I've read alot of diet books by 'experts' and how to cut back your calories.

Alot of it seems to revolve around a central theme : Use no-sugar substitutes.

Myself, I'm either allergic or highly sensitive to both aspartame and splenda - they bring on full on migraines and stomach aches. Sacchrin just tastes nasty IMO. I tried a recipe from the Biggest Loser - some jello mousse concotion. On their site, they say it only has 50 calories - if you go sugar free! I made it with non sugar free alternatives, and don't even want to know how many calories were in it.

How do you do it full sugar?

Personally, I avoid sugar as well as sugar substitutes. It really becomes an acquired taste. I do eat small amounts of dark chocolate though that contain sugar.

Another sugar substitute you might want to try if you really want is stevia.

Most of the time I eat very plain. A lean protein, veggies, fruit .... no sugar added! I do have a weakness for a Tim Hortons large double double but a couple of times a week ... a couple of teaspons? No biggie.
I think the trick is to avoid adding any kind of sweetening. Find foods that taste good ... as is.

The less bad foods you have the less you will want them.

Ditto everyone else!

No sugar here. The sweetest things I eat are whole fruits. Nothing processed or with flour so that cuts all types of pastry/dessert goodies. I will occasionally use stevia (natural, no chemicals and no effect on blood sugar) in a smoothie that I've added plain NF yogurt to as the taste is very sharp.

Sugar sets your body up for a deadly cycle. You eat it, your blood sugar skyrockets, then your blood sugar plummets causing you to crave more. If you can break the cycle the cravings leave.

I didn't feel like fighting my body any more.

I have never bought sugar substitutes, they freak me out a little, and the couple I've tasted kind of grossed me out. The idea of something so sweet with no calories makes me a little nervous! I have 2 teaspoons of sugar with my cream of wheat every morning. A teaspoon of sugar is only 16 calories, so if you're just using a little bit, the calories don't add up to very much.

However, it is rare for me to eat cakes/desserts/sweets and I suppose if you were eating these a lot, the sugar calories could really add up. I also don't drink soda which has loads of sugar. I think you need to evaluate how much sugar you use, how many calories that is, and how many calories you can afford. For me 32 calories a day is not worth switching to something that doesn't taste as good, and has questionable future health issues. I'll stick with my sugar for now.

For several years the only sugar substitute I used was agave syrup, found in health food stores. I didn't add sugar or any other sweetener to anything, and avoided any food that had ANY sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, malt, or any other type of added sweetener. It takes a lot of label reading and/or cooking from scratch. But you very quickly get used to it and discover how sweet foods are in their natural state.

Mel

I'm not a fan of sugar substitutes so I just eat the real thing. For me it's all about portion size and making sure my calorie intake doesn't get out of control.

I slowly weaned myself off of the junkfood I loved so much and switched to whole grain bread and healthy foods whenever possible. As for sodas and candy (my weaknesses), I limited myself to one soda a day with dinner and a small dessert afterwards. That worked well and over time I cut out the soda completely (too sickeningly sweet) and worked fruits in as my dessert.

I still have junkfood, but I don't like it as much as I used to.

Really though, you'll just have to experiment and see what works for you. I lose on 1800-2200 calories a day so obviously I have a lot of caloric room to spare.

I use Splenda. It's really weird, my body reacts better to that than regular sugar!!

One thing I've noticed from giving up sugar and sugar substitutes is everything tastes sweeter. I also use minimal salt and my tastebuds also adjusted to that. I think our tastebuds are so used to sweet things that it eventually dulls our tastes so that you need sweeter and sweeter things to get that same sweet taste.

Hi

I use Agave syrup and Stevia.

I don't worry about sugar any more than any other carb that has a high glycemic index. I try not to eat more than one fast carb in a single meal, that keeps me from overdoing it. Some meals, I'll skip the bread or potatoes or rice just so I can have a piece of cake afterwards. It doesn't matter if you eat something with sugar, as long as the overall nutrition for the day is good.

I eat whole wheat/oatbran pancakes or waffles every day, with some pancake syrup on them. Every day. I only drink water with meals, so I don't load up on calories that way, but I eat satisfying meals.

Sugar is no worse than any other carb that is swiftly digested.

About 20 or so years ago, I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. My doc put me on a no-sugar, no-fried foods diet. I thought I'd DIE!!! My whole life I grew up on fried chicken, fried squash, fried okra... cake or pie for dessert, pop tarts or sweetened cereal for breakfast, etc. I was MISERABLE.

But that was the same time that EQUAL came out. I learned to have equal on grapefruit, or in my oatmeal. I gave up EVERYTHING fried. It took a few years, but my body got used to it & got itself back on track.

Nowadays, I believe that anything that is nature-made is fine to eat. I'd rather have the taste of REAL SUGAR than any of that man-made crap that usually leaves a horrible aftertaste (which is why I HATE diet sodas - blech!) And I have found that when I am PAYING ATTENTION to my dietic needs, I rarely crave too much of any bad food. Normally, when I'm in an OH-DEE mood, I OD on things like popcorn or whatever. Most often, I just eat too much of dinner (2nd portions, etc.) Rarely OD on sugar. (This of course does not apply during "that time" of month!) And I have found that the more fresh fruit I eat, the less likely I am to grab for a candy bar or cake or pie, etc, when I am craving something sweet.

Gave up sugar and the substitutes because my body reacts to all of them. You can get used to anything if you have to (I am insulin resistant). Sugar has no redeeming values.

No redeeming value?!?!?!?!? But... but... but... it makes me HAPPY.