Come and join Sugar Free Club. First rule of Sugar Free Club is...er...we don't eat sugar.

[SomewhatSilly]

And that's the only rule, really.

Come one, come all and join us!

More unexpected products with sugar in them... practically all the mainstream spice blends available in supermarkets! It's truly astonishing how much sugar will slip under our radar unless we're very vigilant indeed!

I am super-motivated today, having had a quick look on the scales as I am 5 days in to the no-added-sugar way of eating. It is amazing to be losing weight (mostly from my stomach!) whilst eating cheese and butter!

Can I join? Am a couple of weeks in now with one minor deviation for a family meal last week when I had pudding.

I feel so, so much better. Bit disappointed not to have lost any weight though. I have given up all sweets etc, pasta, bread, rice and fruit. I am still eating carrots, sweet potato and parsnips and peanut butter (natural stuff) I am still craving chocolate at the end if the day, after tea.

@amouse - brilliant! Your motivation gives me motivation too!

@icepole - Great to hear of your progress! I think the feeling "so, so much better" bit is not to be sniffed-at. It's probably a sign that you are in a much healthier state than you were previously.

As for the weight; well, how much do you feel you need to lose? How about factors such as portion size, exercise and sleep?

I just had a really vivid dream about eating a cream cake slathered in jam

Porridge, anyone?

Not much to loose really, half a stone. In the past I kept my weight off with intense exercise but I have been sick with post viral fatigue and can't do it anymore. I do some yoga and walking at the moment when I can.

Yesterday I ate two scrambled eggs with veggies for breakfast, a tuna salad for lunch, some hummus and cucumber for snack, an avocado and tomato for a later snack. For tea I had stuffed peppers made with veggie mince and mixed with a bit of feta cheese and cottage cheese. I drink green tea or peppermint tea. I did have two spoons of peanut butter which was not part of the plan!

I think I need to do this. Can someone point me in the direction of something I should read to summarise why and give me the push I need?

I have sinned! Will start again tomorrow.

Cravings seem to worse three weeks in, not better. And no weight lost at all. Feeling demotivated!

@Jaynebxl - The Sweet Poison Quit Plan by David Gillespie got me started.

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sweet-Poison-Quit-Plan/dp/0718179048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395757764&sr=8-1&keywords=sweet+poison+quit+plan

And Robert Lustig's lecture Sugar: The Bitter Truth reinforced things for me.

@icepole - I have also developed a fondness for peanut butter. But it is the unadulterated, organic variety rather than the mass-market, added sugar variety. Not being judgemental at all. I've just decided to stay away from anything with sugar or fructose or any of their pseudonyms in. (Apart from two or three pieces of fruit per day.) But I'm allowing through anything that has low-moderate levels of glucose/dextrose/glucose syrup/lactose/maltose/maltodextrin/maltodextrose. But, y'know, the vast majority of what I'm eating now is non-processed and freshly made.
I think I'm too early in to notice any weight change. But after a week of (almost) no sugar, I'm feeling much, much better (and lighter), I'm feeling fantastic digestively, I'm feeling far less sluggish and full of energy and I'm feeling like I would be a fool to ever return to my old ways of eating!

I'm very sorry to hear of your demotivation. And I can't explain why things are as they are with you. Perhaps your post-viral fatigue has something to do with it? Is it worth talking to your doctor about? But if you're only three weeks in, perhaps you need to give it some more time? I understand that, for some people, the cold turkey phase is quite troublesome and can last for a month and more. Oh, and I can't see any bread or pasta or rice in your diet on Friday. Does this mean that you are avoiding those too? I'm still eating them daily. (Not all three daily and not all day, but they are part of my meals.) I have a feeling that if I tried to eliminate them too, I'd feel terrible. Gillespie doesn't have a problem with them, by the way. Nor does Lustig, who cites the Italian and Japanese examples of societies whose cuisines are very starchy- carb-based who, nevertheless, tend to live to ripe old ages.

I was a sugarholic until a week ago. But I can honestly say that I have not, even for a second, craved a chocolate or cake or honey or dried fruit since then - all staples of my pre-sugar-free diet. I am just so, totally satisfied with what I am eating that the poisons I used to love so much are actually quite repulsive to me now!

Thanks for your reply. I do eat pure peanut butter, no crap in it. I have cut out pasta, bread, potato but still eating carrots and sweet potato. I do feel much better and won't go back to what I was eating. The two things I am missing are oatcakes and chocolate. I used to snack on oatcakes and peanut butter and always had a bit of chocolate after tea. I might just get some dark chocolate and have a bit, my only concern is it will tip me over the edge!

@icepole - ummm... well, you know yourself best. Do you feel you might be like an alcoholic who really should resist having that one little drink? I do believe that sugar addiction is very real for many (possibly most) people.

Gillespie recommends having an avoidance strategy for each of the sugar addict behaviours/habits you might have. Before he went sugar-free, he used to eat a few pieces of chocolate in front of the TV each night. But when he went cold turkey, he decided that he would eat nuts instead of chocolates during his nightly TV snack time. Maybe that - or a similar avoidance strategy - would work for you?

I think my worry is that if I allow myself a little bit of dark chocolate then it will be easier to break other rules. I don't really miss the other foods though.

@icepole - then it's probably best if you see that bit of dark chocolate as poison and about as appetizing as arsenic! If I were to crave anything (which I'm not at the moment) it would be Maltesers! But instead of light, moreish balls of fluffy-crunchy delight, I now see them as seductive, repugnant killing machines!

In the interests of science I broke my sugar abstinence today (day 11) and ate a chocolate muffin in Costa.
It was disgusting! Something seriously must have changed in my tastebuds...

That's good news, mouse! Thanks for taking one for the team

I'm planning a few squares of very dark chocolate on Sunday to celebrate the MD feast. I thought nothing too sweet.

Have to confess to having a couple of squares the other day of dark chocolate after tea, I don't think I could eat milk chocolate now actually.

I am not losing any weight which is kind if frustrating. But maybe I won't until I can get back to exercise, I am not in the overweight category, I just fancy being my pre pregnancy weight again which is half a stone lighter than I am now. It's not going anywhere though.

Crafty I know what you mean about the "tummy". I am in a pair of trousers a size smaller now, though the weight loss hasn't been too dramatic. I think my middle is definitely less prominent now.

Icepole take heart from all the benefits you are getting other than the weight thing.

I have got some serious temptation ahead of me in the form of social events this weekend but hopefully I will stay strong and avoid the cakes.

Hi Crafty - heehee... I fully understand the urge to convert/bore people in RL. And I am enthused by your experience so far. My mindset has changed to something very similar to yours in a very short time. (I'm 1.5 weeks in, but my attitude to sugar changed literally overnight.)

I've had one Chinese meal (at a restaurant) with company last weekend, but was able to eat (pretty much) sugar-free without any kind of fuss. Skipping dessert while everyone else tucked in was no big deal.

But I can foresee many social functions/visits to friends houses that will be more problematic and which will involve more awkwardness - especially if the hosts have home-cooked the food which I will want to refuse!

But perhaps, by the time they come around, I will be so fixated in my new way of eating that even if I have to sample a little sugared food out of politeness, I will be able to easily adjust my intake for the rest of the day/week accordingly. Desserts are usually easy to refuse. It is sugar in savoury food which is much harder to.

Hi everyone,

Would I be ok to join? Totally addicted to sugar lol! I don't know what has sugar and what doesn't so is there anything online that I can check that worked for any of you? Like a list or something?
TIA.

This is an American site but I love how clearly it explains everything. If you scroll way down there is a list of all the names sugar goes by.

I've had a Mothering Sunday blow-out.

Chocolate fudge brownie ice cream sundae. M&Ms and cookies on it, squirty cream, chocolate syrup, etc.

It was ... meh. To be honest, I only finished it because I wanted to be sure it wouldn't improve.

On the other hand, the drink I had (lime and lemonade) was utterly delicious. I'd been finding drinks more tricky than food so I shouldn't be surprised.

Back on tomorrow. Today actually helped! I can stop missing ice cream and chocolate.