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

Soworried

I've never thought of putting cardamom in to my natural yoghurt! I have to try that, I have both in.

VfM4meplse

Soworried wrote: »

I've never thought of putting cardamom in to my natural yoghurt! I have to try that, I have both in.

Get the pestle and mortar out and crush it first though! Finding a whole seed in your mouth is highly unpleasant.

june89

Found a lovely chocolate bar by Conscious Chocolate in my local health shop. It uses raw cacao and is sweetened with agave. The mint flavour is gorgeous and creamy, like after dinner mints. £3 for a TINY bar though so it will definitely be an occasional treat!

I am nearly out of biscuits! I bought some little snack pots of houmous to have as snacks but haven't figured out what to have them with yet - I hate raw carrots which is the most common pairing. But one step at a time. :rotfl:

VfM4meplse wrote: »

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!

This is why I'm a fan of Starbucks when I'm out. It's expensive but I can order exactly what I want as every ingredient is customisable. You do need to be careful with the blended drinks as they use a base mix in those but the iced americanos are just espresso, water and ice. There's also cold brew coffee which shouldn't be sweetened.

Definitely avoid anywhere that uses those premix machines (e.g. the fast food places) though as they have an insane amount of sugar in them. Think it was BK who had about 40g of ADDED sugar in their large cappuccinos! I wouldn't even want to think about their cold versions if they're adding that much to hot.

VfM4meplse

june89 wrote: »

This is why I'm a fan of Starbucks when I'm out.

Reporting from Starbucks as I tap!

I consider today to be a bit of a fail, having slipped back into my old ways

I made some banana and orange bread yesterday (varied the quantities in the recipe, a lot less oil so a lot more chewy) and that is essentially all I've eaten all day - a bit at around 11am, and a bit just now with my iced latte. I did bring a sandwich out its me but it's been hanging around all day so was unlikely to enjoy it warm! Am eating out this evening but now beyond hunger - so being healthy seems to have gone to the wall today. I also prefer my HM iced latte on account of the fact it is actually a latte and not an Americano with a cursory dash of milk, at least I get some protein in my version.

Adding orange zest and juice to the bread has combined with the banana and date to produce a bubble-gum like flavour, interesting! I'll stick to orange and date next time, but hold off baking until next week as I don't want to swap one poison (sugar) for another, which is what ended up happening today . It's only Monday so I'm going to have to make up for it during the week.

Eta: it's just occurred to me, today is like a (5: )2 day

splishsplash

I think I'm doing well atm, despite several takeaways and eating outs. It's easy at home - hm soup, salads/dressings, hm dinners based on seasoning rather than anything containing added sugars. For sauces, I'm sticking to things like coconut milk, hm sugarfree bbq sauce, tomato-based sauce/sofrito or pesto.

I fried a diced chicken breast to add to soup the other day. The pieces had a lovely caramelized crust on them. I kept them on a plate in the fridge and they never made it into the soup as I snacked on them all day - killed my sweet tooth very effectively. I think I might use that as a strategy for weekends and days off when I find I'm most tempted to treat myself to something sugary.

I also find strong coffee is good to kill a sugar craving, so that's going to be my strategy for days out. I'll be a quivering wreck, but a sugar free quivering wreck:j.

VfM4meplse

splishsplash wrote: »

I also find strong coffee is good to kill a sugar craving, so that's going to be my strategy for days out. I'll be a quivering wreck, but a sugar free quivering wreck:j.

Agreed, it hits the spot in a way that tea doesn't.

Although not overweight, I now feel far more conscious of the visceral fat I need to lose. A systematic review suggests that there is a dose-response to exercise, of at least 10 hours a week (which is the equivalent of 2hrs, 5 days a week).

Quite a lot, then :eek:

dekaspace

I still have sugar but its more whats added to things I buy rather than conciously buying something, I drink diet drinks now and lost 3 stone in a year doing so, the only difference now is sometimes I crave some sweeties when I didn't in the past but even that is quite rare.

Most of my diet is bread or meat products.

My skin is far better for the most part but I keep getting a few small boils under my skin on my chest that only occured since I changed to diet.

splishsplash

Yesterday and today were very busy, so I ended up having relatively little to eat: salad at lunch and a 25g bowl of porridge with a teaspoon of maple syrup in the evening plus an apple and a banana.

Not the most balanced eating, but plenty of natural sugars even without the maple syrup and I feel completely satisfied. So 5:2 done for the week and no problem with sugar cravings.

Tomorrow will be a day away again, so I plan on having lots of coffee all day and I think I'll bring a salad with me.

splishsplash

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Agreed, it hits the spot in a way that tea doesn't.

Although not overweight, I now feel far more conscious of the visceral fat I need to lose. A systematic review suggests that there is a dose-response to exercise, of at least 10 hours a week (which is the equivalent of 2hrs, 5 days a week).

Quite a lot, then :eek:

I may be wrong but I think the MET they mention is the Metabolic Equivalent of Task (i.e. how much work you're doing compared to when you're at rest).
So a more intense activity (e.g. running) could be 8 MET i.e. costing you 8 times more energy than when you're at rest; so a half hour run would be 4 MET hours.

So a half hour run twice a week or the usual advice like 150 cumulative minutes of moderate intensity exercise like walking will do the trick :j.

VfM4meplse

I can't believe it's been a month! Time for a bit of reflection.

Do I crave sugar per se, or in processed goodies? No :beer:
Do I feel much healthier? No.
I have felt a lot better on the days when I have exercised more
The days I have binged on carbs (think 2 Weetabix biscuits plus bread) I have felt less so. Croissants are a better alternative (for me, at least). Butter is not bad. Iced coffee made with skimmed mild is great. Fruit now tastes super-sweet.
The days I have planned properly, prepared a meal in advance and eaten protein have been the most successful.
Must stop making no-added-sugar banana bread, because that's all I'm then inclined to guzzle.

So have I really beaten my likeness for the sweet stuff? I doubt it
Will I continue? Yes. :A
What is to be gained by going back to my sugar-scoffing ways? Nowt