A sugar free month - anyone else fancy giving it a go?

[HearMyRoar]

I Have been thinking about giving up sugar for a long time now but haven't really felt ready. I have decided that now is the time and so am aiming for a sugar free month from the 6 january.

I figured starting with a month seemed less scary then giving it up forever and reasonably achievable... I hope :o

Still working out my rules but currently they are:

No sugar
No sugar substitutes
No processed food with any sort of sugar or sugar substitute in

So pretty simple so far. I am not giving up the carbs so still eating rice, bread, etc (I am nowhere near ready for boot camp). Also planning on still eating lots of fruit though probably not juice. All this is open to negotiations and suggestions.

Anyone fancy joining me? Go on....please... Anyone...

i am on day 4 of a restricted diet to reduce the fattiness of my liver before i have my gallbladder removed next week. i am dying for some bread! I think after the op though it would be a shame to waste 10 days of cold-turkey sugar-free (thank god i'll be allowed some cheese or meat to fill me up )

Good luck with your op someday. What are you allowed to eat now?

I have done a whole week now (or two if I count the dodgy Christmas week). The headaches seem to have gone and I definitely feel full more quickly at meals. Still grazing on nuts and crackers with cheese but I am 3.5lb down .

Trying not to obsess about the weight though because I know what will happen if I do that once I reach a weight I am happy with. It is good to be mainly sticking to sugar free.

Just had my first cup of sugar free tea, inspired by you guys!! I am going to cut out sugar in my tea, and make an effort to only eat home cooked food. The biggest challenge will be biscuits at work!! I will try to avoid bread, and other carbs, but I am not planning to cut them out completely.

sweetpoison.com.au/
great books!

consists basically of just stock to drink (oxo/bovril) and low fat low sugar yogurts, plus a multi-vit and 200ml fruit juice per day.

I'm struggling with a constant low level headache & a lack of energy - day 3 of no sugar/caffeine and today has been the hardest. I just feel generally yuck...hopefully it'll start to improve by tomorrow.

Someday that sounds harsh!

Eek, so this afternoon I caved and had a Pepsi Max. However, in my defence it was either that or crack open the chocolate, so it was the lesser of two evils AND in The Sweet Poison Quit Plan he advocates using diet drinks to get you through the withdrawal phase, and claims that once you're successfully off sugar, you'll no longer feel the need for them. So I'm not feeling too guilty. This is most definitely the longest I have gone without sugar for.

I had to eat a sliver of brownie this morning to be polite (honestly!) but apart from that I've been very successful so far. Oh yes, and another banana.

I fear though it's because I'm still having lots of bread-type things, which are keeping my blood sugar levels up. I'm also having a lot of dairy, which I've read can cause insulin spikes - all very confusing. Still, the aim of the first two weeks is to try and get rid of my automatic reaching for the sweet stuff.

Today I've had:
Large bowl of homemade Easiyo yogurt with banana slices and added cream
3x milky coffees
Piece of brownie the size of my thumb
Homemade chicken and veg soup
More yogurt and blueberries
A couple of crackers
3x cups of rooibos with milk
Enormous roast chicken dinner with obscene amount of mash and yorkies

Just putting DC in bed before the most challenging part of the day for me. I'm especially bad at stuffing my face with an entire family sharing bag of chocolate in the evening.

Wow! Good job everyone! :o

We finished up all the biscuits, chocolates and stuff last night so have decided to make a start today. Figured I then have 2 practice days before starting proper.

Bit worried about Monday as there are tons and tons of cakes in the office at the moment as everyone has brought in their Christmas excess. Going to have to take in loads of sugar free treats to get me through.

I really want some chocolate!!!!!

BerylsDK... I'm not sure Pepsi Max is the lesser of two evils, as being liquid sugar you are mainlining the drug, it goes into your bloodstream quicker and leads to a spike in sugar levels.

As for chocolate, all confectionary is bad, esp Whispa, Flake, Dairy Milk, Galaxy, Yorkie Bars, Giant Buttons, Milky Bar, Twix etc but some is more passable eg plain chocolate (that Green & Black's Orange flavoured stuff) and those 20p Freddie the Frog bars, imo.

I personally advise Wassen's Magnesium supplements to wean yourself off chocolate, plus Solgar's Chronium Piccilinonate (sp?) capsules to regulate blood sugar levels. Oh, and get your beauty sleep to avoid using the caffeine in chocolate as a pick me up.

Pepsi Max doesn't contain sugar, although it does contain artificial sweetener, which Iknow probably isn't great. I just got to the bit in the Sweet Poison book where he says he used Pepsi Max whilst withdrawing from sugar, for about 2 weeks, then no longer felt the need for it. I don't think I'd get through the cravings for sugar without it to be honest!

I hear you about the chocolate, Beryl, I hear you!

Am currently snacking on macadamia nuts to ward off some pretty horrible cravings. They actually taste almost sweet.

Ooh, I have some magnesium supplements I was meant to start taking for my migraines. I'll crack them open.

Marking my place to read through thread properly later.

A quick contribution is Jordans. Natural muesli. It's one of the only cereals I can find that doesn't contain sugar.

Just one day sugar free and I hit the withdrawals at 6pm. God, I feel like i'm on a come down.

I'm going to have a nice hot drink of coco when dh has finished putting dd to bed, hoping that will make me feel a bit better.

Oh dear HearMyRoar, if it's any consolation, I've been feeling loads better this afternoon/evening, yesterday (day 3) was the worst for me - although obviously I don't want to speak too soon, who knows what tomorrow will bring?

I've found thinking of it as a short-term challenge helpful, 'I'll just stick with it for a week' type thoughts helped me through today's cravings. I'm hoping that the cravings will go (as promised in The Sweet Poison Quit Plan) and then it'll be a lot easier. I've found the book really helpful in keeping me on track actually, I downloaded his first book today too, although I haven't started it yet.

Hope you survived the evening.

Totally agree Beryl that I'm doing so much better this time by thinking if this as a time-limited challenge.

Also for me, not trying to cut out everything at once.

I had a lethargic day yesterday and my grazing habit has not yet abated. Not really feeling tempted to eat sugar though - I think having a firm rule is helping me - not good at moderation.

I was reading Sarah wilson's book - I quit sugar- which is ok, essentially the same as sweet poison but shorter and with more pictures. She suggests a two week run in followed by a month of cold turkey to include no fruit.

I have been going over my 2 pieces of fruit a day limit and have not yet been too strict about sauces and things. Probably time to get a bit stricter.

Good luck to anyone starting tomorrow or already in the worst of withdrawal.

Hi all. I'm actually feeling much better today. The coco definitely helped, I would recomend it with a dash of vanilla essence in.

I have found I am drinking a lot of water and also grazing like mad. I figure I will just concentrate on eating anything that isn't sugar and worry about eating sensible amounts when I get through the crash.

I've been wanting loads more water than usual too. I was hungrier for the 1st couple of days, but since yesterday I seem to have been eating less than normal. Made it through the weekend anyway

I would like to join too. I'm a sugar addict. When I am tired, I eat food full of sugar. When I am depressed, I eat even more sugar. It will be interesting to see the changes in a month without sugar.

I'm wanting to cut out sugar, maybe not 100% but certainly much , much less.
I'm going to do it in stages though, all obvious sugars ( sweets, wine, drinks, choc, cake) first then onto less obvious ones, bread will be the first challenge. I'm going to switch to homemade bread with less white flour.

So this weeks obvious sugar, next week bread.

Started this morning,home made muesli for breakfast. Even weighed myself(could probably have done with a drink after:(()