Really want to stop being so reliant on sugar.

[Sugaraddict999]

I am a healthy weight/Bmi etc.
But I eat FAR too much sugary stuff. I love chocolate, jam on toast, sugar in cereal, 1 sugar in my tea, I love cake..
I don’t tend to eat loads of sweets. Rest of my diet is really healthy, all home cooked, veg, salad etc..

It’s annoying me now really how much sugar i eat as I know it’s really not good.

I think after Easter I’m going to just have one day a week where I have something I fancy. But the other days I’m going to avoid as best I can.

Does anyone else feel they have too much sugar in their diet and it does worry them?

You just need to have strong willpower. After a while you won't even want it.

Joining!! I cook vegetarian meals from scratch nearly every night (or eat leftovers from the night before), don't drink alcohol apart from special occasions, could live the rest of my life without eating a crisp, but my weak spot is sugar. I can't just have one biscuit/fairy cake and am terrible for binging a huge amount once the kids are in bed. I'm facing Easter as well as DS birthday at the weekend and the house is stuffed with cake and chocolate. Argh.....

@NopeNopeNopeNot we also have various birthdays over the next couple weeks.

I am embarrassed to say, bought a 4 pack of crunchies last week for work lunch/breaks etc. As it’s cheaper than buying one. I had eaten them all within less than 36 hours.

I’m not giving up all sugars (eg bread, pasta, milk etc as it would be too difficult with cooking for the family)

Each Lent, despite not being religious, I give up sugar. Well, added sugar, so sweets, cakes, biscuits, etc.

Honestly, after two days I don't even miss it.

Sugar is addictive. And once it's out of your system the body doesn't seem to crave it.

It’s easy enough to cut down. I can’t be arsed cutting out all sugar but I stopped eating sweets and chocolate by making sure I had things like nuts, granola bars (the least sugary ones), crackers etc around. I also keep the least sweet biscuits to hand like digestives. At this point anti-sugar purists are foaming at the mouth BUT this has worked for me! I can give the kids sweets and not even want to pinch one. I will eat chocolate, I haven’t banned it, but it doesn’t occur to me to want it. I do have jam on a slice of toast and I still eat puddings but again only if I fancy them, and they’re easy to say no to.

One thing I find helps is to not even start with sugary things. I can't just have one chocolate. If I resist that first one I'm fine. If I have that first one I'll have another. So best to just not start.

The bacteria in your gut drive your appetite, which causes cravings. If you can be strict with yourself for really quite a short time, the varieties of (good) bacteria in your gut will change and you will definitely get fewer cravings for sugar. Look at it like giving up smoking. You have to beat the habit and the physical addiction.

Start after Easter and empty your cupboards of all bad snacks. Good luck!

Just don’t buy it. I never have cake, biscuits, jam, sweets or chocolate in the house. Yesterday I had coffee and cake at a cafe mid walk for a treat and I felt hideous 30 mins after. It’s nasty stuff!

@AtomicBlondeRose but if I have jam on toast I’ll have like 4 slices!! I do weight lifting 4/5 times a week and I think that’s the old reason not overweight. It’s just the things I will binge that I want to put a stop to. I don’t want to be totally anti-sugar.

@herbaceous do you start again after Easter?

[quote Sugaraddict999]@AtomicBlondeRose but if I have jam on toast I’ll have like 4 slices!! I do weight lifting 4/5 times a week and I think that’s the old reason not overweight. It’s just the things I will binge that I want to put a stop to. I don’t want to be totally anti-sugar.

@herbaceous do you start again after Easter?[/quote]
Why not a piece of toast with jam and some eggs, rather than four pieces of toast? It's not all or nothing but limits it then.

I’d just cut out the jam for a while then. I have homemade jam so it’s not so triggeringly sweet. Just have marmite or peanut butter for a while. Honestly it was as simple as looking at the points in the day where I reached for something overly sugary and making sure I had something less sweet to hand. Nut bars for mid-morning break, almonds in the car on the drive home etc. And after that it just came naturally.

@WildCoasts speed, because I want something sweet! Like you said, “can’t just have 1 chocolate!!”

I know all of this, just never felt like I wanted to knock it on the head, as I haven’t really had a reason to!

Agree - just don’t have it in the house.

@NutCheeseBag Thanks 🤞🏼 Makes sense. Hopefully I can nail it.

You might find yourself scratching around at the back of a cupboard at 11pm trying to find fragments of children’s chocolate, though…

Yes. I eat berries instead

[quote Sugaraddict999]@WildCoasts speed, because I want something sweet! Like you said, “can’t just have 1 chocolate!!”

I know all of this, just never felt like I wanted to knock it on the head, as I haven’t really had a reason to![/quote]
For sweet then, what about banana porridge? I make it with oats and water and stir in mashed banana. It's sweet enough without adding anything.

@FrancescaContini that’s the sort of thing I would do 😄

@WildCoasts yes I just need to replace.
I am perfectly capable of it, so just need to stop being lazy/a slave to the sugar!

It's a great idea to cut out sugar, except for one small sugary treat once a week. You will feel so much better for it. I realise that if I eat sugar, I then develop sugar cravings & I'm then in a cycle of eat -> want more. You'll probably find you won't even want that weekly sugary treat after a while.

[quote Sugaraddict999]@WildCoasts yes I just need to replace.
I am perfectly capable of it, so just need to stop being lazy/a slave to the sugar![/quote]
I understand. I fell off the wagon a bit and Easter doesn't help. I find it harder to eat the way I want to (no sugar or processed foods) when I'm tired and flagging. I'm trying to get better with food prep ahead of time as it does help.

@WildCoasts it’s a vicious circle I think. To busy/shattered to make something “proper”. But need a quick fix.

Also have building work in kitchen at moment. Crap excuse I know 😆

Actual meals are fine. I meal plan 5 days in advance and cook really healthy meals for all the family. It’s just the secret eating/snacking 😆 children’s age range is 1-13. So have to be organised.

@cheapskatemum 100% I’ll feel better. Actually can’t wait for this weekend of cakes and chocolate to be over. I’ll sicken myself off it !

As with every diet change I've found gradual weaning with replacement of other things to work really well. I'm 40 and have changed my diet gradually over the years.

I went from four snickers bars a day kind of a deal with lots of excess fat to completely plant-based whole foods diet.

Just as an example. You will have different things to achieve. I went this way as it's what made me feel and look best. My energy levels, youthfulness, and body fat have all just become optimal and I can't dispute these results.

Just be kind to yourself. So today you start having a healthy smoothie in place of that chocolate bar. In five years you're on no sugar. You can do whatever you like but it's trying to make rapid changes that you're not ready for that seems to be the source of failure for most, from my observations.

@mrziggycoco i think also it’s the fact I’m 40 next year .. Energy levels ‘levelling out” would be good. As I am seriously up and down as the day goes on!

Thanks for everyone’s input