Have you given up sugar? What happened?

[LookMumNoFeet]

I've recently given up sugar. Obviously not completely, I still eat fruit and sugar that's in normal 'healthy' foods. I mean, I've given up chocolate, biscuits, cake, sweets etc..
So if you've given up those too, what happened? Can I expect a massive weight loss , luminous skin and flat stomach?

I find evenings the trickiest.

Funny - I'm mostly fine with evenings. I really don't like eating after about 8.30ish - everything feels heavy on my stomach overnight if I do.

It's late morning and most of the afternoon that's my downfall. The days I work from home I just scarf down those 4-packs of big soft supermarket cookies, stuff like that. Most of my sugar intake is in secret so kids/partner don't know. They think I'm dead healthy........

Helmlover I guess it's a willpower thing, no? Sugary snacks are just too tempting.

For me, I just want to get to the stage where I can see if all these amazing benefits of giving up sugar are actually true for me. And where a piece of chocolate just seems too sweet. Just to experience that. But I've never managed it yet :-(

One thing I did was replace a lot of sugary drinks with home made smoothies (chuck a lot of fruit into a blender and off you go)

Also will power.

Also get a bowl and weight how much sugar you normally have day to day you will be shocked when you see it in a bowl.

It's important not to demonise any food. So many on this forum have an unhealthy relationship with food. Research shows that dieting leads to long term weight gain rather than loss ; and that deprivation of something leads to obsessing about it.

It's mainly women that obsess about food and weight and calories. I seem to remember Fat Is A Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach was a good read in my anorexic uni days. ^^

Bizarrely those who eat when they are hungry and eat a varied diet without obsessing about their weight and calories and food in general tend to be a healthy weight.

Dieting buggers up your metabolism and appetite and screws with your mind too.

Mother, I don't disagree with that and don't diet. But I feel I need to demonize sugar at least to some extent and at least for a time, as I cannot seem to eat it in moderation. I posted looking for tips on that.

The thread was specifically about sugar, not dieting. 😊

Helm I've been asking myself the same question. For me it's just incredibly addictive so a lapse (in my case, after a health issue) can quickly lead to getting into the habit again. The reason I try to go 'cold turkey' is not because I think it's bad to eat any sugar at all, it's because of how addictive I personally find it, therefore I struggle with moderation. Other people might find, say, crisps or diet coke addictive whereas I have no problem with having them from time to time and can really take them or leave them.

I gave up sugar in 1995

It was hell at first as I was super addicted.
I do eat fruit.
I never think about it now and I love never having to battle the should I shouldn't I thoughts or navigate the cakes at work.
I feel free!!
I am very healthy and my skin is pretty good for my age (47).

I watched too documentaries, one called magic pill on Netflix another I think was called wild fit on the internet.

Totally changed my mindset, especially wild fit. It said we use the word diet in the wrong context. If you had to feed an animal you never knew you would ask what it's diet was. Diet doesn't mean losing weight it means the food someone consumes. yet society has changed its meaning to mean something else.

For those saying it's a miserable your wrong I'm not miserable infacr I've never felt betrer. The one time last year I went back to eating all the crap I felt horrible, bloated, lethargic.

Infacr sugar is in everything and they put it in everything because it's addicitve and it makes you go back and buy more of the product. The whole food industry is messed up they don't produce food that is good for you, they do it for profits. Even the agriculture is bad, in wild fit they talked about how farmers do intensive farming feeding animals corn and pumping them full of hormones etc to quickly grow them. The land never recovers either as they don't move animals on.

I don't want to out that shit in my body quite frankly and seeing those two documentaries was enough to give me the willpower. Like I said I won't always be perfect but damn sure going to limit it to just those times I go to afternoon tea with my girl group but luckily that's once every 3 months.

I actually love food more than I did before and I enjoy it and I'm lucky I can grow my own salads on my garden and trust me they have more nutrients and vitamins in them then what you buy in the shops.

Each to their own though but for me I am much happier and healthier with what I'm doing and no longer comfort eat, binge eat and no longer put on weight.

So tonight I’ve decided I’m going to cut down again need to as I’m using too much sugar going for an 80% reduction

Wow what a difference adding in plenty of fruit and veg has made in addition to porridge for breakfast and not eating my usual chocolate, sweets, biscuits or cakes. Not that I eat cake or biscuits that much but chocolate and sweets I ate daily. I've also stopped eating after 6pm. My stomach is still massively bloated but I'm not constipated and haven't had half as many cravings.

I'll try that too but am quite taken with the banana and drizzle of golden syrup. I used to put loads on but now it's just a drizzle. I've probably cut my sugar intake by about 60-70%.

I did! Back on it with a vengeance so learnt nothing, but by the time I lost all the weight I wanted even water was tasting sweet!

I'm going to get back on to this because I have seen the effects of sugar once again. It's delicious but the opposite of healthy

I've done it a couple of times. Once for about 4 years. The second time was 4 months. The reason i didnt stick to it was i find it really addictive so its a bit all or nothing. One slice of cake and the floodgates open.

Since drinking more water in general over the last few months, I've gone off my usual Vimto (no added sugar) and don't enjoy other squashes either. I naturally reach for water now and rarely drink tea after mid morning unless I'm really cold or tired. I'd happily drink a litre of orange juice a day given the chance though. I sometimes really crave it. It's hormonal. I drank a litre a day when pregnant with dd1. I could barely eat though so might have some bearing on things. I miss 5 Alive. That was a litre a day with dd2. I'm not sure how I'll cope with my next period without my usual fixes now that I've come off the pill I could predict my period by the onset of jam doughnut cravings 🤣