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#61

Kaylets , 02-08-2005 09:53 PM

Hello all!

Don't know for sure how many days I've been sugar free ( this time! ! )
might be about 14 but just because it doesnt matter too much to me, I too will will just say Feb 1 so its easier to keep track. For a few reasons.

Coworker brought leftovers from SuperBowl party in. Left a big Help Yourself sign on double layer choc cakes .... I had to keep my head averted... even at 4:30 pm they made my mouth water.....

But I knew what would happen if I had one slice-- and since its been about 2 weeks, I was able to resist....

Nice to have this thread here Empress....

And nice to meet some new friends too...

Its late so I will say goodnight.
#62

Gypsydancer , 02-09-2005 08:18 AM

Welcome Kaylets and Maria-Paz! It's great to have you join us. How is everyone this morning? Today is my first day without diet soda. I was drinking way too much. I'll be drinking tea instead, along with my many cups of coffee I have everyday (unfortunate consequence of having a one-year old!). I'm also starting the South Beach Diet today. I can't do Phase I because I'm still breastfeeding, and I realized I was almost doing Phase II already, so I thought "why not try it?" Since I'm already sugarfree (today is Day 40!), I'm thinking it won't be very hard.

I read somewhere that it takes 21 days to start a new habit, and 90 days for that habit to be ingrained. So I'm almost half way there!

How is everyone doing? Do we need to think of strategies to deal with Valentine's Day? My son's 1st b-day is also this weekend. When I began my sugar abstinence, I was planned to allow myself a dessert on Valentine's Day and a piece of cake with ice cream on my son's birthday, but now I'm thinking this is not a good idea for me. So I'm going to get a cake with a lot of fruit on it (I don't like fruit at all) for him. It's probably a better choice for him healthwise, and I won't be tempted. The ice cream will be harder. My sister is such a sabateur. I'm sure she'll be buy one of my favorites.
#63

deleted2 , 02-09-2005 01:16 PM

GypsyDancer, About Valentine's Day strategies: it just occured to me that my dear father gets me something for Valentine's Day every year, always something small and I've always just opened it and eaten every piece right there on the spot! Yep, no control whatsoever! This year I'll give it to a co-worker for her kids or it'll go in the trash if it starts singing to me. The gesture from my dad is where the real sweetness is anyway!

Congrats on 40 days of being sugar-free!
#64

Amarantha2 , 02-09-2005 07:53 PM

Day 25
Hi, all!!!!! And welcome to Danicomia!!!!! I use some Splenda, too, but am slowly getting away from that, too, oddly enough. Don't seem to need it much anymore. Glad you are here!

E, IMO (not that you asked, but does that ever stop me?) DON'T feel guilty for being ready to move on program-wise. As said in another forum, we need to pick and choose to do what's right for ourselves. I'm not vege anymore but I hear ya ... I'm a bit proteined out and need to get better at trying new grains 'n such. Oddly, the fruit doesn't make me hungrier ... it would if I ate s, though. But I'm not eating huge amounts of it ... it just tastes so much better now that I'm not eating the Krispy, etal.

Gypsy: I actually saw paczkis in the store today and thought of you ... I didn't know there was custard in them. I felt good that I didn't have the desire (as once I would have) to buy them and try a few as an experiment. I think what you said about "situational desires" is very apt, though. I'm having these, too, here and there, but as I move away from that sugar-laden lifestyle, it doesn't seem to have the force it once had.

Kaylets, congratulations on the days you are racking up without sugar!!! And on the victory over the cake.

I'm not sure if I posted this here or in my journal or nowhere, but that feeling you had of just one slice would be the slippery slope came over me last Friday when I interviewed a wonderful elderly lady who comes from a culture of hospitality (reminds me I haven't done the story yet ... took a day off) ... anyhow, I digress ... the lady was so nice and she apologized because she had planned to bake a cake for my visit ... pineapple upside down cake ... you can't eat pineapple on Sugar Busters, let alone the other stuff that'd be in there including the himself (aka SUGAR). I found myself explaining that I didn't eat sugar and wouldn't have been able to eat it and that would have made me feel bad so I was glad she hadn't had time to bake it ... this solidified something in my resolve ... kind of like when I did not eat meat for 10 years ... I had decided that was right for me and even when it put me in conflict with others (it often did, with relatives) or when it hurt someone's feelings, I knew that what I chose to put inside my body was ONLY ABOUT ME and that if I had a strong belief in what I was doing, I had to hold to that ... at whatever cost ...

I had a Valentine's moment today ... had YET another conflict over my crime last week of turning on the fan in the gym and another conflict over career (I don't like it ) ... went to Target and walked around aimlessly around lunchtime ... ROWS AND ROWS AND ROWS OF SUGAR AND SATURATED FAT DONE UP IN RED, WHITE AND PINK HEARTS ... reminding me (situational desire) of how my dad always gave me a heart-shaped box of candy on Valentine's Day. Made me sad (being sugar free tends to make me a bit depressed at times, I've noticed, but so be it ...) ... realized blood sugar was dropping and I needed FOOD. Briefly considered candy, but realized the store also had some grocery items, so bought a little pack of cheese and a little pack of tuna (MORE protein, E! but that was the only viable option) ... ate half of these in the car and a few bites of the apple I had in my purse.

Felt very pleased with the choice! ...

Not sure if I posted this before, but last week I bought a red Valentine's teddy bear for similar reasons ... e.g., felt sad, felt unloved in Valentine season ...

Guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe a good way to handle the Valentine stuff is just to shift the focus a little ... find what it is that we seek from Valentine's Day (love, acceptance, freedom from being sad?) and acquire the necessary symbol of that rather than feed it with sugar.

Anyhooooo, I'm going to spend my night off playing mahjong and reading. Bye.
#65

Danicomia , 02-10-2005 12:36 AM

Well another day without sugar, or at least that is what I think. I would like you to tell me what you all consider sugar, just the plain ol white stuff or anything else that it says sugar in the contents. I am a little confused because I also see corn syrup, etc. I felt very proud of myself tonight when my daughter was seated with me and trying to feed me a pink juicy gummy, I look at the content of it and it says of course corn syrup, sugar.... OH NO, not allowed.... so No more gummies for me.... But again, I may be eating stuff that it is considered sugar and I don't know. Any info greatly appreciated. Nighty night.....
#66

Arabella , 02-10-2005 07:18 AM

Hi all!

I just have a minute, but I've GOT to sign on here -- Day 1 of the no-sugar, no white stuff/junk food challenge. For me, this also includes a commitment to eating only at the table when alone, drinking lots of water, and exercising every day.
#67

Amarantha2 , 02-10-2005 12:14 PM

WELCOME Arabella!!!! It is so fun to see ya here, Wood Nymph!!!! CONGRATULATIONS on Day 1!!!!

Danicomia, I just noticed that you are from my hometime! I grew up in Littleton!!! I'll bet it's grown a lot since then.

My personal answer to your "what do you consider sugar" question is that I totally agree how confusing it is, so I think we all have to work it out for ourselves. I started out just thinking to banish "refined sugar" and white flour products and that's still my bottom line, but basically I'm trying to get as sugar free as possible right now and control blood sugar, so I'm using the Sugar Busters books as my guidelines ... and just that, they're a guideline; I make my own decisions and set my own criteria, always, and I'm even stricter than Sugar Busters (I do plan to ease up a bit after awhile). So I'm choosing to (this is from Sugar Busters): "... virtually eliminate white potatoes, white rice, bread from highly refined flour, corn products, beets, and of course all refined sugars, such as sucrose (table sugar), corn syrup, molasses, and honey. Also sugared soft drinks and beer are not allowed ..." some other sweeteners like glucose, dextrose and maltose, I also avoid. I'm also following the Sugar Busters criteria of being careful with sugar alcohols (such as malitol, especially, that are in low carb and sugar-free products) and limiting them to foods with 10 grams or less per serving. I'm using Splenda, which IS created from sugar, actually, but isn't digested and I am eating fruits except for those that Sugar Busters bans (ripe bananas, pineapple) and milk ... not the low carb versions created by marketing people ... my low carb friends say I shouldn't be drinking the milk because it has carbs ... I know ... it has lactose, a NATURAL sugar and fruit has fructose, a NATURAL sugar ... there's also a lot of controversy about fructose ... it's thought of as low glycemic, but in some circumstances it isn't ... anyhow, again SB's is my guide and it says it's great to drink the milk and eat the fruit (except the aforementioned) and this follows my personal desire as well. I like the milk and fruit! It is better than all the cupcakes, candy and dulce de leche I used to eat, not to mentioned the Slimfast that contained sugar, even after they revamped it to be 50 percent less.

Some products (like bread, which SB says to eat in small amounts if it follows the guidelines) unavoidably contain sugar in some form or other (even when labeled sugar-free) ... so it's ok dokey to eat these ...

That's probably more than you wanted to know about my plan. I'm know for my lengthiness. Looking forward to other posters take on this! Have a great day!
#68

Amarantha2 , 02-10-2005 04:30 PM

Hmmm. I made granola! Took the huge slow cooking porridge oats, sprinkled a little Splenda and sprayed with water and butter spray, baked slowly in oven. Could use a bit of tweaking, but the recipe has promise.
#69

Danicomia , 02-10-2005 07:37 PM

Well, for what I read I am going to go into crazy label reading world if I get into the completely sugarless one. Besides the language problem, translation wise, I would have to read/understand what every little word means. So, I am going to cut myself a little slack here and leave at least the labeled corn syrup in some of my foods. I am not touching sugar, rice, pasta, bread, procesed food, etc. For what I am getting after reading my little food diary, I have been consuming about 800 cals lately. I am also terrified of the oatmeal packages. Do you know if there is any of those that has no sugar or at least acceptable sugar? I have not touched my Multi Grain Cereal that I love because it says it have sugar on them.....
#70

deleted2 , 02-11-2005 08:15 AM

Danicomia, I think that all of us are finding our own way with the no-sugar plan. As for me, I'm avoiding sugar, including brown sugar, turbinado sugar, organic sugar, evaporated cane juice, and molasses. There are some products that I use [soy "meats"] where dextrose is way down on the list of ingredients, and I'm not going to worry about that at this point.
For sweeteners I'm using maple syrup, rice syrup, barley malt, agave nectar, fruit concentrates, and a bit of honey. All the more 'natural" sweeteners, but I'm monitoring my reactions to them too. If anything gives me that "more, more!" feeling then I know it's a trigger food and have to back off. I know that even those natural sweeteners are still sugars and I can't overdo them.
And like Amarantha, I'm avoiding all white flours and have been fun experimnting with other flours. For example, oat flour gives a nice soft texture, brown rice flour gives things a pleasant crumbly texture with a nice crunch, and whole wheat PASTRY flour makes a world of difference when youre baking cookies or muffins, but isn't good for yeast breads.

ARABELLA! I'm thrilled that you're here!
#71

Arabella , 02-11-2005 10:01 AM

And made it through Day 1! Not only that, but I was sitting here working away, and feeling like I could use a little something evil, thought that was a definite possibility. And -- having come in here and committed myself saved me! I thought "OH yeah! I'm not doing that any more." Soon, it will feel like freedom! I'm going to find some non-food way to treat myself today. Day 2 coming up... Let's make this a good one!
#72

Amarantha2 , 02-11-2005 03:05 PM

[/b]Congrats on Day 2, Wood Nymph!!!!

E, how are you finding the agave nectar? Does it hold up well under cooking?

Danicomia, IMO you have a fantastic handle on this and like E says, it's all just us as individuals findin' our way.

I'm on Day 27 ... having a terrible time focusing on the payin' work and having thoughts of cupcakes or donuts to get me over the hump, but not goin' there! Will catch up on work this weekend.

Instead I went to gym and did tai chi and weights and went shoppin' for more healthy food. I've been relying on a few staples but they are gettin' me down and also are harder for me to digest than, say, cupcakes. Found some whole wheat coucous and intend to try this with chicken tonight. I found chicken breasts in individual two packs all ready for cooking and they HAVE NO ADDITIVES (often they put dextrose in prepackaged chicken) ... I will cook them with mushrooms. Only hope I can work up the energy.[/b]
#73

deleted2 , 02-11-2005 05:26 PM

Arabella, one thing that I did when I first stopped eating sugar is I finally tried out a lot of those fancy cheeses I'd always wanted to try! I was a bit disturbed at first that I was trading fat for sugar, but I found that I didn't overeat the cheese, and it was so satisfying! So I had a fun treat and it wasn't sugar!

Amarantha, I use the agave mostly for drizzling onto toast or fruit instead of baking, becasue it's pretty expensive.

I made some sublime stuffed dates today--I'll post the recipe later. They're really easy too!
#74

Amarantha2 , 02-11-2005 09:20 PM

Hi, guys! Wanted to add to E's comment about at first trading fat for sugar: I felt like that, too, as I've added a lot of nuts (recommended as dessert by Sugar Busters). It's great freedom to eat these as I've been brought up to believe they are "bad" for you. They aren't. This week I've been buying two ounce servings of the fresh almond butter at the health food store near the gym and having that with milk for a midmorning meal. Beats any cupcake I ever had!

Have been experiencing digestive problems, though, since eating more healthfully, so am investigating more suitable choices and watching meal spacing.

Gave up some of the apples for unsweetened applesauce, which is REALLY boring but "legal" ... sigh.

The chicken was good and bland ... I baked it in foil with mushrooms.

On to Day 28 for me!

Wheeeee.

No matter the problems, I will never revert!
#75

Amarantha2 , 02-11-2005 09:23 PM

Er, sorry, forgot my recipe for "ice cream" ... whirred frozen cherries in Magic Bullet for an instant healthy sorbet with no sugar added ... yes, cherries have fructose but are ok dokey on Sugar Busters. Cherries also are apotent anti-inflammatory and painkiller by the way. You can get the juice and use it like ibuprofen ... except juice is very high glycemic, but ...

I digress.

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