Hello. I started my withdrawal from sugar almost a week ago, and it has been really difficult. It took me until now to realize that this is the primary thread of the forum -- I actually thought this thread was literally
about the weather. :)

I've been doing pretty well by having lots of beans, unsweetened yogurt, and other foods that I had trouble enjoying in the past. Because i'm also doing a bit of calorie restriction at the same time as cutting out the sugar, I'm extra hungry and everything tastes good. But the sugar cravings make me so antsy and unable to concentrate. It's hard to "get into" anything. I'm irritable and my energy level is really bad. I keep finding myself rolling my office chair over to the file cabinet where I used to keep snacks, and no matter how hard I try to get work done, I find myself teleported as if by aliens, sitting staring at my file drawer with no memory of how I got there.

Oh, I think I'm coming down with a cold. I've had a growing headache, and I'm finally realizing that it's not diet-induced. No wonder I feel like crap. We're going away Thurs for a family holiday and I really don't want to be
sick for this trip. But I'm a tiny bit glad to know that ice cream probably
could NOT help what ails me. Lisa

Cooking for allergies
 

Talitha - sorry to hear about all the allergies. Our family had a period
of time with TONS of food restrictions and allergies. My mom came
and helped us stock the freezer and that really helped us get over the
initial hump. It was also easier for the whole family to get on board
with the program when we had the added incentive of not waking up
to a screaming child in the night if we obeyed all the rules. Before
long it became like an "auto-pilot" and wasn't so hard any more.
Switching from wheat/pasta/bread based foods to rice as the main
staple starch was a big help, and then you can add almost any meat
or veg you want. I can't imagine how to manage it with so many kids
at the same time, but I'll be cheering for you.

Hi there Sweeties . . . :grouphug:

Well, it's raining again. :lol: In other words, SSDD.

I'm pretty much recovered from my little run in with CoolWhip -- at least the blood sugar levels are back to tolerable even though the weight took a wee upward blip this morning. I wonder if I will ever learn. CoolWhip is (like Peanut Butter) something around which I have absolutely no control and it has got to be the worst Frankenfood ever -- first ingredient, water; but then comes corn syrup (sugar); followed by hydogenated oil (trans-fat); then HFCS (more sugar) :yikes: I did wash the rest of the container down the drain.

Glad you are staying away from that so-called Doctor, Ellen. I agree with you. Can't believe they are still letting him practice while out on bail -- innocent until proven guilty sometimes goes too far.

Hope the cold doesn't get any worse, Lisa. It's hard enough shaking the sugar habit when you are not sick.

Guess I'd better get myself moving and shaking . . . :carrot:

Sorry to keep posting so often but I'm just so antsy, trying to
pass the time during the withdrawal. (One day at a time)
I live in Asia, so my daytime is your night.

I have 2 different types of hunger, one that peaks right after a
meal, and one that peaks about 2 hours later.
4 hours after a meal is when I feel just great. . . . Finally feeling
steady. And then I just have to ruin everything and eat again
and start the cycle again.

Lisa

Hi Lisa and welcome to Sugar Busters. I don't know why its so quiet today. Where the heck is everyone? Eating wasn't great this week end. I can't wait to go grocery shopping this week and get some healthier stuff in the house. I've been trying to plan Easter dinner here. I really wanted to grill something on the barbecue but it looks like its going to rain here Sunday. Hopefully the weather report will change and I can put a roast on the barbecue. I hope you didn't come down with a cold. And have a good time on your trip.

meowee- I never thought of cool whip in that way. I won't eat it again.


Well come on guys and post......

I have absolutely no idea if my headache and other symptoms yesterday
were from a virus or from sugar-withdrawal. At the time I thought
virus because eating a plate of brown rice and beans didn't make it
go away, but now I'm thinking it might have been withdrawal anyway.
I'm feeling totally fine now.

Do any of you ever try to eat something with sugar but really slowly
so the sugar of it will hit you more gradually? Does it work for you?
I'm trying it right now with a sugar-sweetened yogurt, and I'm
eating a raw veggie stick in between every bite of yogurt. It's
not easy to find quick convenient foods that are on plan, avoiding
allergies, etc. I'm a bit nauseated by beans at this point.

We're about to go on a 4-day holiday trip tomorrow. I've been looking
forward to this trip for a long time, but I didn't think through the
timing of my diet plus the timing of this trip. I'll do the best I can
on the trip and then take it from there.

Yesterday I was so irritable and I unleashed some on my poor husband.
I knew I was irritable and I knew I was in a foul mood but I couldn't
stop the criticisms from exiting my mouth. He took it well.

Ellen, I'm living in Singapore, which in on the equator between
Malaysia and Indonesia. Originally I'm from Boston and Long
Island.

Lisa

Hi there . . . :grouphug:

Just ran around like crazy to get the garbage out -- for some reason, the truck showed up aboput 3 hours earlier than normal. :yikes: I missed the recylables but managed to get the stinkies out.

At least it isn't raining. :lol: We may actually see some sun later this afternoon -- whatever "sun" is -- I think i've forgotten. :s:

Good afternoon
 

Howdy ya'll. It has been one crazy busy week. I've really missed coming to the board but I think I'm about caught up now.

Welcome Lisa...nice to have you with us. I hope you have a fantastic vacation with your family and all the withdrawals are gone.

Ellen..I'm with you..no creepy doctor. :) The walk with your grand baby sounded precious. They are so adorable...how can we tell them no.

Toni...I need to get to the store myself. I think I have enough veggies to make it through the next few days and then my choices will be limited. I think that is when I make some of the picks. Earlier we grilled some spaghetti squash over the coals in the grill. I can't wait to give that a try. One of my boys loved it and of course the picky one said..."oooo gross" :)

Meowee...I'm glad it is warming up for you. We had one last cold snap the other night that hit my garden. We covered what we could and prayed over the rest. The beans seemed to be the worst hit and I think we'll still get some harvest.

Talitha...I hope you are having a better week this week with your back. ((hugzz))

Tech...I sure hope all is well with you and yours.

Time to get busy. ((Everybody))

God bless,
Crystle

Oh yippee, the sun is shining for a change. But, I'm officially in a bad mood anyway. Just finished writing a large cheque to the Canadian Revenue Agency. :mad:

I've been reading this week and not getting a minute to post. Surprised?

Anyway, here's a flash post...

I've been doing a bit better this week. We've been eating well and I discover that my children LOVE sauteed Kale. They are actually asking for it every day! I'm finally, after 10 weeks, falling into the groove of adding the extra food restrictions in. It's been a little hard on the budget but if I'm carefull I've been able to do more organic foods. That always makes me happy. there is still something that Eden is reacting to. I didn't cheat this week but she broke otu with excema all over her little face :( I'm going to have her checked next week.
Travis has off tomorrow, so we are going to get the garden going, I hope. The kids are so excited about planting things. They're obsessed with sprouting so it will be even more fun to plant and harvest. We don't have much space so we're going for the 'edible landscaping' look. Ill try to get som pictures for ya.
I got on the scale yesterday and was down to 199.5 . I'm not claiming it until monday. Do we not have a weekly weigh in anymore? I miss that.. I really looked forward to it as a group.. Just saying..

Ok. I'd love to post to each of ya. Maybe I can later.

LISA- WELCOME!!! It's nice to have another allergy person here. I feel like less of a freak. We've been dealing with it for 3 years now and it was originally just one, Jacob. Now that I've had them all tested we have much more to deal with. But it's worth it. I'm seeing good results.

Oh, and I'm REJOINING THE YMCA TOMORROW!!! Eden is big so I'm just going to go ahead and tell them that she is 3 months old. I'm going in tomorrow morning to reactivate our account, since Travis will be home to watch the kids. YAY!!!

Good morning
 

Eating has been getting better. I have a slight loss but I'm gonna wait a few days to see if it sticks. :) I like Talitha's idea of weighing in like we use to. Even when I gain it holds me accountable.

Meowee..I hope your day gets better.

Love and hugs,
Crystle

Sorry I have MIA. It has been busy here.

Went to look at a condo with my DD. She feels at 26 it is time to get out. Doesn't matter to us. We love having here (sometimes). Since my DH is not a talker, at least I have someone to talk to.

Ellen, How cute your GS chasing you around the yard. I am so jealous. I don't blame you about the dr. I wouldn't go back either (well, unless he was drop dead goregous) Just kidding. They should have pulled his license.

Lisa, Wow, you found us all the way from Asia. Welcome to our group. Yes, we pretty much just post everything right here. Hope you overcome your withdrawl soon. It normally only takes a few days for the headache to go away. Have fun on your trip.

Country, I tend to go along with your picky eating son.

Talitha, congrats on getting back to the gym, although I don't see how you will ever fit it in. I truly love going and working out.

Meowee, I have to write one of those checks next week too. I don't blame you for being in a bad mood.

Toni, now you keep that rain right there in Mo on Easter. I hear we are supposed to get it later that night.

Off to pay some bills. Have a great day.

Not much going on here. Its rainy and cold out. But I don't have to go out so thats okay. Watching Dr. Phil rerun on fat kids. How pitiful. Looks like I've lost 1 lb. this week. Which I'm pleased about. I've got to get more water in.

Ellen- Boy taco's are one of my favorite foods. Yummy. I love the picture of your Grandson chasing you.

Lisa- Hope you're having fun on your holiday. And your eating is well.

Crystle- How was your squash on the grill? You know I've never tried to grill veggies. Congrads. on the loss.

Talitha- I weigh in on Wed. But will try on Monday. Wow how wonderful your kids like kale. I've never tried it and would like to learn how to cook it. How do you do yours? I've watched Emeril Green on tv do it.

Solly- I can't believe we're going to have that darn rain. It couldn't come at a worse time. I wanted to grill on Sunday. Plus we have a guy coming to work in our backyard Friday and its supposed to rain then. Hope you don't get it.

Well have a good afternoon.

Woohoo! Checking in again so soon. I'm proud of myself!
So? Weekly weigh-in? Sounds like I'm not the only one interested? IT certainly doesn't have to be a monday. I actually prefer Fridays. It works well, but I will do whatever day everyone else is doing. Who's calling the shots? Can we start this next week?

Here's what I ate today, the good and the bad...

B: Granola w/ rice milk, cantalope
S: Coffee with rice milk
L: Cabbage with sprouted lentils, a few bites of brown rice
S: 70% Cocoa bar, strawberries
D: a big salad w/ balsamic vinegar and goat cheese, chicken noodle soup (rice noodles)
S: small scoop of Soy Dream Ice Cream

I drank lots of water all day, but my sugar cravings are SERIOUSLY out of control. On the other hand, letting myself just eat it is keeping my PPD in hand (blush). Sigh...

So for tomorrow I'm telling myself that I have to eat healthy snacks and I am allowed 1/2 a cocoa bar. That's only 6g of sugar. And I'm going to make sure

I have protein at my snacks. It was so great when I could eat string cheese and now I can't. I think that I'm not eating enough, then when I'm really hungry I grab chocolate. Stupid. I'm totally addicted.

I'm very excited about going to the YMCA tomorrow. Solly, the reason I can fit it in is that they have CHILDCARE!!!! I'm only a tiny bit excited about that, of course ;) My kids love it there and I really enjoy the break. We'll see how Eden does. I'll start out with just 1/2 an hour at a time.

Ellen- What a sweetie, working out with you. I saw the Doc on the news. You know, I know someone who was wrongly accused and it destroyed his life. I don't agree with them taking away his liscence if it is in doubt. What if he is innocent?

Toni- Good job on the loss! It looks like rain for us tomorrow, too. :(

Crystle- Hope your loss sticks! I got on the scale this morning and mine didn't. I shouldn't have looked yet.

I'm feeling lonely, ladies. LOL

Anyway, I decided after posting that I would give up sugar for the holy weekend, even fruit. So, I just had about 6 bites of totally plain oatmeal for breakfast. I'll eat more in a bit, but I was so thirsty I guzzled three 12oz glasses of water and my belly is full. I'm going to go take a shower, then I will most likely scramble 3 eggwhites with some lentil sprouts and goat cheese. I only use about 1/2 a tablespoon crumbled when I use it. It makes me feel like I'm eating rich foods but it's much lower fat than other cheeses (and I can't have cow dairy).
Off to shower and enjoy my husband being home with us for Good Friday.

:wave:

Gorgeous day today . . . but weather is going to go down hill for the rest of Easter weekend.

Both the weight and the blood sugar took upward blips today -- the weight blip was totally expected (Chinese for lunch yesterday) but the blood sugar was not. :shrug: Hey, no point in becoming obsessive, both will blip back down again.

Talitha . . . don't know about everybody else, but I weigh myself everyday and seeing the little ups and downs, while not being all that enjoyable sometimes, is always fascinating. I actually only move my ticker once a month and :o will use the lower of the scale number for that day or the average for the month whichever I think is honestly more accurate.

Have a great Good Friday, gang . . . :carrot:

Good morning ladies.

I can't beleive Easter is here. I attended our Holy Thursday service last night and I was so moved by it. Unfortunately Thursday is the only service I make this holy week other than EAster service.
Didn't sleep well last night. The dog couldn't get situated and he was up and down and all around all night. For some reason he has been wanting to go out at 1:30 each night. I just pretend I don't hear him and DH takes him out. :sssh: But I made it to the gym this morning and got in a good workout. I am always so glad when Friday gets here as it is my last day to workout until Monday.

I normally have Easter, but we are having it a a clubhouse at my sister's subdivision and everyone is bringing something. Not sure how this will be, but it will be a lot less work for me.

I am for having the weigh-ins again. I prefer WIW (weight in Wednesdays) or Fridays. I never liked it on Mondays. So whatever the majority wants is good for me. I actually weigh every day too.


Toni, we are having bad :rain: storms as we speak. Maybe it will clear up enough Sunday so you can grill. You should try the grilled veggies, they are really good. Fruit is good grilled too. ;Congrat: on your loss.

Talitha, I tried to give up wine for all of Lent. It lasted one week. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Today we fast,only 1 full meal, and no eating between meals. I don't know why that is so hard to do 2 days a year. Of course, I am starving. My family loves kale. My mom always fixed it and boiled potatoes and eggs and layed them on top of the kale. Added some cornbread and that was our meal. Yummy!

Meowee, that Chineese will make you retain water for sure. Actually, I have been craving it too, but I only like General's Chicken and that is not good for me. :nono:

Ellen, I know you will miss your grandson running around, but think how special your visits will become once they are gone. My DD is trying to move out too and I will miss her, but I will like it being me & DH, just like when she went to college. You get used to it quickly.

Crystle, hope you are having a great day and Easter weekend.

I won't be back on before Sunday so I want to wish each of you a Happy & Blessed Easter. :easter2: :bunny2: :egg:

Good afternoon
 

Howdy ya'll. I too weigh every day and to be honest at least twice a day...bad I know but it's what I do. :) I like weigh in Fridays because any water weight from the weekend is gone. But any day ya'll pick will work for me.

The watermelon and cantaloupe garden is planted. Hopefully they will take. It's another new venture for our type of soil. We are starting from seeds.

Toni...oh the squash came out SO good. The edges were caramelized and it was just as tender as if I had cooked it in the oven. So far the butternut is the better of the two on the grill. I haven't cooked them on the propane side yet. Both were cooked with a combo of wood and charcoal.

Solly...I think it is awesome that you fast. Sometimes our church fast. The last water and juice fast was for three days. There are other kinds of fast that we do that aren't as restrictive. I hope you have a great Easter.

Meowee..Sorry that your sugar isn't behaving. My mom struggles a lot with her sugar. Last month she had to take steroids for her lungs and she couldn't get it below the upper 200's fasting. It really takes a toll on her when it is that high.

Talitha...thanks for sharing your menu with us. It helps me try new things. I've never had the rice milk but I found I really really like the sugar free vanilla almond milk. I hope you have a fantastic time at the Y and your little one is comfortable there.

Ellen...Yeah! I know you love the kiddos and the grand baby but I bet you will enjoy some quiet time with Tom. :) Hope you are having a blast on your outing.

Tech...((hugzz))

Sue if you are peeking in I hope your shoulder is healing quickly. ((hugzz))

Time to get moving. More things to plant believe it or not....LOL I'm running out of prepared places. Next year I may have to add a little more the melon garden to make room.

I pray that each of you has a beautiful and special Easter.

God bless,
Crystle

Happy Saturday . . . :grouphug:

Well, the weather is definately deteriorating although nothing is falling from the sky right now. The good news is that both my blood sugar and my weight seem to have recovered from the Chinese food I had on Thursday.

I'm using a Flovent inhaler right now and that has a reputation for raising the blood sugar a little too, but I've experienced nothing quite as bad as your Mother's numbers, Crystle -- yet. However, it is doing nothing to relieve the coughing and wheezing either. :shrug: I'm going back to see the doctor on Tuesday. Hopefully he'll decide to try something else.

Nothing too exciting in my plans today . . . have to get some refills on various meds and the drug store and make a stop at a local grocery store than has a one-day-only sale on a couple of items I really want.

Have a good day . . . :carrot:

Good Morning . . . hope Easter Sunday is everything you hope it will be . . . :egg:

Happy Easter everyone. :bunny2::easter2:

Hello everyone.

We just got back from our trip, and it went well for my eating. My daughter came down with a fever (not fun but the doctor says she'll be fine). At least the food part went well. The withdrawal and cravings finally passed and it was like heaven to be past that. There are still temptations, but so much more manageable now. It's so great to be at this point. I can't believe I didn't do it sooner.

We were at something of a health food resort with lots of organic food (that they grow themselves) and all vegetarian. There wasn't a lot of menu selection that avoided wheat (my allergy) so I ate too much white rice, but mixed with lots of veggies and no refined sugar, so still not bad, and the after-meal cravings were really quite mild.

Meowee- I've got to write a tax check soon too, and I've been putting it off because that's unpleasant. Living overseas means we pay US taxes and foreign taxes, but I shouldn't complain because if we didn't have any income to tax that would be much worse.

Talitha - I'm impressed with getting kids to eat kale. At the "health food resort" I realized how inflexible my kids are about having meat with their starch. That's going to be a problem when the older one (now turning 6) learns where meat comes from. She really adores all animals, even bugs.

Thanks everyone for the support and the welcome. I look forward to getting to know you better. Happy easter.

Yes LISA, that would be far worse. :yes:

I didn't sleep well last night and although the scale is holding in at 208, the bloos asugar went up a little. The weather, however, is not too great -- it's snowing -- just a few intermittent flurries and I hope it doesn't turn into anything more substantial.

Have a good one, gang -- it is a holiday for you?

Hooray for shrink-wrap
 

I just had a real craving -- I couldn't stop thinking about a box
of cookies we brought back from the trip, supposed to be a gift for
the pet sitter. I was really going to open it up and start eating,
except I somehow I stopped at the point of tearing the shrink-wrap
around the box. I got past the craving, without going off plan,
and I'm so grateful for that silly little shrink-wrap.

Finally . . . a good reason they make those things so hard to open . . . :lol3:

Happy Monday Ladies

Hope everyone had a great Easter and avoided he EAster baskets. My nieces always bring me a box of Peeps. I love the little critters. The kids kept asking me if they could have one so I said yes. The more they eat, the less for me. I have only had 1 so far. I really like the yellow ones and they are orange. So I am trying to convice myself that they are not as good. Of course, we had way too much food and snacks. I am still miserable today. I struggled getting to the gym this morning. I just did a circuit of machines instead of following a routine. I just was not with it today. But at least I went.

Cryle, your garden will be overtaking your house soon. I hear the melons take a lot of room. It will be so nice when things start coming "up".

Lisa, :congrat: on passing up those cookies. They always say, when you have a craving, wait 15 minutes before you eat to see if it goes away. Keep up the good work.

Ellen, sounds like you had a busy weekend with the wedding and Easter. I hate when people are late. I guess you need to tell them an hour before you really want them there.

Meowee, Oh no, more snow. Sorry you didn't sleep well. I did that Saturday night. I went to bed at 9:20 last night, but didn't fall asleept until 11:30 but was out all night.

Toni, hope you had a great Easter and got to grill out. It was so cool and windy here. Raining this morning again.

Got to run. Have a great day. :hug:

Well it rained here Easter so we didn't get to grill. Instead I put the roast in the crockpot and it came out so good. I was looking forward to grilling some squash but didn't get to. Maybe next week end. We spend a lovely quiet day here.

Solly- Sounds like your off a bit today, hope you have a better tomorrow. Are you getting the rain too.

Lisa- What a nice vacation you had. Good for you on the eating. And how great you didn't open the cookies.

meowee- Good for that scale holding....

Ellen- Hope you don't work to hard.....


Have a good day...

Oh Spring is so grand -- pretty little dusting of whiteness is covering the dirty brown grass roots and making those little tips that are still sticking through look lovely and green. :rolleyes:

Howdy ho..... I've got to get some breakfast/lunch going soon but wanted to pop on first. Watching a cooking show right now and having coffee. We slept in late this morning. But didn't go to bed till 1 this morning. Steve gets home from work at 12 am so we're always up late and sleep late in the morning. Going to make a pot of taco soup with ground turkey instead of beef for dinner tonight.

meowee- Hows your cats doing? You haven't mentioned them in awhile.

Ellen- Oh man you made me hungry reading your post. And are you ever busy. I've got some pink lady apples to try. Hope they're good. Its so hard to get good produce around here. I did pick up some wonderful looking spring asparagus.

Well I'd better get started with my day. Have to go to town too.

I'm hanging in there, eating well, and I had a gratifying down-tick
on the scale this morning.
I also weigh myself daily, but I don't take the fluctuations very
seriously. I wait a while before changing my ticker, to make sure
the loss is "real".

Ellen's post made me really hungry too. I'm not yet capable of
cooking cheesecake without eating cheesecake, so I guess it's
a good thing I don't have to try.

Toni's taco soup sounds good too.

:wave:

Darn forgot to weigh today. Where the heck is everyone?

Lisa- Glad you went down on the scale. Keep up the good work.

Meowee- Howdy!


Well the dogs are barking and making me crazy so I'd better go see why.

Yesterday I had a lot of trouble concentrating at work.
(I had been using/abusing sugar to give me jolts of energy when
I needed a stimulant.) Yesterday I wanted to finish my
work early, leave early, and visit DD's school. But as the
afternoon ticked on, I really hadn't accomplished enough to let
myself leave early, so missing the school event was a good
"kick in the pants" for me. Then I finally buckled down and got
so absorbed in what I was doing that the final part of my day
was productive, high-energy, no eating and no hunger.
A big improvement!
I'm starting to repeat the same cycle today, and I really do
want to leave early today, so I've got to turn it around ASAP
and get my work done now. See ya.

Hi Sugar Shakers
 

:carrot:

Happy Thursday.... well I weighed in and almost back to were I started :devil:

Well, it is my fault, let the sugar back in and just was frustrated.

I have been following on line. 2 weeks since my shoulder surgery. I have not been taking the heavy drugs, so I am no so woobly. Therapy is coming good, had it yesterday and am sore today. Just applied ice.

I AM going out side to walk around are back yard and I AM getting on my elliptical machine, even if only 5 minutes.

Glad your all doing well, and Crystle your garden sound scrumpous :hug:

Great day to all ;)

Sue