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

mardatha

My downfall is suppertime. I dont eat breakfast but after 6 o'clock I could nibble a lot of rubbish, like cornflakes with sugar and cream on..:eek: I'm struggling to find something I like for supper.

VfM4meplse

mardatha wrote: »

My downfall is suppertime. I dont eat breakfast but after 6 o'clock I could nibble a lot of rubbish, like cornflakes with sugar and cream on..:eek: I'm struggling to find something I like for supper.

Eating breakfast is not mandatory, as some diet fascists might suggest. I also have no issue with the cream, just a teaspoon when I am hungry fills me up. Just try to have a fast of at least 12 hours in 24 (eg last thing eaten at 11pm - first thing eaten at 11am) and make sure the first thing you do eat is protein based, try and avoid snack-y carbs (my downfall is the baby's rice pops, I can finish a pack in 2 days if not controlled!) and also try not to snack after your dinner time. You might find it easier to tell yourself you can eat what you like btwn X and Y hours, but nothing after then. Try it for 3 days and then keep extending it, you'll find it easier after this point!

Once I got the sugar under control, I felt so much more motivated to [STRIKE]move my butt[/STRIKE] exercise.

splishsplash

Three or four times a year I soak up a batch of chickpeas overnight, then boil them up the next day. Today was one of those days as yesterday's lunch used the last of my freezer reserves...

I used 600g chickpeas which yielded about 1.3kg after boiling.

Out of that, I've frozen four bags of 100g for future use; made hummus similar to this but I don't add oil or water and I don't pre-mix anything, just lump the lot in the food processor and blitz until smooth. I've put some aside for lunches during the week and portioned the rest into little containers and put in the freezer.

Next I made some roasted spicy chickpeas; toss chickpeas in onion and garlic granules, add a little seasoning of your choice - I used cajun today - roast for 30 or 40 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes. I meant to make them with the soaked beans before boiling, but forgot. The result is less crunchy but nice nonetheless. They will be used as snacky bits or salad croutons.

I also made these peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Recipe says it makes 16 - 18; I got 12. There are no longer 12, I'm afraid. They are really lovely and not too unhealthy. They are sugar free and gluten free (and once I find Free'ist chocolate they will also be dairy free) yet they taste so rich it's impossible to eat too many of them. Believe me, I tried . So nice...definitely on the 'will make again' list.

Lunch today: yellow split pea soup (and PB/choc chip cookies, oops); Dinner will be chicken and cashew nuts, rice, veg.

splishsplash

Good luck with your journey Mardatha! I smoked for years and ate what I wanted (which was all kinds of sugar, junk and fast foods), finally quit smoking six years ago, but with a strong family history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, heart attacks etc, I figure diet must be tackled too. Especially as I put on a shed load of weight after quitting having been skinny as a rake all my life...

I'm now aiming to cut out sugar, wheat and dairy as well as upping dietary levels of of vit k2, magnesium and potassium and supplementing for D3 and iodine. I never eat breakfast and follow a 5:2 diet most weeks.
I agree with a low-carb approach unless physically working or exercising hard, but I would be a little worried a high fat diet would not suit me with my family background. I can feel my triglyceride levels rise at the thought of it:eek:.

I had to laugh at your post VfM4meplse about the gasps of admiration when you stripped off. It made me think 'yeah, there would be gasps too if I stripped off, but they wouldn't be gasps of admiration, more like horror and nausea...':rotfl:

I can't see any change in my weight and shape but I didn't really expect to. I know my resting heart rate is well under 70 bpm now which was a major aim in quitting smoking. I'm interested to see if this new approach to diet has any effect on blood pressure and cholesterol. I'll be checking in December.

mardatha

Good going splishsplash
Hubby is type 2 diabetic and has had 3 heart attacks - he's the one who always ate healthy food. Neither of us have ever smoked. So it's easier to do this because I feel cruel eating pudding in front of him (unless he's annoyed me, then I REALLY ENJOY IT lol). But he is the type who will eat anything, and I'm a dead picky eater. However there is always berries & cream, jelly & cream, blah de blah. I have to say though VfM that for me the cravings just never went away, even though I've gone without sugar for months a few times.

VfM4meplse

A mixed day for me. Yesterday I was having afternoon tea with a friend an realised how much I miss the ritual of having something sweet / naughty with the hot drink, even though I am not hungry. A satsuma is just not the same thing! I'm not tempted to go back but I do miss treating myself. It's not going to change unless I start visualising sugar as being poison.

I later collected some blood results taken when I was 9 weeks into my regimen. I have made massive positive lifestyle changes over the past couple of months, yet there has been no radical change in the blood markers I would expect to see, à la Michael Mosely. It's heading in the right direction but the results are minuscule compared to the scale of the change I have made. Yet I look noticeably thinner, and feel better.

I mulled this over my no-sugar stewed apples and single cream last night, and realised mustn't be discouraged by the test results. All it means is that I have a weird metabolic profile, it's not an excuse to say "what the hell" and revert to my previous ways.

mardatha

What about Stevia or stuff like that? I use that but it does keep the craving going. It's very hard staying sugar-free and I do feel admiration for people who can do it.

VfM4meplse

mardatha wrote: »

What about Stevia or stuff like that? I use that but it does keep the craving going. It's very hard staying sugar-free and I do feel admiration for people who can do it.

I don't use sugar substitutes as I know it would make it easier to slip into the sugar habit during a vulnerable moment.

Having said that I do use ripened bananas in yoghurt, pineapple, melon etc which I eat because I like the taste rather than to satisfy any craving.

mardatha

Have you found any cakey/biscuity/flapjacky thing that is reasonably sugar-free Vf4? I seriously miss a flapjack !

VfM4meplse

mardatha wrote: »

Have you found any cakey/biscuity/flapjacky thing that is reasonably sugar-free Vf4? I seriously miss a flapjack !

I started the change by making a no-sugar banana bread - which I adore! - weekly: the sweetness largely provided by pureed carrots, bananas and a few dates. I also had a vague plan to make flapjacks using dates (boiled in a small quantity of water, pulped and reduced to a sticky syrup) in the place of golden syrup. I never got round to making it though because I realised I was still eating the banana bread in preference to proper food. I'd have been far worse with the flapjacks because mine [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] were PAST TENSE legendary for their deliciousness.

It was my gravitation towards sweet stuff that needed to be consigned to the abysss...