Tips on reducing or removing sugar from diet

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I really want to reduce the amount of sugar I consume, or eliminate processed sugar altogether. I’m really struggling though, I love biscuits, cakes, sugar etc!

Has anyone done it successfully and able to share tips? What alternatives are there, or do you know any good recipes? I know fruit is a good substitute but how much and how to make it interesting?

Good fats. If you full up on steak fried in olive oil with some veg you probably won't want the sugar. However if any of us knew a 100% foolproof solution we would be millionaires from selling it!

I'm better with no junk in the house to snack on. Difficult in my household but that's another story.
I " allow " myself to choose to have something sugary sometimes when I'm out. But I can say no too and that has become more normal: most bought stuff is disappointing really.

At home I like finishing my main meal with a clementine. We had berries and cream a couple of times this week, I'm used now to skipping the meringue. I have yoghurt and defrosted frozen berries throughout the year: I save the cream for the fresh summer berries so it's become something to savour!

I do find I slip into eating more and more junk if I lose awareness. I really need to have a sketch of a meal plan and I've taken to eating leftovers of healthy stuff with some pre prepped salad veg for lunch (at home most days) so I'm not wandering about after a small sandwich looking for other family members' snack bars / biscuits etc.
Ime it's been two steps forward one step back. I do think cold turkey would be best but my environment doesn't lend itself to that.
I now have a health condition where high blood sugar is considered a risk factor so my motivation is helped considerably by that. I've never been overweight either so it's not obesity related. Sugar is not a friend, sad to say.

Frozen pomegranates are also amazing as a substitute to ice lollies in the summer, I buy them from Tesco. We all go mad for them!

Don’t just look at the obvious biscuits/cakes etc. There is so much sugar in favoured yogurts, juice, preprepared sauces etc. “That sugar film” is very good, think it’s on YouTube. I cut it out totally for a couple of months a while back and felt amazing but I have a very sweet tooth and the biscuits and chocolate crept back in. I have managed to stick with cutting out the flavoured yogurt/sauces/most prepared stuff 80% of the time though. Should really cut out biscuits and chocolate again to shift the lockdown stone...!

100% cocoa chocolate doesn’t have sugar in it. I found it takes a while to adjust to the flavour but am really happy to eat it now if I feel I need a chocolate hit.

I gave up processed food in January after reading the same book as @OhMyChrist2020 . What I've found is that now my palate has adjusted to not tasting added sugar, naturally occurring sugars taste much sweeter - i.e. fruit and veg. I'm amazed by how sweet broccoli tastes, for example.

It's tricky! I did it for a month or so because my teeth got sensitive and there was a really painful one. I still had good quality organic fruit (with ground linseeds and almonds) for breakfast but I I lost nearly a stone (without needing to). I lost that tired feeling too. I don't eat wheat anyway due to the exhaustion from it.

Though now I'm eating dark choc after meals due to doing lots more exercise round the house, helping dh who is ill. The craving just creeps up on you , with the craving for more salt in your meals. .

I do find that molasses is a good sub. e.g. in plain yoghurt it does have magnesium so I feel it does me good! I certainly haven't put on any weight anyhow!

Thanks again, some really good tips. The 100% chocolate is becoming much easier to get hold of these days too, if not then 90% is usually everywhere.

I’ve found eating nuts too, when I want a snack is a helpful substitute. Agree with what everyone says though, better to not have stuff in the house but so hard with the kids/hubby etc as they aren’t giving it up.

Yes, it is hard when the stuff is still in the house. My very slender husband eats chocolate, biscuits etc. I have to try to pretend it's not there and make sure I have healthy alternatives if I feel the urge to snack. I ask myself the question - would I prefer this chocolate bar which will be gone in two minutes if I eat it, or would I prefer to be able to fit into my size 10 skirts again? I try to fast-forward in my head to how I'd feel after eating it, to convince myself the very fleeting pleasure would not be worth it.

I often tell myself if I have been thinking about a sweet item of food for a length that I would have eaten it by now if I had eaten it straight away. Then I pretty much pretend I have eaten it!

I read Why We Eat (Too Much) and watched That Sugar Film... then when cold turkey by avoiding all ultra processed foods. It’s been surprisingly easy.

@grasstreeleaf

I often tell myself if I have been thinking about a sweet item of food for a length that I would have eaten it by now if I had eaten it straight away. Then I pretty much pretend I have eaten it!

That's a great tip - thank you!

Yes newpage Nuts are a good sub. I like fresh walnuts and almonds, sometimes ground on a bowl of fruit, or in a smoothie. They fill you up too.