Kick the Sugar Habit

[Stachey]

Is anyone interested in trying to kick the sugar habit?

Over the past couple years I have been working hard at reducing sugar from my diet and the improvement in the way I feel has been phenomenal.  I have so much more energy.

The problem is that I always seem to "treat" myself at least once or twice a week to something that is loaded with sugar.  I don't know why I think it's a treat because it only elevates my mood for a short time and then I feel not great for a couple days after. 

I think I need the accountability of a group (for a little while anyway) just until I develop the habit of not eating sugar.

Is anyone interested in such a group?  I was thinking we could also swap info on hidden sugars and maybe ideas for sugar free snacks, etc.

[FausseBourgeoise]

I suggest you check out the Whole30 if you want to try this. There are groups on their site and on this forum as well.

[swick]

Hey Stachey!

There is quite a bit of no-sugar talk on our whole 30 thread, recipes, some posts digging into the psychology behind sugar addiction and how we have all dealt with it, your welcome to post and look for sugar specific tips and ideas, even if you are not interested in doing a whole 30.

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/whole-30-starting-sept-8th-want-to-join-us/

[Stachey]

Oh okay thanks you guys!  I didn't realize no-sugar was being discussed over there.  I'll head there now.  Cheers!

[wildbeast]

I'd love to do this with you Stachy!  I'm not ready to go Whole 30 yet, but sure want to kick the sugar. 

[Stachey]

That's sounds great M.Darcy!  I've been making my way through the Whole30 post  (there is a lot of information over there!) but I'm not sure I want to commit to a major change in my diet. 
The nutrition goals for me right now are to eliminate/reduce sugar (because I definitely feel so much better without it) and work on adding more veggies.

[wildbeast]

That's sounds great M.Darcy!  I've been making my way through the Whole30 post  (there is a lot of information over there!) but I'm not sure I want to commit to a major change in my diet. 
The nutrition goals for me right now are to eliminate/reduce sugar (because I definitely feel so much better without it) and work on adding more veggies.

Awesome!

I have similar goals:  eliminate most refined sugar - right now I've been on an ice cream kick that I need to get rid off.  So my first goal will be to stop eating ice cream.  :)

I've been eating a salad everyday and two of my favorite dressings do have sugar in the form of maple syrup and hoisin sauce so I'm going to keep that for now because the salad benefits outweigh the small amount of sugar in the dressing.  But I do want to add more veggies as well.  I'm going to go pick up some broccoli today.

Is there any one thing you want to begin kicking the habit with?

[Stachey]

My downfall right now seems to be the clif protein bars (damn you chocolate almond fudge!!). 

It tastes so good in the moment but I don't feel great for a day or two after so I don't know why I continue.

I need to substitute some healthy snacks instead.  Almonds maybe.  I read somewhere that peanuts are FULL of calories.  Do you know if that's true for all nuts?

[Sailor Sam]

My downfall right now seems to be the clif protein bars (damn you chocolate almond fudge!!). 

It tastes so good in the moment but I don't feel great for a day or two after so I don't know why I continue.

I need to substitute some healthy snacks instead.  Almonds maybe.  I read somewhere that peanuts are FULL of calories.  Do you know if that's true for all nuts?

Yeah, all nuts are pretty chocked full of calories. On the bright side, they're pretty nutritious for the calories contained therein.

I don't feel much draw towards sugar, but I do have foods that bedevil me, and seem to bypass my good judgement. I think I'll follow along.

[KMMK]

I need to do this again. But I'm not quite ready yet. Following along though.

[HappierAtHome]

My main temptation comes in the form of the chocolate bar at work... lots of different chocolate bars, fudge etc for 50c - $2, sitting in my line of sight. It calls to me every afternoon at work.

The best solution I've found so far is to make the 'inner goddess chocolate truffles' from a Pinch of Yum, which I make using dates, almonds, sunflower seeds, cocoa and vanilla. They're sweet and chocolatey enough to satisfy the craving but with enough fat and protein to keep actual hunger at bay, and no post-sugar crash to follow.

[zsmith]

I'm totally in! My husband and I have now watched two sugar documentaries on Netflix (Fed Up and Sugar Coated) and we are doing this as a challenge in August. My husband actually drank his coffee black for the first time in his life. Already planned our first week of meals which will include rice/beans/greens; chili; spaghetti (no sugar added in anything); sweet potato tacos and a quinoa dish. For breakfast we are going to do rolled oats cereal, veggie sautes and oatmeal. We are also going to avoid dairy because of all the milk sugars.

[Tom Bri]

It gets easier the longer you go sugar-free. I did low-carb for several years, and got to the point where carrots taste distinctly sweet, and any candy or dessert is so sweet that one or two bites is all I could take.
I have backed off full low carb, and do eat some sweets now. Unfortunately (?) I got bees this spring, and have harvested 20 pounds of honey recently...It is so sweet but so good, much better than commercial honey that I am eating something with honey every day.

[Stachey]

Welcome everybody!  This is encouraging I'm not the only one who wants to get rid of sugar.

Zsmith: I saw those documentaries too.  It's shocking the amount of sugar that the average first worlder eats these days.  I love your meal ideas!  Please can you share the sweet potato taco recipe (that sounds awesome!)

I make my own spaghetti sauce too...lots of veggies and a can of diced tomatoes.  Tastes a hundred times better than the store bought sauces...and no sugar!

I've been trying to break the habit of a sugary meal at breakfast.  I don't know why that ever became a thing.  I've been trying out hummus and pita bread.  Liking it so far.

Tom Bri: all that honey reminds me of a black bean brownie I used to make...damn it was good.

[wildbeast]

I went low-carb for a while too and yes, it's amazing how sweet everything tastes once the palate is readjusted.  I distinctly remember eating some ice cream and finding it sickeningly sweet.  The very same ice cream that I'm having a hard time avoiding now. 

Yesterday was my Day 1 of no sugar!  I got ice cream cravings twice and each time I countered with a banana.  I did have a small amount of maple syrup in my salad dressing but I'll allow that.  Other than that, no refined sugar. 

So glad to have company on this!  It will be a big help in staying motivated.

Thanks guys! 
Darcy

[Highbeam]

There are lots of things to eat that are packed full of natural sugar. Is it really that much better to eat a chunk of watermelon than to add some sugar to your coffee? Oh and BTW, I am drinking black coffee right as I type this.

You need calories, they are what fuels the body. I would call it a success if you could avoid empty calories from things like soft drinks or candy. The natural sugar in dairy, that's not the problem.

[swick]

I've been trying to break the habit of a sugary meal at breakfast.  I don't know why that ever became a thing.  I've been trying out hummus and pita bread.  Liking it so far.

This was my hubby's biggest challenge as he grew up with sugary cereal, or scones or pancakes covered in syrup. He couldn't really remember having a non-sweet breakfast growing up.

Several strategies we used:

Slowly get him used to savory breakfasts - cutting out the sugar wherever possible - making our own granola with a tiny bit of maple syrup in it for sweetener. Slowly adapting to non-sweetened yogurt (do you know how much sugar is in a tiny pot of yogurt?) Having a quick non-sweetened fruit sauce on top of pancakes instead of loads of syrup, having oatmeal with a cinnamon a bit of apple and some raisins instead of extra sugar.

Experimenting with protein/fat heavier breakfasts. I grew up with egg-based breakfasts. Hubby grew up hating egg. It has taken a lot of experimenting to see how he likes them. Apparently, he doesn't like the textures of whites so we make duck eggs if we want to have fried eggs as they have a much bigger and richer yolk and he likes frittata with homemade non-sweetened ketchup.

Also, we started looking at meals as "meal 1, 2, 3" which helped break the mentality of it is breakfast, breakfasts are supposed to be sweet. This made it easier to have leftovers for breakfast or in the winter to have a bowl of soup, things like that.

Ohh and getting into the habit of label reading. 4 g of sugar = 1 tsp. when we were first figuring things out we would keep a sugar dish and a teaspoon out and portion out the sugar for each serving size (no cheating if your serving sizes are bigger than the recommended size!) into another bowl so we could actually "see" how much we were consuming. We did this with the yogurt we use to buy, that was the last time we bought it.


Oh this was a super interesting documentary that goes more into the science behind obesity and sugar: https://youtu.be/moQZd1-BC0Y

[Stachey]

Cheers Swick! 

I often have oatmeal and fresh fruit. Does the dried fruit bother you at all?  I find the sugars are so concentrated in dried fruit that it often affects me similar to refined sugars.  I guess the problem is that it is so easy to eat too much dried fruit.  For example I would only ever eat one fresh apricot at a meal but it is super easy to eat many, many dried apricots at one time resulting in a much higher sugar intake.

I wish I liked eggs more it would solve a lot of breakfast dilemmas.

That documentary you sent is very interesting.  I really like the idea of equal amounts of time spent in both physical exercise and screen time.  I'm going to have to work on that.

[Sailor Sam]

My biggest motivation for eschewing simple carbohydrates is watching both my parents develop type 2 diabetes. My dad is cruising along using oral medication, but my mum is a metabolic disaster. She's using 2 types of injectable insulin, and is developing the more unpleasant side effects of the disease. My mum is a lovely woman, who I love deeply, but she struggles hugely with food addiction. She's quite literally eating herself to death. It's sad, and I don't want it to be my path.

In Jan I had a physical that put my fasting blood glucose level at 92, and my A1c at 5.5. Not strictly pre-diabetic, but I'm definitely inside the gravity well of the disease. Way up high, where you can barely feel the tidal forces and you think you're still weightless, instead of falling. I'm doing everything I can to prevent onset of the disease. One of those management tools is experimentation with a very low carb eating protocol.

For the science types, who enjoyed the documentaries and don't mind some transient pain, you can see sugar action using a blood glucose monitor. Eat a meal without any refined sugars, or flours. Wait 1 hour, and test your blood glucose levels. Should be below 140. Next, eat a meal with refined sugar and flour, wait 2 hours and test your blood glucose levels. Compare to the lower carbohydrate meal. Might be very enlightening.

[Stachey]

Oh Sam I'm sorry to hear about your mom!  I know someone with diabetes and it's a difficult life without question.

With your glucose levels do you ever notice any symptoms?  I know very little about the disease myself so I'm wondering if there are warning signs for people to look out for. 

[wildbeast]

Yeah, diabetes runs in my family too.  My mom has it.  I know that sugar affects me pretty strongly so I do want to get a handle on it.  I haven't had myself tested in a few years, I'm kind of afraid to. 

Day 2 of no-sugar completed yesterday.  I had one craving for ice cream and I just ignored it and it went away. 

I'm also trying to give up my daily breakfast bagel but I put that in the weight loss thread so as not to derail this one .  :)  My favorite no-starch, no-sugar breakfast is scrambled eggs with sauteed kale, but it does take more work and prep than popping a bagel in the toaster. 

Stachey - too bad you don't like eggs.  How about something like fried rice or chilaquiles?  Most other cultures have savory breakfasts that are quite good.  Even dry salami with some bread and cheese, very easy and fast.  Ok, now I'm craving some chicken enchiladas for breakfast!  Yum.

[swick]

I'm also trying to give up my daily breakfast bagel but I put that in the weight loss thread so as not to derail this one .  :) 

Just wanted to mention it might be relevant to post here, if you are looking at the over all picture and how carbohydrates are broken down in your system, your body basically treats excess carbs like sugar. It raises your blood sugar levels and promotes insulin release.

Re: the dried fruit - The sugars don't really bother me, but then it is definitely still an issue of portion control. I don't usually have a bunch of dried fruit at once. It might be a TBS of raisins in/on something, a tagine made with some dried apricots. A TINY bit of date for sweetening.

I think where most people have issues is they just look to Paleo or fruit sweetened desserts as a straight-up substitute for regular desserts. While Dates and the like are better for you than sugar, it doesn't mean you should regularly be indulging in desserts that feature cups of the stuff. You still have to do the work and figure out why you are so sure you need dessert :)

[Stachey]

Way to go Darcy resisting the ice cream!  No chocolate for me but I had blueberries to look forward to.

Your egg breakfast reminded me that I used to like scrambled eggs and spinach but usually only once a week or so.
A travel show I watched once showed breakfast in Asia somewhere (I think Thailand) was basically a vegetable soup or rice with vegetables.  I think sweet breakfasts are more of a Western thing? 

I had a Moroccan stew the other day Swick and it had small amounts of raisins in it which is about the right quantity I find.  Like you say portion control is important.

[cats]

I started a thread on this (quitting sugar) a while back, but have seriously lost my own sugar-quitting momentum.  I blame lack of sleep due to having an infant in the house.  However, since the infant is seriously impacting my ability to workout, I need to crack down on diet if I'm ever going to shift my last few pregnancy pounds. So, I'm in.  No more sugar.

We do pretty well at avoiding added sugars at meals, my problem is definitely getting tired or stressed at work and dealing with it via cookies, candy bars, or hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate is at least free, but routing forays to the drugstore are not going to be good for my monthly expenses.

I'll plan on posting here whenever I am tempted to go on a candy run :)

[Rural]

Here's the old thread, which went strong for about 18 months but petered out back in November:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/de-sugaring/


I'm still going strong on that old challenge - virtually no processed sugar since June 5, 2015. A few very minor glitches, but small doses, and not more than ten occasions. I'm constitutionally unable to eat cathead biscuits without molasses.

[abhe8]

A very low carb diet will actually give you higher fasting glucose levels. Your body develops insulin resistance, although not the bad kind we see in diabetes. More in the way someone who never drinks alcohol will have no where near the tolerance of a daily drinker.

[abhe8]

I make a good ice cream substitute in the blender. Soak chia seeds in milk five mins or so. Then blend in vanilla extract, a frozen banana and a few spoons of peanut or almond butter. You can use coconut milk if you are avoiding dairy. Not sugar free, but no added or refined sugars and the protein and fats keep blood sugar from spiking.

[dignam]

I would like to chime in as someone who has greatly lowered their sugar intake over the last couple years.  It's amazing/ridiculous how much added sugar is in every day foods.  I keep my daily intake around 30g if possible (basically what the body can process without it going to fat).  The big ones were no more sugar in morning coffee, and absolutely positively no sugary drinks.  Ever.

Results: I've lost about 20 pounds over that timeframe and down to a healthy 153ish.  Keep in mind I'm also a shorter guy to begin with (5'6") so that weight loss could be huge for bigger people!

[elaine amj]

Good luck folks! I am not joining this challenge but wanted to chime in with some ideas for reducing sugar. I've definitely cut back on a lot of added sugar this year.

I do find the palette adjusts as you accustom yourself to something. When I was in college, I enjoyed 3 servings of sugar with my coffee. A few years later, I decided that was a bad habit so started reducing it. Within a few weeks, I was down to plain black coffee and in the years since, I have never had any temptation to add sugar in. (the only prob is when I order an iced coffee - soooooo good with the milk and all that sugar! Thankfully, I only get this once every couple of years).

I used the same method to wean myself off sugary yogurt. I started with some plain yogurt, added lots of fresh fruit and granola to make a parfait and enjoyed that for a few weeks. Now I eat my homemade plain yogurt with granola (that is lightly sweetened with molasses) for breakfast every morning (I skipped the fruit to cut calories). I LOVE it and cannot stand the sweetened yogurt anymore. Yuck. For my DD, I started her off with adding raspberry jam and fresh/frozen raspberries to plain yogurt. Now she too loves plain yogurt with granola.

And yes savory breakfasts like 2 hardboiled/fried/scrambled eggs are delish. As in a single avocado eaten completely plain. This morning, I mixed the two - one hard boiled egg with some sliced avocado. Soooo good plus I am stuffed.

For ice cream cravings, I made the frozen banana and frozen fruit ice cream for a while. Nowadays, I absolutely love frozen mangos straight out of the bag. I will give abhe8's chia seed/frozen banana recipe a whirl one day. All that said, I still have ice cream cravings. I'm trying to train myself to consider a piece of frozen mango just as much of a treat as a scoop of ice cream. Not there yet, but baby steps!

[wildbeast]

Yesterday was Day 3 of no-sugar for me.  I had one craving for ice cream in the evening after dinner and just white-knuckled through it.  After about an hour I was still feeling munchy so I had a second serving of dinner - freshly made meatloaf with a green salad.  That took care of things.

Since swick mentioned my tracking my other changes here, I'll do that.  It will make things easier and it's true that all carbs become sugar.  I'll be back later to post about that when I have a bit more time.

Thanks for the support and encouragement everyone!

Stachey - how ya doing?

[swick]

One of the tings that has really helped me, especially craving sweets at night, when I am not hungry, is I have gotten used to using that craving as a signal to check in with myself. I'm craving something sweet....Damnit, okay, WHY? Am I bored, restless, worried about something, anxious? Have I had enough water today? (Usually, I'm just thirsty) Did something trigger it like seeing an ad or talking with someone about food or seeing someone else enjoy something? 

It has become automatic now, to ask "what am I really looking for?" when I get a sugar craving. Then it is easier to distract yourself by drinking water, going for a walk, turning on a cheesy song and dancing enough to get your heart rate up, getting a hug or calling a friend. 

[wildbeast]

One of the tings that has really helped me, especially craving sweets at night, when I am not hungry, is I have gotten used to using that craving as a signal to check in with myself. I'm craving something sweet....Damnit, okay, WHY? Am I bored, restless, worried about something, anxious? Have I had enough water today? (Usually, I'm just thirsty) Did something trigger it like seeing an ad or talking with someone about food or seeing someone else enjoy something? 

It has become automatic now, to ask "what am I really looking for?" when I get a sugar craving. Then it is easier to distract yourself by drinking water, going for a walk, turning on a cheesy song and dancing enough to get your heart rate up, getting a hug or calling a friend.

This is great advise swick! 

It reminds me of HALT - Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired?  Although I have to admit I'm not in the habit of using it or trying to figure out what I'm looking for.  This is a good reminder to get in the habit of doing so. 

Let's see... so far this week I've also given up my daily breakfast bagel with butter and replaced it with a banana before my workout and a hearty egg and potato frittata after the workout as a late breakfast/early lunch.  So far it's working well as this keeps me feeling full and satisfied till late afternoon.  I haven't had rice or any other starches either, instead having salad as my main evening meal with different proteins. 

Right now my meals consist mainly of veggies, meat, eggs, and fruit.  I'm still using some prepared things like hoisin sauce, I used onion soup mix in my meatloaf and I know that has gluten and sugar in it.  But I figure tackling the big things first is easier and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Who knows, maybe I'll be ready to do a Whole30 in August...

[wildbeast]

Here's the old thread, which went strong for about 18 months but petered out back in November:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/de-sugaring/


I'm still going strong on that old challenge - virtually no processed sugar since June 5, 2015. A few very minor glitches, but small doses, and not more than ten occasions. I'm constitutionally unable to eat cathead biscuits without molasses.

Rural - thanks for the link!

I think this time of year is a great time to cut out sugar because there's so much delicious fruit available AND because of all the sunshine.  Winters are tough for me and I end up backsliding big time.  It's nice to see that sugar thread went on for so long.  I hope this one does too.  I'll really need it come fall when the weather starts changing and it's so tempting to stay on the couch eating comfort foods - especially baked goods for me.

[swick]

Right now my meals consist mainly of veggies, meat, eggs, and fruit.  I'm still using some prepared things like hoisin sauce, I used onion soup mix in my meatloaf and I know that has gluten and sugar in it.  But I figure tackling the big things first is easier and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Who knows, maybe I'll be ready to do a Whole30 in August...

It is so, so much easier if you ease into doing a whole 30! It sounds like you are making some big changes, awesome job!

I hear you about winter and wanting to eat baking :) It did make it a whole lot easier for me after doing the whole 30 and finding out I don't react well to gluten. I know that nothing I put in my mouth is worth two days of feeling like I got hit by a truck.

 I know some people have experimented with creative visualization to especially have the same effect. Everytime they see something with Sugar (or whatever they are trying to avoid) They imagine it turning into or on a scenario that is so distasteful and use all their senses until they just don't want it. Basically, your rewiring your brain.

[Stachey]

Way to go Darcy!  You're doing great!  Your meals are sounding very healthy.   I need to start up with more salads again.  I haven't had any chocolate so that's good.  (yah!)

I tried chia seed pudding with coconut milk just the other day which was fantastic!  So I am definitely trying the chia seed ice cream sometime soon.  I've never thought of frozen mango for a dessert...that would be really good!

Thanks Swick!  Those are good things to consider.  Lately, and I've noticed this in the past, that when I eat a really healthy meal with lots of veggies and just fruit for dessert that soon after I will get super hungry.  I never get hungry like that when I eat more unhealthy things.  I'm wondering if it's my body really craving the healthy nutrients.  Does this happen to anyone else?

[swick]

Lately, and I've noticed this in the past, that when I eat a really healthy meal with lots of veggies and just fruit for dessert that soon after I will get super hungry.  I never get hungry like that when I eat more unhealthy things.  I'm wondering if it's my body really craving the healthy nutrients.  Does this happen to anyone else?

This is normal! Especially if you are not getting enough healthy fats - which can be easy if you are not having any/enough with your veggies. Many of the nutrients that are in vegetables are fat soluble as well. Your body starts giving you hunger signals and cravings because it wants the healthy fats, but it is not choosy and it knows that if it gets you to eat something unhealthy it will probably have quite a bit of fat and sugar in it.

Also, is it real hunger or "brain" hunger? Sometimes if you eat really good and you know you eat really good your "brain" or "Mind" hunger kicks in going hmm I've eaten great! Now there is room for something unhealthy too! or it tries to justify something unhealthy because you did eat so well.

 I heard a great saying which is: your mind has evolved for only two purposes, to keep you alive and happy. It will naturally default to whatever behaviour makes you happy. If eating unhealthy gives you pleasure, it will do all sorts of things to make sure that behaviour continues, even down to regulating your hormones.

[Stachey]

Ooohh.  Thanks Swick!   I'm not really craving any unhealthy food...it's more like my body would like me to eat five hundred pounds more of whatever that delicious healthy food was that I just ate two hours ago.  So you mean if I ate some healthy fats with my meal this wouldn't happen?  That would be great!  What are the healthy fats?  Thanks again for your help with this Swick!

[Tyson]

Monounsaturated fats are your safest bet.  Olive oil is a healthy fat.  And avocado.  And nuts.  Those are the ones everyone agrees on.

Polyunsaturated fats - oils like canola, soy, etc.... If you ask vegetarians, they will say it is healthy.  If you ask Paleo people, they will say it is not.  Personally I think they taste nasty so I avoid them.

Saturated fats - butter, coconut oil, lard, etc.. they are generally solid at room temp.  Vegetarians will say they are all unhealthy, Paleo people will say they are healthy.  Personally I eat meat but not butter.  I use olive oil to cook with, but I also eat pork and beef.  So I get saturated fat but not in large quantities. 

Personally I'd stick with the monounsaturated stuff and go easy on the others. 

[stoaX]

In 2009 I suffered a concussion and an odd result of that was a lack of interest in sugary foods.  They don't taste bad to me but they don't provide the enjoyment they did prior to the concussion.   I don't recommend this as a way to stop eating sugar but the top right hand side of the forehead is where I was hit....in case you want to try it. 

[swick]

Ooohh.  Thanks Swick!   I'm not really craving any unhealthy food...it's more like my body would like me to eat five hundred pounds more of whatever that delicious healthy food was that I just ate two hours ago.  So you mean if I ate some healthy fats with my meal this wouldn't happen?  That would be great!  What are the healthy fats?  Thanks again for your help with this Swick!

It sounds like your not getting the satiety signals, and healthy fats do help with that. Also, if you are eating a lot of veggies, you can eat a ton for very little calories, another reason your brain might not be realizing you are full. Healthy fats are things like seeds, nuts, avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, I don't have a problem with animal fats either in moderation as long as they come from a clean source. I render my own duck fat and pork fat and such.

When we were doing the Whole 30, both hubby and I noticed that we would go from eating and feeling uncomfortably full bypassing that I'm full feeling and being ravenous again. It went on for a week or so and we just adjusted to the new way of eating. Hubs did find he avoided it a bit better if he had more starchy veggies like sweet potato, potato, carrots, beets and other root veggies.

These days I find that I can have coffee buzzed up with a little coconut milk and a bit of coconut oil and not have to eat till late afternoon/dinner and I'm not hungry at all. This is coming from a background of hypoglycemia and HAVING to eat every couple of hours or I'd hit the deck.I really only eat when my body tells me I need food (not my brain, not social conditioning or it being the time I usually eat because of habit)

[Stachey]

Thanks so much Swick and tyort1...I'll try some of those fats.  Also the avocado, sweet potato, carrots, etc sound like great ideas. 

Swick I did notice when I had the chia seed pudding with coconut milk that I wasn't hungry for a long time.  It would be great to get to a point where a person could eat and be comfortably full and go for hours without cravings then eat again only when actually hungry. 

[swick]

Thanks so much Swick and tyort1...I'll try some of those fats.  Also the avocado, sweet potato, carrots, etc sound like great ideas. 

Swick I did notice when I had the chia seed pudding with coconut milk that I wasn't hungry for a long time.  It would be great to get to a point where a person could eat and be comfortably full and go for hours without cravings then eat again only when actually hungry.

You can get there, it is just a matter of figuring out what fuels your body instead of taking energy away from you to have to digest and deal with it. Giving up sugar really is the first step, keep it up!

[wildbeast]

When I'm eating something that doesn't seem to 'fill me up' I've found that a generous drizzle of evoo on my plate works wonders to achieve that full and satisfied feeling.  When in Italy we were astounded at the amount of oil poured on the plated food.  But after having one of those lunches we felt full for the rest of the day and often just had a piece of fruit for dinner. 

Ha, I said yesterday that I wasn't doing any starches and then said I was eating potatoes every day!  ;)  I think the fact that potatoes are allowed on the Whole30 is what mixed me up.  Thing is that potatoes, both regular and sweet, are easy for me to overeat.  So I want to transition to a frittata without potatoes to help me lose some weight.  That will be my goal for next week though.  This weekend we have a bbq planned and I want to stick with no-wheat so I'll have my burger over salad instead of the bun.  I suspect it's going to be a little tough.

Plus, it's probably going to be tough to stay sugar-free.  Weekends are tough in general.  I'll think about it and prepare something this afternoon so that I'll have something healthy, ready-to-eat, and tasty as my planned treat. 

[zsmith]

Welcome everybody!  This is encouraging I'm not the only one who wants to get rid of sugar.

Zsmith: I saw those documentaries too.  It's shocking the amount of sugar that the average first worlder eats these days.  I love your meal ideas!  Please can you share the sweet potato taco recipe (that sounds awesome!)

I make my own spaghetti sauce too...lots of veggies and a can of diced tomatoes.  Tastes a hundred times better than the store bought sauces...and no sugar!

I've been trying to break the habit of a sugary meal at breakfast.  I don't know why that ever became a thing.  I've been trying out hummus and pita bread.  Liking it so far.

Tom Bri: all that honey reminds me of a black bean brownie I used to make...damn it was good.

Sweet potato tacos - I simply cook a large sweet potato with onion and garlic, add taco seasoning mix (store bought or make your own), add canned diced tomatoes (or not) and then put them on some corn tortillas with other toppings lettuce, avocado, tomato, etc.

[Stachey]

How is everyone doing with their sugar challenge?  Darcy?

I was doing well until a birthday party on the weekend.  There never seems to be a polite way to turn down birthday cake.  So made sure that I ate some protein as well so it would take longer to digest and smooth out the sugar rush.

[swick]

How is everyone doing with their sugar challenge?  Darcy?

I was doing well until a birthday party on the weekend.  There never seems to be a polite way to turn down birthday cake.  So made sure that I ate some protein as well so it would take longer to digest and smooth out the sugar rush.

I have come to discover that not eating sugar is as much about training the people around you as it is yourself. We had to have very frank conversations with our family and close friends.

Basically, along the lines of this is what we are doing, please don't take offense if we turn something down. Don't worry about making any special provisions for us food wise, and if we turn something down, please don't offer again or say "are you sure?" Becuase every single decision takes a lot of will-power and the more times you have to stop and think about something the more it uses up. They eventually have gotten it, but it has taken a while.

As for social situations where we don't know people that well, we have developed a lot of strategies to avoid the situation. Sing happy Birthday but find a reasons to go to the bathroom when cake is being served, grab someone's baby so they can eat, go entertain the kids! Or you can say something along the lines I would LOVE to it looks AMAZING but I have to watch my blood sugars.  Honestly, it is pretty easy these days there are so many people on such a variety of eating plans people are just becoming more accepting - except for the toxic types who make themselves feel better by dragging other people into indulging with them.

[wildbeast]

I'm happy to report that I went the whole weekend without indulging in sugar or any other junk food.  I even avoided ice cream even though dh was eating it!  So that's 7 days that I've gone without sugar.    I also avoided the morning bagel, again while dh ate his.  And... all while being on my menstrual cycle... you ladies know how tough this is.  :) 

This week my goal is to cut out the morning potatoes that I've been having with my fritatta.  I'm replacing it with spinach that I just bought at Costco - huge bag!  I wanted to do kale, but the kale at the store was looking all wilty and sad, I think it's a cold weather veggie.

Stachey - I had a birthday party the previous weekend and what I did was say I was taking it home to eat later and then I threw it out.  No hurt feelings and no tummy ache from it.

[swick]

Way to go, M.Darcy! You are doing fantastic! It is especially hard with the SO's aren't on board yet. How are you feeling being off of sugar for a week?

[Stachey]

Kudos Darcy! It's really hard not eat ice cream when someone else is...well done!

So far this week has been good and I find I have so much more energy when I don't eat sugar.

I'll try those birthday cake ideas next time ladies.

[Sailor Sam]

Has anyone else found that substitute sugar still causes cravings? I'm on a ketogenic diet, and many of the treat-like recipes call for stevia, sucralose, saccharine etc. I finally got around to trying a recipe, and was surprised by the immediate craving for more junk. Same thing happened a few days later when I tried some flavoured water, sweetened with sucralose.

I've read internet anecdotes saying fake sugars still cause a physiological response, but I kinda wrote the stories off. Now I know better!