Reducing sugar intake in 2015

[Sashiko]

Inspired by this thread, it seems that quite a few of us want to reduce our sugar intake, and we're all more likely to be successful if we have a bit of support.

What's your weakness? What's your goal? Tips from anyone who has already done it, and links to useful / interesting articles on the subject are very welcome!

Aside from the known health benefits, I'm really hoping that reducing sugar will help my moods, as I do get really irritable and it only recently occurred to me that it could be due to blood sugar spikes / crashes.

My plan is

1. Stop taking sugar in tea and coffee (approx 5 tsp per day)
2. Alcohol on weekends only
3. Attempt to reduce carbohydrates
4. Reduce sweet treats (although these are not a big part of my diet, I do like to bake now and then.)

Who's with me?

Cereals are high in sugar, so change to a low sugar or sugar-free cereal. Eg Alpen ( blue packet)

Avoid orange juice and smoothies

I eat very little sugar helped partly by the fact I am intolerant to gluten and dairy. So I don't buy cake, biscuits, puddings, ice cream, etc. I'm not a great one for sweets so don't buy those. I can't drink alcohol for other health reasons.

My only tips are don't buy it and don't bake it!
If it's in the house I'm tempted, so I just don't put it in the trolley.

In a normal day my sugar intake might be 1 teaspoon honey on porridge ( but usually have eggs for breakfast) or an oatcake with a smear of jam.

Boring but feel better for it.

Me please. I can avoid chocolate, biscuits, cakes etc with no problem at all, but wine is my downfall ??

I'm going cold turkey for 8 weeks. Fingers crossed

Christmas aside, I don't really eat lots of sweet things - or at least, I don't think I do. I think I will start a food diary again too, as I have found in the past that having to "confess" does help me to resist. (Which is ridiculous, as I'm only confessing to myself, but it does seem to make a difference.)

I actually started reducing my sugar in tea and coffee about a week ago, thinking it might soften the blow a bit. Yesterday and today I didn't put any in at all, although I've only drunk about a third of a cup each time, as I haven't been enjoying it.

I need to drink more water anyway, so maybe if I'm not fancying sugarless tea, I could have a glass of water instead, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

I'm planning to replace my sugar in coffee with the Stevia lookalike, no calories I understand.

I had GD and it was only then that I realised the sugar content of so much food. Like yoghurts for example - often as much sugar as a pot of 'pudding' which you would purposefully avoid. I find it harder to go sugar free while at work as I eat my way out of boredom. But at home I find it easier and despite it being Christmas I have managed in the past week of holiday to eat a lot less sugar than normally - but for the alcohol which is also my weakness. I found that after 6-8 weeks of low sugar it got a lot easier as it was out of my system. Will join you on trying for a sugar free 2015!

I'm inn

In even!

Well done!
I have been really reducing sugar for 4 days now. I still allow myself my morning cup of tea sugar but nothing for the rest of the day. I am a real sugar addict but it in processed foods or chocolate and cakes, just in bread, alcohol and sugar in tea.

,I want to try and restrict alcohol to weekends only but I'm going to battle the refined sugar first .

I want to really reduce my wheat intake too

Baby steps x

Me too please!

I did this really successfully for a couple of months this year. I lost some weight and never had that nasty bloated feeling, I felt so good about myself. I don't want to use aspartame/other chemical filled substitutes either.

My difficulty is chocolate and cakes. So hard to give up!

What worked for me before was:

I gave myself a break on weekends, otherwise I don't think I would have got as pathetically far as I did.
I found getting into porridge really helped with breakfast
Infusing water with fruit and herbs was good for making water more interesting - oh and there are flavoured tea bags which aren't full of sugar and caffeine so I might buy those.
and taking a look at the low GI/ diabetic diet to help keep me feel full through the day was really helpful and i'll be going back to that. I don't want to drastically change my life so I won't be cutting out things like pasta and rice, but i'll be eating brown rice/pasta, in proper portions and not every day. That's enough for me.

It's the processed, added sugar stuff i'll be working on. Looking forward to any tips!

I gave up sugar in tea etc 35 years ago when I was the only one in a group of friends using it. I was shamed into it! I did it gradually- only had 1 spoonful anyway so cut it down to half, then a quarter, then none at all over about a month.

Why not try fruit/ herbal tea instead or just hot water with lemon? I love hot water and it's actually really refreshing once you get used to it.

I still swear by don't buy it- whatever it is you crave!

I'm in.

I an bad at work for resorting to sweets for a pick me up in the afternoon.

I have a glass of orange juice every morning which I know is full of sugar, any alternatives?

I have special k for breakfast normally too, usually with grapes. Again prob quite high in sugar.

I need to do this gradually. An gping to start by no more hard core sweets, and dark choc only. Then look to my cereals. I managed to give up caffinated fizzy drinks three years ago and have stuck with it so an hoping I can do this.

Any book.suggestions for reducing sugar?

Bigbuttons I would like to reduce wheat too, but that is going to have to be a more gradual thing for me.

I used to really struggle to make myself drink water, as I just didn't like it. But since having a kidney infection last year, when I had antibiotics with horrendous side effects, water was the only thing I could stomach, and I do find it easier to drink it now.

Msrisotto I am with you on chemical sweeteners, I don't want them. I'd rather just do without.

I can't wait to see the back of all the Christmas treats that are still lingering around. Although it will be an interesting test of my willpower to see if I can resist them when they're in the house.

Brekkie- over the past year or so DH has changed from muesli to porridge. He makes it with Oatly ( oat milk) and adds a banana- no sugar , honey or syrup.

I have tried to avoid too many carbs for brekkie- usually have a boiled egg and 1 slice gluten free toast, sometimes 2 eggs, sometimes 1 egg and 1 rasher bacon with mushrooms.

I don't feel hungry till lunchtime and then manage with salads, homemade soups etc, or a small piece of cheese and an apple.

I had two boiled eggs for breakfast yesterday, nothing else, and I was surprised at how full I was.

I have noticed a tiny change in my face today. For years on end now I have been watching myself look more and more tired and drained; Giant black circles round my whole eye area. It was very depressing. Now I have only been severely cutting my sugar intake now for 5 days and today I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and I looked, well a bit different. The blackness under my eyes is definitely less than it was and my skin seems softer somehow. This has really spurred me on
I have almost completely cut out gluten and only use lacto free dairy. I used to wolf down hunks of cheese and have masses of milk in my sugar laden tea. I just don't feel that hungry any more!

I'm going to start putting a list together of low sugar breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas plus good alternatives so that food shopping and meal planning is easier.

I'm also going to take a photo of myself in the nude and a close up of my face so I've got some before and after pics providing I can stick to it

Can I join you please?
My no/low sugar starts tomorrow but has been started several times before

My downfall is Coke. I do eat chocolate and cakes here and there but don't find it that difficult to give those up.
I kept a food diary for a week and was pretty shocked at how much crap I eat - I really thought I wasn't that bad. Quite an eye opener.

Sweet Nothing is a good book on giving up sugar if anyone is interested.

I'm going to start with refined/added sugar and take it from there.

All welcome Shetland

I have been, er, tidying away some of the left over Christmas snackery. I'll actually be quite glad to stop the feasting tomorrow, I'm sick of chocolate etc. Which begs the question why did I eat it. Last minute treat maybe?

I'm in.

I am going to cut out:
chocolate
cakes
biscuits
sweets.

I am all or nothing for the above - one small piece/slice is never enough, am better off just cutting it out completely.

I will allow myself cereal (I don't eat stuff like Frosties, but I do like Weetabix. I don't think the sugar content in Weetabix is too bad) but will mainly try and have plain porridge for breakfast, and smoothies.

I have green or mint tea as opposed to builders' tea or coffee anyway, so no sugar there to give up.

My main problem is 4yo child LOVES baking. Will have to get him into baking bread instead of cakes and cookies.

Welcome AbbyCadabby My 3yo loves baking too, I'm planning to try savoury cheese biscuits, poppyseed crackers, and that sort of thing with her. Although I haven't actually looked at any recipes yet, so no idea what's involved.

My first brew of 2015 is currently being consumed, sugar free :)

I'm sticking with weetabix too abby - it's not too awful and I can't bear porridge.

Well done on the sugar free brew sashiko - start as you mean to go on.

I have also eaten so much chocolate that I'm sick of it - and I don't even like it that much!

Thanks Sashiko. Yes, will be good to expand our baking repertoire to something other than sweet stuff.

I love porridge, Shetland, but usually with sugar in. Had Weetabix today, maybe I'll do my sugar-free porridge tomorrow.

I'm going to try to reduce my sugar too! Fed up with feeling rubbish from eating too much rubbish and have decided that the sugar needs to go!
So far made potato cakes with spinach , mushrooms and poached egg for breakfast and soup for lunch. Am giving up all fizzy drinks too! They seem to set off a sweet craving!! I gave up diet coke 3 years ago and don't miss it that much any more