Sugar free January

[ShitIforgothelves]

Would anyone like to join me doing this?
I'm eating carbs still and having sweetener in coffee but no cakes, biscuits, chocolate or puddings for a month. I haven't got any meals out or special occasions planned so that should help.

I’ll join - although start tomorrow. Just re read my quitting sugar book and sort of ready. The first few days are so hard and I am well entrenched in the addiction just now but cold turkey is the only way. If I can just get through tomorrow I will feel more positive.

good luck to you. Have you done it before?

No I haven't!

I am joining in too. Too many sugary snacks, and chocolate!

Me too!
Not doing low carb, still having chips and gf bread and basmati rice but no chocs, crisps, biscuits or cakes.

Me too! I am still having fruit though- are others?

Yes still fruit, potatoes, rice, noodles and couscous.

Frozen fruit is amazing for helping with sugar cravings- especially frozen pineapple!

Yes to fruit. Ideally not more than 2 portions a day. Raspberries and blueberries better than grapes or bananas.

I try to do this most January's. I then manage to mostly not have sweets, except for occasions, throughout the rest of the year until December when I build back up to sweet things most days and then am addicted. It's a cycle, some January's are harder than others, depends on whether I've been more or less decadent in December! I find "luxury" fruit helpful - for me this means the prepared mango, etc., so I don't have the hassle of prepping it.

Ps, I also lie to everyone. I simply say that I don't have a sweet tooth. I totally do, but I'm very selective so that I don't reignite the cravings, and this lie helps me when saying no to a sweet.

I am doing no sugar and almost no carbs (only from veg really, but no potato etc). Started 4 days ago and have had a bad headache but that seems to have passed now. I have done it before and lost 2 stone and felt amazing. My IBS disappeared, I slept better and I had loads of energy. Kept it up for 18 months or so but fell off the wagon and now feel dreadful again!

Me! Yes please!

I'm reading Dr Chatterjee's 4 Pillar Plan, which is fab. He advocates cutting out sugar, so I'm giving it a go. Fruit stays, obviously. I'm shocked, now that I'm looking for it, that most supermarket bread has sugar in it! I made a loaf of wholemeal soda bread today, which has none - took me under 10 mins plus 30 mins baking time, so I think I'll do that from now on.

I'm also going to try to stick to whole foods and avoid ultra processed stuff. Hopefully should make a difference. Going to be reasonable about it all though - no counting calories for me. I have a lot of weight to lose, but actively dieting has only resulted in me becoming steadily heavier as I weight cycle along, so I'm going for health and we'll just see what happens along the way.

To those who have successfully cut of sugar for the most part - what benefits did you see?

I'm going for a health angle too. I need to lower my blood sugar.

I really want to do this, but don’t know if I’ll be able to stick to it. I’ve tried numerous times before but never get very far. My sugar eating has gotten out of hand again lately though, so I’ll give it some serious thought tomorrow and see if I can manage to join you!

I think it would be good to have some strategies for when you feel the only answer is biscuits or chocolate eg,make a cup of tea, drink a glass of water, eat some cheese! Or the 10 minute rule, if I still want it in ten minutes I will have it but by then the urge has usually passed.
It's only a few weeks. We can do this!

I'll join too please. I'm eating too much sugar

I've done this regularly. Such a brilliant way to reset. Tip number one is not to replace sugar with fake sugar. Two is to massively increase protein at every meal and huge reduce carbs. Three increase all non starchy veg.
Such a life changer if done properly.
L

Can I join please? I've done low carb sugar free december and I lost 6 kilos, I would like to do it this January too and see how much can I lose! I also feel better, with more energy and my skin looks amazing.

I greatly reduced my sugar back in around 2018/19, setting myself up for a rule where all my cakes and dessert stuff was only ever eaten at cafes or nice meals out, which in my case was fairly infrequent.

Indoors, to help keep the habit, I get nuts periodically as well as fruit and dried snacks. Roasted split peas and broad/fava beans in a couple of flavours each which, besides being healthy, are also quite difficult to eat loads. Fava beans are quite high in iron and other useful stuff, and beans generally are quite good for protein, which is why they're considered healthy

Good morning - Planning for sugar free day one for me. I agree with thinking through temptation scenarios and what to instead. Water, nuts and cheese are all good. I normally end up drinking endless cups of tea. Good luck everyone.

I like your idea, @ShitIforgothelves. There's been an influx of threads over the past week or so on Weight loss chat that sound a bit lost or desperate, but your plan is a realistic, achievable challenge that anyone can do.

I have cut sugar in the past, my tip is not to have sweets and chocolate in the house at all. Once it's in the house (or car/office drawer etc.), think about it: you're setting yourself up for a challenge already. If you didn't buy the stuff there wouldn't be that challenge. It's obvious what the easier choice is. My philosophy is once you've bought it, it's as good as eaten (if you see what I mean).

Thanks, yeh been there done that with the desperate OTT plan so just going to do this. I already exercise anyway.

I'm not weighing myself either except on the 1st of each month.

@spookehtooth re "Roasted split peas and broad/fava beans in a couple of flavours", this sounds good, where do you get them?

I made it through day one. Temptations at work and home but I did fine. Quite a bit of afternoon snacking on cheese and toast but no sugar.

I buy them from a local unpackaged shop in Norwich, its not a chain but they deliver nationally https://www.ethicalernie.co.uk but it takes a £50 shop to get free delivery I get a bunch of stuff from them in bulk, so it works out well for me

Otherwise, to look elsewhere, the brand is called Hodmedod’s