The 'Towards a Sugar-Free Future' Challenge

cookie02

Honey_Bear said:

I'm so glad you're having a better time of it Cookie, now that you've got your ex-Christmas new year mojo back.  I'm really pleased the protein thing is working for you as well as it does for me on my better days.  It's a huge step forward for me.  

 

Thank you, Honey_Bear - the protein is definitely making a big difference.  I hope things continue to improve for you. 

Have a great week, everyone, and good luck with your goals!

Honey_Bear

Well done on today Cookie, and if you relented I hope you enjoyed it.

I'm pleased to say I didn't indulge today either, although it was touch and go for a while this evening.  I've now passed that stage and am tucked up in bed and have done my teeth, so I'm confident I won't eat any sugar or chocolate now.

I'm chuffed I've made three days in a row this week; after last week I'd begun to think I couldn't manage this any more.

Saver-upper

Honey_Bear said:

Well done on today Cookie, and if you relented I hope you enjoyed it.

I'm pleased to say I didn't indulge today either, although it was touch and go for a while this evening.  I've now passed that stage and am tucked up in bed and have done my teeth, so I'm confident I won't eat any sugar or chocolate now.

I'm chuffed I've made three days in a row this week; after last week I'd begun to think I couldn't manage this any more.

Aww, well done Honey_Bear. Being able to get through the cravings can be so hard! You can definitely do it!
Thank you for your supportive post this morning.

Cooking eggs in advance is a good idea Cookie. Actually, a couple of weeks ago my 20yo daughter was visiting from London, where she is studying. She was cooking up some hard- boiled eggs just for a snack. I'd never really thought of doing it before.

I've had another good day today. To be fair, it has been a very lazy day, so not actually very hungry. (Or it might be the protein is working!)

For late brunch/ lunch I had white toast (because we'd run out of seeded) ,scrambled egg, baked bean and tomato. 

Snacks this afternoon were a pkt of crisps, and an avocado.

Tea was a bit of a "scratch" tea- a few hash browns, and a taste of stir-fry my partner was making.

Pollybear

I've had two hard boiled eggs for breakfast for the last few years now.  I cook six at a time and keep them in the fridge door.   Some days I have toast and marmite too but not every day.  That's mostly when I am starving and hope it will stop be having biscuits or worse.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!  

But as I've said before, eating rubbish has nothing to do with feeling hungry for me so having protein is a good idea and I will continue to do it but it won't stop me wanting chocolate.

Makingabobor2

Well, I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but I managed a whole day with no sugar at all yesterday. I seem to have got a bit constipated (suffer with IBS) the last few days and a bad case of piles....(sorry if TMI...lol). I knew I had to be strict with myself in order to get over it, so no chocolate, biscuits, cakes, or even no rubbish like crisps etc. Hoping I might be able to stick at it once I'm feeling better.  I've also stopped the eggs for a few days as think they may make me worse. 

cookie02

Hurrah for Friday!  I almost had a sugar-free day yesterday but I ended up having a fizzy soft drink which I count as sugar since it contains so much of the stuff!  I rarely drink these anymore but it was the only non-alcoholic option as I didn't want water.  This week has been pretty good for me food-wise, mainly because of work keeping me out of trouble and away from the snacks.  I'm really looking forward to this evening and dessert with the family. 

Saver-upper, how has the rest of your week been?  I hope the protein is starting to make a difference for you. 

Pollybear, I'm not sure if it's true or not but I've read things about how you can 'reset' your tastebuds if you cut out sugar for an extended period like a month.  People do this before gradually reintroducing sugar but in much smaller quantities.  Apparently, if you do this, your tastebuds change enough that you notice the sugariness much more and don't feel inclined to eat as much.  I've never tried this but it could be worth looking into, if you think it might help you.  I think this goes back to an earlier conversation on this thread about treats.  It is really, really hard to stop eating sugary things once you start.  This is going to sound weird but I've taken to eating something random after eating sugar eg I'll eat chocolate and then I'll eat a piece of cucumber or cheese. I know that sounds odd but I think it stops me from continuing to eat more chocolate and helps me to stop after the amount that I intended to eat.  I'm not sure if that makes sense to you, or if it would work but there you go - another of my weird experiments...

Hope you are feeling better, Making.  How has the rest of your week been, Honey_Bear?  I hope things are improving for you.  

My week has been interesting as I managed three sugar-free days and almost managed a fourth before I had the fizzy drink.  The downside is that two of those days were really because I didn't have time to seek out sugar vs me resisting the sugar gremlins.  Still, I'm happy to count those as wins!  I'm definitely looking forward to dessert this evening.  We're staying in and my parents are visiting so I know there'll be cake from my mum later 😋.  

Have a great weekend!

Makingabobor2

Well another day where the only sugar was natural from the blackberries I put on my oatibix this morning. I'm still suffering but if nothing else it has made me stop with the biscuits and cakes and hopefully I won't eat so many even when I'm back to normal again.   Hope everybody else is doing ok

Honey_Bear

Makingabobor2 said:

Well, I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but I managed a whole day with no sugar at all yesterday. I seem to have got a bit constipated ....

Well yes, there is that with eggs.  For years I had to limit myself to two eggs a week for the very same reason, but that was before the guidance about eating five fruit and veg a day came out.  I'm not going to go into whether that bit of advice is scientifically valid for the claims it makes but I will say that sticking to it has meant that I can eat a great many more than two eggs a week now.  Some weeks I do, some weeks I don't, but if i want quiche or frittata or flan of any sort I can have it on top of my two boiled eggs for breakfast every Sunday.  What works for one person won't for another for a million different reasons. 

The alternative that works for me every time - baked beans on toast, cherries, plums, prunes.  Marvellous foods for 'unblocking'.  I hope your problem clears up very quickly because I can remember how painful it was. 

(I had the very same problem on my first date with my Belovéd; couldn't say anything obviously, but had to move very cautiously as we sat down to dinner in what became our favourite restaurant.  As I was 'negotiating' that tricky manoeuvre, normally so easy but in the circumstances an extremely mindful process, he said, 'I've never wanted to get married and I don't want kids.  Is that okay?'  I was so blown away by how direct he was, and bearing in mind it was our first date although we'd known each other a few days and had spent a massive amount of time talking, that my physical constraints ceased to be a concern for quite some time!)  We're still together and in Septmber will be celebrating our 30th Annivesary of the day we met.  He's snoozing as I type - manflu.  I've dosed him up.)

Notwithstanding Making's current eggblip, everyone who's posted seems to have done much better this week I'm pleased to say, including me.  I'm so pleased for everyone and I'm beginning to wonder if there's a sort of rythum to this; it's almost impossible to stick to it in December, it's a free-for-all over Christmas and new year, it takes a while to settle down in January and then things start to ease.  I may be wrong about all that but it seemed that way this time last year and it happened again this year so maybe there's a pattern there.

I caved late on Thursday evening and had some chocolate, Saturday the usual m@gnum with three chocolates and three Madelines at teatime, but other than that I've kind of sailed through it, although there were times when I was seriously tempted.  That's my best week since November!  My self-indulgent snack was cream cheese on crackers but it worked to stave off the cravings.  Despite that, I managed to get back to 69.6kgs, so a couple of pounds came off which is a HUGE relief.  I'm hoping this week will be similar but I won't count my chickens.

I'm so grateful to everyone who posts here, successes and blips.  It's what keeps me going.  I'd be utterly useless at this if I were trying to do it on my own.  Thank you all.

~FlowerPot~

Well done @Honey_Bear sounds like a good week.
Im not even going to start on my week. Just seemed to have slipped back into very bad ways. Having a stressful time with issues with the children!  And definetely comfort eating! 😩
Will be on it again tomorrow. 
We all have blips. Don't we? !! 😔

Honey_Bear

Yes Flower, we all have blips and in my case they sometimes last more than a week.  I hope your weekend has been much less stressful and you've had a chance to recharge your batteries.  Sorry to hear the kids are driving you to sugar, but at least they're not driving you to drink!  You're doing fine.