I personally don't. I gave up diet soda, which I dearly miss. I just don't think it is good for me, however it is a personal choice.

I use Splenda - in tea, it's found in the SF/FF yogurt and a couple of other items I eat, but I won't use/eat in baked goods. I can't do baked goods, even those baked using Splenda - it would be the same exact addictiveness/overeating issue.

I know it seems hard to fathom doing without it, but please trust me, once you take that decision making process away - should I?/shouldn't I? - and decide - "NO, I just don't do that anymore" - it's quite FREEING. You just don't have to think about it any more. It stops calling your name in a very short time.

I use Splenda in baked goods, or other non-white-sugar sweeteners (judiciously), but I do not bake sweet treats that often anymore and, in general, try to limit my overall grain consumption. Eating grains, for me, leads to cravings and gassiness--neither of which is a pleasant effect. I probably bake a sweet treat with grains a couple times per month, anymore, and usually it's something along the lines of a batch of 18 small cookies which are then shared out between 5 of us in the family--and when it's gone, it's gone. Or, I bake something like pumpkin custard (essentially a crustless pumpkin pie) which is sweetened with Splenda--and a dessert of that type presents no issues to me. I also bake whole-wheat bread for my family, but that primarily gets eaten up by the kids in sandwiches, and I have a couple of slices per week.

Once you give up sugar, honestly, you will find that the urge for sweets is greatly diminished overall. Though it seems like such a worry when you are making the decision to quit sugar, down the road it just won't feel so significant anymore.

Sugar is so bad. I think I've read every book on how to get rid of it. There's a great free ebook on firstourselves website. It has helped me the most. I'm going through my third or fourth attempt at getting rid of it. Each time, I think that I can let a little back in. Each time, I get more addicted.

It helps me to go in steps instead of cold turkey. Otherwise, I get major blood sugar issues. I'm starting with not eating any sugar before noon. After a week, I'm going to gradually start pushing that time back and back.

Then, I'm going to shift into a low carb diet, high fat, moderate protein diet. I have major candida issues, so I'm going to follow the candida diet on healingnaturallybybee website.

I just cannot do baked goods, even those that are sweetened with splenda. It's just psychological I'm sure, but those food are like an electromagnet to me! I do eat Activia which has sugar in it, and I put a bit of brown sugar on my oatmeal. I drink about 1, sometimes 2 diet sodas a day. That's it for me as far as added sugar or artificial sweeteners go.

This is definitley what happened to me! After a couple weeks sugary food just didn't taste good to me. I love, or should I say LOVE, little debbie cakes and can almost eat the whole box. It is one of my forbidden foods because of that and I just haven't bought any.

I actually took a bite of one last week and I thought I was going to be sick it tasted so sweet. Ended up throwing it away. It just didn't appeal to me anymore.

This is the thread I needed to read today. I am returning to lose the weight I gained back (see sig) and reach my goal! To do it, I finally realized all sweeteners would have to go. I cannot even handle artificial sweeteners (which actually give me a headache anyway). I started last Wednesday with the no sweetener life and have lost 5 lbs. in one week.

For me, sugar and anything that tastes like it is definitely a gateway drug. It has to go.

It is helpful to read how other people are doing it. I often think of you ROckinRobin through this journey and how you lost the weight without any plateaus. Do you attribute that to the lack of sugar?

This is so funny. My first blog actually said that sugar was my crack and Betty Crocker was my crack dealer...

Oh yes. That was a MAJOR factor. When I made the decision to lose the weight, I knew that the only way I could do so was to have definite NO's. I knew without a doubt that if I let in one cookie that it would lead to 20. I could not let the door open. I was SERIOUS this time. I HAD TO SET MYSELF UP FOR SUCCESS. I looked at my history. Took a deep look and figured out (wasn't all that hard) where my big problems were. What foods I was overeating the most. The ones that were holding me back from shedding the weight and becoming that fit, slender person I always dreamed of. No, it wasn't grilled chicken breasts. It wasn't roasted vegetables. It wasn't big salads dressed with balsamic vinegar. No, it was ice cream, cakes, cookies and all SUGAR laden foods. That as well the white carby stuff .

I wanted the weight off. Off. Off. OFF. I finally figured out and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I simply could not have it BOTH ways. I could not have the sugar (& the empty carbs) in my life AND be healthy and of a normal weight. "This time", my last time, I wasn't taking any chances. And I was ready and willing to give up the sugar in RETURN for a healthier, trimmer, fitter and more joyous life.

I believe by getting rid of the sugar & carbs, that it made it easier to stick to my plan. Day in and day out. Week after week. Month after month, thus avoiding any plateaus.

The year that I lost the weight was one of the most thrilling of my life. Not once, not even one single tiny time, not for a second, did I ever say to myself, "gosh, I wish I would have eaten that add any sugar/carb laden item" Not once. I never ever felt deprived. Not for a second. How could I? I was eating delicious foods. Delicious. And I felt marvelous. MARVELOUS. Deprivation - nothing, could be further from the truth.

All of your replies were amazing! I hate the idea that I can't ever have sugar again - even when I quit smoking I would tell myself every day "I won't smoke today - tomorrow, maybe, but not today" because the idea of never again was too hard. I think that Robin has it right when she said that there had to be some definite "NO's". All the diet/eating plans talk about moderation - but if I could do moderation I wouldn't have ever needed to lose 130lbs!

On a good note - this is day 3 of no sugar and yesterday I went to a friend's house for lunch and while we sat at her counter I was 2 feet away from a cake for 3 hours! She was even serving it to our kids and I never had even a taste! I can do this - maybe one day at a time, but I will mourn the sugar

That's exactly it. About the moderation. I didn't know from moderation. I wasn't wired that way.

The definite NO's are a definite MUST. That's it. You make it a definite NO and then you don't have to think about it. Period. It then no longer has a hold on you. It finally made perfect sense to me. If I can't control a certain food, if I overeat it - well then just should START eating it. No way to overeat it then.

I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but I DO have sugar now that I'm in maintenance. I have it - but under VERY controlled circumstances. On rare occasions and 99.9% of the time - out of my home. Where I know for sure I can't go back for seconds.

About the mourning part, once you are a couple of weeks in, you will cease to miss it for the most part. But don't think that you can let it back in just yet - don't fall for it. Chances are you can't. So don't take any chances. FIND other foods to enjoy. Ones that taste good while you are eating them and are GOOD for you as well, long after you're done chewing them.

You can do it and you should. I'm pulling for you.

Thank you Robin. That is just what I needed to hear. I must say that I have no craving for sugar after just a week. My goal right now is to get through 4th of July weekend sugar free.

Good for you. Don't give in. Remain strong. Don't forget your convictions just because you are faced with temptations. Make a vow, a promise, a contract, a something. Just stick to your guns. Never mind the weight loss, but the feeling of that control is just amazing. To be able to socialize, have a great time and not overeat is an incredible feeling.

Oh ladies, it's so nice to not be alone in my addiction! Sugar and simple carbs are SUCH crack to me! Thankfully I can have a serving away from home just fine, but I feel like crap once I'm done with it (like tonight!).