Quitting sugar accountability thread

[quittingsugaryay]

I'm quitting sugar for 30 days. I did it before and lost lots of weight, cleared my skin and felt more energetic.
So here are my rules:
*No added sugar (check every label)
*No honey
*I'm allowed to eat fruits but the ones with low glucemic index
*No pasta and no bread.

I'll be using this thread as accountability thread. Everybody is welcome to join.
Thank you x

Review of Day 51 (Monday, 08.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Long day, lots of triggers, but able to consciously navigate the responses.
Had a packed a lunch of black bean and avocado salad and continued to drink copious amounts of water throughout the day. Supper was peas, sweet potatoes and mushrooms in a rich gravy. 13+ steps.
A good day.

Review of Day 52 (Tuesday, 09.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Picked at the leftovers for breakfast. Had a large fried dumpling with salad for lunch. It was a challenging day but a productive one. At home had a few oven chips (McCain two ingredients from Tesco – potato and sunflower oil) remembering portion control as our 1.7kg bag contains 11 servings! Ate it with hard boiled egg, broccoli, a very small amount of MIL pear and peach relish, spinach, cucumber and corn. 18k+ steps.

I tend to use this website to get an idea of what I'm eating.
Simply type in the food item, scroll down, and it should have the details. There is a very interesting scale of 1 - 4, 4 being highly processed. This is an eye opener as the salt content pushes it further down the scale. Good information for nutritional content also.
world.openfoodfacts.org
https://world.openfoodfacts.org/

This is what my veggie sausages showed:
6 Veggie Sausages - Chef Select (Lidle) - 270 g (openfoodfacts.org)
https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/4056489354079/6-veggie-sausages-chef-select-lidle

Thanks for the advice @Kamr123. Had a busy few days and have not been on here but I have made it to one week without any refined sugar! I had comprehensive bloods taken within past 3 months for another health issue so am confident I am as well as can be. Tiredness is improving, no longer feeling like sleeping at 3-5pm but am well and truly ready for bed at 9pm (often earlier!). I am exercising 6 times each week so this could account for it too.

I have been enjoying Indian mangos which have just come into season. They are super sweet but I can’t describe how much I love them and only get for max 6 weeks of the year so will have in moderation.

Hello! Very inspiring stuff. I'm desperately addicted to sugar and want to regain some control, so mind if I join? I have about ten kilos to lose which I've gained since covid times. I want to cut out refined sugar. My diet is fairly good otherwise, I'd say. Day one done, anyway.

Day 1
64.9 kilos
BMI 27

It is wonderful to read about your blood work!
Well done on your first week, and the alleviation of the tiredness.
Do hope you enjoy the mangoes.🙂

Welcome @sugarbyebye and congratulations on your day one achievement. 😃

Review of Day 53 (Wednesday, 10.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
A bowl of g/f oats, topped with a little smoothie (spinach, banana, apple, cucumber and avocado) and peanut butter. Lunch was picked at throughout the day as it was a busy one: two tangerines with a large falafel wrap. Finished work quite late. No real triggers, but was very tired when I arrived home. DD made seaweed wraps with salmon, rice, mixed veg and gherkins. Finished off the day with sugar free yoghurt topped with pistachios. 20k+ steps.

Thanks @Kamr123, your daily updates are inspiring me to keep going :) I have times where I am so tempted to reach for a tiny amount of chocolate. Keep reminding myself holding off will be worth it!

Welcome @sugarbyebye, I am in a very similar boat. Otherwise pretty healthy diet, full of fresh veg, fruit and variety of whole grains but the refined sugar is my weakness. A little always led to a bit more and then a bit more so a complete stop was the only way forward

Thanks guys!

Yeah I am absolutely not one for moderation, I've never been able to master that. I quit drinking four years ago because I was not able to just have one glass of wine, it was always a bottle. I marvel at people who can have just one biscuit, I always devour a packet! Fortunately I love exercise and good food too otherwise I'd have been in real big trouble. But I find if I have a sugar binge it ruins my energy and then I don't feel like going for a run or to the gym so it has knock on effects. However, I've been retraining these last couple of years and had loads of deadlines and I eat too much sugar when I'm stressed, which is absolutely the wrong thing to do, which is why I've ended up overweight and miserable. Time to put things right!

I'm giving intermittent fasting a go as I'm hoping by going straight into an early lunch it will curb some of the sugar cravings in the morning. I did it in January and it was fine. I don't know why I stopped.

It's great to follow you guys who are a bit ahead of me. I will try and do daily updates for accountability too.

Review of Day 54 (Thursday, 11.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Ran late, so breakfast was two hardboiled eggs stuffed in my mouth and washed down with peach and orange herbal tea while heading out the door. Lunch was a black bean salad with avocado, apples, cucumber, corn, gherkins, spinach, tomatoes and large green olives. A good day at work and no real triggers (or simply managing them better). Supper was a very large plate of stir fry vegetables, good helping of mushrooms and the rest of the black beans in homemade sauce. 16k+ steps.
A good day.

Day 2
I had a headache all afternoon and evening, and still have it now. I only had one coffee yesterday though, so it might be caffeine related. Breakfast was a latte, then I didn't eat till lunch which was eggs, romesco beans, sorrel, and seeded sourdough. Went for a run beforehand. Dinner was supposed to be out but my partner was home late so we had a quick pizza and salad. I did have crisps in the afternoon, just ready salted ones, and peanut butter on rice cakes. I'll try and have fruit and Greek yoghurt today instead as I don't think the salt helped the headache.

Review of Day 55 (Friday, 12.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
DH makes a type of pan flat bread 'sandwich' with spinach, tomato based sauce, cheese, eggs, sausage lots of basil and mixed herbs. Had one large wedge and a banana, which set me up for the morning, with two smaller ones for lunch with grapes. Lots of water throughout the day and supper was rice noodles, corn and tofu. Large portion of cashew nuts and lightly salted crisps tied up the evening. 19k+ steps and incorporated a little resistance training using free weights.

Only five days left before I finish my 60 day ‘quitting sugar’ challenge!

These daily updates have become invaluable in terms of reflection and taught me I have to be both responsible (what actions I am taking for my health – mental, physical and emotional) and accountable (how I am dealing with the consequences/outcome). It is an effectual relationship, but necessary to remember the onus is on me to take the steps needed.

Not sure if I should do weekly updates over another 30 days to make it 3 months?

Day 3
Still had a headache for much of the day. I'm hoping it subsides soon. I'm trying to drink more water.
I went for a run first thing so had a smoothie when I got in with avocado, walnuts, pear, cocoa and spinach, and had an early lunch which was the same as yesterdays. I was out all afternoon so no snacking, just picked up a latte on the road. Got back in time to go to the gym for a weights session. Dinner was tofu cooked in a lime sauce. I asked my boyfriend to cook it while I was at the gym and he neglected to cook any bread or carbs with it so it was a pretty light meal! Went to bed feeling very hungry.

Despite the headache, I am feeling more energetic without sugar. I've been going to bed with the guilt of a poor diet hanging over me recently and I can feel the grease oozing out of my pores. I've gone to bed feeling light these last couple of days.

I would be interested in reading your updates for another month @Kamr123

@sugarbyebye, well done completing day 3!

I really like your incorporation of gym sessions. I tend to get up fairly early and tend to work until, well, I'm done (literally and figuratively).

I have been doing a lot more walking which I absolutely love. I would go hiking every weekend if I could. I also enjoy callisthenics, so tend to do that every day: literally 15 minutes in the morning press ups, planks and squats. However, I have started using free weights. So, slowly making that transition.

Sorry to read about your headaches. I know from reading about the topic this can be a common response to reducing or eliminating sugar. Hopefully, it will pass soon. 🙂

Thank you for your suggestion of continuing with weekly updates. 😀

Wow @Kamr123 almost 60 days :) That is incredible. I would be interested to hear updates form you too. Are you planning to re-introduce small amounts back in at any point or stop entirely?

@sugarbyebye well done for getting past the first 3 days. It is certainly hardest at the start, I experienced more tiredness than headaches but it did subside by end of first week.

I am at end of day 11 and experiencing fewer urges to have sweet food. Rest of the family all had ice cream today and I didn't even feel the slightest bit tempted to have some myself. Managing to exercise most days which motivates me further to eat well. I want to gradually cut down refined carbs further (I avoid all UPF but make things like bread at home which I want to cut down more). This will be my next step once the no sugar does not require conscience attention

Day 4
Another day of headaches but I've woken up this morning headache free, so hopefully that's done with now.
A latte for breakfast, followed by a walk with my dogs. I met a friend for lunch in a Turkish cafe and had the most delicious chickpea broth thing with fried pittas and tahini yoghurt. It was super greasy and I wasn't hungry again until 7pm! At which point I had a salad niçoise. No sugar cravings.

@Kamr123 yes I love walking and callisthenics too. I've two dogs so mostly walk them which is generally painfully slow as they sniff everything so it's not really exercise for me, I have to do other things. Lifting weights is something I've got into in my forties as it's really helped combat the feeling I'm getting weaker. It doesn't make me feel fit (I have to run for that) but definitely makes me feel more solid and less likely to fall over on the stairs or something!

@colouroftherainbow well done for resisting the ice cream! Yeah we make our own bread too and that becomes a default meal when we're busy. I've been making us a chopped salad most days for the last two weeks whenever we'd usually have something on toast. I make sure we always have nice salad ingredients in (like mozzarella or sun dried tomatoes, avocados, eggs, jars of roasted peppers etc), and that has been a really nice, quick lunch. I'm going to try and keep it up until autumn.

@colouroftherainbow

Thank you for your feedback! I will definitely be doing weekly updates.

It was interesting to read about your next steps on your journey and what things you will be changing or doing differently.

Things have changed over the last few months since I started this journey, one key aspect has been the return to ‘preparing’ food again. This has included soaking and drying nuts, soaking green lentils that I may leave to sprout, and soaking red lentils for about 10-15 minutes before use. We have always soaked our rice for about half an hour or so before washing, so that was never an issue.

So, like you, it can be a step to making more positive choices.

Review of Day 56 (Saturday, 13.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Usual Saturday morning cleaning. Breakfast was two egg muffins (eggs, spring onion and tomatoes) with avocado, spinach and olives, before we all headed out for most of the day. Took a container of nuts, grapes and apples, along with chicken wraps for the kids. Supper was chickpeas with homemade gravy, lots of steamed veggies (broccoli, carrots, cabbage), cucumber and hummus. Made a large pot of homemade popcorn (never add salt) and we settled on a new horror film for the evening.
A great day.

Review of Day 57 (Sunday, 14.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Slow morning with family. Large bowl of porridge, with red smoothie (added beetroot) and peanut butter on top. Out for a few hours then back for a little work. Lunch of cabbage, sweet potatoes, red lentils with hummus and cucumber. In the evening wasn’t feeling too hungry so had yoghurt with chopped banana, cashews and blueberries. 22k+ steps and lots of water.
**
Starting weight: 10 stone 4lbs
Current weight: 8 stone 12lbs

Review of Day 58 (Monday, 15.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Busy morning so grabbed one of the spring rolls I was making for lunch, for breakfast. Lunch was grapes, banana and two large spring rolls. Supper was lots of veg, egg and black beans in homemade sauce. Lots of work pressure but have long since passed the urge to eat processed sugar or automatically reach for something to quell the feeling. 19k + steps.
A good day.

Your updates are so helpful, thank you.

Day 5 and 6

I'm working away at the moment at our head office but that's nearly a week done! My headaches have gone and I've managed to ignore the biscuit tin and celebration cakes at work for the first time ever. It hasn't been that hard, I think because I'm not 'dieting' so if I'm hungry I can go and eat something as long as it's not got refined sugar in it.

Went out for tapas last night and had mexican tonight. Baked potatoes or sandwiches for lunch. Tomorrow is pizza for lunch so I might skip it and see if I can seek out a baked spud or soup instead, and driving home in the evening so will stop at Leon on the motorway services.

I got up early and went for a run from my hotel this morning, so that's good going too. Didn't feel as sluggish as I usually do.

@sugarbyebye

It is fantastic that you managed to get in a run.

You are doing so well, and you pointed out a really good point when you stated:

'It hasn't been that hard, I think because I'm not 'dieting' so if I'm hungry I can go and eat something as long as it's not got refined sugar in it.'

Well done.

Review of Day 59 (Tuesday, 16.04.24)
No processed sugar/reduced intake of salt/reduced intake of processed food.
Scrambled eggs with veggie sausages to start the day. Work was very challenging, but now actively working out the issues as they arise instead of being submerged under a wave of sugar. Lunch was falafel with a heavy salad (diced cucumber, tomatoes, olives, pickles, apples, spinach, corn and red peppers). For supper, it was a small plate of oven chips, corn, broccoli and beans (cannellini beans in homemade tomato sauce). A few nuts in the evening with a sugar free yoghurt before I called it a night. 17K+ steps.
A great day.

Great to hear you are both doing well and you have got past the headaches @sugarbyebye. Got to admit, I have been tempted to have a little bit recently from being in environments where I have been offered desserts I would not usually have access to but having a similar mindset that food is plentiful and only sugar is off limits right now really helps. I am enjoying plenty of fat in my meals (and not expecting much weight loss as a result!)

Exercise is generally going well too, making it to the gym most days and steps are up now school run is back on!

Week 2 complete and now onto week 3 :)