3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

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- - No Refined Sugar Club (https://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/support-groups/52615-no-refined-sugar-club.html)

Hi ho :queen: s Eydie, Ceara (the Sword Bearer) and SeeCat!!!!! (That's NOT HoHo as in a refined sugary chocolate creme thingie that WE don't eat!!!) :)

Eydie, thy pancakes sound delicious and so healthy!!! What a good start to Sunday! The protein powder really made them bodybuilder pancakes ... POWERFUL!

Re the cashew butter, I ended up not eating the whole recipe as it was so rich and satisfying that I couldn't. It served as several mini meals during the production day. Next time I think I'll add some walnuts for omega-3 (or 6, I'm not sure which walnuts have).

I envy you the corn as I've forsworn it ala Sugar Busters (they forbid all corn and corn products). I'd like to try some pancakes like you made, though, will think what I can use in place of the corn. I'm thinkin' these could be a good carry-around food.

Ceara, CONGRATULATIONS ON DAY 21!!! :cheer: That's fantastic! Sorry about thy respiratory ailment (that's what my sinus thingie turned into this week, better now though).

SeeCat, I love what you wrote about how the decision is made one choice at a time, day by day, minute by minute. WTG on the decision to get an orange instead of a brownie ... and following it with the decision not to buy a candy bar. THESE WERE VERY IMPORTANT MOMENTS, in my not-humble opinion. Congratulations! :cheer:

I made a rather disconcerting discovery today: MY PLAIN SOYMILK HAS DEHYDRATED CANE JUICE IN IT!!!! :yikes: Dehydrated cane juice is turbinado SUGAR!!!! :eek: However, it is natural sugar, not refined, so I haven't inadvertently broken my no refined sugar rule and I actually haven't fallen out of step with Sugar Busters because SB says you can have plain soymilk and guess what it ALL has dehydrated cane juice in it!!! :( I can see I will have to get one of those machines that makes homemade soymilk soon as I desire not to ingest turbinado if possible.

Testimonial: I am counting my days that I am not eating refined sugar/white flour. This is Day 17. When I get to 365 days, I will stop counting and figure it's a lifestyle. I am paying no attention, though, to any inadvertent slips if refined sugar/white flour accidentally gets into some food I didn't know it's in ... in that case I will still claim the day to my credit. However, as stated, the turbinado I drank in the soymilk a few times was natural, but I still desire not to ingest it.

Re real lf milk, SB gives the go-ahead on that (fat free and lowfat have a higher glycemic index than whole, but it's all good). I got a bit paranoid about the lactose (I'm not allergic to it), which is (sigh) sugar, but it's natural (e.g., not refined) and it's not added, it's part of the milk.

I was a little confused about milk. I looked briefly at the lactose free kind and the low carb kind. I find it amazing that they can say the lactose free milk is "lactose free" ... it has the same sugar/carb count as the regular; they just add an enzyme that helps lactose-intolerant people digest it. It is not "free" of anything. What a misleading statement.

As for the low carb kind, I think milk is supposed to have carbs. It's made that way by nature to provide all the macro nutrients (in my not humble O). Since I like to eat carbs with protein always, I've decided that milk can be a mini meal since it has both the carbs and the protein, plus the lactose for energy.

The really neat thing about this is that my desire for little bottles of dulce de leche milk from the convenience store to help me run around the county is gone. I now buy little bottles of fat free milk (they sell 'em RIGHT NEXT TO THE DULCE DE LECHE, who'da thunk it?!!) and have no desire to even put Splenda in it. Because I'm free of refined sugar, the milk tastes fine the way it is.

Hmmm, I am ranting, apologies for the length of this missive. I realize I sound a bit nuts (cashews? walnuts? pecans?) about this project but it's taking on a life of its own. My blood sugar is stable, there's more clarity in my fevered brain, real food tastes better than it has in years, I have NO food cravings, my bodyfat percentage went down and I lost three pounds without even trying (well, I'm actually expectin' some of that to come back but don't care).

P.S. I have shown the Sugar Busters book to a couple of people ... one lady on my beat has ordered her own copy and today a lady I work with says she wants her granddaughter to try it. And so it goes.

Hello all--

Although I just finally made it here, I've been thinking about this subject at great length-- and wonder how much of my homonal swings are affected by processed white stuff..... I do know the past few days ( which I blamed on the full moon initially) have been to the absolute far end of the graph for cravings, emotions, complexion, energy, ......

I do know, when I get a group of days behind w/o white processed stuff, the cravings are much easier to ovecome but the Empress is sooooooo right about the "hidden" sugars....

and as for the "marketing' of the milk--( lactose free)--- you all know that pushes a very large button for me...

I am thinking I should ALSO journal sugar/no sugar symptoms-- emotions, complexion , etc...

hmmmmmm

This is a good thread Empress-- very glad its here

Empress, I've seen some "boxed" soy milks that are lableled 'unsweetened'-check and see, Also, I noticed that Silk [I think] makes an unsweetened one--that's with the refrigerated soymilks. When I first started cutting back on sugar, I was heating up chocolate Silk and having that as a treat. Surely, I thought, it's sweetened with rice syup or something--imagine my surprise when I read the label and it said SUGAR. Plain ol' nekkid sugar!

Also, I was very distressed to closely read some of my vegetarian 'meat' staples and see sugar among the ingredients. At this point, I'm not sweating it too much, 'cause I don't really eat much of them. I try to keep it to one serving of soy per day for myself.

Welcome SeeCat and Kaylets!!! :D

Thanks for the invitation, Ceara! I wouldn't mind being your guest chef!

Yo, :queen: K's in the house ... yes, K, would LOVE to see you journal symptoms you relate to the sugar/no sugar conundrum (sp?) ... it's amazing how clear it seems when one's away from it for awhile.

Eydie, great minds think alike! :lol: I FOUND Westsoy's "unsweetened" varieties ... they had plain and, oddly enough, vanilla. The vanilla said it had "vanilla" ... which is ok on my plan 'cause it ain't sugar, folks, and nothing else. Both had the same amount of "sugars" listed but no sugar or turbinado or anything else I don't want on the ingredients, so I assume the "sugar" grams are natural to the soybeans. The vanilla flavor was 10 cals more but I couldn't see exactly where that came from as except for "vanilla" (extract, I assume), they're exactly alike ... I decided to spring for the vanilla as I'm miffed because Sugar Busters says you can have sugar free ice cream but I can't find any without maltodextrin or dextrose (SUGAR!). I wanted a butter substitute also and found that only the buttery sprays have no hydrogenated ingredients and/or DEXTROSE AND MALTODEXTRIN ... or however you spell that word. I know I'm nitpicking, but I want to be strict for awhile until I get the hang of this. So I got the sprays ... the next best thing to get seems to be real full fat butter.

Well, need to rest before working tonight. I'm hopping over to the St. Val's Challenge in the land far far away challenge forum now ... I want to keep that up and do a St. Pat's Party there as well, now that I have a realistic chance of losing weight (hopefully my three pounds are not back).

Greetings! I'm so happy to find this thread! I gave up all sweets (desserts, candies, etc.) on January 1st this year and have lost 13 pounds. Before "D-Day," I took a week to ease into it, and I think that made it easier. Right now--I guess I'm 33 days into it--it's pretty easy--no cravings, am able to resist donuts and other unexpected treat opportunities without much thought. I have not consciously eliminated all forms of sugar from my diet, although I may do that later. I don't think I eat a lot of foods with sugar in them, but as Amarantha points out, it's in EVERYTHING. Amarantha, you've motivated me to be more aware of labels!

When I made this commitment, I told myself that I could have a dessert on holidays (real holidays, not every holiday I can find ;) ) and birthdays, but I'm not sure if I will. Valentine's day is the first holiday I'll encounter, and I was planning on having a dessert at dinner. However, I don't want to relapse (it IS a drug for me, too, Eydie!), so I'm not sure of what to do. Is it possible to have a rare treat?

Greetings, Darlene!!! :wave: That's fantastic: 33 DAYS :cheer: !!!!! Congratulations on your 13-pound loss, too!!!!

I was wondering if you also lowered cals and/or upped the exercise or was the loss due solely to eliminating the sweet stuff? Inquiring minds want to know. :)

Hmmm, maybe you could have your dessert without the sugar. There are lots of choices. I know the Sugar Busters plan I'm on has recipes for "legal" desserts and there are lots of such recipes on this site and everywhere on the web ... then you would be able to be true to your promise to yourself to have a dessert on holidays and yet not risk a relapse ... just a thought.

I know how you feel ... I feel if I imbibe any of that addictive stuff ever again, I'll be in line for donuts at convenience store in the next five minutes. But likely it wouldn't be that dramatic.

It's good to have you here. I'm interested to hear more of your story.

Hello Darlene! 33 days, that's great! Admit it, didn't you love getting to the 30-day mark so you could call it a month? I know I did! :D I agree with Amarantha---I'd love to hear more of your story!

Don't know what to tell you about the desserts on special occasions. For myself, it would be too much. I used to think that I was an emotional eater, and that if I really put my mind to it, then I could have my special dessert, and get right back on track, like all the books say to do. I never could--that one dessert would open the floodgates and it would take days and sometimes weeks for me to white-knuckle myself back on program.
A life without sugar may sound grim to some people, it did to me for years, but now that I'm doing it, I am so digging it! :D

SeeCat, good job on making the healthy choice of a juicy orange over a brownie!!! Love those everyday victories--they really add up! :)

Akk...what a clever thing to do Gypsydancer...start your count on the first...I started somewhere in the midst of January and it is a brain stretch to figure out all the time! I am on Day 23....and goin' strong. I fought off the battle of the hostess crunchy mix last night...I love those hard cheese things, and just went to bed. Another NSV at the moment but it will potentially develop on the scale!

Down 1.5 last night at weigh-in...that is good. Funny thing their scale is going the same way as mine!:lol:

I'm not as religious about this as Empress A...I'm just onto the obvious sugar sources. I'd have to change my glasses to read those labels....or peer over the tops of the ones I'm wearing...I'm terribly short sighted.

Anyway...off to have some oatmeal and start the day!

Kudos! :wave:

Ceara

Just wanted to say that you're doing sooo well, Ceara! :flow1: What happened that made you think it'd be good to avoid sugar? Enquiring minds must know! :D

About the cheese-y crunchy things: when I stopped having sweet treats I allowed myself salty fatty treats. For the first time in years I was having kettle chips [glorified potato chips] and cheese curls, sesame sticks, etc. All those things that I avoided like the plague because of their high fat content., but, hey, no sugar!!! :lol: Kathleen DesMaisons says that very often when one first gives up sugar they turn to fatty things, because the fat gives you the same feeling of comfort, the beta-endorphin rush that sugar does. The great news is I could never become addicted to salty things like I was/am to sugar.

Hi, y'all! I did begin exercising, eliminated snacking between meals, and eliminated starches at dinner at the same time I eliminated sugar, so the weight loss isn't just from going sugar-free (although I'm sure that's a big part of it!). I found that eliminating starches at dinner drastically reduced my sugar cravings. I eat what I want at breakfast and lunch, and don't worry about fat intake (maybe I'll have to later--but now it's just too much!).

I have to say that I'm feeling a lot of anxiety about the prospect of having a dessert, and I'm thinking that it's a sign that it's not a good idea. I was thinking that if I ate my dessert (or shared a dessert with my husband) outside of the house, I would be able to handle it. I'm just not sure. Oh, well, I have time to decide! I'll take your suggestion, Amarantha, and look at the SBD desserts, in the meantime.

Hope you're all doing well! I agree that this is one of the best things I've ever done for myself!

Trust those feelings, Darlene! :)

When I ate sugar, I'm talking like it was a 100 years ago :lol: , the idea of sharing dessert was totally foreign to me. Why would anyone want to do that? If I share it with anyone, there'll be less for me. So whenever courtesy dictated that I share my dessert with anyone I resented it mightily, fantasized about stabbing their theiving hand with my dessert fork--and I'm a very generous person, really! It's funny the things that are so clear now! I'd share anything else, but dessert? Never! It's funny, but not funny---just shows me how powerful an influence it can be. [shudder]

I just realized that I acidently started this on the first of the month, so counting will be a breeze. I survived a meeting last night, which is always hard what with the prevalance of snack foor at night meetings. Of course it could be a morning meeting, in which case it wold have been danishes or somehting, so I suppose I should just stop going to meetings altogether (I wish).

Hi, all!!!! Wow, everyone is doing so well!!! This is really helping me stay on track ... I must admit a few thoughts of all the Valentine's cupcakes I'm missing have crept in. As long as I don't actually act on them, I figure it's all "legal"!!!

Sword Bearer, I'm only being strict now to get me started in the right direction, but I do sound a bit like a crusader on the march to root out all vestiges of heresy, don't I? :lol: I'm havin' fun tryin' to be perfect! :)

Ok, I apologize but am going to put my gym vent here as it's an illustration of how much calmer I am in my sugar free state. Usually, the palace has to hear me vent about people who are annoying me ... lately at the gym my experience has been ruined just about every other day (we're getting some new gyms in around here soon, so s'ok) ... I do apologize for the length and the negativity of this story, but:

Had another run in with some of my fellow gym goers and am amazed at the clarity of mind my sugarless state is producing. This was about the fan in the tiny cardio machine room. Usually the fan is turned on, so I turned it on ... this has been controversial before (yes, I known, it's kindergarten in there), so I made sure it wasn't even touching anyone. A lady I've privately dubbed the "queen of the gym" got all huffy and rude and jerked the fan over to the treadmill where I had started walking. I kind of adjusted it again so it wouldn't touch anyone and she got up and turned it off. I turned it on and adjusted it again so it didn't touch them. The the queen led a charge of two other ladies and one gentleman, saying they didn't want it on because they didn't like the noise (I don't like the noise of their incessant TV but I don't say so and I don't go jerking it off the stand and blasting it at individuals). Usually I'd have left, gotten upset and eaten three packages of Hostess cupcakes on the way home. But instead I calmly told the queen I felt she was causing an incident because she wanted to be in control and I felt that since the gym provided the fan, members had permission by inferral to turn it on. (Usually the gym personnel turns it on). She turned it off and one of the others said it was three against one. I said I did not believe it was a matter of voting since, again, the fan was provided by the gym management and was usually on. I went and asked the person at the front desk if the fan policy could be clarified by the owners and informed her calmly that I apologized for venting to her but was feeling very clear in my mind that I was no longer going to be treated rudely by other members without responding.

So, yes, things are clearer now ... I will never go back, though I might ease off a bit now and then. But again, I think even one taste of the hardcore stuff (I'm not saying I'll never have sugar alcohols or a Splenda dessert and I WILL be making my own "legal" ice cream if I can't find something suitable during the summer heat), would start me on the slippery slope right now.

So I'm soldiering on! :)

Er, I was so long winded I forgot to mention I'm on Day 19!

Gad, Amarantha--what is UP with those people? They're bullies, pure and simple, sounds like you handled it well though. What was the final verdict on the fan?