The "I Quit Sugar" (by any method) support thread

splishsplash

I've just topped up my store cupboard and I'm a bit gutted to find so much added sugar in pretty much everything I've bought - oyster sauce, mirin (glucose syrup), rice wine vinegar - I think pretty much everything I bought had added sugar.

Then I came home and had a bagel and cream cheese - yup, sugar in both of those too.

This is going to be tougher than I thought.

Seakay

jackieblack wrote: »

Hi
I've looked at different marmalades but there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference in the amount of sugar they contain.
I actively avoid anything with artificial sweetener in.
The St Dalfour ones look lovely but are nearly 4x the price of my usual brand and the jar contains half the amount!
Maybe when I win the lottery :rotfl:

It would still be (very!) expensive, although less than comercially available (I think) but you could save up for xylitol or honey and try making your own. This recipe gets the bitterness from pulverising the seeds etc so you can use ordinary oranges instead of waiting for Sevilles

http://www.thefreshbeet.ca/2014/02/orange-marmalade.html

Seakay

splishsplash wrote: »

Well I roasted my hazelnuts a bit too well - some got burnt. I added 2 level dsp cocoa powder to 200g blitzed hazelnuts and about 2 dsp of maple syrup. It tastes very good but slightly bitter, so next time I'll try to not burn the nuts and add only 1 dsp cocoa.
Definitely healthier than the real thing and very, very rich. Soo good.

thank you for this, what a brilliant idea!

erik99_2

You do know that there is more manuka honey sold (and paid for) than is produced globally, don't you??

VfM4meplse

splishsplash wrote: »

I've just topped up my store cupboard and I'm a bit gutted to find so much added sugar in pretty much everything I've bought - oyster sauce, mirin (glucose syrup), rice wine vinegar - I think pretty much everything I bought had added sugar.

Then I came home and had a bagel and cream cheese - yup, sugar in both of those too.

This is going to be tougher than I thought.

Don't be too severe on yourself, you don't need to make it any harder than it already is. Cut out the obvious sources (sweets, chocolate, cakes, fizzy drinks etc) and then look at the fine print (eg condiments) once you've lost the taste for them. Sugar is in many processed foods, it turns up in unexpected places

VfM4meplse

3 weeks and still going strong! Just working out how to get more veggies in now.

I had a bit of a revelation last night....I will never be able to recreate the light fluffiness of cakes without sugar and eggs, only my barely-sweet dense fruit-pulp breads. Not that I am too bothered at this moment in time, but baking sweet treats is one of those hobbies I'm going to have to drop.

VfM4meplse

Still going strong apart from the occasional headache.

Watched a load of anti-sugar stuff on YouTube last night, seems to be working. The long-lasting legacy to the slave trade is more motivating to me than the health benefits though.

There's a lot of stuff out there about fruit, which I've eaten a lot less of anyway. From what I can see it's the processed fructose (corn syrup etc) that is the health baddie, not a bit of fruit in moderation.

VfM4meplse

Still going strong!

Am going to make some banana bread using a different recipe today - no carrots and much less oil to get a lighter result. The baby loved the last lot (not a big eater by any means) so I'lll see how she goes with this. Also was replenishing my baking supplies as I'm having to use a great deal more spice and unsweetened dried fruit rather than sugar if I wish to maintain this hobby. I was stunned how expensive mixed spice appears to be now! But I bought some coconut oil on special offer, so swings and roundabouts I suppose. I'll try this recipe should I get desperate for sugar: http://www.mumsnet.com/food/recipe/259-Sugar-free-banana-and-date-flapjacks ...strangely I haven't been and don't predict the day I will be, either!

Sunflower1227

VfM4meplse wrote: »

3 weeks and still going strong! Just working out how to get more veggies in now.

I had a bit of a revelation last night....I will never be able to recreate the light fluffiness of cakes without sugar and eggs, only my barely-sweet dense fruit-pulp breads. Not that I am too bothered at this moment in time, but baking sweet treats is one of those hobbies I'm going to have to drop.

I make these without the optional extras, they are great

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/no-bake-mini-banoffee-pies/

VfM4meplse

^^ Thanks sunflower, but I doubt I will make this as it looks too sweet for me


Yesterday I went out for the day, no breakfast as usual but fully prepared for the munchies with my thick strained yoghurt in my ceramic coffee cup. I'd added crushed cardamom, and grated orange rind using my BN microplane. Even though I'd taken care to avoid the pith it was sour as hell, but I added a few currants and some chopped cashews to make it palatable (which worked).

I then had a small satsuma, which I had to stop eating. Why? Every segment I popped into my mouth felt like I was eating a lump of sugar. It was a bit of a personal revelation that I could reject something on the grounds of being too sweet!

By 8pm I started to experience the crash I'd feel in my high-sugar days at about 3.30pm. I was in town, so there were lots of options....but none felt particularly healthy (normally the snack of choice would be coffee and cake, or I'd rush into a supermarket for a pastry / bakery biscuit). I waited for it to pass, but it didn't . So I curtailed my day, distracted myself with a good book on the tube, and waited until I got home. Had a healthy ploughmans sandwich at 9.30pm and still feel full to the brim now.

It later occurred to me later that an iced coffee might have worked, but I don't trust them not to be pre-mixed with sugar. My palate is now so attuned to the taste of anything sweet, even skimmed milk tastes sweet to me!