Sugar Addicts' Recovery Plan

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Has anyone else read and followed Your Last Diet - Recovery Programme for Sugar Addicts? I'm just reading it now, and have started the first 2 steps of the plan. Obviously I'm not going to attempt to give up sugar at Christmas, but the early steps don't require you to be too drastic, so I'm reading the book and making a start.

It seems very do-able, and as I've decided I need to drastically reduce my sugar habit, it seems like a good place to start. Then I will move onto the next step after Christmas is done and dusted.

I thought I'd post my progress here to keep me on track. Any other sugar addicts out there??

[Rollermum]

I think I might be. Does it work towards cutting out sugar altogether?

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Yes ultimately, but it's very gradual. I've attempted cold turkey numerous times, but it's not necessary for this approach, and the author encourages you to just take it one step at a time and at your own pace (in fact you are repeatedly urged to slow down!). Defintely worth a read if you think you have a problem with sugar - I most definitely do!

When I'm back on the computer I'll try to post a link to the book.

[Rollermum]

Hi again. I just had a look into this and read reviews etc. I downloaded Potatoes Not Prozac onto my kindle as it seems to cover the same sort of stuff. Wow just reading the intro resonates with me so much!

I have gone turkey on sugar and carbs loads of times before and it is tough. Even have had great success before with weight loss but then got very depressed - this theory may explain why.

I've been planning to start Slimming World in the new year but have been already thinking I will obsess re food and crack and also that it is a lot of carbs and so unlikely to work. I'm going to read more and think it all over.

Congrats on starting the first two steps - how is it going?

[Rollermum]

That should say 'cold turkey'! Not sure what 'gone turkey' would entail.

[Mazzledazzle]

I definitely have a problem with sugar and in times if crisis I would eat an atrocious amount of sweets and cakes in one go.

I've read 'Improve Your Mood With Food', which is by the same author as 'Potatoes Not Prozac' and it definitely gave me a healthier, more balanced approach to healthy eating. I also managed to lose some weight too, but it crept back on.

I am now on wk. 4 of WW and, unlike previous attempts, I'm trying to eat balanced meals and healthy snacks, with occasional small sugary treats. Whereas before, I use to cheat by spending all of my points on junk! For now though, my intake is under control.

What are the first steps Beryl? And where does the book stand on things like fruit and honey?

I really don't think I could give up sugar!

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Step 1 is having breakfast every day, and that it should include some protein. I'm mostly managing breakfast, but not always with protein if I'm rushing. Step 2 is to keep a daily food journal of what you eat and how you feel. To be honest I thought this step would be a waste of time, but I am already beginning to see how up and down my mood, energy and temper is over the course of a day, and that it correlates to me eating, and then crashing from, sugar! It's definitely encouraging me to eat more sensibly because then my moods are more even.

The next step is to make sure I have 3 meals a day, with protein. There's no requirement to cut out sweets etc at this stage, but to eat them after a meal rather than on their own. I'm still concentrating on steps 1 and 2 though.

Fruit is fine, although further on I think you're encouraged to eat it with meals rather than on its own. Much further down the road there's the step of cutting out sugar (which would include honey), but I'm a looooong way off that stage yet. It's all very gradual, and apparently by the time you reach that step, your body is more even and you're better prepared to cope without the sweet fixes.

I've got Potatoes not Prozac too (it's by the same author) and that goes into more detail about the science behind it - fascinating I thought. This newer one talks more about emotional responses, and has more detail about how to manage each step, and a section about weight loss, but they're both very similar and great plans to follow. I'm feeling very positive about it.

[Rollermum]

Baby was up half the night feeding so read quite a lot of it. I started this morning. My weight is quite high so I have to eat approx 40g protein at breakfast. I know not to sweat it at the moment but was hard to get that in!

I am also BF and it mentions snacks fur nursing mums but I'm not sure if it come out of overall protein target or not.

Do you use a specific journaling tool or app or a notebook?

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

I'm wanting to avoid getting too strict with counting grams of protein etc, so I just use a notebook and write general quantities. The main aim for me at the moment is to eat regular meals on a consistent basis, as I often skip meals and replace them with snacks (eg chocolate!), and to note how this effects my moods.

There's a website/forum that goes with it, radiance recovery I think it's called.

[Cheesyslice]

My name is cheesy and I'm a reformed sugar addict. I was terrible. I went cold turkey when I started a diet, and I've not looked back yet. I won't deny I have cravings, but it can be done so good luck. Can you have sweeteners?

[watfordmummy]

I've had to cut out sugar due to chronic reflux!! Gave up diet coke and chocolate in may, alcohol June, then tomatoes, onion, spice, and garlic in September, and then have cut out sweets in the past week and a half. It's been so hard, but I have such bad reflux otherwise so a bit of no brainer!!
Don't know if I could cut sugar out completely though!!

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

She doesn't recommend sweeteners Cheesy as I think part of the process is to retrain your tastebuds so you no longer even want very sweet things.

Well done Watford, sounds like you've completely changed your diet. I'm struggling to resist all the sweet treats around at the moment, but I'm keeping on with my food journal and eating breakfast every day. Gearing up for the big push after Christmas..!!

[Rollermum]

Cheesy well done! Have you been doing it long? My previous record was 153 days sugar (and gluten) free - then I cracked on holiday and started a binging problem that's never realy gone away. This approach sounds a bit better and hopefully I won't feel as under pressure - counting the days like an alcoholic, etc!

Watford how did you know what to give up for reflex? That sounds hard. No tomatos! Nightmare!

I've had two days of big old protein breakfasts. Yum. Great to ease into something slowly for a change.

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Is that about 5 months rollermum?! That's impressive - did you get used to it? I really want to be at the stage where people say their tastes change and they don't even want sweet things anymore, hard to imagine at the moment though!

[Rollermum]

Yes I did. Sweet stuff was just like wallpaper - I just didn't consider eating it anymore. But it set me up for terrible boom bust binges and made my relationship with food wore tbh,

Now I'm wondering whether to try again it develop a more normal relationship with food - I found the latter scary!

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

I've moved onto the next step, so today I'm having 3 meals and no snacks. Gone well so far...

[timidviper]

I started doing the bootcamp eating on here about 15 months ago and hadn't realised how addicted to sugar I was until I changed the way I ate. What you are doing sounds similar.

I had dieted on and off for years, tried WW, SW and many others, yet got fatter and fatter overall. It was only after I went low carb that I realised how much sugar and sweetener I was eating in fruit and low fat products while thinking I was eating healthily

[Peekska]

Kumquat, try not to rush through the steps.
DesMaisons' advice is that it's vital not to rush each step. And that each step needs to be firmly in place before you move onto the next one.
There's some fairly interesting reading on her website. I used to be member of a couple of the email lists and on her forum, but didn't find them terribly helpful.

[ProfessorDent]

I am a sugar addict. I began to kick it when I had high protein Full English breakfasts. It kickstarts your metabolism and if you have a cheese and ham toastie around noon or 1pm you can stave off sugar 'boosters'.

I also take Chronium Piccilinoate (sp?) from Solgar, 500g. It regulates blood sugar levels.

These tips are interesting. I read in Briffa's Waist Disposal book that sugar in drinks like Coke, also in ice cream, is worst because being liquid it gets into your blood stream well fast and effs up your insulin levels big time. If you have to have sugar have it after eating something else, it won't effect them so much. Of course, by sugar we really mean any chocolate/confectionary like Whispa Bar, Yorkie Bar, Twix, Cadbury's Dairy, Galaxy, Flake, Milky Bar, Giant Chocolate Buttons, goodness you can go from one thing to another thinking, hey, the taste and texture of this is great! But of course, really it's the sugar that reels you in, the rest is just incidental.

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

I don't feel I'm rushing the steps - I'll be on this step for a while I expect, it'll take me some time to get used to having 3 meals and no snacks. I'm still on with the journal. I'm making an effort to include more protein with my meals, but I'm not drastically changing the sorts of food that I'm eating. Obviously things will be a bit hit and miss over this week, with a lack of normal routine, and visiting people etc, but I'll keep aimimg for my 3 meals.

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Yes ProfessorDent I'm now much more aware of the things that I eat and how much sugar they contain, it's everywhere!!

[NotJustACigar]

Quitting sugar is really hard but only for the first few weeks, i found, and then it became second nature to me. I highly recommend it and think it has helped me a great deal in my daily life plus i know its having long term benefits as well. I managed to quit having sugar and had been off it including no fruit juice for around ten months until last week when I decided to have sugar again over the holidays until Boxing Day and then stop again.

When I wasn't having sugar I noticed that my moods were more stable and also I wasn't constantly hungry and craving snacks. I lost a bit of weight but the weight loss wasn't dramatic and its hard to say how much of it was down to not having sugar. Oh, and I did still eat fruit and a couple of squares of 85% dark chocolate a day. As a very rare treat I would melt the chocolate over a banana and that was delicious!

I started on sugar again by having mixed drinks with fruit juice and then graduated on to mince pies, a cupcake and a bit of chocolate Yule log so far. I have noticed a big difference in terms of mood swings and also feeling incredibly, crushingly tired. The fatigue is just the worst and particularly in the morning it's tough to motivate myself at the moment. Luckily I've finished work until after Christmas but I wouldn't like to be dealing with this fatigue and also working.

Also everything (except the juice) tastes just overly sickly sweet to me and I'm not getting as much pleasure out of it as I used to. I think it will actually be quite easy to stop eating sugary things again. I will struggle a bit more to not have cocktails with fruit juice but I think if I switch to wine I should be able to do it without too much bother.

Well, sorry to go on about it but just wanted to describe my experiences and wish you luck those who are going to do this. Please wish me luck quitting again too .

[FourArms]

I went cold turkey on sugar 3 weeks ago, although I had been on SW for a few months so I had cut down already.

I had about 4 bad days, but now feel amazing. Sat at a carol concert last night in front of a table of Christmas snacks. Didn't feel at all tempted. It just doesn't feel an option now. :)

My moods are much more stable and I no longer feel hungry in between meals (I've had maybe 5 snacks between meals in 3 weeks and they've been on days which I haven't planned well or had to eat late or early for some reason). I'm also eating a lot more fat, but losing weight (just shy of 9lbs in 3 weeks).

Good luck to everyone quitting or requitting over the next few weeks :)

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Thanks FourArms and cigar, it's really good to hear about the benefits you experienced. I've always failed with cold turkey in the past, and so am finding this method much more positive and encouraging.

[Rollermum]

Yes, really positive to see successes!

I am dithering between this and SW. I have the SW book etc but I feel deep down I will probably drive myself nuts obsessing over syns. The PNP book describes me so well and is making me realise why Atkins worked so well in terms of weightloss but made me depressed.

How eve I am reluctant to let go of 'everything' in moderation. But SW limits fat which I just know is not current weightloss thinking.

Am driving myself mad vacillating as usual!!

[BerylsDailyKumquat]

Maybe try 3 healthy meals a day, no snacks, to start with? That's what I've done today, and it's helped me break the cycle of snacking on sweet stuff, which then means I'm not hungry for a proper meal. I've just put the roast in the oven and am looking forward to a lovely evening meal. I think Kathleen's plan works because it isn't anything too drastic all in one go. Although you could of course follow SW but still exclude sugar?