I'm a sugar addict. Join me getting clean

[FrenchFriesSurprise]

I have a terrible sugar habit.

Today I've eaten a packet of shortbread biscuits, a lemon cheesecake portion and a scone with jam. I have two young kids and I'm bored. I was a 'two squares of dark chocolate after dinner' kind of person before having babies, but motherhood has driven me to the Dairy Milk. In abundance. I'll get diabetes if I don't sort myself out.

I ate the biscuits in secret. I mainly eat my sugar in secret.

From Monday I'm going to cut out all high-sugar foods for 4 weeks. That's all cake, biscuits, chocolate, sweets, sweetened drinks, sweet sauces such as ketchup, stir-fry sauces etc, dried fruit. I think I'll keep berries and apples, but will avoid most fruit.

If you would like to join me, sign up here! It doesn't have to be a sugar addiction you'd like to kick - if you have any habits you're struggling with, or changes you'd like to make, feel free to join the thread and we'll work on them together 💪

What a great thread! Well done to everyone trying to give up sugar.

I had also become a bit of a sugar addict recently. We had a few rounds of bad health news in the family earlier in the year, so DH and I coped by eating a constant stream of biscuits, chocolate and cake. Every single day. Even though we were both doing it, I would also sometimes eat it secretly, literally no idea why. I was gaining weight, my clothes were all uncomfortable and nothing felt good. I weighed myself and my BMI was in the overweight category.

A few weeks ago I said enough is enough, this cannot go on. The amount of crap we were eating was insane, and was actually costing a lot of money when you add up all the trips to the convenience store. I cut out all the sugary snacks and properly reviewed what I was including in my main meals. The first week was hard! Sugar withdrawal was torture and I was hungry all the time. Week 2 was hard but not so bad. I'm in week 4 now and its going great 😀 I've lost a couple of kg, I'm not hungry all the time, in fact I've found I'm getting full quicker. I let myself have a Friday night wine and a pudding, which has helped, although I dont feel like I need that this week.

I've decided to just carry on like this and see if I can stick with it. My main challenge is the boredom in the evening when I'd usually be snacking. Need to find other things to occupy me. The dog has been getting some very long evening walks!

Well done everyone! Great to read, I went to Waitrose last night and managed not to buy anything other than what was on my list - that is an absolute first for me!

Also had the killer headache that others have had, and agree on the point on getting breakfast right. Still not there with that one…

The only savoury crackers I could find today in supermarket which doesn't have any sugar or glucose syrup in them. Loads of them I found with Glucose Syrup. Its so shocking to know that so many savory snacks from shops have added sugar or some kind of sugar in it.

Read the ingredients on the packets. Bagel also has sugar in it. It is so shocking that loads of breads have sugar in it probably to feed the yeast when making it. You will keep craving sugar until you cut it out from your body.

Thank you. I'm feeling much better this morning, a mild headache, but otherwise ok. I'm prone to migraines, usually the aura followed by pain type, which I sleep off, but maybe once or twice a year it will be the vomiting type. I'm not surprised it triggered a migraine, it's such a huge change to my diet, but I'd like that to be the low point and be on the way up now.

Hope everyone is coping ok with the heat and that your DD is feeling better today @FrenchFriesSurprise

That's interesting. The last few days, when I've had eggs, mushrooms and sourdough for breakfast, I've been full until nearly 11 and not craved sugar too much. Today I had oats with strawberries as an experiment and I've been hungry and wanting to snack on something sweet all morning. I've made myself overnight oats for tomorrow morning and have added ground almonds, flaxseed and chia seeds to the oats and milk. I'm hoping that will help me to feel full, and will see how that goes with added fruit tomorrow.

I think you will notice a difference, I put 10 grams of chocolate flavour protein powder in mine and it makes a huge difference.

@CassieAusten I was initially planning not to have any fruit, but I think a small amount is fine if it helps keep me on the straight and narrow (I think everyone has to take their own approach here). I'm trying to chose higher fiber fruits like berries and avoid the real sugary hits like grapes

@Bringbackspring really glad to hear it's going well, good on you for making the change. Also thanks for commenting because reading this kind of post is definitely helping my motivation!

@Theeasypeasywoman 😲😲 that's crazy! I am going to have a look at my ryvita and oat cakes in a minute

@cloudengel I'm planning overnight oats too! With greek yoghurt & chia seeds, and some nut butter, raspberries and mixed seeds to top it. We'll have to compare notes tomorrow, I also find I'm starving mid-morning but I'm hoping the fibre and protein will help.

Struggling today. I'm hot, hayfevery, tired. It just took a bloody age to get DD down for her nap and DS is being difficult too (is it the heat?!) keep thinking about how nice a bar of chocolate would be.

Looking forward to hearing how everyone else got on today

Yes, please. Good idea. Carbs and alcohol I can resist, fairly easily. But. Not. Sweets. If I lived alone I just wouldn't buy them but they're always in the house because of the kids. I even have a locked snackbox containing my keto sweets (which I recommend btw) and give my daughter the key but there's still other stuff around.

I have been doing ok other than one lapse that I won't go into.
Was in a massive rush this morning and breakfast was a large handful of nuts and a slice of cheese, as well as a milky coffee. Weirdly (although it chimes with what everyone is saying here) this kept me quite full until a mid morning apple and more nuts.
Lunch - entire bag of aldi strong salad, the watercress and rocket one, smoked mackerel with pepper, tomatoes and wholemeal seeded bread (which I've not checked for sugar - but in any case I am doing so much better than a previously average day!) I was craving something very flavourful, and the peppery salad leaves were really good.
Loving this thread - so many successes and inspirational stories (and food inspo too).

Oh, also, while I have been really wanting a lolly, I have had cold water with ice and chunks of lemon. I no longer fancy a lolly 😮😀

@LivingDeadGirlUK @FrenchFriesSurprise I've made some stewed apples (just apples, cinnamon and water) to add to the overnight oats in the morning, and will add some yoghurt too. If nothing else, it will be delicious.

Managed to get all through the morning okay. Then all went downhill when I only had time for a cheese wrap for lunch (I think I am replacing sugar addiction with cheese addiction). Then when I got home I was so hungry and the first thing to hand was biscuits. Lots of biscuits.

Then icecream somehow made its way into the shopping trolley. Not sure I will resist this evening.

Still I got through a whole morning. Going to try and keep stretching this out.

@Bluebells81 don't beat yourself up, tomorrow is a fresh start! Eating biscuits this afternoon doesn't mean the whole project has to be de-railed. Good idea to keep stretching the sugar-free time out. Hopefully you'll have time tomorrow to have a bigger lunch? Or could you make some lunch/no sugar snacks this evening to keep you going tomorrow?

@cloudengel please can we have a picture of your oats, when they're done? They sound lovely. Apple and almonds and cinnamon 😋 oh also I forgot to say DD is much better, thanks

Well @excesssugar now I'm curious about the lapse... but must... not...be...nosey.

I like mackerel with pickled beetroot and apple, too. The peppery leaves sound like a good idea, to help balance the richness of the fish.

Hi @jessicaharperisnotwoke welcome ☺️

Just been sorting out lunch for work tomorrow. Made this tomato, olive, basil and mozzarella salad (not the best presentation, I was in a hurry). I've also got the butternut squash soup, and hummus and carrot sticks for a snack. I feel like I've used every tupperware in the world.

I am hoping there isn't cake in the office...

Oh also, does anyone else feel less bloated? I'm starting to feel a bit "lighter" I think

I don’t know why or if it’s connected to eating healthier but I feel/look more bloated than normal. I’m not impressed I’m wondering if it’s from eating eggs for snack/lunch yesterday. I skipped breakfast and don’t feel hungry today though. Today I’ve had lunch granola/milk, satsuma, lentil crisps. Creamy tagliatelle with bacon and mushroom/peas for dinner. Not the healthiest day but no sugar and I’m not craving like yesterday.

I think I would if I could kick the fizzy drinks, even though its sugar free I don't think its very good for you. If you have just started you have probably lost a load of water weight that you retain when you have a high sugar/salt diet. Its great you are feeling better :)

That sounds lovely! I was meant to make overnight oats yesterday but I never did, ended up having a left over chilli con carnie wrap for breakfast which was pretty good tbh :P But I was hungry by lunch.

I know some people on the thread don't use sweetners but I like stevia especially the vanilla flavoured liquid stevia, I add a couple of drops of that to things like porridge and its really good.

Oh no @Selfsetfree more bloated isn't the plan... I guess it might take a little while for your digestive system to adjust. Good you're not feeling hungry and the cravings have gone, that has to be a good sign?

@Theeasypeasywoman I meant to comment about my post-baby body too. After DS my stomach didn't change much, but now after DD I have a soggy mum tum I suspect is permanent. I was looking at my wrinkly tummy and saggier boobs (🙄) in a shop changing room the other day thinking, wow when did I get so mumsy?

It's probably good to do something for me, for my own body. When you have little kids your body is less of your own.

I love the idea of a chili wrap for breakfast @LivingDeadGirlUK ! Also that's interesting about the water weight. It's hard to explain as I don't think I look slimmer, but I feel like I've shed an invisible tyre I've been carrying around my waist.

@CoffeeChocolateWine how are you getting on? ☺️

👋 I'm still here! I'm doing pretty well I think @FrenchFriesSurprise. I've managed to keep away from biscuits/cake/chocolate so far and I've felt that it was easier today than any other day this week so that feels like progress! And I agree with you that I'm feeling less bloated. I did have a glass of wine tonight (only usually drink at weekends) because it was my DD's school summer concert and BBQ.

We have a celebratory weekend coming up so I'm anticipating a bit of sugar consumption but I'm just going to aim to be a bit more mindful of it and not completely over-indulge!

Good day. No sugar apart from fruit. And I went to Sainsbury's and past the chocolate section (and bought biscuits for DD) without going there.

It's so nice to hear what you are all saying- not just in terms of what you are doing at the moment, but what you were eating before - the habits we fall into. I feel much less alone and ashamed so thank you 😊

Yes, it's so helpful to feel less alone.
Except that now I want a chilli wrap for breakfast 😆

That's great @CoffeeChocolateWine so glad you're feeling better. Yes I think mindfulness is what this is all about isn't it - not just cramming in a load of junk that ultimately makes us feel worse, but looking after ourselves. I'd like to get to the point where I can enjoy a treat without it sending me into a sugar spiral.

Yes I agree talking about it here is definitely helping - making it less of a shameful secret.

It's quite nice leaving the baby changing bag just sitting about without worrying DP is going to find my stash of secret chocolate/biscuit wrappers in there. I'd carefully bury them under stuff in the kitchen bin, or put them in public bins. Yesterday I even asked him to look in the bag for sun cream, I would have guarded it before.

Feeling quite stressed this morning. It's my first day back to work after mat leave (on a Friday, I know 🙄) and DD wouldn't breastfeed before nursery drop off and my son was crying that he didn't want me to go. Also, DD woke up at 12.30am, wouldn't sleep until 3am, needed to be fed at 4am, then DS woke at 6am. Jeez!!! I already cried a bit over DD, I hate leaving them. Feel like sleep deprivation really knocks my resilience. Just on the train.

Good luck today everyone ☺️

Need to confess, I did it again this morning. I'm going to call it a breakfast burrito :P

Ah no @FrenchFriesSurprise , that is such a hard night - what tough start to going back to work! Sleep deprivation makes everything harder and it definitely increases sugar cravings (for me at least) so if you can get through this than you can get through anything!
I hope the first day back goes really well. I remember feeling utterly overwhelmed my first day back, like I had forgotten everything and was never going to be competent again - but it wasn't that long until I was my usual (somewhat competent) self.