You can bake bread without adding sugar - it maybe takes a bit longer to rise, but it still rises beautifully. :) Perhaps you could do some cheesy breadsticks or something? I'm afraid I am not very sophisticated when it comes to bringing food to an event - I would probably go for a fruit salad myself.
I was really pleased to find this thread and want to introduce myself!
I am a sugar addict. I don't use that word lightly - I treat myself like an alcoholic and can't "just have one." Never. I have tried to quit sugar off and on over the years, and always went back after a time. I think the longest I went in the past was 3 months before falling off the wagon again. Over the summer I decided to really kick this addiction for good. I was tired of it ruling my life - I think one of my lowest points was secretly re-baking a cake that the children made because I had eaten it all myself over the course of about a week. I was terribly ashamed of my gluttony so I had to make it again and pretend it hadn't been eaten by me. Sigh. I don't understand the mindset of a person that can have just one bite, or just one small slice. I could easily eat an entire whatever without taking a breath. I started noticing that I felt cranky and tired and wanting a pick-me-up of sugar by mid-morning, and that if I went too long between meals my hands would start to shake. This could not go on.
I don't weigh myself, but I was a size 20/22 at my largest. I'm 5'8" so I was able to carry the extra weight for a while, but there's only so much weight a tall woman can hide!
I started my no sugar life again in June by eating an ayurvedic mung bean soup mono-fast for 40 days. I literally ate mung bean soup for most of my meals, in addition to as much fruit, veg and nuts I could cram down my throat. For the first two-three weeks I would get hungry again maybe 1-2 hours after a meal, and I think it was because my body was starved of nutrients and needed more to restore itself! I don't get hungry like that anymore. I was also using specific kundalini yoga sets and meditations that target addictive behaviours and break them.
Much to my surprise, I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms like I had every time before I tried to quit sugar. I've also lost a ton of weight and have slimmed down to a size 14. My "sugar belly" is much smaller and I don't have the shakes between meals anymore. Knowing the facts behind sugar's effect on health (I really want to get Dr Lustig's book!) has helped bolster my resolve, and just witnessing the daily benefits to not eating refined sugar of any sort has made me positive I never want to go back to living that lifestyle ever again.
My family are not sugar-free, but I've imposed a pretty strict 15g added sugar limit with the children and they've really reacted positively to it. We've stopped eating most cereals, as even a bowl of cheerios nearly hits their daily limit in one serving! They are learning portion control and how they prefer to use their treat allotment for the day (ie, would you rather have 2 biscuits or an ice lolly?), so I think that's an excellent life skill.
Several people have asked me how I've lost the weight, but some of them physically recoil when I tell them they can't have sugar ever again. haha. I'm happy with my choices, though. There are other ways to treat myself and have fun - I used to do it with sugar, and now I do it with lots and lots of other things.
/novel