No caffeine, no sugar, no white flour - I feel like death!

[SugarBugger]

Has anyone done this before, or currently on a similar diet? It's day three (although been on a diet for about 3 weeks already) and I feel horrendous, constant headache and generally feeling foggy and lousy! Tell me it gets better?

are you drinking enough gin water?

The headaches will be from the lack of caffeine and sugar. You need to drink enough fluids to stop you from dehydrating. Your body is detoxing. It will get better. Are you eating lots of fruit and veg?

Hi, yeah I'm trying to drink enough water although I hate it! (drinking water always reminds me of getting a gobful in the swimming baths - ick)

I've no idea what to eat to be honest. I'm having 4 or 5 small meals rather than 3 big ones cos I get shaky after 3 hours. I've been having things like a very small bowl of cereal with splash of milk, then maybe an apple or natural yoghurt mid morning, then lentil soup or boiled egg and one piece of low GI toast, then maybe another small meal of a white fish fillet and one of those steam bags of rice and veg, and later maybe chicken and salad. Interspersed with lots of (horrible) tap water

The headaches have stopped now. I'm not exactly full of energy but I feel ok. Having to go to bed earlier now though as I realise I used to have a big mug of coffee at about 10pm to "keep me going"

One thing I've noticed is for the last year or more I've had constant swollen feet/ankles because of my weight and in the space of a few days all the swelling has gone.

That sounds really good suagrbugger.

I've been having strawberries with greek yoghurt (0%) and a drizzle of honey in the morning followed an apple later and cereal for lunch (shredded wheat).

Then for tea, only rice as carbs but no pasta/potatoes/bread etc.

Difficult to start with but gets easier.

can't you add no added sugar squash to your water if you don't like water? Ot have watered down apple juice?

Are you doing this because of food intolerance or just generally to lose weight?

Maybe you're trying to eliminate too much in one go. What is your main problem, the caffeine, sugar or White flour? You could reduce the other 2 while eliminating the 3rd. Coffee is very high in caffeine and is all round pretty bad, but green tea detoxes and ups your metabolism. White flour is shit and I can't see that being too hard to get rid of. You could just keep to natural sugars in fruit.

So no cakes, biscuits, White bread etc but loads of other stuff. Don't eat cereals either unless it's porridge, eggs are great for breakfast too.

I mentioned yesterday on another thread I've got an intolerance to wheat and dairy so I know how hard it is to cut stuff out, but you've already noticed some positive benefits so you're definitely doing the right thing for your body - well done and don't stop! You're probably over the worst

I'm scared of having honey as it's sugary and I'm trying to quit sugar (as you can tell, I've got no idea what I'm doing! lol) Your breakfast sounds good, might try that one! So you eat brown rice every night? Do you eat bread and potatoes ever or just not at tea time?

I'm doing it because I'm a compulsive eater with over ten stone to lose and I know that my biggest problem has always been sugar addiction, I would eat at least one packet of biscuits a day if not more, plus loads of cake, chocolate, sugary drinks, all day long, to the point where they were replacing whole meals, and breakfast would be 6 or 7 biscuits with coffee etc. I had given up on myself and thought "sod it, I'm too far gone" and now for some reason (There was no THAT'S IT moment) I just feel like I do care and I want to stop eating like that and feeling ashamed of myself.

Early days yet (nearly a month since I starting eating less) but right now I feel ok. I'm so much better at cutting things out completely than I am at cutting down, I was a veggie for about 18 years very easily so I just thought "why can't I give the sugar up?" because I can't stop at two biscuits or one square of chocolate, I have zero willpower in that respect.

xposted, lambskin. The main problem was the sugar but I also find it hard to drink coffee without biscuits or cake so I thought if I cut out all three it'd solve the craving issue! I feel a lot better now but felt really awful day and night for the first half of the week.

I will try eating porridge although I have no appetite in the morning, I was eating special K, weetabix mini things etc but I think they have sugar in. Is muesli ok? Thanks both for the advice!

Good for you. You are going to feel so much better very soon.
If you don't like water, what about some more fun drinks: Sparkling water with lemon or a bit of other juice, herbal teas, grain coffees, bouillon, etc.

Are you making yourself some healthy treats?
Go to a health food store and buy some rice syrup. It is an extract of brown rice and is very sweet and delicious, but unlike sugar, honey, maple syrup, molasses, and even fruit sweetener (concentrated apple juice) it is a complex carbohydrate and is metabolised differently from sugar. It is a very healthy alternative (though not particularly low-cal, just better for you). I make crumble using lots of fruit with a topping of oats, nuts, vegetable oil and rice syrup, and it is delicious.

No added sugar muesli is great (Tesco do a great one in a big kg bag). I add my own dried fruit or raspberries to it and either have skimmed milk or natural yoghurt on it. With a banana on top sliced, it fills you up for ages.

I don't eat brown rice very often, if I have rice it's arborio rice as I make a lot of rissottos. I know it's white rice but for me, it's bread and pasta that really makes a difference.

If you don't buy cakes and biscuits, you can't eat them - although I know it's hard if you have a partner who wants them etc.

Tea is much lower in caffeine than coffee. You could always indulge yourself and have one coffee a day then wean yourslef off.

I think, as you've said, it's the refined sugars you need to reduce and you're already doing that so you're doing great . I lowered my sugar intake too as I was worried I was pre-diabetic. I feel much better and much more balanced now and I now take one dandelion root capsule a day to reduce bloating/water. It balances food cravings too so it might be worth taking one if you can (can't take if you have stomach and liver probs though so check out the labels). I haven't had cravings since taking them - I now crave the no fat greek yoghurt and strawberries though!!

As honey is natural sugar, as long as you don't have loads, you could have 1/2 teaspoon on natural yoghurt I'm sure. You don't need much as it drizzles so well.

Oh and the special K thing - I love it (my fave cereal) but just cannot eat it as it bloats my stomach within minutes. May be worth cutting back on that to see if it makes a difference.

Sugar bugger- i've been on the Dukan diet and i've had no wheat, sugar or fat for 3 weeks. I'm also a compulsive eater and attended overeaters anonymous for a while. I found the caffeine was the worst with headaches. I detoxed a year ago and the coffee was the hardest. I now have coffee with sweetner( its yuk to start with but your palette adjusts) I've given up wheat and sugar now though forever as I'm like you in respect that I cannot just have one bit.
I used to hide biscuits in the cupboard and eat them all in one sitting. You should maybe get the dukan diet book out of the library and give it a read. please dont think that i'm trying to get you to do the diet i'm not but what has really helped for me was the science part behind it that not all calories are equal! I thought that I could have a mars bar for my dinner and skip dinner and I wouldn't put on weight- how wrong I was.
On a more practical note i found for breakfast ideas.
Porridge with Soya or Rice milk..(sweeter that normal milk) with some raisins in it.
Sugar free alpen or muesli with raisins and a teaspoon of honey drizzled over the top.(small teaspoon)
Boiled eggs in a cup.leave one a wee bit runny so you're no spitting feathers.
Avoid cereal unless its wholegrain with no sugar- this will just leave you with a hunger pang mid morning
Also a spinach omelette. Buy some frozen spinach- defrost in the night before and fling it in the microwave with an egg. Job done and really filling.

Its such a horrible thing being an overeater as it you were an alcoholic you could just give up cold turkey- but we all need to eat to survive so its trying to get a grip on that. I'd look into an OA class aswell just to get support in your journey. I didnt continue with OA as I couldnt get by the "higher power" thing but I did meet some lovely people and it changed the way I look and food and consequently changed my life.
HTH.. xx

Can I ask how soon you noticed a difference clara?

i've been doing the Dukan diet for three weeks now, on the first week I lost 8 pounds from 13st 3 to 12st 9. I then went on a hen weekend and ate everything in sight- full english breakfasts plus I drank like a fish. I went on the friday and when I started again on the wednesday i didnt weigh myself. I went back onto pure protein and oat bran for 3 days and weighed myself and I was 12st 11. I am now, one week on from that, 12st 7lbs. I am at the stage now where I can have a day pure protein and a day protein and restricted veg( no starchy veg etc)and I'm supposed to continue like this until I reach my target weight of 10st 6. I can honestly say I do not feel hungry at all- unlike atkins there are no unhealthy fats involved and I have loads more energy and I'm not bloated at all. I saw a difference in my stomach within a few days. The good thing about it is- I can still eat loads of nice food and there's no weighing counting crap that comes with most other diets. Sugar, fat and flour are my downfall and I always end up reaching for them at every occasion. To celebrate, to cheer myself up, when bored.
Also the best thing is- I was ironing the other night and I looked at my arm and I had some muscle definition.SHock! I suppose I must be quite muscly underneath my chub but when I've dieted before I've used diets that have caused my muscle to waste away, juice only diets, starvation and the like. With this I feel as though it's actually getting through the fat! I expect it will taper off a bit now as i start to reintroduce other food groups but I know I'm killing my obsession with carbs and I feel healthier in the process.

please dont think I'm trying to promote this as it isnt for everyone but the general principles of avoiding processed sugars and wheat is a contributer to losing weight I believe.
x

Sounds good - will look into it. Thanks

Hi, thanks for responding, I've never heard of the dukan diet, it sounds a bit restrictive, are there protein shakes involved or just protein like chicken? good on you, if it's working!

Snailoon, thanks for the tip about the rice syrup, I simply wouldn't have heard of it, would it work in porridge? I can eat no sugar muesli but no sugar porridge would be a bit too much like wallpaper paster for me!

Vintage teacups - I will look into dandelion root capsules, I'm not great at remembering to take tablets though. I was worried I was going to make myself diabetic too, yet another reason to change.

I have two young kids, which is one of the reasons it was convenient to replace meals with biscuits, so I have to admit I'm finding the meal planning for four of us who all eat differently (fussy dh, veggie perma-starving ds who would eat cereal for every meal, baby who eats sod all unless it's garlic bread or yoghurt, and me on this diet) a bit hard at the moment.

Today is the first day when I've thought "hmm, I'd quite like some biscuits now" - not sure why, maybe I'm letting myself go too hungry or thirsty. I've got a multipack of sugarfree gum and when I fancy something sweet I have a piece of that.

On the up side when I wake up now there's no longer half an hour of stumbling around in a grumpy fog waiting for coffee to wake me up, this morning I actually had a laugh and joke around with the dc before we came downstairs, which would have been unheard of before as I'd have felt too shit without the caffeine.

Try this porridge (trust me it's yummy):

Put 200ml of cold water into a measuring jug.
Add about 30g of porridge oats.
Cook on full in microwave for 2 mins.
Pour into a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt or creme fraiche.
Swirl it into the porridge and then drizzle honey over.

It sounds awful - if you can't do it with water, use skimmed milk instead.

I honestly it was only my grandad that ate porridge made with water but weightwatchers do it and it's only minimal points and fills you up until lunch.

I have looked at the Dukan diet today and actually, I'm not sure it's as healthy as it makes out (restricting water worried me a bit).

Instead, I'm going to carry on with very low/no processed carbs and have much more protein.

Oh - about the dandelion root thing - you can empty the capsule into boiling water for a cup of tea - weird taste to start with but if you add a little honey, it's fine. I'm sure you can buy dandelion tea too.

There is no restriction on water in dukan. No shakes, just lots of protein (food) I prefered it to other low carb diets as a) low fat dairy is allowed and b) The atkins type unhealthy fats are not allowed.

I am now in maintenance, I do now have fruit (a couple of apples, or some berries) plus small amounts of cheese/wholegrains - but yes its great for dealing with sugar cravings. Coffee is allowed though - but its not for everyone.

Look at cereals ingredients - special k and many mueslis high in sugar.

If you look at the FAQ on the dukan website, it says that if you are on a micro-dose contraceptive pill, you should reduce liquid intake so as not to 'wash out' the hormones (thus making pill less effective).

Also says the same for certain other conditions but can't remember which.

Well for everyone else suggests something like 2-3 litres a day so probably just means not to drink these huge quantities rather than have reduced fluids.

you should be ideally looking to drink 2 litres of water a day anyway, just to make your body function properly.

Aha - I see foreveronadiet.

Teacups, thanks for the porridge recipe, I've got some oats so I'll try it tomorrow!

Foreveronadiet - The dukan diet sounds interesting - in fact it doesn't sound that far off what I'm already doing.

Well just an update here, I'm still going, no sugar, no caffeine, no white flour, although I realised I was still eating some white rice now and then, should I cut that out completely?

I'm still feeling cravings for sugar, mostly when I give the kids a treat, or when I see an advert for something sweet. I was in all kinds of bad habits before, one I noticed was that every time I felt bad/stressed about anything I would automatically, almost without any conscious thought, walk to the cupboard with the chocolate biscuits in. So I moved the biscuits to a different cupboard, and now I notice that when I feel upset I still do this ingrained behaviour of returning to the same cupboard, absolutely on autopilot, but when I get there there's nothing there and it has interrupted the cycle.

I'm finding that protein is the key to killing the sugar cravings, a piece of grilled chicken just stops them in it's track, how mad is that!

I've joined myfitnesspal, I don't entirely understand how the calorie diary works because every time I exercise it gives me more calories to use but I don't want more food (I have eaten/will eat muesli, beans on toast, an apple, chicken and veg casserole today, comes to about 1100 calories, it's moaning I'm not eating enough and asking me to eat 2500 calories - how do you lose weight that way?) Enlighten me, if you know how it works!

MFP works that you can eat more if you exercise - often with heavy exercise you would feel very hungry and need more than 1200 a day. I generally don't eat all my exercise calories but my baseline is 1200 and I generally have a bit more than this. If its suggesting you eat 2,500 its probably not set up right. If you eat less than 1200 it says you aren't eating enough.

Go to goals and set it sedentary (then you can then add all exercise you do) and set it to loose 2lbs a week.

Rice - choose basmati or better still brown basmati. Although don't worry about finishing off the white rice you have left.

Sugar have you thought about the Paul Mckenna eating plan? it's the best way because it reeducates your attitude to food and you can eat anything although i'v lost 2 stone eating healthily but NO calorie counting or weird diet foods, it works on your self image as well, see you there?

It wants me to eat 1570 every day, like I said I average between 1100 and 1200 usually but every time I log any exercise it adds on loads more calories, so like today it expects me to eat 2522, and I don't feel like I need it. Without the sugary stuff or huge portions of meals it's hard to add any more calories on, I could eat more bread, but if I'm not hungry what's the point?

I do have it set to sedentary and at 2lb loss, I've just upped my goal from 30 min of exercise 3 times a week to 30 min 7 times a week, to try and keep active daily.