I'm giving up sugar for Lent - anyone in?

[tinselandlights]

Since Christmas my sugar consumption has been out of control.

I've decided to give up sugar and wheat for Lent, and give the money I would spend on it to the Trussell Trust to keep me on track.

Anyone else in?

@Seriouslymole

‘ Yes please OP, I'm in. I used to (pre offspring and thus 12 years ago) do a complete detox for the whole of lent, no wheat, meat, dairy, caffeine, sugar or alcohol’

Wow! I like this idea! I’m already vg and gf so would only be caffeine, sugar and alcohol (ONLY?!). I’m not religious so would feel a bit of a fraud doing it ‘for lent’ but maybe I could do it ‘just because’?

I’m in! Always give up chocolate anyway for Lent but I really need to curb my sugar intake so I will give up ( as if now!):
Chocolate
Sweets
Cakes
Biscuits
Sweet puddings ( not inc. whole fruits)
My challenge is the teenagers - is it too much at the moment to expect them to join in? They always do chocolate, but the rest?
Good luck to all of us!!

Big buttons - I gave up sugar in tea for a week years ago (as my friend swore I would never go back and I haven’t!). You need to actually drink tea (just no sugar), that way your taste adjusts and then it tastes so sweet if you try it with again! Good luck!

I'm in, trying to not eat/drink for lent:
Sugar
Caffeine
Processed carbs
Alcohol

I've made a pact with teenage DS, we are both giving up sugar AND no snacking of.any sort either. Two days in and it's not too bad. Quite motivating keeping each other to account. The no snacking was his idea.

We made the pact for the rest of half term (forgot it was pancake day). We can review at the end, see if he will carry on for Lent.

I'm in! I can eat in moderation generally but that goes out the window with sweet crap. I will be giving up sweets, chocolate, cake and biscuits. I might make an exception for the odd bit of homemade cake (I'm not making any myself) but I eat so much sweet stuff which just isn't "worth" the calories. Also I've done it before and found that once I had radically reduced my sugar consumption I noticed how sweet stuff was and wanted far less sugar. Took a while though. ..

I am up for this! Glad to have found the thread for some support and accountability. I never ate sweet stuff before I had kids, but years of pregnancy, breastfeeding and interrupted nights gave me a taste for cake and sweets. I find sugar very addictive and I'm uncontrolled about the way I consume it. My weight loss has stalled and I know this is why!

Today is the day!

I'm going to plan my meals to make sure I stick to them. Not planning any snacks today.

B- 30g porridge oats, natural yoghurt, 4oz cherries
L- omelette with peppers and spinach
D- lentil dhal with brown rice

Loads of water!

I’d like to join please; I usually observe Lent in some way but have never done something like this.
I have very little will power, or confidence in myself (partly due to weight and over eating), so being part of a group may help
I aim to not eat between meals and to cut out processed sugars, including white pasta/bread etc. I will donate money/supplies to our local Foodbank each week to keep me accountable

What are people thinking about Sundays? I know they are not of Lent but I think it would make it harder to have more sugar on Sundays.

I’m in! Have managed to stick to it so far 😊- although to be fair it is only 9.45 🤣🤣

God no! Life wouldn't be worth living atm!!

@OddBoots I think I'll find it easier to not bother. I have a tendency to fixate on food if I'm not careful (especially now when there is naff all to do) and would probably spend all week thinking about what I was going to eat on sunday!

Lets do this!!!

In a world of madness, we have control over choosing not to binge on sugar

I had a wholemeal bagel with peanut butter (the one that's just blended peanuts, not the one with a ton of sugar and palm oil) for breakfast.

I will have a slice of cake on my son's birthday but I won't have sugar on Sundays.

Really enjoyed my breakfast - two cups of coffee (milk no sugar), cut up melon, pear and apple with sprinkle of ground linseeds, chia seeds, a dollop of plain Greek yoghurt and a spoon of pure peanut butter. Yum

I've decided I'm cutting out cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolates and added sugar. I'm not reading labels and I'll allow fruit. I may allow sugar substitutes if I struggle.

Good luck everyone!

I'm in!

Will give up crisps and chocolate....I have never ever done that in my life even when I was my target weight!

Eek! Good luck everyone!

@Namechangerange

Are you all aware that Lent is meant to be about doing something to make you realise how lucky you are or giving something back to the world.How about using lent to give to charity? Litter pick? See a lonely person?

I always learnt in church it was demonstrate self discipline and to help empathise with Jesus' plight of sacrifice in the desert (atheist now but can't imagine it's changed much). What denomination are you?

Yes. But "see a lonely person" is a little hard seeing as we are in the midst of a pandemic, unless you count online stuff? Who can say that posters here don't already give to charity or litter pick, but don't talk about it because it's not something they need support to do. I think it's important to encourage each other in our self discipline but also to realise that people aren't going to post all the good deeds they do because that would be boasting.

Good luck everyone!

Day three for me, actually not been as bad as I thought. I get the odd craving but manage to distract myself and they do pass quite quickly.Trying to get out of the mentality that sugar is a treat...

L-omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms and ham.
D-Irish stew with green veg

I’m giving up chocolate for lent. I thought I’d treat myself last night with some final chocolate. It turns out that the chocolate orange I had in the cupboard was eaten by my husband. So there was no last chocolate blowout for me :(

Checking in! @tinselandlights, you mentioned upthread that you will be aiming to get an early night. You're so right. I definitely crave more bad food when tired. @OddBoots, I will have to do this on Sundays too I think. I need to get the excess sugar totally out of my system. I'm not religious anyway, so I'm joining in purely for my own wellbeing.

So far, I have eaten a banana, an apple and two satsumas. I know that is too much sugar under some people's rules, but for me, that is a big improvement!

First day for me too. I’m hungry. Replaced the chocolate snacks with apples and almond butter. The key for me is not getting hungry

Sounds good. So far I've had
Breakfast- bran flakes and semi skim milk
Lunch- mean replacement soup
Snack- smoked pork with tomatoes and cucumber in lemon/vinegar dressing.

Have been thinking a lot about pancakes, if I'm honest- but had really bad headaches from all the sugar last night and am going to keep sugar free apart from some blueberries later.

meal replacement soup I mean!