To think giving up sugar is so hard?!

[OrangeLavenders]

This time last year I weighed 9 stone 10! I was 12 stone a week ago and have dropped half a stone in a week.

Nothing drastic, just no constant snacking and calorie counting my meals (I'm very short so my personal calorie deficit is around 1200 calories).

But I can't give up the sugar. I have DRASTICALLY reduced my intake but I can't see the day out without having something sweet to nibble on if I feel too dizzy. I can only describe it as a withdrawal process.

How hard is it to quit sugar cold turkey? I'm worried as I find it incredibly hard. I have a DC with additional needs and a lot going on so it seems all the more difficult to be in 'the zone' as the withdrawal seems greater.

Am I just being ridiculous?

DH quit sugar and went low carb. He was a grump for about a month but now is really sensitive to anything sweet.

He has lost shitloads of weight.

I gave up sugar a few years ago for 1
Year. I had one rule-

1. Eat or drink anything as long as it doesn't have added sugar.

I did eat fruit.

I lost over 3 stone and honestly I found it really easy. Sadly I've gained it all and cant quite get my head around it at the moment although I am trying to....

I gave up sugar for the first time a few years ago, and yes, it isn’t easy at the start, but after two weeks my cravings just disappeared, and not just my cravings for sweet food, but all my cravings. You just need to take it one day at a time. Say to yourself each morning “sod what happens tomorrow, but today I am not having any sugar”. You can do it!

I give up cold turkey once a month - it’s hard and the come down is insane. I have a sugar addiction though, so I need the detox once a month for a week. The rest of the time i reduce drastically.

^ give up sugar and go cold turkey * sorry for typo!

You don't need to give up all sugar in order to lose weight! Just be sensible with it. I have lost 17lbs since lockdown but always finish the day with a sweet treat, just include it in the calorie count.

He was a grump for about a month

Oh god. I don’t think I’ll have any personal relationships left if I try this, although I need to.

Try things that have sweeteners rather than sugar. For example there are great skinny ice creams out there that taste great but have hardly any sugar and are low cal. I'm doing keto and it really helps to have these odd treats to curb the sweet tooth. As time goes on I'm losing the craving for the sweet stuff. But if I feel like something sweet then the low cal alternatives hit the spot!

Thank you. I think I am addicted to sugar if I'm honest. I can eat a block of ready to roll icing. Love the stuff!

I feel all snappy and my head feels all over the place if I don't have something sweet..

Can you have something treat wise with sweetener that makes it sweet if you're struggling?

I made some keto treats for DH but had sweetener such as erythritol and xylitol but it did sometimes make him crave sweet stuff more so found cold turkey better as he didn’t feel tempted and stopped missing it.

It’s beneficial to do it with low carb as most carb breaks down into glucose. But just giving up sugar is a great thing to do anyway.

I did these cheesecakes:
www.gnom-gnom.com/no-bake-keto-cheesecake-the-classic/

And these brownies:
www.gnom-gnom.com/fudgey-cocoa-paleo-keto-brownies/#wprm-recipe-container-5669

The brownies were less sweet surprisingly as they are mostly sweetener and were nice with a sweetened cream I made with a few drops of vanilla stevia stuff DH has. I found the cheesecake too sweet like that space dust straws you get but DH loves it so you might too. I did it with fresh raspberries to cut through the sweetness.

I think it takes about 5 days and then it is easy. Haven't done this myself for months and months though - it is also easy to go back to old habits. Have a read of The Sweet Poison Quit Plan for inspiration and advice.

There are lots of articles about ratios of different sweeteners compared to each other and also compared to sugar if looking to switch up a recipe.

I’ve done it a couple of times and last for months and months, but always something like my birthday or Christmas comes around, I have a little bit, and then there’s no going back...

It has to be completely all or nothing with me.

The worst thing is having little bits of sweet or artificially sweet foods...they just make me crave more! Bizarrely it’s 1000 % easier to go cold turkey past the first few days. You don’t miss it and the cravings go.

Sugar is more addictive than crack cocaine. And no one tells crack addicts to 'just take less crack.' It's ridiculously hard and I feel yourpain! It also feels like fighting a bloody hydra - every time I successfully give up cake/chocolate/fizzy drink etc a different kind of sugary product rears its head to tempt me :-s

I used to take 2 or 3 spoons of sugar in my coffee. When I was at college we had a "coffee club" and it ran out of sugar. That was in 1990, I've never taken sugar in tea or coffee since that day.

YANBU OP.

A few years back.I cut out all processed stuff, sweets and seriously reduced carb intake.

I was climbing the walls for a week.
I could only compare it to trying to stop smoking.

Giving up sugar is really hard if you also have a calorie deficit because being hungry makes your body crave the quick energy burst. I've got a ridiculously sweet tooth, but with no calorie deficit, it only took me a couple of days to get used to going without sugar. When I did it while also cutting calories, I had cravings for a whole month (and then started eating it again!).

I gave up sugar and replaced it with fat. It’s much tastier and I’ve lost over a stone.

Yeah I was just about to say up your healthy fats when you go cold turkey.

Drink lots of water and take milk thistle too if you can, it helps the headaches and ill feeling in the initial phase.

It is more addictive than crack cocaine and is much more available. So it is very hard. It is worth it though :)

I tried low carb, so effectively giving up sugar for 6 weeks and at no point did I stop craving chocolate. I've also given up chocolate for Lent a few times and again, the cravings have never stopped, on Easter Sunday I'm awake earlier than a kid on Xmas morning.

I hardly ever have sugar nowadays.
The two things that helped me:

1. Properly articulate your “why”. For me it was to aid weight loss, to stave off pre diabetes bit also because I realised sugar was a “gateway” food for me that opened a door to a cascade of behaviours and habits that made life harder not easier,
2. For the first few weeks, make sure you have a selection of savoury treats in the house. Once you’ve got past the sugar withdrawal, those savoury things are much easier to cut back on.

I really wouldn't recommend using
Artificial sweeteners at all.
They aren't good for you.
If you have a craving try and
Ignore it for the first month. Dates, natural peanut butter, nuts, and fats found in avocado can really help.