder Cocoa (it's caffeine free). It tastes awesome, but it does start cravings, something I'm pretty much free of most days. I can only have little of this chocolate at a time, with almond butter, but thankfully DS is not reacting to it, and neither am I.

Continuing the discussion at the end of May re: looking at my life down the road being sugar free:

I guess it was "easier" for me to totally give up sugar in some ways... but much much harder in others due to DS's eczema and yeast issues. There was no way I was going to give up bf'ing him so here we are after a long road. I'm still also white flour and refined carb free now, so it's been that much more difficult. Was pretty much *everything* free for about 6 months, then went to cultured dairy and we seemed to do fine and then started reintroducing foods.

I think I learned an important lesson going through this struggle with DS. I would have done anything to help him, that was a strong motivator. But I actually healed myself in the process too of several health problems. I found NT and completely put the vegetarian lifestyle behind me and feel so much better for it.

That is how I see my life... eating healthy food and being balanced. And becoming healthy enough to be able to eat sugar maybe once or twice a week without becoming a slave to cravings. This is what I'd like to teach my child to do as well. But for now, I'm SO happy he has no idea what lollipops and candy are at age 2 and that's a rarity IRL around here.

I'd like to read Sugar Blues, just the few excerpts from the book in Nourishing Traditions are very thought provoking. I don't think I'll ever cook with white sugar again in my lifetime. Who wants to start a Sugar Blues book club??

 

[Goddess3_2005]

Still sugar free here and down 15lbs since I started!

 

[MamaE]

Stacee! Down 15 pounds? Wow!!! Good for you!

(I've lost 4-5. More to come off soon, I hope!)

JaneS, thought you might be interested to know that since I've been sugar free, DDs eczema has completely cleared up. Coincidence? I don't think so. But why would just cutting sugar do this for her? I do think my yeast problems are mostly at bay right now, but I'll have to wait till next month's cycle comes around to see whether they surface again. Any insight you have on the eczema/sugar issue would be greatly appreciated.

I loved Sugar Blues when I read it, but I am with someone else here who said that some of his claims are a bit out there. I mean, he even blames traffic accidents on sugar and I, pale as can be, am also not trying out his theory about sun. I also think he goes a bit far in suggesting food combining and some pretty radical diet changes that wouldn't work for me, anyway.

Arcenciel - I noticed you asked about food combining in another thread. I have read in more than one place (not just NT) that it has been pretty much debunked. I wondered the same thing though when I first read the book. I guess you could always experiment for yourself and see if particular combos cause you any trouble. But, I think the scientific basis has never been found.

Another sugar-free day for me!

 

[JaneS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaE JaneS, thought you might be interested to know that since I've been sugar free, DDs eczema has completely cleared up. Coincidence? I don't think so. But why would just cutting sugar do this for her? I do think my yeast problems are mostly at bay right now, but I'll have to wait till next month's cycle comes around to see whether they surface again. Any insight you have on the eczema/sugar issue would be greatly appreciated.

I'm very happy to hear this! Well not exactly happy but YKWIM

I haven't seen many people say this and I really do think it's really the tip of the iceberg with eczema/food allergies issues that many people have. My naturopath never thought it was the case until we proved it to her with tests and when I first started reintroducing foods and got a huge relapse after seeing no reactions for quite some time. Letting sugar back in was like a forest fire like nothing else.

Candida creates leaky gut. This lets whole proteins that are not properly digested into the bloodstream... thus creating an autoimmune response... and therefore food allergies. And food allergies are certainly a recognized cause of eczema. Yeast also releases a toxin, the word starts with an "a" that my feeble mama brain cannot remember right now.

Since breastmilk is made from the elements in your bloodstream, the theory that whole food proteins can pass through to your milk certainly makes sense. And many mamas who go dairy free for their babes see this... but don't necessarily connect with the fact that it is probably a leaky gut problem that is the central cause. B/c really breastmilk's proteins are supposed to be broken down to such an extent as to reduce allergies.

My unique experience (IBS, nipple thrush while bf'ing, and also a bladder problem called interstitital cystitis) really helped nail it down when all occured together with DS's eczema flares, several times. I ramble on and on about it here: http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=260393

Therefore, I really don't view food allergies as something definate. As in, my child is dairy allergic and will be the rest of their lives. I think allergies are merely symptoms of the total problem ... that the gut is not doing it's job as it should. There is a reason for allergies. And therefore, the gut can be changed by healing it and building it up with probiotics and fermented foods. At least that's what I'm trying to do now and have seen success with. Both of us have come a long way. And of course, there is the removal of my mercury fillings, but that's for another thread.

 

[alamama]

So glad to find this thread!

I was sugar-free for the year before we conceived ds, but began having some sugar again during pregnancy. In the early part, I'd eat whatever seemed appealing through the nausea, and in the last trimester, it was those chocolate milkshake cravings. And of course, after ds was born, we were given lots of meals, including sweet breads and muffins and desserts.

So, this is good motivation to go sugar free again! Yesterday I tossed the last of the gift brownies and made a milk/banana/carob shake instead.

My experience has been that after awhile, sugar totally loses its appeal. If I have some anyway, it gives me a headache and I feel lousy. But having it just once gets me wanting it all over again, so for now I do best with total avoidance. I prefer to avoid all refined flour, too, but it does get hard...

 

[moma justice]

hi ladies
and welcome to all the new sugar frees!
i am still going strong
sometimes i feel clostrophobia food wise b/c it feels like i am so limited (i am no sugar o f any form, white flor, and dairy)

but i am eating an insane variety of beans, veggies and seeds

and moma E
my pound are melting off my body
and i have not gone on a walk or any exersice in about a week b/c of rain storms

so i am excited to see how skinny i get when can get out and walk again

craving choc
but being good
love
s

 

[vegmom]

How has everybody steared clear of cravings and emotional eating. I can stay away from sugar(most months), can avoid bread (with some cheating, but not much), but it is the fruits that kill me. I just have a hard time with this. I am battling candida and i am trying to convince myself that for me fruit is toxic for my body right now and that when i beat the yeasts fruit will be healthy again.

What makes you be sugar free? How do you stay away from the cravings? JaneS you said..
I think I learned an important lesson going through this struggle with DS. I would have done anything to help him, that was a strong motivator. But I actually healed myself in the process too of several health problems. I found NT and completely put the vegetarian lifestyle behind me and feel so much better for it.

That is a great motivator. I would like to hear some more.

I can see sugar as a toxin and that is why it is easier for me to stay away from it, hard to do with fruit though...

 

[moma justice]

remember how i said i was a having a good day, well then i had to go the grocery store (and dh watched dd while i did...so i felt peaceful and a little bit of longing for REAL freedom and excitment ....you know more than just a 45 mintue solo grocery run, which is it for my ability for freedom and excitment...)
so i turned the radio up loud, and listened to old songs from my previous young and single life
and then
(this is where i get real low)
i walk slowly around the store from sugar treat to sugar treat
and pick them up and hold them in my hands and read the lables and jus tput them down
slowly
i did choc fudge brownie icecream, cookies, deli cakes, you name it
i did all the sugar sections

i left the store with eggs and milk an hr later!

i wished i could have called my "sponser" if i were in AA you know?

like
"hi i am standing at the doorway of my old bar and i see all my friends having my fav old drinks, can't i just go in and smell them?"

so i felt wacko
way more than usual

and i ate tons of protien today (eggs, hummus, beans, 2 peices of fish last night for dinner)

but i wanted SOMETHING

so that is where my emotional eating comes in

i am longing for something
and for the longest time, a candy bar was the easiest, safest, thing i could get that made me feel like i was doing SOMETHING fun and exciting just for me...

and just being at the grocery store by myself was anough to trigger this DESIRE for personal excitement and fullfilment (outside of being a mom, which i LOVE) that i have been squelching
since the birth of my dd (about 2 years ago)

does anyone ever feel like there is no me?

how is that for some emotional eating issues?

but i guess, if you actualy got through all this rambling, you witnessed a break through:
i have got to convince my dh to take dd on a reg basis so i can do something fun for me
or i am going to freak out!

still sugar free one month and counting!

 

[greensmile]

I am overcoming a life long sugar addiction. As a 2yr. old I remember eating white sugar straight, adults would give me the thick coffee/sugar sludge at the bottoms of their cups regularly and on my third birthday I found in my room a stuffed dog literally shrink wrapped with hard candies around it. I ate most of them before my parents got up

These are most of my earliest memories.

2 whole days sugar free (this is a big deal sadly enough)

 

[mamajea]

I sooo want to be sugar free, can i join you? It might help me to talk with others doing it too. Im really addicted to sugar and I feel yucky all the time. I have been sugar free before when I was PG with my 2nd child because I had GD, so for about 12 weeks I had no sugar, white flour etc and felt so great, also when my DD was born (a healthy 7lb 11oz) I was thinner than I had been before my 1st pregnancy 5 years earlier.

greensmile, my parents used to give me that sugar/coffee sludge too , no wonder Im addicted to sugar lol

 

[member]

Jane, I'd love a Sugar Blues book club. I read it a few years ago, but I need to read it again.

Welcome Mamajea!

I am preparing to jump on the sugar-free bandwagon. I am going completely sugar/flour free for a week to detox after grad parties and then I'll be back on my usual NT regime with a focus on coconut oil, fresh veggies and fruits.

 

[muse]

nak

hi mamas, can i join in? i have never managed to go more than a few days without sugar so i need some serious inspiration. can anyone point me to articles online that will remind me why i want/need to quit?

also, is sugar in itself fattening? or is it the stuff it's usually contained in? i haven't been able to shift a lot of my prenancy weight since dd, however much i exercise or eat less. i'm veggie and eat extremely well except for the cheese, bread (wholewheat) and sugar i have a hard time giving up.

 

[member]

Depending on how sugar-sensitive you are, the influx of insulin when sugar and refined foods are digested can cause an excess insulin response which can lead to extra fat. But, IMO, I don't think any food is fattening in the way the low-fat experts have pushed for the last two decades.