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

splishsplash

Afternoon and what a rainy, humid afternoon it is here .

I live in a very touristy area and I can't help but feel sorry for all these people who have paid a fortune to get here for the height of the season; now they can't see anything, go anywhere and trudge around in the rain under their umbrellas looking very miserable.

Salad for lunch today, fishcakes with spuds and ratatouille for dinner.

VfM4meplse

I am heading into new territory now, at week 14 it goes beyond the 7 times table!

Although no sugar is now the norm for me I found yesterday hard. Out and about in town, I would have liked to have treated myself to something summery on a stick to snack on....my only iced option as I could see it was coffee! Am going to make some latte lollies for myself for home use but I can't see what else I could have bought yesterday. The sad fact is I'm in London where food of every variety surrounds me.

VfM4meplse

Still going strong; what would have been temptation three months ago didn't even register as food yesterday. (To me it's now on the same level as meat, which I don't eat either). I cracked the hot weather treat conundrum by buying some grapes from a chiller cabinet. A handful did the trick and filled me up too.

Was surfing trashy TV just now and came across a show dedicated to chocolate on the Food Network. For a short while it made me think about making a chocolate pie with shortcrust pastry and a ganache filling (using 60% cocoa chocolate, and single cream) rather than the sugary concoction promoted but that notion passed pretty quickly.

My teeth have been much better lately. I still brush them at least 3 times a day, but they seem to be far brighter even though my tea and coffee consumption is still high. Which reminds me, I need to book a check-up at the dentist next week.

splishsplash

I'm a bit stunned to think you can make a pastry pie with chocolate ganache and it's sugarfree, but you are correct, with sugarfree chocolate - it is! That's one for the books.

I think I'm getting to the place I was aiming for. I was eating a lot of sugar and simple carbs (bread, pasta, floury things) and I felt it was making me have a huge appetite, which led to large portion sizes.

Lately I find I don't have that huge appetite any more. I'm serving normal portion sizes and happy with them. I haven't had anything sweet this week at all (apart from some fruit). Fingers crossed.

Lunch today, fish soup and salad.
Dinner will be taco mince, sweet potato wedges, spicy beans and salad.

mardatha

I use a lot of 85% choc for the diabetic husband - you can melt it and dip frozen strawberries in it or grate it over Greek yoghurt

VfM4meplse

splishsplash wrote: »

I'm a bit stunned to think you can make a pastry pie with chocolate ganache and it's sugarfree, but you are correct, with sugarfree chocolate - it is! That's one for the books.

'Twas no more than a fleeting fantasy that passed the minute I changed channels.

My appetite waivers and aside from the occasional cheese scone or croissant and green bananas (now a daily staple), simple carbs are generally off the radar now but I do always seem to find room in my tum for Weetabix / generic equivalent with full fat milk.

A big bonus I noticed this morning after 3 months of eating more dairy instead of carbs: my finger nails seem far stronger. I am now gearing up for phase II of the plan from Day 100: to replace most of the fruit I eat with vegetables. It's going to start on holiday and continue with a bit more focused attention to my shopping and kept from mid-August. Am trying to get hold of Neal Barnard's books in preparation.

sniggings

Ok, for anyone interested, got my Zotter chocolate, seems a good company to deal with and the delivery was packaged extremely well...but on the taste, it's not for me, I ordered a few different bars, 90%, 96%, 100% and the one made with 30% milk but no sugar, the milk one tasted like one of those cheap easter eggs you got as a kid, the others were just not to my taste, very smooth, not bitter, but just didn't have that plain chocolate taste I'm after.

So I'll stick to my Lindt 90% which I'm looking forward to buying again, once I get through this lot

mardatha

Fruit is high in sugar V4, that's a good idea. If you need help munching through that stash sniggins then gimme a shout!

splishsplash

Morning. Another week gone by and it's a bank holiday weekend here :j.

It's good to hear about the Stotters chocolate, sniggings. Maybe it would be ok to use in baked stuff? I find the very high content chocolate is way too bitter to eat on its own.

I'm happy with this week. I've had long days and not been tempted to go for anything sweet. I've had two fast days which were easy - it helps to be busy at work, I just work through lunch, quit early and have dinner in the evening. Non-fast days have been fine too.

Yesterday was the most taxing. I had a very early start ( before 6am), back home for a bowl of soup at 2.30pm then dinner at around 7pm. I felt really hungry in the evening so I had a banana and an orange, which hit the spot. That's a major shift for me - before this I would have had to eat bread/fat to feel satisfied.

Today will be yellow split pea soup and salad for lunch and hm burgers w/wedges, ratatouille and kale for dinner.

VfM4meplse

^^ Glad you're persevering, splashsplash.

splishsplash wrote: »

I felt really hungry in the evening so I had a banana and an orange, which hit the spot.

Its worth investigating good 2-fruit combinations:

- orange segments with sliced banana
- green apples with black grapes
- strawberries and kiwi fruit
- melon chunks and blueberries
- pineapple chunks with green grapes
- mango and blueberries
- peach / nectarine slices and raspberries
- pear and strong cheese*
- and my favourite, stewed apples with single cream*

I made some high cocoa chocolates with fruit and nuts (inc salted pistachios, these work well) as gifts this week, tasted a tiny bit but could take or leave it. Which is just as well as everyone else took it!

Am busy finishing the contents of my fridge today: not much left now, and I aim to be down to milk only for tea and coffee making purposes tomorrow morning. Any left over will be frozen into ice cubes for iced coffee later next month. I start eating vegetables properly from tomorrow lunchtime, that means counting at least 4 portions a day as well as a portion of protein. It's going to make food very boring, but should put an end to my Weetabix binges.

* technically not 2 fruits, but there's nothing to stop you from have a double serving