How can I get off the sugar and how bad will it be?

[pandarific]

It's really, really bad. I'm eating SO MUCH sugar, I've got into a really silly place with it.

Almost a whole packet of fudge this evening, and half a packet of biscuits. And DH bought me a small packet of peanut butter cups earlier. I wasn't like this at all before I had ds.

How have you got off the sugar, and was it terrible? I think I'm just knackered and go 'I need a boost, I'll go get some rubbish' - it's like a physical 'hit' of good feelings. Bah.

Eating that much sugar you are putting yourself at risk of type 2 diabetes. You really need to stop for your health.

Sugar cravings disappear quite quickly I find.
The first 4 days are the worst where you can be headachey and really craving it but after that, for me, my food tastes much better, is more satisfying and I don't feel the need to raid the fridge for a pick me up.
I really need to take my own advice though because since lockdown my diet is shocking.

You are addicted and need to stop. Cut out the sugars, push through the first few days, and you will be fine. You will feel so much better once your blood sugar levels settle down. Tell your husband you need his support and to stop buying you treats.

Following with interest!

You're all right - particularly with DH. He's very sweet and when I'm having a crap day tends to get me something when he's out at the shops - usually chocolate or similar, because that's what I like.

I think we both need to cut the sugar tbh. it's been working and no childcare and no spare time that's caused it to escalate to such an extreme... and now it's just a bad habit

I'll ask for flowers or a plant or a little bath thing (or nothing) in future instead.

I was told I was pre diabetic, though I knew I was having far too much sugar really.
Having some symptoms which could have been peri menopausal, turned out it was pre diabetes.
It scared me enough to stop overnight. Lost about 3 stone (that I needed to) fairly fast too.
The first week was the worst, and working nights did not help at all. Headaches, irritable, and craving my usual pick me ups at 4am, a bowl of melon just wasn't the same as half a packet of biscuits at first!
I did crack a few times, and found stuff tasted different after a break, and I ate less because I got the satisfaction from less.
I switched to dark chocolate and tried to shop when I wasn't tired/hungry/straight after work so that I was less tempted.
I've pretty much kept the weight off through lockdown, but, bad buying habits have crept in.
I had one caveat, I could eat as much as I liked, of whatever I liked, the first 2 days of my period when I had the worse cravings and least will power! But because I had been stricter with myself at other times, again I found less satisfied the craving.
It was fear really if I'm honest that started me, and then seeing how I changed as I lost the weight that spurred me on.
Good luck

Can I ask what symptoms you had @Justanotherscumbag? Ignore the question is it's too personal of course, your post just intrigued me as I'm having some symptoms that I'm trying to find a cause for

I did a sugar free February and I have mostly continued with this. I do use no refined sugar recipes which use maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar and I also use recipes that substite sugar with fruit. I made a gorgeous chocolate, courgette and almond cake this week. I use Davina McColl and Fearne Cotton cook books. The savoury recipes are great too. The idea is that these sugars do not provide the instant spike that refined sugars do.

It is just a case of replacing products in your store cupboard and being organised. I always have cake and cookies in the freezer so I am not tempted by anything else. I used to have 2 sugars in my coffee and I now have it sugar-free. I went cold turkey with that and it was better than I thought. Good luck!

@9caratyellowgold

Random sweating was the main one! Like I'd lost control of my thermostat, I always suffered with night sweats around my period but this was different, happened at any time. I could exercise and be fine one day, but be changing a lightbulb and break out in a drenching sweat the next. But, that could well have been the extra weight I was carrying too, and it's settled down because I'm not carrying as much now, as well as I'm not eating as much sugar.

I was also tired a lot of the time, like lacking energy tired and feeling 'heavy'.

Both symptoms of peri menopause, and being quite overweight, which is why I thought it was that. But also especially the tired thing, part of the sugar high/low trap.

There aren't really any symptoms of prediabetes if you look into it, my symptoms could have been attributed to a few things, and have improved because they've improved IYSWIM.

Dark chocolate helped me - you don’t have the same desire to eat loads of it but get the chocolate hit. I’ve found it easier in lockdown as at work, there’s always biscuits etc around tempting me but at home I can be quite good at not even going down the biscuit aisle when shopping,

After dinner was the worst time for cravings for me but I’ve just been sticking to oranges and dark chocolate and that’s been helpful for me (I used to eat a pack of biscuits every morning as a few aged for more than a year, not good)

I gave up sugar for Lent and didn’t find it that difficult. I felt absolutely fantastic as well, full of energy. However I do find it difficult to regulate sugar intake apart from none or loads, and now I am eating too much again.
What I did was just to say “I will not eat cakes, biscuits, sweet drinks, sweets or chocolate” and told this to my family. I did allow myself fruit, including raisins, and elderflower cordial, which was a bit of a cheat. I had banana and yoghurt with cinnamon and a few raisins for dessert and slices of cheese and rice cake for snacks. When I felt I really needed something sweet I would have a few raisins or a pint glass of fizzy water with a little bit of elderflower cordial. Gradually I stopped needing the raisins at all as I stopped craving sugar hits. Obviously if I had started to mainline raisins and cordial I would have had to have stopped but for me it was a way of weaning myself off cakes, chocolate etc.
Annoyingly though, there was a run of family birthdays at Easter and also we all went lockdown baking crazy and I got back onto cakes, crumble, chocolate etc. And now I am back where I started.

I managed to stop smoking successfully by reading The Easy Way To Stop Smoking by Allen Carr. Have never touched another cigarette since finishing the book and the smell of smoke disgusts me now.

Consequently, when I realised how much sugar I was consuming daily, I thought I'd try his book Good Sugar Bad Sugar.

I downloaded it on Audible and listened to it on my headphones. It follows the same format.

I'd nearly got to the end of the book whilst I was walking through the park and saw someone tucking into a sugary doughnut. I actually felt a rush of pure disgust. And I haven't had any sugar since and I used to have chocolate for breakfast.
Give it a try!

I have just realised what an unhelpful name I have - I changed it for the cake pictures thread and haven’t changed back! Perhaps that should be my first step!

I’ve done it a few times (need to again!) and found it really easy with absolutely no side effects. I’ve not cut out fruit or carbs though, so perhaps that’s why. I’ve still lost weight and toned up/felt better.

I'm totally addicted to sugar. I eat biscuits, chocolate etc everyday and even when I'm trying not to I'll cave and have something like a hot chocolate to try and curb it.
The thing is I'm slim, teeth are fine, my skin is clear etc I'm late 40s and at my most recent health check my cholesterol was good and risk of diabetes was almost negligible.
So my problem is I have no incentive to give it up or am I being naive and it will eventually catch up with me?

Thanks @Justanotherscumbag

@allfalldown47 I was like you. Then the menopause came along and suddenly I don’t need those calories. It shows.

I'm sugar free due to type 2, one thing I've found is a lot of savoury stuff tastes really sweet, like cheese and onion crisps.

This is me! I'm honestly addicted to sugar. I'm really struggling lately too.

Retraining your tastebuds is helpful. They're very quick learners, helpfully. So, if you want to give up sugar, don't go for sugar free things, because your tastebuds just carry on wanting sweet stuff. Go savoury, just for a few days. Once you've done that, you'll be able to find things 'too sweet', which was something I never thought I'd experience, but do now.

One other thing: When you go savoury for a few days, get some pickles in. Gherkins or beetroot or something (if you don't hate them) Every time you want chocolate or a biscuit, have a mouthful of pickled something first. It'll put you right off!

@allfalldown47 You're replacing nutrients with sugar though, so you may well be deficient in things that don't show on a health check. You could end up with osteoporosis or something due to this, as you get older.

On the back of this thread I cut out sugar and most carbs yesterday.
Had a few mini cravings but not too bad. I've found I'm not very hungry at all today which is good.

@magbob there's still a lot of sugar in those things and your body doesn't care if it's "natural " sugar or not, ask any diabetic who has checked their blood sugar rise after natural or processed sugar, the high is the same regardless of source

In my experience, going cold turkey is easiest in the long run, you really do lose your taste for it after a bit. After a long is run of sugar free I had a few Christmas chocolates from a tin, and honestly they tasted like sugary lard.

Thanks all, interesting points made.

I've downloaded Paul McKenna's Thin app - my PIL and SIL both really rated it, and I remembered having great success years ago with his 'I can make you thin' book.

I'm such an emotional eater, so it's a good approach for me. And DH did the shopping yesterday and brought home no sugary stuff at all which is a win!

Fingers crossed I can wean myself off that sugar hit with this. Will keep updated as to how it goes.