Weaning Off The Sweet Stuff

[Nouveaunew]

This thread is for anyone else who has quit alcohol completely … I don’t mean to be exclusive but just like on the Freedom thread, talk of moderation is just too tempting/triggering (I.e. utterly catastrophic in consequence).

I’m 23 days alcohol-free. Since giving up alcohol, I have been eating a LOT more jellies, pastries, cakes and chocolate. I now think I’m starting to feel ready to give it up as I don’t want to substitute one dependency for another…& I don’t want to gain any more weight.

So … I’m thinking that I’ll allow myself to finish whatever sweet things are in the house and after that, cut them out. I’m thinking of next Monday (30th May) as the starting date.

Would anyone like to join me? We could support each other and give ideas for sugar-free treats. I’m not going to cut out all sugar (I’d be lost without AF G&Ts right now … not to mention jam on my toast … and ketchup!). But I want to completely cut out jellies, pastries, cakes, chocolate and biscuits.

Interested in trying?

Imagine if we quit alcohol AND sweet things! 😇😇😇😇

Actually going to start tomorrow! (In a crisps and jellies and cake binge right now so think it’s time …. ).

Well done you. I am not ready to give up sweet stuff as have literally just started the no alcohol bit after husband expressed some concern about my drinking. Good luck with phase 2!

@Mwnci123
was your husband kind about it? It can be very hard to hear if approached in the wrong way, I think.

thanks for the encouragement. I feel gross from the amount of sugar I’m eating. This evening alone, I ate a packet of crisps, two slices of cake, a large pack of jellies and two fairy cakes. I am not even enjoying all this crap to be honest! It’s just compulsive.

I have the exact same thing with sweet stuff- jus shovelling it in joylessly a lot of the time.
Husband was lovely and he didn't labour it, but it's true that I've been drinking too much. He hasn't said it seriously before so I am keen to respond to his concern meaningfully. Am on day 2 off the booze!
How was your day?

I'm 8 years in recovery - 23 days is still very very early and your body physically needs the sugar to replace what was in the booze.

Be very VERY careful about trying to change anything else yet - if you have just the slightest dip in sugar that you don't give in to, your craving for the alcohol will be higher....

@Mwnci123
that’s good that your husband was supportive and sensitive in his approach. My day was ok. I may have overdone the AF G&Ts though as I feel a bit sick to the stomach! Well done on Day 2. I’m on day 24 now & very much counting.

@FusionChefGeoff
wow 8 years - that’s amazing. I can imagine it has been an interesting 8 years?

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I’m still consuming plenty of sugar but I had gone crazy eating large packets of jellies and cakes and biscuits and it had to stop. I’m still having AF sweet drinks, scones, honey etc … just not going to binge on all that junk & go as crazy.

I’m in please …. just posted on the freedom thread about how I’ve gained back over a stone of weight loss. My challenge is cutting out an unhealthy snacking habit. I want to get to the point where sugar is in the form of occasional puddings with meals not a daily habit.

How are you getting on?

@Blackberryblossom
Oh I’d love a buddy to do this with! I just want to cut out unhealthy snacks too (I’m going to start by cutting down).

I Have managed to cut down a bit but my intake had been off the charts so my idea of cutting down could be someone else’s eating a lot … I’ve just had 3 chocolates … and there are a lot of treats in the house!

could we say we’re ‘allowed’ finish whatever is in the house but not ‘allowed’ buy any more once it’s all gone?

Excellent! Thank you. I could really use a buddy too.

I have a super-active dh who can eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants and can stop at a sensible amount. I’ve stopped buying my preferred snacking chocolate because of completely losing the ability to stop at two squares, or even two rows… My teenage daughter has just had braces fitted and is therefore eating a lot less junk. It would be nice to support her by eating less sugar too. I have to keep reminding myself that as I do most of the food shopping, I’m the main reason we have this stuff in the house in the first place. I think it’s a good idea to work through what you have, especially in the early weeks of going AF when sugar really helps with the cravings, as @FusionChefGeoff said upthread.

Definitely cutting down here rather than cutting out entirely. I’d hate to not eat the lovely stuff that dd bakes, but I can have less, with meals, rather than mindlessly grazing between meals. At least there’s lots of lovely summer fruit!

Today I have not eaten any crisps. Even though there’s a big multipack in the kitchen.

I keep telling myself that if I can quite alcohol I can do this too…. I always knew that I needed to stop alcohol for good and I’m comfortable with that. Not sure why quitting the sweet stuff for good feels so hard by comparison. I’m obviously not one of nature’s moderators!

Hi OP, well done on the 23 days! I’m 5 months AF and having the same cravings / need to cut down on sugar, so will follow with interest.

Hi @oopsfellover , congratulations on your 5 months! And @Nouveaunew yoy must have 40 days in sight now? How are you getting on @Mwnci123?

Anyway just checking in with my intention of no crisps or chocolate for this week, or today if a week starts looking too hard. So far so good. Going to head out for a walk in the drizzle and have my eye on a banana for when I get back. I would be following Nouveau's excellent plan of eating what is left except that I pretty much finished it all last week including half a pack of ginger nuts in one day... I'm thinking of asking dh to buy any crisps/chocolate/biscuits etc for him and dd so I don't have to think about it. Well not think about it any more than I already am...

I gave up a few years ago , not sure exactly as it wasn't a big moment . I just decided and that was that .
Just to say I still socialise and go out with friends and get invited to stuff ! I was at a street party at the weekend and enjoyed myself !
There is life after booze .. good luck 🤞

Hey hey! This is great …

‘’I have a super-active dh who can eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants and can stop at a sensible amount. I’ve stopped buying my preferred snacking chocolate because of completely losing the ability to stop at two squares, or even two rows…’’

I can relate so well to all of the above! I’m not one of ‘life’s moderators’ either. I recall eating entire packets of biscuits alone when I was under 10 … usually after something had upset me. I don’t know if you’re the same @Blackberryblossom but i think that’s why I find it harder to kick the sweet stuff: because I’ve been ‘using’ it for much much longer. I started drinking at 15 - by then I already had a fairly entrenched emotional eating habit.

i’m excited by the idea of moderating sweets though (with the wisdom of time helping us). I’m confident we can do this! Well done on today-sounds like a good start! I hope you enjoyed the yummy delicious banana.

Thanks @gunnersgold i love the way you say ‘a few years ago’. It makes it sound less intense than my ‘Day 36’ routine 😁I don’t want to wish my life away but I am looking forward to being where you are

Great @oopsfellover Welcome aboard. Congratulations on 5 months!

Count me in!
I've been working on reducing my sugar intake for years. I don't have much discipline or self control, and I tell myself again and again that this is a long-term, habit-forming, tastebud-training plan, not to be abandoned whenever I overdo the sweet things (which happens a lot, with family who make wonderful desserts).
It's not easy, and I can't imagine cutting it out completely, but I've come a long way. I never thought I'd be the sort of person who has a piece of fruit for dessert, but now I often do that.
One thing I do is make sauce for stir fry that has sugar in it, along with lime juice, chilli and soy sauce. You can taste the sugar enough to satisfy your desire, but it's nowhere near the amount that you'd consume if you ate a shop-bought dessert. And you can see how much you're putting in, and change it to suit yourself, rather than eating the large amount in the processed food as a default amount.
I make peanut-butter and coconut balls with vanilla flavouring and as much honey as seems necessary, and that has really helped me eat less chocolate. They aren't low-calorie, but they're lower calorie than shop-bought sweets.
I also make my own Romanian-style jam, with no sugar added. It's often quite sour, and I used to sprinkle sugar on it, but now I love it on its own and wouldn't buy the flavourless shop stuff any more.
I buy cornflakes and fresh white bread as treats the way I used to buy chocolate bars; they're fun food, not real food, even when you eat the bread with olive oil (which has omega 3 fatty acids, the ones that are often lacking in the western diet) .
I slice bananas up and eat them with a fork, off a plate. For some reason I can appreciate how sweet and creamy they are when I do that, but if I just peel one and eat it it's not the same.
I learned to knit, and find easy things like shawls are strangely soothing, which is a good thing for an emotional eater and/ or drinker. However, that's a very expensive hobby if you have to buy your wool in the U.K.

I'd love to know what works for you and other people over time, OP.

i would say cut down slowly. have set days / times you can eat sweet stuff. e.g. not until Xpm. Only have a little bit in the house so you can't over indulge.

Gradually cut down to only on certain days. Then only at weekends, for example.

having something to look forwards to is ok! make the best dessert you can for your treat days, make it something special with care / love so you look forwards to it a bit more and eat it with more care.

@CoalTit
Thank you so much for your tips and welcome aboard! Great username! I love your idea of the banana on the plate.

I’ll definitely share what works for me too.

in the interests of being honest, I’m still eating sweet things. Yesterday I had four fancy chocolates, a bag of maltesers and a load of popcorn (& fake G&Ts). Not great I know but considerably less than I had been eating for the last month. Today I’ve already had two croissants with jam and toast with marmalade.

but it’s in my mindset. I’m not allowing myself to buy any more sugary snacks. I’m allowing myself to eat what’s here (which is a lot but I’m not eating in one horrible binge like I once would have) but I’m slowly ‘crowding out’ the bad food with good.

Yesterday I made peanut butter & coconut protein balls with a little maple syrup and goji berries. I immersed them in 70% dark chocolate. So, those are the kinds of ‘treats’ I want to be eating on a day to day basis from now on and I’ll slowly move away from the junk.

Hi @catpoppet I agree. Baking and cooking ourselves is a much healthier way to go. For me, the problems start in the supermarket. Packets of biscuits were my weakness so now I’m just not buying them anymore.

I’m going to bring some of the treats I have in the house into work & eat them in work instead leave them there.

Morning everyone! @CoalTit knitting is a genius idea! I did loads in lockdown then put it aside because it reminded me of lockdown too much, but I think I could do another shawl. @catpoppet I want to cut out the snacks then see what remains in my calorie allowance for dessert. I completely blew my numbers yesterday but it was rhubarb crumble and totally worth it. I didn't have any crisps or chocolate yesterday, there are no biscuits in the house and I stopped myself from getting a barley sugar on autopilot.

Lovely day today!

@Nouveaunew yes I have had even longer developing my sugar habit than my drinking habit! I keep reminding myself that I can do this and will be so much the better for doing so.

@Blackberryblossom
Yes you can go this . We will do this. I’m slowly weaning myself off & I’m just so much more aware of it. I just had a bar of chocolate with my coffee but I had no biscuits today before that & I planned that chocolate bar instead of just eating it mindlessly.

I know that doesn’t sound great but for me, it’s a minor win. Once I’ve slowly (instead of in one guilty binge) cleared the house out of treats, I’ll replace all of those snacks with much healthier homemade snacks . I think tastebuds will probably change then (in time!).

I just had a bar of chocolate with my coffee but I had no biscuits today before that & I planned that chocolate bar instead of just eating it mindlessly.
I know that doesn’t sound great but for me, it’s a minor win.
Yep, that's a win in my view. Your plan sounds good to me because it's more realistic and sustainable than throwing food out and going cold turkey

Thanks @CoalTit I did the cold turkey thing in the past - not my first rodeo - and I’d last a while but then get INSANE cravings and go crazy and feel ashamed etc afterwards! 😮This way definitely works a bit better … I hope! How are you getting on?

Thanks for asking, @Nouveaunew . Menopause is really complicating the matter.