The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

cookie02

I made it through Wednesday sugar-free but broke again yesterday!  I'm finding it harder right now, especially due to my advent calendar.  I've decided I'm just going to just enjoy it now, skip the chocolates on the days when I'm feeling more disciplined and see how I go.  Two sugar-free days is still a win for me.    

Honey_Bear, glad you managed to get your booster and I hope you are feeling better now.  

Everyone, I hope you are staying well and that you have hit your targets for the week (and that you aren't too hard on yourselves if you've also given in and indulged!).  Have a great weekend 

Honey_Bear

Cookie, you're an inspiration to me.  I'm so all over the place having lost a couple of days after the booster that if you hadn't posted I wouldn't have thought of doing so, so thank you.  Well done on getting through Wednesday and I totally understand how haaaaaard this is at the moment.  This is maximum chocolate time of year, so hard to resist when it's absolutely everywhere so it's hardly surprising there are going to be days when the tempatation is overwhelming.  Any sugar-free days are a HUGE win!

I'm over the booster reaction, thank goodness, and trying to catch up on all the things I didn't do on those days.  I'm slowly drowning here!

I'm doing okay this week on the sugar front so far, better than last week which I'm very pleased about.  I massively wanted something sweet after a quick lunch today, so I settled for one of those date bars again.  I can't break that habit but at least it gets some dates into me which is better than a 100g slab of chocolate.  I may not make it through the evening without indulging but so far so good.  A lot better than it used to be before I started this Challenge, anyway! 

[Deleted User]

Hi @Honey_Bear, can I join please? I have tried a few times to cut  out sugar. My weight has ballooned since cutting out alcohol. I managed to give up sugar for 3 weeks last year in the run up to Christmas and felt great but then, well, Christmas.

I'll have a think tomorrow about a plan for myself once I've read through the thread.  

Honey_Bear

Welcome @[Deleted User] - of course you can join!  I stopped drinking about seven years ago and thought that I'd lose weight as a result but, like you, found the opposite happened so I share your pain.  The good news is I now realise that what works for me is learning from successes and sucking up the mistakes but not beating myself up about them.  Feeling guilty, feeling shame or feeling anything negative is not going to change anything for the better, so I absolutely don't allow that around me any more when I'm settling into any new form of self-control. 

Christmas seems to be throwing this Challenge into a bit of chaos.  All the adverts are pump-priming us to eat, drink and buy crap of every description, and that whole over-indulgence thing creates an atmosphere where no amount appears excessive.  If ever there was a month when cutting back on sugar would be difficult it's this one, so go easy on yourself for a few days while you think about what you can realistically hope to achieve, rather than what you'd think you'd like to be long term.  In my case in August when I started it I knew I'd be doing well if I could go just one day a week without sugar and managing that gave me a great boost, so I heartily recommend starting small and building up.  Equally, if your 'thing' is eating sugar several times a day and you're not at all sure if now is the right time to set what appears to be a daunting target, I'd suggest going easy on yourself and try No Sugar Before Noon on only one day a week, or something similar.  Start small, and plan to build gradually.  Sugar is not alcohol - it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  I've watched enough of those You Tube videos where people talk about going sugar-free for a month as a Challenge, like cold turkey, and most of their time is spent reading labels and being shocked by how many products contain sugar and how many names there are for sugar.  Well, duh!  Start gently, go easy on yourself and find a way to limit your intake over a set period, no matter how short, for a calendar period and plan to extend that time slowly.  It works!  We can work on losing weight when we're no longer craving the stuff all the time.  They're two separate issues.

As for me yesterday, it wasn't perfect.  Giving the kitchen a thorough clean meant I found two things I could combine - an open packet of my favourite biscuits and an empty bisciut tin which was a good thing.  Unfortunately I knew the biscuits were there, but they weren't for long ....  And then after dinner sugar on my raspberries which just weren't the same without it, and then the Advent calendar ....   So, I managed four and a half days sugar-free again but not five.  In all honesty, much as I'd have loved to make it the full five days, I'm amazed I managed four and a half given what I was doing back at the beginning of August so once again I'm letting myself off the hook.  I may not make it to the full five days in December but it would be wonderful if I could.

[Deleted User]

I didn't manage to be sugar free today.  My plan is to follow your advice @Honey_Bear and start with one day a week which will be a Sunday.  I am only talking about refined and added sugar but natural sugar in fruit is ok. Also condiments will still be used as well.

So, one day a week no sugar from cakes, sweets, soft drinks etc. I'm going to switch to sparkling water in the evenings as I like the fizziness. I'll need to rethink my coffees that I have at work (usually 2 a day) as they are more of a confection than a coffee with 3 sugars in as well as evaporated milk. At this time of year I feel like I use the caffine to get through the day so will need to come up with a different way of making it that I still enjoy. 

I'll swap the day over the New Year period as I am booked into a spa hotel with OH and I'll be eating the delicious puddings they make at lunch and dinner. 

I'll report back tomorrow on my first sugar free day and aim to post daily for mutual support.

Honey_Bear

Well thought through @[Deleted User].  Good luck with tomorrow.

I didn't get through sugar-free, but then I didn't intend to today.  I'm rather surprised at how little sugar I ate, but then again I made some paté and ate two slices of toast with that for lunch, soooooo, what with all the food I eat on Saturday anyway I'm feeling rather full and sluggish tonight, even without sugar. 

Jazee

Still not having many if any sugar free days here but so greatly reduced thanks to this thread.  I was thinking back to when DH and I first shared a home.  We bought a bag of sugar every week and I didn't even bake then.  It went on cereal, fruit and into drinks.  So glad those habits have changed. We now buy about one bag of granulated sugar a year.

[Deleted User]

Confession time. I didn't manage sugar free today. I've realised from today that it's sugar yes but also 'eating behaviour' that I need to change. I had a good productive morning and then I sat down on the couch in front of the TV - and I just had to have a snack.  I do most of my snack eating (ok, all of my snack/sugar eating) on the couch watching TV so I need to rethink this.

I'm going to try again tomorrow. I have a plan of what I'm eating at work, including some fruit for break time so I'll see how I get on.

Honey_Bear

Jazee, to go from a bag of sugar a week to one a year is truly amazing but I imagine that was a gradual process rather than an overnight change.

The amount of sugar I used to have in tea and coffee horrifies me.  Two teaspoons in every mug and I drank gallons of tea every day, but when it got to the point that I was making two mugs at a time for myself that I realised something had to change! 

Allie23, it's a habit.  We all develop them without realising what we're doing until one day we suddenly become conscious of what we're doing and realise a bit of adjustment is needed.  I used to smoke and drink while watching TV, (I gave them up 15 and seven years ago) but I still need to do something with my hands, so I crochet.  We're not in need of blankets but I've made four over the past couple of years, square by square, because it keeps my hands occupied which stops me even thinking about snacking.  I'm not suggesting crochet for you, I'm suggesting if you can think of anything that you'd enjoy doing while you were watching TV that would help break the habit of popping something in your mouth.

I ate like a pig today, but I think the paté trick is working.  Fortunately Belovéd loves it, so we've happily had it on toast for a late lunch which he might not want in the week, but will do me very well.  It'll get my iron levels up, is high in protein so it'll help stave off the mid-afternoon munchies, has less calories and cholesterol than cheese and might be having an affect on my chocolate cravings.  I haven't wanted to eat my own weight in chocolate this weekend and that's a first.  Back on the sugar-free regime tomorrow.

Jazee

Oh yes HB, very gradual change.  Probably a good way to make new habits last.