Wow, lots of posts here! Glad to see all the action. I will write later. I just returned to the world of the functional after a very late night out. Ugh, not going to work today. Well, I knew that last night, one of the reasons for staying out. It was a coworkers birthday today so I had a good excuse. But still. . . Anyhow, I stayed away from sugar, which means no convenience store raids in my inebriated state! That was always good for quite a few calories tacked on at the end.

Heh, just wanted to say give this a read. I posted it in the support forum. Good when we're feeling down on ourselves. :wave:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=791907

Lament, Part II
 

Note to all, I posted this on my journal as well, because I'm almost at eight weeks and don't feel swell. Hopin' someone with more sugar free experience will find me and help me along, maybe sing me a song? Not sure what's goin' on, as I still want a cupcake, though I've put on the brake!

... Decided to do a non-cheery journal entry because I don't feel cheery.

Finished work and could not go back to sleep and find I am having another of those "where is Cupcake?" kind o' days! Feel immensely frustrated and have decided to go take a mini hike by myself (may just be on the treadmill at gym), since ... (deleted reference to a disappointment today).

Sigh.

Cupcake NEVER let me down.

Sigh.

The truth is I am more depressed without CUPCAKE than with her (I decided she was female, while PEANUT BUTTER CUPS are male; dinna know what gender SPROUTED TOAST AND EGGS are, but we are about to have a partin' o' the ways here).

Grrrr.

I want some SUGAR (refined kind) with ICING and SPRINKLES!

I am misssing out on the first fine flower o' the Easter CUPCAKE season.

Oh well.

Amarantha, hang in there. It sounds like your body is in need of some quick energy. Try eating really sweet fruit. Maybe that'll help. Remember, there was no such thing as processed white sugar when your body was made! so it doesn't NEED it! I read that the body "desludges" and that some weeks into a nosugar regime, all sorts of ugly things can start to happen. It's not all roses! You will seem sicker than before but that is a GOOD sign. This may be what is happening to you. Hang in there. This is the poison coming out of your cells from deeper within! Yuck, right?

RedBalloon, I read that too!!!! Are we reading the same macrobiotic book perhaps? ;) I'm reading "The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics" and she mentions desludging alot. Very interesting stuff.

How're you doing, Amarantha? This past week I've wanted it BAD too. "It" being sugar. When it gets really bad I just rememebr my addiction and how if I start I'll be right back in the **** of not being able to stop. Let us know how you are.

Went out of town to one of the big natural food supermarkets today. Who are they trying to fool with evaporated cane juice in everything?! It's really hard to find something without it. I usually settle on the old classic boring wha guru chews. They've been the same forever.

Hi, guys, I'm fine and still refined sugar free!!! :) Thanks for the great support. I really appreciate it. I eventually went to the gym, where I felt at odds with everyone I saw, so walked a tiny bit on :tread: and took a really hot shower, wasting the gym's water, not my own, then went to health food store to get TWO servings of fresh almond butter. Then I thought about going to Whole Foods, which is quite a ways from where I live (E, great minds really do think alike, but I was too lazy to go). So I went and bought myself a toy ... don't ask, just something I wanted that is too expensive. Then I came home and ate cherries and played with the toy; unfortunately, I am still craving cupcakes, but it's too rainy to go out.

I dinna know what wa guru chews are, E, do they have sugar in them?

RB, that's a funny but apt word: "desludging!" :lol: I do think it takes awhile for the bod to adjust to being refined sugar free. I know I got REALLY cranky at the end of the third week and here it is at the end of the seventh week and I'm cranky again. Mayhap it's cyclical.

:cb: :cb: :cb:

ATTENTION ALL, BOTH SUGAR FREES AND WANNABEES: I WOULD LIKE TO ISSUE A CHALLENGE TO ALL PARTICIPANTS ON THIS THREAD TO LIST FIVE REASONS WHY THEY'VE MADE THE DECISION TO DECREASE OR END THE USE OF REFINED SUGAR IN THEIR DIET!!!! :cb:

Here's mine:

1) It's my belief that REFINED SUGAR (as well as refined white flour products, white rice and white rice products, corn and corn products, beets, pineapple, watermelon, and some other stuff) causes a too-rapid rise in my blood glucose levels, causing my pancrease to overproduce insulin (e.g. "insulin spikes"), which causes me to feel sick, hungry and tormented by cravings for useless food items in conveniences stors and has an extremely deleterious effect on my body's health and well-being and also makes me resistant to obtaining and achieving a healthy weight.

2) If it had no effect on weight at all, the overproduction of insulin can, I believe, lead to a condition known as Syndrome X (prediabetes) and full-blown Type 2 diabetes. Since Type I diabetes runs in my family and is one of the reasons my younger brother is not alive anymore, it seems like a good idea to not get Type 2.

3) I agree with the concept of a book written in the 1970s called "Sugar Blues" (Duffy) that the over-refining of our food is an evil alien plot (ok, maybe not alien, but sort of evil, anyway) to addict us all and turn us into robots; well, ok, not robots, but anyway, to sell us a lot of food by pandering to mankind's natural desire to eat sweet stuff and the perversion of that desire by modern manufacturing process to a state of REFINED lust for ... :devil: ... well, ok, ya get the idea ...

4) I like living and wanna go on doing it for awhile.

5) I want to be 135 pounds.

There are a lot more reasons, but I'll spare ya!

Will anyone else take up the challenge?

Heh guys, back from riding. Have practically no voice anymore. Cold I suppose, settling in my chest and throat. I really shouldn't have ridden but though it's physically tiring it gives me a great mental boost.

**********

Amarantha -- glad to hear you're holding strong. I like your reasons for giving up sugar. I'd have to say I have the same but I will still write my own just to do it. I'm so sorry to hear about your brother, Amarantha. Really sorry. When did he die? Was it recent? Your taking care of yourself is what he would have so wanted you to do, I'm sure. Your doing this means that his death was not in vain, it is a tribute to him, to his life and what he meant to you.

Too bad about the gym but at least you did something and got a nice hot shower! yum, cherries. were they sweet enough? I know you are trying to eat low-glycemic index things but I think you should make some exceptions so you don't keep craving cupcakes and other unnatural stuff. I would eat some pineapple or grapes, watermelon, anything natural that will keep your hand from the "white death! " (did you know that's what arnold called white sugar and white flour?)

Eydie -- Yes, we are reading the same book! It's good, isn't it? Amarantha, if you want, I can type out that part about "desludging" for you, or fax it to you. It could inspire you perhaps. Eydie, I like the tone of the book. The author sounds very with it, very balanced, not wacko in any way, not WEIRD. :lol: What's this with the evaporated cane juice in everything? Is that what they're doing? That's like people thinking honey is so great too. If it's not raw, and most isn't, it's almost the same as white sugar. And what they say about brown sugar being often just white with molasses added. I really just think we should get away from sugar period instead of always trying to find substitutes, especially these artificial sweeteners. I think they taste horrible anyhow.

Ok, if it's the only way you can break away but I think they actually make it harder. You still want the sickening sweet taste when you're hooked on sweeteners, right, and aspartame and acesulfame or whatever it's called are supposed to be very bad for you.

Well, don't mean to knock anyone who's going off the sugar this way. Whatever gets you there. I guess it's like a nicotine patch for people trying to quit smoking.

Eydie, how are you doing about your cat? All my cats are sick, two with the bad gums that plagues many cats these days and they say there's no cure. I have to take two in for monthly shots to alleviate the pain. But because my one guy died and I think now I could have prevented it if I'd gotten him to the vet sooner, I took another of mine who has a chronic running nose and sneezing and am trying to help her because the guy who died had the same thing and I just don't want the same thing to happen to her. Your guy was old so it's a different story. I'm sure you're still missing him terribly but he's certainly there with you somewhere, remembering you fondly.

Dani -- I've tried quinoa. It has a bit of an odd taste but in veggie stews and curries and such it's great. Don't like it in my hot cereal though.

Gypsy -- Thanks for the understanding about the horror of dressing rooms. Ok, I'll blame the lighting! Yes, really, if they made the dressing rooms nicer, the stores would surely sell more clothes.

Macon -- thanks to you too on the dressing rooms. yes, lighting again, pasty looking. ugh. I don't know. I don't think I particularly don't love myself but I would like to see something nicer in the mirror because that is what everyone is looking at too and boy, Tokyo, and all the guys I know, are quite hung up on looks. But you are right, we must always remember our accomplishments.

Jana, kaylets, anyone else I didn't address personally. . . good luck with your sugar free days! Hope to hear from you soon again! :sunny:

Amarantha, I'm so glad you're still sugar-free! :D I went out with some friends this morning to a breakfast buffet and did pretty well, I think. Just eggs with vegetables, salsa, and cheese,some potatoes, and instead of pancakes I had fresh fruit. Man, when I think about the food orgies of the old days....shudder! My friends, bless 'em, were eating enough pancakes and syrup for all of us though. :lol:

RedBalloon, That's so cool that we're reading the same book! I reccommend the peanut butter cups recipe. I substitue unsweetened carob chips for the choc chips and they are unbelievable. If the truth be known, maybe a little TOO good! :o
About my cat--yes, we're doing well. We both know beyond all doubt that it was time and we're so grateful for 18 1/2 years! We now have 2 dogs and 2 old cats left. I guess I never mentioned that one os Weed's OLDER sister who's 19 years old and looks like an old crone cat but she's truly robust and cranky.

Oh and Amarantha, congrats on dropping another 1/4 pounds!!! :D You're so consistent--this is IT, girl!

Hello everybody,

I am not sure if I mentioned, but yesterday we celebrated Daniel's 8th Bday at his Dad's. As I didn't have too much to do I got a hand to several Runner's Magazines Brian has around and I got interesting info. There was a study done to 3 groups of runners for a period of time. First group had just one serving of dairy a day, the second 1,000 mlgs of calcium as supplement, 3rd one at least 3 serving of dairy a day. At the end of the study the 3rd group who had highest dairy intake lost 27% more of weight than the first group and 17% more than the second group. The writers last quote was something like "I will keep enjoying my 3 rasberries yogurt a day"....

amarantha, glad to hear you're still sugar-free. Must say, though, I really can't understand why you fight the cupcake as opposed to allowing some higher glycemic fruit. If you're exercising your body does need to replenish its glycogen stores. This is why the low carb diets are so ridiculous for people exercising heavily. But, if you CAN stay away from white sugar, ok. I did the sugar busters thing to the letter. Didn't lose any weight. It's still about the calories and I was so deprived and my body was so needing glycogen as I was lifting really heavy that I would eat more of the other foods to compensate.

eydie, I did take note of that peanut butter cup recipe! Thing is, with most of these things, I can't get any of the ingredients over here. Glad to hear you're doing OK with your cat. My one never did come out of the closet last night. I'm so pissed at her because she wakes me up this morning (and I must have woken up 10 times last night) with her crying because she's in pain from her gums and throat but if she'd come down yesterday I could have taken her to the vet. Now I'm thinking of staying home from work to take her in but I really can't afford that. Sometimes, having to care for them all just makes me so upset. It's really so much work and I don't have the money or time and being alone and trying to care for them can be awful. . . rant rant.

Dani, If you go macrobiotic (and I've heard it from many other sources) dairy is one thing that has to go as well. I have a bit of milk, never liked the stuff anyhow, but I love cheese. And recently, I've been eating fruit in yogurt to satisfy my sugar wants. There's a lot of sugar (lactose) in diary and I notice I am all puffy after eating it. Really do want to go vegan if I can.

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have been MIA - busy with family.

Amarantha - Don't stop posting - you were one of my sugar-free inspirations!! In fact, last night, my sister and I cooked dinner for our whole family (nieces, nephews, several cousins) and for dessert, I cooked hot cookies and ice cream and did not have any (not even a lick!) because I did not want to break my sugar-free and have to post on here that I was having to start back at day one. I understand if you have something going on that you can not post but thank you for being such a great motivator and sharing your experiences with sugar :devil: ! Also, Congrats on your continued weight loss.

RB - Sorry you are having a tough/frustrating time with your cats. Pets, especially ailing ones, can certainly take a lot of time,energy and money. I do not have cats so this may sound dumb but can you go into the closet and get her out when the timing works for you to take her to the vet? Also, how far off are you from being a vegan? I think I could do it except for my occaisionally cheese and shrimp! Yum!

Edyie - what are the things you got from whole foods? Wha Guru? This is cheating by complete definition but when I need a sweet (or to reward myself for passing on some major dessert) I have a handful of grain-sweeten, dark chocolate. They are vegan chips - Not too sweet and does not seem to make me crave more. In fact, it tops off my dinner and then I do not want to snack later.

MP- that is interesting about the milk. I am such a fan of information and think we all have to just find a way that works for us. I personally am not a fan of milk but do eat cheese occasionally (in my salads, umm!).

All this talk of books and magazines made me remember a book I read back in the fall that maybe I need to pull it out again. My DH is something of a "geek" (I love him!) and reads Science-type magazines. A while back, they did a study of diets/eating plans and in the end, said the only "expert" that showed any scientific reasearch and no-money motivation was from the Harvard Medical School. It is a book called Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Willett. Again, there are so many books/advice out there but this one is interesting b/c it tries to use actually long-term studies of which there are not many and it focuses on the food groups/vitmins & minerals.

Going back to what Amarantha asked early about why we are going Sugar-free. My DH and I are trying to have a baby. I am not normal (nothing to do with weight although the Dr. did say it could not hurt to get down to a healthier weight by losing 10 lbs.) and need medical assistance. So, on the months that we are trying, I am on major drugs. We just finished 2 cycles and I had gained 7 pounds and no matter what I did, they would not come off - due to the drugs and that I can not exercise while on them. Anyway, I am taking 6 weeks off before we do IVF and so I am determined to make the most of getting in shape these 6 weeks. Will you all be my support to get in shape???

Here is my pledge:
For the next 6 weeks, I will continue to be sugar-free, eat healthy, walk 10,000 steps every day, and lift weights 3 days a week.

Hi people. Just a quickie here. Got to run and ride. My voice is much better. Yesterday all I could manage was a croak practically. I'm still OK on my Lenten no-sugar, no-nuts, no-two other favorite foods challenge. Though the weight doesn't come off and I am very discouraged I think it's still a great thing to be doing. I am going to try to continue this after Easter.

Amarantha -- enjoy your time off. You are doing so well. Just a look at your weight tracker and wow! You seem to be really experimenting with all sorts of eating to find just what is right for your body chemistry and that is very difficult to do. Changing lifetime habits and all. Good luck and come back soon. You are obviously a motivating and inspiring force for many on this thread!

Macon -- you made me laugh! :lol: Yes, you may not know cats but your question is not dumb! :rofl: You have caught me being lazy and also having to admit that my room is piled high with stuff in front of the closet. These are Japanese-style closets and they are built for giants. Can't get to the back of them without a ladder almost. But really, the thing is that I have all this stuff in front of the closet that prevents me from getting in the back where the cat likes to go. I was able to close the sliding door on it though. But anyhow, I got the cat to the vet yesterday so today she could eat. I am never home to work on my room and all the stuff in it, accumulated over years and years. It is horrible and a constant source of depressive thoughts. Another reason I'm never home. As for being vegan, yes, I am very close and really should do it again just because it would force me to prepare good foods. I am not getting the vegetables in me and I think this is why I don't lose weight. I reach for the cheese, the dairy, eggs and there is no lowfat stuff over here that is edible! Macon, good luck with your goals. Yes, that would be frustrating and difficult to stick with a plan when the drugs are playing havoc with your body. Good luck with trying to have a baby! I would love to help support you over the next 6 weeks, or however long! Stop in and tell us what you need! Best of luck! :cheer:

How is everyone? It seems we're all busy. Macon, good luck with your conception quest. Oddly enough, I finally conceived during a month when I was doing yoga everyday. I think it had a lot to do with it. I've also heard prayer has been proven to help, so I asked everyone I knew who prayed to pray for me!