I Quit Sugar - anyone up for this?

[Cappster]

I tried quitting sugar during January and it was really good - I lost a few pounds, ate really well, felt very good (after initial detox )

I need to do it again but it would be really good to have a bit of support

Any takers?

Hi all, I'd love to try to minimise sugar - can anyone recommend any online resources? I've book marked a couple of pages I just googled, and I'll look at them tonight. However, I can't start until next week and DH gets back from his work trip; the children and I won't survive if I've no sugar until then so I want to get some reading done to psych myself into it!

Could I possibly join too? It would be good to have some support on this tricky journey.

I've read Sarah Wilson's book and I'm not very inspired by the recipes to be honest. I have Amelia Freer's and Madelaine Shaw's coming too but I'm thinking they don't completely cut out sugar.

I'm mostly dreading giving up fruit. I am struggling tummy wise with so much more protein (I've always eaten lots of veggies) and finding that I am not going to the toilet very often at all despite eating mountain loads of spinach and broccoli!

Does anyone have any tips to keep you regular? An apple a day seemed to sort me out but with eggs and avocado for breakfast every day it's proving tricky.

Also any tips for after meals when you fancy something sweet? I normally have fruit but gradually trying to ween myself off. Ive had 4 slices of frozen banana today which was enough to take the edge off it and now drinking peppermint tea. Tomorrow I plan on no cheats at all and see how I cope as I'll be out of the house so no temptations.

I've bought some nakd bars. They are just nuts, dates, cocoa and flavouring . No extra or added sugar.

They ate half price in h and b penny sale , so two for £1.

I don't count naturally occurring sugar. It's the refined white stuff made from sugar beet that really does the damage.

Going to look up sarcoidosis . Sounds nasty

Probiotics good for digestion. Probio 7 is buy one get one for a penny

I like the Deliciously Ella book. Look on Amazon for the reviews. The coconut porridge is lovely!

I'm not having any fructose apart from in whole fruit. Be careful with anything processed Dowser- all sugar is from natural sources, and if it has 'been through a process' ie dried fruit, it is as bad as white table sugar. We need the fibre and water from the whole fruit to stop the sugar whizzing in!!!

Yes youre so right senrensareta- honey etc- out of the frying pan in of the fire!

Oh and the best book I've read is Sweet Poison. Very good.

I love the Deliciously Ella website peachy, but blimey she uses a lot of unusual and difficult to obtain ingredients!

(thanks for the recommendation btw)

She does! A lot of odd things. I pick and choose definitely. Struggling this evening and doubting I'm going to lose any weight the amount of nuts I'm eating. :-(

Oh god are you me? I've been munching on a mixed selection of nuts all day! I feel stuffed! Perhaps not the best for weight loss, but for a temporary transition maybe it's forgivable :)

That's what I'm thinking. That once I've kicked the sugar habit I'll kick the new habits I've put in its place!! Argh!

So, well, today wasn't so good. I managed to not eat sweets, but without thinking I had an energy drink. Doh!
Alan, holy sugar in my grapes! I need to find fruit with lower sugar content

Thanks for the heads up Peachy. I have been sniffling a few dates when I needed a bit of something sweet.

Okay! What do I do with all of these nakd bars?

I'll just cut them into five pieces and have a piece of that. Still better than chocolate, toffees etc

At this rate they will last months. I too need to cut back on nuts.

Sniffling? Lol
Snaffling! Ffs!

Is almond butter ok sugar wise?

Isn't it just almonds ground to a thick paste?

Funnily enough, I have I Quit Sugar next to my iPad as I browse.

I am vegetarian and GF, trying Slimming World, but never feel full.

I had a slice of GF Coffee and Walnut cake the other day (as a treat) and that jiggly, niggly 'not full' feeling went away.

I don't like low fat products so feel quite at a loss.

I thought giving up sugar might help?
Does anyone else get the not satisfied feeling if they don't have sugar?

I will watch this thread with interest.

I'm in!

I gave up sugar on Thursday night. I still drink wine (unfortunately my starting to give up sugar coincided with some pre-booked family meals) but don't eat anything with refined sugar, honey, maple syrup in it. Also avoiding dates and prunes and other very sweet fruits. Still eating apples, strawberries and raspberries as it seems the health benefits of fruit shouldn't be given up.

I do 5:2, which works well to keep my weight at what it should be, but I was finding that on the day after a fast day I was craving sugary/fatty foods, such as cake. I'm also concerned that my skin looks very wrinkled and has lost elasticity, which is partly age but partly too much sugar in my younger years, I fear.

I tried Ella's brownies but didn't really like them very much and nobody else in the family would eat them, either. Also, because of all the dates in them, it struck me that they would give you a big sugar rush, too.

I am eating lots of nuts at the moment and trying to use avocado to quell hunger pangs, along with occasional slices of very good Brie.

The tips here are really helpful--thank you!

Sorry to ruin your Nkd bars for you Dowser! Good idea to cut them up. Was imagine you sniffling dates like some kind of hedgehog! I feel a bit better today. Had oats with nuts and milk for breakfast, then sugar free soup and soda bread for lunch.

AFAIK almond butter is ok. The more I go on, the more I realise sugar is in everything! Argh! I am drinking dry wine at weekends- according to Sweet Poison it's ok.

I know what you mean earthymama- I don't get that satisfied feeling and I'm sure it's down to the sugar. According to my book if you quit it completely for a decent while your appetite resets itself.

I'm wondering about doing sugar free 5:2 as I'm not sure if quitting sugar alone will kick the two extra stone I have. What do you eat on your fast days?

Wondering if it might be worth us putting down food ideas/sugar free finds.

Kargs crispbread are yummy.

I am stocking up on savory treats, smoked salmon , lovely cheeses, really nice selections of nuts, 3 or 4 types of humus and all the olives in North America

Fast days are very easy to be sugar-free. I have no breakfast and at lunchtime I tend to have mainly vegs, with perhaps some cold chicken, and a slice of bread. We make our bread ourselves and it only has a teaspoon of oil per loaf. Then supper is often a tiny portion of what everyone else is having, home-made bolognese sauce from the spaghetti, for example, plus lots of vegetables. Or, if it's something more calorific, I will have a poached egg with the vegs instead. Through the day I drink tea and coffee with a little dash of milk.

I used to have a low calorie hot chocolate as well, but that will have to go, as it has sweetener in it. That will be the hardest loss.

I meant to say fast days are easy because I have been doing 5:2 for over two years now and my body just accepts that it doesn't have added sugar on those days.

It's the day after a fast day that the problems have been occurring--my brain insisting on grabbing back the sugar. I am hoping that going cold turkey will just reset my settings!

It might abraid

I think I'm day 8 and definitely not craving sugar.

Do get hungry though and there was nothing to fill that gap!

Oh yes there was...cut up nakd bars. One went down a bit at a time.

Saved me having to bite into it.

Stressful day today. Decorator in . Now I keep impaling myself on painted doors which won't be dry until sometime next week with our luck!

Still all good.

I'm trialling horsetail tabs for fluid retention at the moment.

I'm doing much better today, no headaches, and no major cravings either

Day 2, far fewer mixed nuts snaffled in lieu of sugary treats