I am going to be watching this thread! I think I am VERY addicted to quite a few sugary foods-once I start I can NOT stop! Moderation does NOT work for me =) I have found fruits dont do this to me (favs are oranges, blueberries in my kashi cereal, apples w/a little crunchy pb, strawberries in my plain yogurt) etc....and I have had raw honey in my oatmeal too with no 'crazy addiction' problems....Prayers for you to fight it!!!
Exactly how I am- I'm keeping fruits & tomorrow I'm even gonna try honey with my oatmeal- cause I could never imagine eating a strawberry or honey & saying "Oh man I need to eat this whole carton of strawberries or this whole bottle of honey!" lol.. Anyways, day one down & it was great even went below my calories which is awesome for me as I've been going way over lately!
i'm right there with ya on the fight against sugar!! just the taste of sugar is enough to set my cravings going...heck i crave sugar without even tasting any lol...but fruits dont set my addictions going like that...although i have been known to eat a whole carton of strawberries there is a birthday party tomorrow and cake is my downfall i hope i have the willpower to avoid it
That's great that your first day went well. When I first get off sugar I sometimes get headaches for a day or two. When I'm on plan I eat very little sugar, but I decided to try to break myself of it even more so this month I'm not allowing myself even the healthy chocolate I've been leaving in my plan so I don't go crazy. Well going crazy or not, it will be a chocolate free month for me. =) Good luck with beating your sugar monster.
Yep, sugar sets off your brain in a way that makes it hard to stop eating it.
I think it is easiest to cut it out cold turkey. After several days to a week, you will feel better! Go ahead and enjoy fruit but watch your reactions to it. I think 2 servings of fruit/day is a nice balanced amount. You can do it!
Regarding your oatmeal, the awesome thing about getting off sugar is that you can detect more subtle levels of sweetness. I used to add table sugar or honey or raisins to my oatmeal - all have LOTS of sugar no matter how you slice it - but after I went off sugar I found even totally plain oatmeal to be palatable.
ERHR made a good point here that is worth repeating. You can "recalibrate" your sense of taste, to notice the subtle sweetness that is already in whole foods. I do not add sugar to anything anymore. Yes, even plain oatmeal and milk will taste sweet after you acclimate. I may put a little cinnamon in, or eat it with figs. But no sugar.
Other "bland" things that taste sweet are tomatoes, guacamole, milk, carrots, corn, fresh peas, multigrain bread.
I didn't just give up sugar to lose weight. My mother's side of the family has blood sugar and diabetic issues. I wanted to beat heredity to the punch, and form good habits while I have time to. I absolutely DO NOT want to be sticking my finger for blood and checking my glucose every day!
A side note regarding glycemic values mentioned earlier:
The glycemic load (GL) values for sugar, honey and agave nectar are very similar while their glycemic index (GI) values differ:
Sugar (sucrose): GL=8; GI=68
Honey: GL=9; GI=55
Agave nectar: GL=9.6; GI=30
Agave nectar is higher in fructose than sugar (sucrose) and is therefore sweeter but potentially more capable of causing metabolic syndrome, etc. than sucrose (similar to HFCS). This is a controversial topic, and unfortunately there is no consensus yet on "better" and "worse" sugars and on the importance of GL versus GI. Agave does has the clear advantage over honey in being vegan though!
Eliminating all added sugars of any source is probably your best bet.
You'll get used to it, don't worry. Meanwhile, you may find that it helps to get used to wholegrains, as you get a different kind of sustained energy release from them. Start with wholemeal bread, that's usually the easiest to find a tasty form of.
Oatmeal is very flexible, there are oodles of things you can do with it. I like to put a couple of dates' worth of chopped dates into mine at the start of cooking.
Fruit - some are higher in calories than others. Satsumas and such are good, they're small so you get a nice treat but you're not devouring lots of calories. Strawberries are great, 100g of them will only set you back 30 calories.
Like Lovely said, avoid anything that ends in "-ose," but another TRICKY one to look out for is anything that ends in "-ol" (ex. Sorbitol, Maltitol). These are sugar alcohols!
I found the best way to get over sugar cravings is to avoid any processed food at all, even the 'low-carb' tortillas (I was hooked onthese for a while, but could not lose weight while eating them. As soon as I cut them out, I started to lose weight again).
If you do want something sweet, berries (blackberries, blueberries, etc), cherries, and apples, apples, apples are the best things to eat. Avoid raisins, dried cranberries, and bananas, these have lots of sugar. The fiber in the berries and the apples will slow your insulin response, so the natural sugars/carbs don't act *so much* like carbs normally do in your body.
I recommend have apples for snacks throughout the day, but hold off on berries or cherries until the night time (as dessert). If you eat them early in the day, you might end up wanting some sugar later in the day.
Wahhhh I'm at a 4th of July party with red velvet cake, cookies, cupcakes, and brownies!!! I need strength!! And then I'm going to disneyland next friday, I just want to give in and eat all these delicious things! Well, day 2 sucks way more.. TRYING to hold on...
For me, it's fairly simple. The more sugar I eat, the more I crave it.
If I drink a can of Coke, I will be craving coke stronger the next day than if there has been three weeks since the last time I drank a can of Coke.
If you just get through the first two weeks, then the worst of the cravings will be gone.
Absolutely- WELL I made it through the night with what I would call a 50/50 victory- I didnt eat any desserts- yay!! BUT I did go over my calories with a hamburger (no bun) and 3 mini shredded bbq chicken sandwiches (on a white bun ), but though these arent the healthiest options & yes, even bbq sauce is laden with sugar, the point of all this was to quit the desserts/sodas/sweets that cause me to crave more sugar- so I'd say so far so good! Just gotta keep on saying no & get stricter day by day with my carb intake as well
If anyone has any tips as far as road trip snack foods go (a 2 day trip to Disneyland/San Diego/beach) please let me know!! Fruit & string cheese & such will be good only on the way there cause were going right to disneyland & not stopping to our hotel (refrigerator) first...
even went below my calories which is awesome for me as I've been going way over lately!
i hope i have the willpower to avoid it
