Sugar addicts anonymous

[Fhee]

My name is Fhee and I am a sugar addict. It has been approximately 13 hours since I ate a nutritionally void sweet treat. I am going cold turkey on:
Biscuits
Cake
Chocolate

I am not going low carb, but also out are any non-sweet treats that have the same impact on blood sugar, i.e. crisps.

I will not be cutting out fresh fruit. That’s just silly.

Anyone one else need some accountability?

I am enormous. I had my baby 10 months ago and still only fit in my maternity clothes. I need to lose 2 stone but an aiming for 1 stone initially. This is the plan that I have decided for myself:

100 day 'S' challenge
S is for:
No sugar
No seconds
No scoffing the children's leftovers

• except on days with no S in them (Monday and Friday), which will be a little more relaxed.

I also need to try and fit some exercise in which is difficult as i am a SAHM and husband works v Long hours.

I need help. I've just eaten half a big box of left over ferrror rocher today (nearly ten pieces) and I'm not stopping yet. Already had loads over xmas too.. I don't think I can go cold turkey until there's none left in the house..

@Thethingswedidanddidntdo

I am enormous. I had my baby 10 months ago and still only fit in my maternity clothes. I need to lose 2 stone but an aiming for 1 stone initially. This is the plan that I have decided for myself:

100 day 'S' challenge
S is for:
No sugar
No seconds
No scoffing the children's leftovers

• except on days with no S in them (Monday and Friday), which will be a little more relaxed.

I also need to try and fit some exercise in which is difficult as i am a SAHM and husband works v Long hours.

Oh I like that 100 day challenge

I'd like to join too please! I have gained a stone in just over a month and need to go cold turkey as I have no self control otherwise. I am also cutting out all junk as it's all addictive and until I lose a stone I'm not going to have bread either.

Can I just say to anyone with a lot of Christmas treats to get rid of please consider giving away anything unopened instead of binning? I just put a bunch of chocolates on the Olio app and a lovely woman came and collected it - she said otherwise she wouldn't have been able to give her children any treats at new years due to being skint. Hearing I'd helped her felt a lot better than eating all that sugar would have.

Good call @NotJustACigar, I was thinking of leftovers rather than unopened boxes when I suggested binning them.

Welcome everyone!

I’m on day two and while today hasn’t been a great day for healthy food in general (had guests and there has been cheese…) there hasn’t been any sugary crap. I did have a small scone (no jam) so not entirely sugar free, oops. I will do better tomorrow!

We don’t really celebrate new year so socialising is done for the season, time to get serious!

Hello all! Hope it's okay for me to join...I just made another thread about my sugar woes before I came across this one!

I am going try for the 839101st time to eliminate sugar. Problem is, I just eat other food instead to make up for it. I haven't read this entire thread but did find the mention of yeast overgrowth and probiotics interesting- I suffered terribly with thrush when breastfeeding...I wonder if that's been a contributing factor? My sugar cravings are insane. I just have no discipline/it doesn't last long. The days when I do manage to stay away from sugar, I feel soooo good- clear mind, more energetic, and just really good overall. Wish me luck!

Yesterday was pretty good about 80% less than I usually consume.
I’m getting a bit more organised and I’ve got rid of a lot of Christmas rubbish food I was given.
I gave up caffeine so I can do this.
I definitely think drinking more non sugary stuff will help.

Please can I join you all. Sugar is my life. I am so addicted. I had a baby 3 months ago and gained so much weight during pregnancy. I have been slowly losing it, with 1.5 stone to go. I’ve always had a sweet tooth but I’ve definitely lost control over it in the last year or so.

Our three year old seems to be going the same way so we’ve agreed to make sure we have nothing at all in the house that can be tempting and get back to basics.

I will start on 2nd January. I’m also considering doing intermittent fasting, and also looking forward to restarting exercise. I’ve been doing a lot of walking but not much else as yet as I had a c-section and it’s taken a while to recover.

Really interesting to read about the benefits of oregano oil and the yeast issues in the gut. This is definitely TMI but since giving birth I have been plagued by awful wind. I have also been eating a lot of rubbish. I am sure that my gut microbiome is completely out of kilter, and I think I need a good probiotic.

The only thing I’m concerned about is how I will get through the awful sleep deprivation without the sugar rushes and treats…..

Good luck @OhHappyDayyy. I totally agree about feeling so much better when I'm not stuffing my face with sugar. I am so addicted.

Day one for me yesterday wasn't too bad. I did have the last slice of Yule log and a twirl that I found lurking in the bread bin, but compared to my usual standards, this was a good day for me.

I decided to take the tree and decorations down last night to try and get into a better head space. My brain sees a fairy light and assumes it's time to eat as much chocolate as possible 😂

Good luck today and hello to the new joiners.

Placemarking to comment properly later

@Cherchez

Good luck *@OhHappyDayyy*. I totally agree about feeling so much better when I'm not stuffing my face with sugar. I am so addicted.

Day one for me yesterday wasn't too bad. I did have the last slice of Yule log and a twirl that I found lurking in the bread bin, but compared to my usual standards, this was a good day for me.

I decided to take the tree and decorations down last night to try and get into a better head space. My brain sees a fairy light and assumes it's time to eat as much chocolate as possible 😂

Good luck today and hello to the new joiners.

🎄🤣😂🤣

Day three for me. House is pretty much back to normal in terms of available sugary snacks. Tiny bit of Christmas cake but DH promises me it’ll be gone soon 😄.

I love your pavlovian response to fairy lights @Cherchez. Unfortunately my strongest association with snacking is studying, and I’ve got a fair bit to do of that in the next few days. I need to replace it with something else. Maybe put a kettle bell in the kitchen and wander in to do a few deadlifts instead 😄.

Starting today.

Gave up Sugar 6 years ago following the basic methodology in ‘I quit Sugar’ by Sarah Wilson. (Some of the things she suggests, like totally giving up fruit in the early days, were too extreme for me, but the basic premise of needing to break my sugar addiction, and many of the tips she gave in the book, worked)

OMG the difference, I lost all my stomach fat and cellulite, along with a stone and I felt fabulous. My cholesterol values also dropped dramatically.

And then after a few months the sugar very, very, gradually wormed it’s way back into my life. Although, one lasting habit is that I am no longer the chocolate addict I had been for most of my life.

So…. Time for another go !!

I really want to join this too but I am worried. I seem to have problems with (what I think is sugar levels) dipping.

I can have a relatively healthy day then feel insanely shaky and poorly and need (I think) sugar to make me feel better. I always feel like I might fall down and fit (mad I know because I'm not epileptic but DO have an under active thyroid that I am medicated for)

I need like a proper plan of meals that won't make me feel prisoner to my body.

@indecisivewoman81

I really want to join this too but I am worried. I seem to have problems with (what I think is sugar levels) dipping.

I can have a relatively healthy day then feel insanely shaky and poorly and need (I think) sugar to make me feel better. I always feel like I might fall down and fit (mad I know because I'm not epileptic but DO have an under active thyroid that I am medicated for)

I need like a proper plan of meals that won't make me feel prisoner to my body.

When you’re having a healthy day are you also restricting food in other ways? Maybe at first find some low sugar/low GI snacks (nuts? - no dried fruit though) to replace sugary snacks to keep your blood sugar topped up in a more stable way, and then start reducing them once your blood sugar is less up and down.

@Fhee that's a good idea. I will have a look into including more nuts on my diet to try and level the sugar levels

How are the other early starters doing? I managed another day yesterday, with reduced cheese intake this time 😄

Any good tips from the book @Lunenburger? I had a quick look but the reviews were quite mixed.

I was better than usual yesterday. I did really well until about 8pm and then had 3 small squares of dark chocolate and 4 jelly beans. I don’t think I ate enough in the day so will try to eat more today so I don’t get that late night urge! Well done on your reduced cheese intake @Fhee

Finally commenting. Before Christmas I managed to get to my first goal of 11s12, so under 12stone - my second goal was 11s7. However all the sweet stuff at Xmas has derailed me. First chocolate free day yesterday and I aim
To complete a week of this.

My goal is 10s7 - or even 10 if I can. I can eat chocolate in moderation but when there's been a period of intense chocolate eating I have to break it for a week to 'reset' almost so my palette changes again.

SW 12s7.

Sounds like you early starters are doing well. Today is my last day of eating what I want (gulp). Although weirdly, I am almost looking forward to starting because I am determined to lose this weight. I'm cross with myself because I did a similar thing last year. I was really good from New Year until Easter but then Easter chocolate was my downfall and I put the weight back on again.

Thank goodness I have found you. 2021 has been an awful year and comfort eating has seen me undo the work of years to be the heaviest I have ever been. Start cutting out sugary snacks tomorrow.

Count me in

@Fhee, I can understand the reviews being mixed, particularly in relation to the recipes,

But her books do contain useful tips. I read her first one alongside Robert Lustig’s book Fat Chance, so what I learned was a combination of both.

The important lessons for me were;

• how fructose is digested in the body and why we don't feel full eating it.
• how sugar impacts the body and our health
• how addictive Sugar is
• just how much sugar is added to processed foods. Especially those labelled ‘low fat’

Things I took away were

• To home cook wherever possible
• To really read the labels
• to understand food in terms of teaspoons of sugar. A glass of Apple Juice is a lot less appealing when you recognise you are drinking 8-10 teaspoons of sugar. Ditto that dollop of tomato ketchup, or fruit yoghurt.
• There is no such thing as a little bit of sugar if you are really wanting it out of your life. Each time you eat it you kick start your addiction again.
• the importance of hydration, particularly in the early weeks when trying to ditch sugar
• reducing carbs and quitting sugar at the same time is very tough. I just quit sugar, but found that once I got beyond the first month my appetite for carbs really diminished.

In the six years since I first quit I have also recognised that it was ready meals that dragged me back into my sugar addiction. A habit that just crept up when working long hours and looking for an easy solution. I understand that I am definitely an addict when it comes to the white stuff and will personally have to work much harder to keep it out of my life.

As it is 6 years since I first read the books I have mentioned I will probably look for some more recent books today to encourage me in this attempt to cut sugar out of my life. Any recommendations would be gratefully received.

So Day 1 for me yesterday, no sugar at all, but a ferocious headache and very irritable. I know this will pass but until then ……

Why We Eat Too Much had some interesting bits about sugar and insulin. The book itself was good at answering the question in the title but got a bit lost in the last section about what to do about it I thought. I might have a re-read.

I'll be joining you. I'm not sure whether I "just" have a sugar addiction or whether I also binge eat. Whatever it is, I don't have an off button when it comes to sugar.
I ate the last of my favourite Christmas chocolates and treats yesterday and have had a clean day so far today. Off to friends this evening at which I will be eating & drinking and I doubt will feel vile tomorrow. I then have my booster on Monday so I probably won't start until Tues. That also gives me a chance to go to the supermarket.
Also upping the exercise in January. It's going to be a painful month! I won't be doing it alone though which always helps