Low/No Sugar

[Schweetheart]

So it seems a few people are keen to try this. I am for sure. But I know very little about how to achieve it.

DD1 (3yo) has got obsessed with chocolate over the festive period and DD2 (5mths) will be weaning soon so I'm keen to get in a healthier place for them - as well as for my own good too. I could do with losing 20lbs plus my skin is dire, as are my moods and energy levels. I'm breastfeeding DD2 so find I get very hungry very quickly and am all too quick to reach for chocolate/cake/sweets/biscuits.

Not sure I could be a purist and go as far as cutting out potatoes or rice etc but I need to do something.

I could really do with a list of low/no sugar foods and meal ideas on which to base meal plans and to have a decent list of healthy-ish snacks to keep me going in between meals.

Anyone care to join/help?

[Letmeeatcakecakecake]

Hello,

Before pregnancy, I was a low sugar vegan, so can offer some insights

DONT go pure no sugar, indulge in plenty of fruit
DO switch to brown rice, pasta, bread ect
DONT have any pure sugar in the house
DO have a small bottle of maple syrup for when things are tough
DONT best yourself up if you fall off the wagon
DO experiment with different foods... I used to make 'chocolate' out of melted coconut oil, cacao powder and a dash of maple syrup. Someone I know goes one further and mixes dedicated coconut with a bit of syrup to put into the chocolate to make bounty bars!

Browse Instagram, you'll get plenty of ideas and inspiration.

It's horrible, but after a few weeks the cravings will go and you'll notice the flavour in everything! One thing I found incredibly sweet after being sugar free for a few weeks was broccoli!

[Schweetheart]

Great tips thanks!

I need to scour the internet for recipes and ideas and build a bit of a list I think. I'll be back...

[Barbieinthebath]

I am planning to do this.
Starting tomorrow I am going to cut out the obvious sugary foods: fizzy drinks, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, jam, ketchup/other sauces.
Once I have done this I will start looking at the sugar in our meals (DH cooks so will need his involvement)
I am also planning to drink at least 8glasses of water a day - I don't drink much water at the moment and think this is why I feel so tired and turn to sugar.

We can support each other and share tips :)

[amigababy]

marking place, at nye do and dh is glaring at me for using my phone so will return tomorrow when I can internet properly.

[NewYearApproaching]

I'm in. Want to eat good, natural food (no place for sugar there) and become gorgeous and get into those fab jeans I bought 3 months ago,but have never been able to quite fit into.

[amigababy]

Back home, can't sleep so thought I'd come and list how I'm going to work this:

Things I won't eat; processed or baked food that contains sugar, fruit juices, sugar itself (obviously), white rice/bread/pasta

(Actually that's not much to give up [Grin])

Things I will eat; fruit, vegetables including spuds, nuts , Brown rice/pasta, wholesale bread, tofu & quorn, lentils & beans, natural yoghurt, eggs, cheese.

letmeeat I'm a lapsed vegan & current vegetarian, not a great cook (own lots of recipe books!) and on iron tablets for anaemia probably due to my poor meal planning. Any suggestions welcome, I still prefer soya milk to dairy , but eat real cheese etc now. I think I'm a high sugar vegetarian!

[amigababy]

wholemeal bread!

[Goldensunnydays81]

I am giving up the sweet stuff too! Fed up of having mid afternoon slumps due to too much sugar! I'm going to sign up for the I quit sugar program with Sarah wilson but doesn't start until the 20th January so up until then I and just going to try and slowly give ups starting with all the obvious things.
On Pinterest there are quite a few sugar free recipes which might give you some ideas.

[postmanpatsnewyearresolution]

I wouldn't recommend the Sarah Wilson plan as you have to pay! I bought the book and found I didn't need it, just followed the guidelines and managed without following the plan to the letter. I'm also vegetarian. Last summer I did five weeks without sugar then did 5:2 (sugar two days a week!) for another three weeks and that meant I felt comfortable in my bikini for our summer holiday.

I very quickly found that my appetite stabilised and I could go all afternoon without thinking about food at all. The Sarah Wilson plan has some weird receipes and ingredients but I didn't buy anything extra except for Stevia. If I got hungry I ate hand cooked crisps or nuts while I waited for DP to get home so we could have dinner.

[MoreCakeMoreCake]

I'm in. I think (know) I have real problems with sugary foods. I eat way too much of the wrong things which is affecting my weight, skin, energy levels and moods.
This is going to be really tough for me but as DD gets older I don't want her to see me scoffing junk all the time!
Starting Monday I'm cutting out all "obvious" sugar. I've heard this is horrendous with withdrawal headaches etc - any other side effects to be aware of?

[Letmeeatcakecakecake]

amigababy I'm lapsed too! I couldn't handle pregnancy and vegan ism... Dominos was calling my name!

I found meal planning to be absolutely essential (in both low sugar and vegan ism) I would cook all my lunches and dinners for the week in advance, so that I could ensure I wouldn't lapse! On the iron front, plenty of leafy greens and lentils are essential! I used to make a spicy peanut butter curry and basically shove aload of ingredients in a pan to simmer, such as can of chopped tomatoes, can of coconut cream, tablespoon peanut butter, scotch bonnet chilli, quinoa, green lentils, mushrooms and once it's cooked I'd put them in 5 portions of Tupperware with aload of spinach or broccolli (raw) on the top. When I'd microwave the meal when I was about to eat it, it would lightly cook the extra greens too.

Ladies, can I make a suggestion to you all? Don't go over bored with everything instantly, cutting out sugar is really difficult and you're setting yourself up for fail if you plan to restrict everything instantly. Make small changes. Aim to be sugar free or even 50% less sugar by March.

ALSO DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF AS A FORM OF DIET AT THE SAME TIME... It's just guaranteed failure! In fact, the more full you feel, the less likely you are to jump into the biscuit cupbored.

Here's an example of what I eat on a daily basis...

(8am) 5 whites and 3 yolks scrambled with 100g steamed spinach, 4 cherry tomatoes and half an avocado, followed by 20g oats cooked in water with 50g blueberries and cinnamon.

(12pm) 150g full fat greek yogurt, with 1 chopped banana and 20g sunflower seeds on top.

(2pm) Half a bag of salad leaves with half avocado, chopped pepper, cherry tomatoes and dressing (apple cider vinegar, lemon, Himalayan salt)

(6pm) 40g (dry measurement) of black wild rice, 150g quorn chicken pieces and 3 cups of steamed spring leaves.

(9pm) sun warrior vanilla protein shake with water or almond milk

You honestly will not put on weight eating like this as the food is all clean and healthy, you'll feel FULL, you won't have sugar cravings and if anything you'll lose weight.

If you're aiming to cut out fizzy drinks, try to make an alternative.... Like fizzy water with lemon and lime squeezed in (i usually drink that with vodka... When not pregnant!)

Bake your own cakes and biscuits. You'll actually find that you can reduce the sugar you are supposed to add by around 1/3 without noticing end difference initially. Or you can add dates and bananas to make it sweeter!

Generally side effects are going to be you absolutely gagging for something sweet, but hold firm, it's only a few days you'll feel like this!

[amigababy]

I'm feeling hungry just reading your menu! I could do the curry in the slow cooker, that would be excellent.

I'm struggling today, still got Christmas goodies round the house with my name on. Think I'll need to start Monday too after shopping tomorrow.Good luck too morecake (there's a lot of cake on this thread!)

[Barbieinthebath]

first few days have not gone well, chocolate and cake and jam on toast, I have got a cold and could not handle the sugar withdrawal at the same time .
But no fizzy drinks have been consumed, might just focus on that to start with then try and make other small improvements one by one after a few weeks.

[busyboysmum]

Hi there. Am thinking of joining you. Starting Monday as am caravanning with the family at the moment. Although if Ds3 doesn't eat all his crumpets with jam I am resolved to bin them rather than finishing them off.

[MoreCakeMoreCake]

Yes busyboysmum - I'm binning any and all junk (esp sugary stuff) at the end of the weekend. If temptation is there I know I will succumb to it!

[Letmeeatcakecakecake]

Don't worry everyone, we all know that New Years resolutions don't really start until the Monday following New Years

barbie that's still a good start... No fizzy drinks is brilliant! You can get no sugar jams from health shops and sainsbury (they're actually pretty tasty) so if you spread your brown toast with some butter or coconut oil and slapped that on top you're still sugar free!

[amigababy]

I threw away some chocolate biscuit things I was given for Xmas, got nuts, broccoli and Greek yogurt at Lidl, and read about the high fat low carb diet in the Times today, though it does shot meat eaters better than vegetarians.

its results were impressive though, makes me think about all these carbs!!

[amigababy]

suit not shot.

[busyboysmum]

So can you get no sugar replacement things like jam etc? Is that not cheating? What do they replace the sugar with?

[Fourarmsv2]

I follow the Harcombe Diet which is sugar free (apart from fruit/berries in later stages).

It's really liberating - I never feel hungry any more :)

[Fcukfifa]

I've been giving this a go over the last 3 days, just sticking to the most obvious things first though, cake, chocolate etc.

I've been pretty good apart from a few swigs of coke, I'm not a big fizzy drink person anyway and only had it in the house because dh bought it as anxmas treat

There's a Fabian interview about low/no sugar eating with some recipes too in the mail on Sundays mag (only bought it for the recipes! )
She's also got a recipe book out which I'm tempted by as the ones in the mag look lovely!!

[Fcukfifa]

Fabian? I meant Davina, bloody autocorrect!

[Goldensunnydays81]

Haha wondered who Fabian was!! Have pre ordered her kindle book as am going to be away for a couple of months so will hopefully give me some inspirtation!!
May have to pop round the shop and pick up a copy of the mail to check out the recipes!!

[Fcukfifa]

Definitely worth popping out to buy, there's a lovely ragu recipe that I'm going to cook and freeze in batches. Also some fruit compotes to freeze and add to porridge etc.