The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

Makingabobor2

RandomOne said:

Honey_Bear said:

Hi there @RandomOne and welcome.  Of course you'd be welcome to join us anytime and I totally get why you don't want to do so just before Christmas - there's no way I could start this Challenge in December. 

I'll be starting again from scratch myself on 7 January, one day a week sugar-free initially, and then adjusting it to two days a week when I'm ready until I'm back up to five days a week.  I just can't go cold turkey but I have found that doing this Challenge has gradually made me much less likely to reach for sugar or chocolate as the first thing to eat when I get the munchies, even if I can't make it through the day without indulging.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year and we'll see you when you're ready.

Thank you @h@Honey_Bear I appreciate it. Would you mind if I followed suit and cut it down by 1 day a week? I think I'm less likely to get withdrawal headaches etc. 
I think my main culprit is wine, to be honest, so I'm sure it'll do my waistline some good as well as my health. 

Do you mind if I give my thoughts on protein too @M@Makingabobor2 ? I lift weights at the gym and eat about 80-90g of protein a day. It can be SUPER difficult and quite expensive (in my experience anyway). I buy protein powder that tastes like Vimto and is added to water just like juice. I hate traditional protein powders that you add to milk, so the vimto one works for me. But, I would say it was expensive. 
Tinned fish is great, especially tuna and mackerel. I have them with baked potato, on toast or in a salad. Tinned fish from Lidl is great and also cheap. About 80p for a tin of mackerel.
Beans on toast is another good one.

Thanks @RandomOne for the tips. I do eat a LOT of tinned fish, as I have Osteoporosis and trying to help that, so maybe I can boos that a bit to get more protein. Can't eat beans as they upset my IBS. Think if I overhaul my diet I can definitely get this sugar craving knocked on the head...although I'm not sure I'll ever give up my dark chocolate for good.

Honey_Bear

@RandomOne when I started this Challenge I honestly couldn't go a day without sugar and it was driving me mad.  The worst part about it was that the more I ate the more I wanted, mainly in chocolate but desserts, buscuits and cakes were all becoming a regular part of what I ate every day and it wasn't doing me any good at all.  The only stuff online I could find were poeple who had gone cold turkey and cut sugar out completely but they all said they had withdrawal symptoms.  I don't have a thing for pain so I wasn't about to inflict that on myself.  The plan, in August 2021 was to cut out sugar one day a week, September 2 days a week, October 3 days a week etc.  High days and holidays are exempt and weekends are eat whatever you want to eat.  High days and holidays are not only bank or public holidays but those days when you're out to lunch with a friend, you have friends coming round, you're out with your partner and there's an ice cream van ... whatever.  I don't want to be around people who don't enjoy life and treats are a part of that.  What isn't okay is treating every day like a High Day or a Holiday.  I've done that for too many years. 

There were times when I thought I couldn't do three days in a row, so I'd break them up and then I discovered I could, so eventually by December I could do the whole week without sugar.  I was delighted by that.   Cookie, who's been here from very early on realised she didn't want Friday evenings to be sugar-free every week and I'm with her on that.  Friday evening is the beginning of the weekend and I allow myself chocolate then and I love it!

In January I will be starting with one day a week, and gradually add in more days as and when I'm ready to.  It's up to you how to structure what you want to do, and you'll become aware very soon of your triggers - for me the most dangerous time of day is 3.30 - 4.00 pm, but now if I have protein for lunch, which I rarely used to, I don't get cravings any more.  That hasn't stopped me getting into the bad habit of having one biscuit every afternoon but I can now stop after one, which I never used to be able to. 

As for the wine thing, I used to drink pretty much every day and that was another habit I've managed to break.  In my case it wasn't a case of just cutting down, I'd been mucking around with that for years and nothing worked so I had to stop altogether.  I'm so glad I did and I wouldn't go back to drinking for all the tea in China but it's not something I'd recommend unless someone is completely committed to stopping altogether.  However, if cutting out alcohol one day a week, then two, then three appeals I'd recommend that approach if you wanted to give it a try.

As for protein information, I've been researching this for a few weeks and tinned fish and baked beans have been lunch choices here for years, but only once or twice a week between them.  It's great that there's someone on the Challenge thread who knows about it, it'll be really helpful.

Honey_Bear

Making, I used to limit myself to two eggs a week for that very reason but it seems now I can manage more and they are little protein bombs that I really like, so I'm upping my consumption.  Two boiled eggs keeps me going for hours, so if I don't want to stop for lunch until about 2.30 or 3.00 pm they're perfect. 

It's tough finding the right combination of foods that give us the nutritional balance we need and can enjoy.  I don't want to eat anything just as fuel, I want to actively enjoy my food.  Which, if you think about it, is probably where the chocolate fitted in!

As long as my leg muscles don't hurt any more I'll be very, very happy.  There's not much hope for the droopy skin on my face though - miracles R not us!  I just regard them as a survivor's badge of office and don't bother with mirrors much!

Makingabobor2

Well today I have to report that I had the 2 squares of dark chocolate but I also had 2 biscuits and a small piece of cake!!!!!!!  That is so bad. So I am making much more of an effort now and looking so much more at this protein intake. I'm not sure how easy this is all going to be now with winter setting in and also Christmas coming up, but I am going to try extra hard. I feel like I have slipped backwards quite a bit the last week. Its like 1 step forward and 2 steps back. But we can do this....I know we can. We just need to think with a more positive attitude.  

Makingabobor2

Honey_Bear said:

Making, I used to limit myself to two eggs a week for that very reason but it seems now I can manage more and they are little protein bombs that I really like, so I'm upping my consumption.  Two boiled eggs keeps me going for hours, so if I don't want to stop for lunch until about 2.30 or 3.00 pm they're perfect. 

It's tough finding the right combination of foods that give us the nutritional balance we need and can enjoy.  I don't want to eat anything just as fuel, I want to actively enjoy my food.  Which, if you think about it, is probably where the chocolate fitted in!

As long as my leg muscles don't hurt any more I'll be very, very happy.  There's not much hope for the droopy skin on my face though - miracles R not us!  I just regard them as a survivor's badge of office and don't bother with mirrors much!

That's so true, better to be getting old and droopy, than not getting old at all. 

Honey_Bear

Making, we all slip up and the whole point of this Challenge is that we're all struggling with a sugar habit that is just a tiny bit out of control either all the time, or some of the time.  If we didn't we wouldn't need to be here!  Check what you've eaten protein-wise over the past 48 hours and have a think about whether it might not have been enough.  Equally, you may find that it's the cold, cold weather coming on that's made you feel the need for a bit of comfort food, or you may have had a bit of an emotional reaction to something.  Let yourself off the hook and remember that tomorrow's another day (very Scarlet O'Hara!).

Makingabobor2

@Honey_Bear, I think the cold weather does play a big part. Trying to not put the heat on so much to save a bit of money, and thinking about it, I do always snack more when I get cold. And yes I don't think I have eaten enough protein either. I'm going to buy some nuts and try snacking on them, but I have to be careful as my IBS doesn't like too many nuts.  On Saturday afternoon when I fancied something sweet, I had half a banana and some blackberries mixed up in a bowl, that worked quite well. 

cookie02

Great to see all the progress here!  Welcome, @RandomOne, and good luck with your sugar-free challenge.  

@Morning_walker that is an amazing result with your eight sugar-free days in a row 🏅.  I hope this week is also going well for you.  

Pollybear, how is everything going?  

Sugar-wise, last week I managed to achieve 3 sugar-free days but I'm happy with that.  I had an unexpectedly busy few days due to my boss receiving some sad family news and the rest of us taking on additional work to cover while they look after their family.  

This week, I'm going to go ahead and declare today sugar-free.  I was craving sugar earlier but I made a big batch of lentils at the weekend and I had a bowl of lentils instead of chocolate.  Lentils are another good protein source, for those of you who are looking to increase your protein intake.  I've been trying this too with eggs (one in the morning, one for lunch), cheese (but small amounts as my cheese addiction is almost as bad as my sugar addiction so I need to be careful), plus various nuts and seeds.  I also love tinned fish like sardines.  I haven't calculated my protein intake but I'm a lot more aware of it since our conversation so I know it has increased, even though I haven't spent time figuring out the amounts.  I might start tracking protein properly next year (as part of my food tracking spreadsheet where I track my sugar etc).  

Honey_Bear, if you are doing a challenge reset in January, I would love to join as you go from one to two to three days a week please 😊.  I can tell that I will need the reset!  I hope the protein is helping with your muscle pain.  Making, I think you are right and that the cold plays a really big part in this.  I've noticed that I'm thinking about food (not just sugar) all day at the moment so it is much harder to stay sugar-free.  

This week, my goal is to stay sugar-free until Friday but I've decided that I'll be happy even if I only make 3 days.  

Good luck, everyone!  

Honey_Bear

Speaking of protein, for those who have a problem with nuts, as Cookie has mentioned, seeds may be easier to digest.  They're incredibly filling too.

Good to hear from you Cookie. What do you do with your lentils to make them snackable?  I'd like to give whatever it is a try. 

Makingabobor2

I discovered today that my Samsung health app has a feature for recording my food intake and telling me how much protein (among other things), I have consumed. Its a bit of a faff, but so far it says I have only had 23grms, that's with boiled egg and toast for breakfast and half tin of sardines and toast for lunch. We have salmon for tea, so hoping that will add a bit more. 
On the sugar front, I have had 4 large dark chocolate buttons. Hoping I can get to the end of the day with no more sugar....but we'll see.