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

lynnejk

I have almost given up sugar for the last six months. I don't think it's necessary to give up all sugar unless for medical reasons, but I just think of most sweet things as an occasional treat.


I have porridge every morning and add half a teaspoon of golden syrup. I also eat three or four portions of fruit every day, I know they have sugar but it's also the fibre and vitamins etc and I do think the sugar is processed more slowly. Don't try to do it with fruit juice though as that's loaded with sugar and no fibre.


I don't eat biscuits, cakes, desserts or sweets at home. If we go out for a coffee I might have a piece of carrot cake maybe once a month. The occasional times we go out for a meal I might have a dessert.


I don't eat much processed food apart from half a GF basic pizza tarted up once every two or three weeks and an MnS £10 special about once every two months. I'll have a sandwich or toast or toastie on H*vis about once a week, so just two slices.


I have two squares of dark chocolate (80%) on Saturday night as a treat sometimes if I remember.


I found that I can't drink tea without a little sweetening and have found a product called truvia. It's made from stevia plants and I use the powder - about a third of a teaspoon in a mug and it's plenty for me.


I think eating is more about balance. If you look at what you eat every day and it's out of balance with sugar (or anything else) then it's good to address this.


I have found that not buying sugary foods, or if like me you have others in the household that want to eat them, then keeping them out of sight in a cupboard really helps. I have increased the amount of protein I eat every day and, if I want the odd snack in the evening, I have a few nuts (try to avoid the salted ones though)


Don't know if any of that is helpful
Lx

VfM4meplse

^^Thanks for joining us, this is exact thing of support I was looking for. Small steps and we'll get there.

lynnejk wrote: »

I don't eat biscuits, cakes, desserts or sweets at home. If we go out for a coffee I might have a piece of carrot cake maybe once a month. The occasional times we go out for a meal I might have a dessert.

You are very disciplined, unfortunately I don't think I could stop at just one small piece so it's best to stay away altogether.

I had a sugar dump (all my instantly available goodies - lotus biscuits and bags of chocolate mini-eggs ) before I started: I piled everything into a huge carrier bag and buried it deep in a cupboard my sister's kitchen, behind multiple pots and pans. She's a teacher, I'm going to ask her to give them to the kids at the end of term if she so wishes.

I realised on waking this morning I no longer crave the sweet stuff first thing, yippee! Still headache-y though.

VJsmum

I quit sugar just over a year ago - the aim was an 80 /20 arrangement, but it is more like 90/10. I also eat no commercially made bread (I make sourdough), no pasta, no cakes i haven't made myself (where they either have no / little sugar or i use xylitol) - even then i eat little cake.

Apart from the one day quite soon in, when i would have had a colleague's arm off for the Wispa it was holding it's been ok.

My downfall is alcohol :beer: - since quitting sugar I can really appreciate a real ale, whereas before they were too bitter.

Tips:
The cold turkey approach worked better for me than gradually cutting down, but i appreciate not everyone is the same
If i eat sugar / cake / ice cream I do it at a time I can exercise it off
Mostly things are too sweet now so I don't want them
I do eat a small square of 85% cocoa chocolate daily - i have it with my morning coffee. I call it my "medicinal" chocolate
i do bake (mostly for DS lunchbox), I make a tea bread where i use grated apple or apple juice in lieu of sugar (though it does have fruit in it as well), banana bread (the recipe says 6oz of sugar, i put in 2 oz of brown sugar and 2 oz xylitol), lemon drizzle does have quite a bit of sugar, though i substitute some with xylitol but it's DS favourite so i make it occasionally. The tea loaf and banana bread are sliced and frozen so me and OH don't randomly hack slices off cos it's there.
REal ale can be savoured like red wine :beer:

I lost a stone and a half in the year and have kept it off :T

moneyistooshorttomention

Can we have the recipe for the apple bread please?

I'm guessing too that it's made with wholemeal flour? - or would work with it okay?

Goldiegirl

lynnejk wrote: »

I think eating is more about balance. If you look at what you eat every day and it's out of balance with sugar (or anything else) then it's good to address this.

I think balance is the key.


I have to keep salt to a minimum to control Meniere's Disease, but apart from that I eat a balanced diet with no 'banned' substances.


If you have a medical need to restrict or remove something from a diet, I think that is fair enough.


But if you are eating for general health, I think a balanced approach, with some treats is the way to go


Also, the whole diet needs to be looked at. It's no good banning sugar, but smothering your food in salt, or eating lots of fatty things.


Moderation every day, with a few treats here and there is a reasonable and balanced way to live.

VfM4meplse

Moderation is fine in theory, but it doesn't seem to apply to me where sugar is concerned.

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Can we have the recipe for the apple bread please?

I'm guessing too that it's made with wholemeal flour? - or would work with it okay?

Yes, recipes with fruit substituted in for sugar would be really handy to get us through the tough times. Had a small square of my banana bread with my morning coffee and it tastes even better today. Its a bit like Soreen, but without the stickiness and bitterness.

greenbee

Dates are great for when the sugar cravings strike...

DevilsAdvocate1

I want to cut down on sugar because I think I have diabetes. Going to see my gp about it.

I don't want to start thinking about calories or anything like that. I spent most of my teens and twenties on diets and I was obsessed with calories. Definitely don't want to go there again. Even though I'm overweight, I'm not bothered about losing weight, just want to be healthier.

NewShadow

Goldiegirl wrote: »

but smothering your food in salt

I'm actually under drs orders to add salt to my food - I tend to faint and my heart can stop (really slow down) if I don't.

I get lectured (not by you) by the health brigade at work about how bad salt is for me.

Salt is required by out bodies to function and lots of people collapse during the summer every year because they cut down on salt (salads) and don't rehydrate their electrolytes - resulting in heat stroke.

Balance in everything.

I'm cutting (or trying to) processed foods (added sugar) - not all sugar, not carbs, and not any other element of my diet.

[Deleted User]

I would like to join you. I have been comfort eating for 15 months and there is no let up. I know all about the healthy diet, the insidious way that sugar sucks me in, the hidden sugars in sweet fruits. I am a chocoholic and get terrible mouth hunger, not stomach hunger. I have specific times in the day when I have to eat sweet things and it is always between 1 and 5.

I am busy before 1 and don`t think of snacks and 5 is my absolute latest time to eat because of that nasty gerd that can strike in the night, the one that can possibly lead to stomach cancer if it is allowed to eat away at the oesophagus. That thought is enough for me, to overcome any thoughts I might have in the evening, so much so that I never think of evening nibbling

My sweets are all finished but not the chocolate and so are the lovely hm biscuits that were meant for visitors :rotfl: but I ate every one of them and they were lovely, even in a frozen state. Lesson learned, no more hm biscuits because I have no will power

I am increasing my protein a bit as too many greens are not good either as they can inhibit thyroid, so no more massive helpings of spinach and cabbage and I gave caulie up weeks ago as it promotes gerd in me but is also a throid inhibitor. Fewer greens and more protein will help the stomach satisfaction, for me

Sweet fruits like bananas, peaches etc are a no no for me. Breakfast on a typical day is jumbo oats, almond milk, frozen blackcurrants and 1/2 tsp local unpasteurised honey. So far I have two sugar subs that seem to satisfy that mouth hunger, a large round rye cracker with a little blue cheese or a slice of my own bread with peanut butter. I think I need to gather a list of instant satisfiers

I like veg, I like wholefoods and wholemeal. Fortunately

newshadow, I agree 150% with everything you say about salt. My husband may well have lived if it had not been for the avoid salt publicity. We give horses salt licks and humans would seek salt if our minds had not been programmed by false data