Tomorrow I quit sugar

[OuchBollocks]

I am OuchBollocks and I am a sugar addict. Not for me one square a day or a frozen curly wurly to take the edge off, no. I have it, I eat it, I want it more.

Last year I quit sugar for New Year, and stayed off minus one or two teeny slips until I got pregnant with DS, then being off alcohol and caffeine combined with the summer heat made the lure of a cold Fanta too hard to resist. Then I broke my leg and was bed bound and in pain and people brought chocolate to the hospital, and the meals all came with dessert, and then I had DS and more chocolate, then Easter and more chocolate, and although I've managed to drop a dress size so far with the 5:2 diet I need to jack in the white stuff. I am going to Ibiza in September '18 and I want to feel confident.

God help me,it's going to be hard. The rules are:
No sweet drinks, including artificial sweeteners
No chocolate, sweets, icecream, cake, sorbets, pastries, jam, marmalade etc etc
No crisps
Read labels of sauces carefully to check sugar levels.

I will update this thread for my own personal records. I am going to kiss sugar goodbye with the slice of cheesecake that is waiting for me after dinner. Goodbye sugar, it's been fun :(

I'm long haul cabin crew Overly, I used to use Red Bull to keep me awake, and sweets on the long drive home. I never thought I'd cope without it (been like that for 20yrs!) but a punnet of grapes and a latte works well now. I don't get the highs and lows as much now anyway.

I really thought I'd cracked it for the first half of the year, I'm surprised I slipped back so easily over the last month! 😫

I’m not sugar free completely but very very close. Diagnosed type 2 diabetic 6 weeks ago and am furious with myself. Still very much at the learning stage but have cut out all sugary stuff. All cakes biscuits, pastries, sweets, chocs, fruit juice etc. I do allow myself Diet Coke. I really couldn’t cope with giving that up too although I drink a lot less than I did.

It is doable and I’m just getting to the stage where I don’t really think about the sweet stuff anymore and if I can do it... Have lost a stone and a half in the last 6 weeks. To make it more shit, I’d been to a Cadbury outlet shop three days before and now have a huge bag of lovely things that I can’t eat but I’m buggered if anyone else is getting them! Thinking of framing them...

I am at the time of day when being alone with two small children gets difficult and I seriously want to boredom eat

That's a great weight loss Caroline. Could you chuck the chocolate in the food bank collection point to get rid of the temptation? Has cutting out the processed sugar made any discernable difference to your diabetes yet?

I'm hooked on sugar. I need to do this too. Will try after my hols.

I have a headache. Could this be the result of giving up sugar? I have only managed two days? Do the headaches stop when my body adjusts?

Overcome I'm veggie, so yes! However if I wasn't I'd eat ham, bacon and occasionally sausage. I just meant I tried to avoid packaged food, ready meals and sauces etc. I still had the odd takeaway and plenty of meals out though.

Panda Ive met people that had headaches initially, real withdrawal symptoms, but it was mostly people who gave up carbs too.

Hello please may I join you? I'm going to struggle massively though. Never tried this before. A typical day for me is:

7am: cup of tea with 1/2 teaspoon sugar and a tiny drop of milk. Will reduce this to 1/4 teaspoon, but can't go lower as I can't drink it and I love my morning cuppa.

7.30am: cereal with the kids. Is Weetabix with banana ok?

10am: more tea with biscuits/cake. Will switch to cheese and crackers??

12.30: sandwich/omelette/salad followed by fresh fruit and yoghurt. Is full fat honey Greek stuff ok? Or better to go fat-free? Will check label to see if sugar in top 3 ingredients.

3pm: more tea and biscuits. How do people not have biscuits etc when their kids are having yummy treats and snacks?!

5pm: healthy-ish dinner. Lots of veg. Naughty pudding like ice-cream about three times per week.

9pm some nights (esp weekends): a couple of glasses of wine with some sweets or chocolate/crisps/popcorn.

11pm: bowl of cereal before bed, otherwise I wake up between 1am-3am with hunger pains?!

I'm 5ft 7" and 10st 11lbs. Was 10lbs 4lbs in March after doing SW again Would love to shift that 7lbs again. Am at top of healthy BMI range, and my jeans are sooo tight.

Do you all give up booze entirely?! I'm a SAHM to 2 kids and look forward to my wine or cider at the end of the day...

AFAIK the Greek yoghurt with honey added is very sweet and honey is basically sugar. Your body treats it just the same as table sugar. Maybe try to eat a plain one with some berries in it?? Or buy the plain and add your own honey so you can just add a tiny bit. Personally I find the fat free one pretty grim (grainy texture) and the fat keeps you fuller longer.

Re kids treats, I basically don't keep them in the house (other than Rich tea for school) and the kids are used to it. It does help that we live in Asia so snacks tend to be more savoury- mine love Japanese rice crackers, jerky, savoury rice cakes etc. I also make them plain popcorn with a little bit of salt added after cooking (buy the corn and pop it myself- costs pennies).

You could try eating more protein at breakfast to stop you snacking mid morning. I find if I eat a high protein breakfast (eggs or Greek yoghurt) it keeps me fuller. Half an avocado mashed with lime on oatcakes is another good one (not high protein but good fats in avocado), or cheese on toast. Have you ever tried Chia pudding (chia seeds mixed with any type of dairy or vegetable based milk and set in the fridge)? That's quite nice.

I am cutting back on alcohol but not quitting entirely. I'm drinking weekends only and switching out wine for vodka with soda water and fresh lime.

OvercomeByGravity yes, it's super hard when the kids are allowed sugary treats. They're 3.5 and 6.5 and have always been allowed unlimited fresh fruit, a biscuit or slice of malt loaf/cereal bar for one of their snacks. Then as it's the holidays and we're out all day I now have small chocolate bars and treats such as lollies and ice-cream in, which are so much cheaper in Lidl than buying them out and about at attractions. Problem is, when they're in bed, I start to raid the kitchen. Where are you? Hope you're enjoying your holiday!

Cantseethewoods thanks for the tips. How old are your children? I have Asian friends and know what you mean about them not having lots of refined sugar/sweet treats every day.

I will get some full-fat plain Greek yoghurt and try to enjoy it. Can't do eggs for breakfast, my stomach just isn't ready for them and there won't be time during term-time. I don't like spirits ! I wish I did. Have tried switching to vodka before but I don't like soda or sparkling water etc so would have it with Pepsi Max and not enjoy it.

I've got to give up diet fizzy drinks and no-added sugar squash, too, haven't I? This is going to be so hard!

I did 28 days no added sugar before I caved. Second day was the worse and as the time passed I stopped feeling hungry at all which was a revelation.

I drink a lot of kefir to fill me up and I love porridge made with water, a banana and tsp of coconut oil.

Sometimes I feel this is a bit like popcorn. As in lots of people are conditioned to eat popcorn at the cinema. I have lots of conditioning of times when I eat sugar.

Every time we make the choice not to eat sugar we overlay our memories/conditioning of every choice we previously made to eat sugar. Eventually the conditioning gets altered and our habit of not eating sugar becomes the norm.

Additionally every time we choose not to eat the sugar we get a positive point of self esteem - every time we eat the sugar we get a negative point of self esteem.

I find it easier to resist if I break each and every time down to a choice and think about it for longer rather than shoving it in quickly trying not to think about it apart from beating myself up about eating it.

OvercomeByGravity I think you were bring wildly optimistic trying to quit while on holiday in France! Enjoy the delicious food then come home with fresh resolve. Are you having a good time?

rizlett I agree about the conditioning. Cake with coffee, dessert after meals, office buns, biscuits with cups of tea, sugary drinks and actual popcorn at the cinema, it's never ending. Some people can resist or do it in moderation. Not me :(

Hello,
Please can I join? I bought the I quit sugar book and started the detox on Monday. I haven't found it too bad but am not sure whether I can eat bread/pasta etc, does anyone know? I realised that I fill my kids with sugar and pick at whatever they're having, I nearly did it with buttons in the week without knowing I was doing it. I've got 2 1/2 stone to lose 😔😔. Good luck everyone!

My name is Mooey89 and I am a sugar addict.

I'm giving it up too, to kick start me back into the zone.

sophster I think the detox has specific rules? But personally I'm still eating bread and pasta, less of it and trying to make sure I gave them with good fats and protein to minimise the sugar spike and crash. I could do with losing about 2 - 2.5 stone as well.

Hi mooey :)

I ate bread and pasta and lost a steady 1lb a week and inches off all over. Other people lost faster on other diets, but fell off the wagon fairly quickly.

Paul McKenna's book on sugar is v good, plus the I Quit Sugar page on Facebook (their most asked questions section particularly).

I think if you're too harsh you fall off the wagon. An apple is not bad for you, and porridge is about the best breakfast you can have.. You can always tweak things if you need to be harsher, but I've eaten a lot and enjoyed it and still lost 25lbs in six months..

I refuse to get worked up about an apple or a bowl of porridge. Porridge is a great breakfast food, low GI, satisfying. I've fallen out of the habit of making proper porridge but DS will be starting solids soon so I'll start making nice thick porridge then.

I really need to do this! Am pregnant and diet is disgusting this time around. V worried I'll give myself gestational diabetes (I know it doesn't work that way) or just somehow harm the babe. Gross woman I am! Luckily heading home from my parents' today and at my own home there are no temptations... unless I buy them.

I always think 'I need some biscuits in the house to offer visitors'... then I go home and eat them all, so don't even have any when visitors come round! I totally know what I'm doing. I have an Intuitive Eating book I've been meaning to read for a month so need to crack that open.

Sugary foods give me heartburn at the mo anyway so no idea why I have a compulsion to shove them in my face :(

Bendy I was getting loads of heartburn, and within 3 days of doing the no sugar/processed it stopped completely.