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Old 06-11-2010, 12:29 PM   #1  
Wastin' Away Again!
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Default Question for the Non-Sugar Eaters

I know many here have given up sugary foods &/or drinks for their health &/or weight loss plans.

I, myself, have done it twice in my life - which is amazing to me that I was able to do it AT ALL, since I'm such a sugar freak. But yes, I have completely cut sugar out of my diet two times, and each time it lasted about 8 months.

Right now, I'd like to give it another go. And I'd like to make it PERMANENT this time, altho it seems like such an unreachable goal, because I LOVE SUGAR. I mean really really really really REALLY love sugar!!!

I am proud that I have succeeded by cutting my sugar intake WAY down in the past 6 months, and I don't mind eating/drinking anything with AS (artificial sugar).

The two times I did "de-sugarize" myself I found that the more fruit I ate, the less I craved sugar laden items (candy, cookies, cake, etc).

My question is this: Does eating fruit help or hinder you in your sugar battle? And what, if anything, do you ever do for "dessert", and what really helps you stay away from sugar?

~thanks in advance for your responses!
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Old 06-11-2010, 12:39 PM   #2  
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Right now, battling blood sugars and trying to stay off daytime insulin, I restrict fruit to a few berries. First thing to go back on the menu will be fruit.

For dessert I do strawberries with half and half. Three tablespoons is only 52.5 calories and, more importantly for me, very few carbs.

One thing I learned along the way - fake sugars don't work for me, sets off the more, more, more reaction and makes me feel a bit queasy in the tummy after I eat it.

My mantra - sugar is like glass shards in the veins (for D folks).
good luck!
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Old 06-11-2010, 01:30 PM   #3  
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My question is this: Does eating fruit help or hinder you in your sugar battle? And what, if anything, do you ever do for "dessert", and what really helps you stay away from sugar?
Now that my insulin and blood sugar are in good control and I've reduced my insulin resistance (these things done through diet and exercise and sleep), fruit is not a hindrance to me. Since it's summertime and seasonal fruit is bountiful and delicious, I'm actually eating a pretty good amount of fruit right now--3 to 5 servings per day (I also eat 5 to 7 servings of veggies per day). However, when I need to cut calories again in a month or two, the fruit will be where I cut.

I pretty much have dessert every night. It's important to my mental health. Often that is a cup of homemade hot cocoa (nonfat milk, cocoa, Splenda, vanilla, pinch of salt). Sometimes it is strawberries and a couple squares of really good dark chocolate. Tonight I am going to have sugar-free vanilla ice cream with some malted milk powder mixed in, for a homemade malt shake.

What helps me stay away from sugar is the knowledge that going back to full-blown addiction is only a bite or two away. Why would I want to do that to myself? It was ****, and now I feel so free...so light and easy. Sugar addiction chained me to misery. I'm completely uninterested in doing that to myself again.
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Old 06-11-2010, 01:44 PM   #4  
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For me, plain fruit is fine. Occasionally, certain very sweet fruits, like watermelon, will get me (i.e., I eat probably too much at one sitting). Fake sugars don't work for me either.

I generally don't do dessert, or if I do, I go for something with fruit that's not too sugary. I have some creamy coffee candies that I will sometimes have if my sweet tooth gets bad...they don't seem to trigger anything.

Last edited by tea2; 06-11-2010 at 01:53 PM.
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Old 06-11-2010, 01:48 PM   #5  
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I definitely think fruit helped me. I have eaten 2-3 servings of fruit every day since I started, the sweetness helped keep me satisfied.

I can't really help with the dessert question, I have never been a big after dinner eater (afternoon snack attacks are more my issue). I have never regularly eaten dessert after dinner (only in restaurants, almost never at home).
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Old 06-11-2010, 01:49 PM   #6  
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I do so much cardio these days that fruit no longer causes problems. I can even bananas and before just looking at a banana would cause me to gain weight. Carbs (like fruit) are really important to cardio.

I have taken a lifestyle approach to my sugar cutting. I cut out pop entirely because pop is a huge trigger for me. I can't have artificial sugar so I truly had to just cut it out. But for dessert now and then, I'll eat just about anything. Typical favorites are chocolate dipped ice cream bars (150 calories) or popcorn. I also love berries with a little cool whip. And I have dark chocolate chips almost every day.

That sounds like a lot of sugar! Outside of the daily chocolate chips, I probably indulge in dessert 2-3 times a week.
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Old 06-11-2010, 02:09 PM   #7  
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We never had dessert growing up, so I don't miss something sweet after dinner. But I have a fierce sweet tooth.

For me, cutting out sugar has had 3 distinct stages:

1) About 15 years ago, I realized sugar had a strong effect on me and lead to binges, so I resolved to cut it completely. I really only cut out "sweets"--not starchy carbs, or even things like ketchup, just cakes and cookies and ice cream and pies. I was very, very strict about it, eating those things ONLY on my birthday, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. Despite this, I gained quite a bit of weight over those years (I think I weighed about 250ish when I cut sugar, and crept up to 300 never eating it). I think it would have gone even higher if I had been eating sweets. I avoided fruit JUICE but not fruit during this period, since a glass of fruit juice is basically pop, sugar wise. I still craved sweets, I just put it off until my binge days.

Second phase started in July, when I was strictly calorie counting. I just didn't eat any refined sugar, and I limited my carbs--pretty much all my carbs started to come from wheat bran or vegetables and a little bit of fruit (mostly strawberries, some apples and oranges). Weight has dropped off pretty dramatically, and as long as I eat enough, I didn't crave sweets. I still really, really liked them and would enjoy them, but I didn't crave them.

Third phase: I am slowly introducing "real" treats into my life in careful moderation: a McDs cone or "junior" frosty (the kid size--about 3 inches tall) twice a week, one or two (never three!) Hershey Kisses before bed. So far, it isn't leading to binging. Again, I want them, but not desperately. It's "That would be nice" and afterwards "that was nice", not "MUST HAVE MORE SUGAR" My whole life, I've been absolute--eat no sweets, or eating everything in sight and going out for more. This is an experiment, and if it doesn't work, I will go back to phase two.

As far as sweeteners go, I eat them like they are going out of style: equal in my coffee and cottage cheese, and Crystal Light all day long. They don't make me tired the way "real" sugar does, so I don't think they change my blood sugar or cause an insulin reaction in me.
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Old 06-11-2010, 02:17 PM   #8  
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...is the knowledge that going back to full-blown addiction is only a bite or two away. Why would I want to do that to myself? It was ****, and now I feel so free...so light and easy.
Wow I love this and will use it!
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Old 06-11-2010, 02:45 PM   #9  
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I don't count myself as a non-sugar eater BUT had a horrible sugar candy habit (jelly beans, gummi bears, licorice) for 35 years. Ate up to a pound of candy nearly every day. When I decided I had to quit cold turkey because cutting back had never worked, I found eating dried fruit really helped. Got the sweet, chewy sensation I was craving but was also getting fiber, vitamins, minerals from those foods.

Now this has nothing to do with weight loss because calorically I was eating the same amount of calories daily. However once I had been candy free for 5 years, I tackled weight loss. I know I would not been able to stick to any eating plan if I hadn't gotten the candy monkey off my back.
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Old 06-11-2010, 02:54 PM   #10  
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As far as sweeteners go, I eat them like they are going out of style: equal in my coffee and cottage cheese, and Crystal Light all day long. They don't make me tired the way "real" sugar does, so I don't think they change my blood sugar or cause an insulin reaction in me.
I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one. Cottage cheese with a packet of sweetener is the most delicious thing. I don't think I could have gotten this far cutting out sweet things entirely.
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Old 06-11-2010, 02:55 PM   #11  
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i cut out desserts, except for fruit. Now i eat lots of fruit and dried fruit and also fresh. i don't crave sugar processed junk anymore. fake sugar is toxic to me.
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Old 06-11-2010, 03:34 PM   #12  
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I mean really really really really REALLY love sugar!!!
Believe me, plenty of us who gave up sugar also really, really, really, really, REALLY loved sugar and thought at one time that they simply could not live without it also.

Quote:
My question is this: Does eating fruit help or hinder you in your sugar battle? And what, if anything, do you ever do for "dessert", and what really helps you stay away from sugar?
When I was in the losing portion of my journey (I am maintaining now), I pretty much completely cut out fruit too, that's just how determined I was to lose the weight. I WAS TAKING NO CHANCES. I was fearful for my life. I knew that fruit was a food I could easily overeat. Another once I start food, it's hard to stop. So for me, while I was losing, I saved fruit strictly for the times I was at a social function. I also knew that I could get much more volume with veggies, so that's what I did.

Now that I'm in maintenance though, I do eat fruit.

So, nope fruit didn't help me a bit.

Dessert? Well, why does it have to be something sweet???? I changed what I think of as a snack, a treat or whatever you want to call it. My snacks were/are cucumber salad, tomato/onion/cucumber salad, a veggie egg white omlette, a partially frozen no fat/no sugar yogurt, a veggie platter with salsa, 20 calorie hot chocolate.

Quote:
what really helps you stay away from sugar?
Knowing that is is poison to me. Wanting to be the best me possible. Wanting to be thin, trim, fit, healthy, active, happy, energetic, lively, confident and have a really, big spectacular wardrobe of size 2's and 4's. And once you get past the initial temporary discomfort, you no longer desire it the same way. It just becomes something that you no longer partake in.

Though I should mention now that I'm in maintenance I have added it back in in small quantities under controlled circumstances, but am re-thinking this as well, because I am now in the process of detoxing from it once again after allowing some in a few days ago. MISTAKE.

Anyway, have you heard one person here who has given up sugar say that they regret doing so? Have you? How many have you heard say that it was the *answer* for them? Why not give it a shot? Isn't it worth the chance that this may be your *answer* as well? I love WarMaidens idea of giving it up for 30 days no matter what and than after that you can re-assess.

Oh and dried fruit has been mentioned. For me personally, that is just as poisonous to me as cookies. A couple of years ago, I had a very bad shall we say incident with dried mango. Dried fruit is out of the question for me. It's condensed, water removed, concentrated. highly caloric, unbelievably sweet, and once I start I can't stop. I would sooner eat a piece of cake than a piece of dried fruit.

I urge you not to fear this decision, but embrace it, and look forward to it. Because being free from sugar is not a hardship, but a blessing.
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Old 06-11-2010, 03:40 PM   #13  
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I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one. Cottage cheese with a packet of sweetener is the most delicious thing. I don't think I could have gotten this far cutting out sweet things entirely.
No kidding. It's like protein ice cream. I put cinnamon in, too.
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Old 06-11-2010, 03:58 PM   #14  
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No kidding. It's like protein ice cream. I put cinnamon in, too.
Not to hijack the thread, but..

It just goes to show you though we have many similarities, we have so many differences. I can't stand cottage cheese. I wish I did. Such a low cal, high protein, convenient food. But I can't stand the consistency of it. Makes me physically ill. Oh well.
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Old 06-11-2010, 04:01 PM   #15  
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Not to hijack the thread, but..

It just goes to show you though we have many similarities, we have so many differences. I can't stand cottage cheese. I wish I did. Such a low cal, high protein, convenient food. But I can't stand the consistency of it. Makes me physically ill. Oh well.
I felt the same way for a long time. My tastes changed, and now it is my favorite "good" food. (I think it helped that I needed more fat and so tried the full fat version . . .much, much better, though I've gone back down). That's why I always recommend people try things they don't like once a year or so. Dieting seems to change our tastebuds, sometimes. I still can't eat yogurt, but I do keep trying!
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