Sorry if I write a novel. This is a BIG issue for me with PCOS/IR -- blood sugar management and I feel strongly about it.
CLEAN THE KITCHEN. Get it all out of there. Resist buying once at the store, then you don't have to resist a hundred times at home.
That was my strategy. I remember pacing around like a bear, cranky, opening the fridge going "there's nothing to eat!" and slamming it shut and pacing some more. There was plenty to eat. There just wasn't what I
wanted -- sugary cereals or breads or crackers. You really do go through withdrawal when you clean up your diet.
Def kick High fructose corn syrup out for GOOD. Even if other sugars eventually come back. For PCOS/IR me? Not only does it set off a blood sugar wigginz, it also sets off this deep ravenous HUNGER. I do not know why, I just know I don't process it correctly. I'm not sure anyone does.
I'll take a full sugar Blue Sky soda and stop at one can, but HFCS Coca Cola? I can't stop! If I must have soda, the blue sky is a better calorie spending than the calorie expensive cola because I CAN stop at one. Not that soda of any kind is
healthy. But we do have to spend calories wisely.
So getting the HFCS was big for me.
I also stuck to fruit while going cold turkey. Keeping a few cans of pears in pear juice in the freezer helped. Because I could thaw them enough to get out of the can by running in hot water. Then blender it up to a decent sorbet texture. I could get the sweet hit without too many calories.
Other than the juice in the pear cans, I cut out drinking juices while cold turkey. Even those without HFCS -- juice slams into your blood sugar too fast and can trigger. Now that I'm calm I can have fruit juice but I still measure it out in a measuring cup. 1/2 cup to 1 cup and no more.
Apples with peanut butter helped. Nuts in general help -- but NOT coated or candied ones. Stick cheese helps in cold turkey time.
Same with keeping watermelon, canteloupe, and honeydew in stock. Eat half the whole bloody thing for the sweet, but it didn't damage calories too bad.
But when going cold turkey from sugar? I'd sacrifce the diet and calorie watching and meet the sugar goal first. THEN worry about calorie management for weight loss once the sugar monkey is off your back. Sometimes it's too hard to diet for weight loss AND cut blood sugar triggers both at the same time.
When I got past the cold turkey GRRRRRR place, I could be more reasonable about bringing back the old foods and really monitoring what set me off or not.
Raisin bran cereal and oatmeal got a pass back in, but instead of the 20+ year habit of just cereal and milk for breakfast daily I started matching it with some turkey sausage or egg if I had it. I also started working the eggs into the week and not just on weekends so my breakfast scene was better balanced.
OJ had to be monitored carefully but I'm ok with low sodium v8 so that came in at breakfast time. It's handy in the 6 oz cans!
Cheerios was mostly ok, but borderline. Sometimes set me off, sometimes not.
Corn flakes? Rice Krispies? Not esp coated in sweet, but they set me off on a binge. So just not welcome back, HFCS free or not.
Ditto cereal bars. I can tolerate a protein Luna ok, but I keep it rare.
Bread? So far sourdough, rye, nature's own wheat 40 cal, the wheatier arnold breads. Don't set me off for blood sugar, but still have to watch the portions.
Croissants? White? Raisin bread? I can scarf a bag/loaf so best avoided. No naan bread. No bagels. Tortilla I do ok, but I suspect it's because I eat those with proteiny fillings like beef or chicken. I never eat those like just toasted like sliced bread or bagels.
Pasta itself doesn't bother me but what the recipe using it might. The sweets thing. Macaroni salad is on my trigger list. Spaghetti sauce is fine but macaroni deli salad is too sweet for me to take.
Crackers? Best avoided. I have no cracker control.
Cookies? So obviously not coming back. Def no cookie control! That includes bar cookies like brownies.
I either get Simply Dressed or Annie's brand salad dressing or make my own olive oil/balsamic ones. There's a lot of HFCS in bottle dressings. Watch the other condiments for HFCS. I rather go full fat version that light. Fat and protein both help slow a blood sugar spike.
Rice is borderline. No having it naked without a paired protein. Sushi rolls sometimes don't pair ENOUGH protein in there with the rice so I have to watch those.
I also struggle with cake. I don't want any, I don't bake any, but at birthday parties it is ubiquitous. I am finding going in already having a good size protein food first, and scraping off frosting and eating a few bites to be polite usually saves me. Then I throw it away and stay the **** away from the food table!
Alcohol? I drink rarely and it's planned because I take meds. So I never overdo that despite like fruity foo foo drinks the best.
Candies? I just don't buy. Most if it has HFCS and it is high sugar to hide the poor quality. I'll binge out on milk chocolate with HFCS but do fine with small bits of organic Green & Black dark chocolate as a treat. A green and black bar lasts me ages because I only want 2 or 3 little rectangles broken off. I'll eat a whole Whitman's sampler 1 lb box in a day or two. It's totally the HFCS. When people give me those as gifts I give them away or throw them out ASAP. I've learned that lesson!
DH loves his junk food and he's tall and lanky. HFCS doesn't seem to set him off like me but I don't think it is good for anyone. He's not ready to quit his junk food so I just get him flavors I hate. I don't like dr pepper. I don't like red OR blue doritos. So he gets his crap, and I don't have to be tempted. Also keep all that in a basket on top of the fridge so he can reach it easy but me and kid don't have to look at it or be tempted.
She's developing the AN patches on her elbows and I worry she has inherited the PCOS. We won't know for sure, but her doc agrees on the AN so best she not develop a taste for the stuff in the first place. I teach her party food for actual parties -- soda, chips, cakes, etc. She can have them then and she's fine with that. She knows daddy cheats and eats party food on regular days.
I try to sweeten my own drinks. Sometimes we do smoothies or whole juices, but most of the time I want to drink water. Or tea. Both kid and like the fruity celestial seasonings teas hot or cold. 1 tsp sugar will do and it's a lot less than already sweetened tea you buy in bottles. We also drink green. She's the tea drinking-est kid I ever met! .
Some sorbet sets me off -- I watch for the HFCS in there. Talenti brand I can take and control the portion fine. Generally I get Breyer natural vanilla. The whole family likes that, it doesn't set me off like other flavors or brands. Child wants her naked. Spouse puts syrups on his. I have mine with 1/2 tsp cinnamon over it. I like the taste and cinnamon can help with blood sugar weird. In the past ice cream was a problem for me, but eaten this way I'm ok.
Learn to pair up with a protein food when you eat your carbs at meals. "The Insulin Resistance Diet" book is good at explaining this.
Over time you lose the taste for sugar as your tastebuds recover.
Things that used to taste good are like "ACK! TOO SWEET!" Believe me on this! Things like broccoli that didn't seem sweet before? They suddenly seem a touch sweet. Stuff like cookies? They will REPEL you where they used to draw you in. Portion control is a lot easier with healed tastebuds.
It's getting over the hump that's rough. And losing HFCS was key.
Just get over the hump however it is you have to do it, and take YOUR notes when you bring things back one at a time and you discover your OWN trigger list.
But don't stress out about dieting to lose AND removing sugar at the same time if it is too hard. Again -- it is ok to get the sugar monkey off your back first, and then diet for weight loss after that if that way is easier to handle.
A.
How did you manage to cut out the sugar?
