Eating No Sugar Added

[LillsnJills]

Hi, all Just wondering if anyone else has cut sugar out of their diets (a la "Year Of No Sugar"). My wife and I just started today, and I thought it'd be nice if those of us on this journey had a support thread. I did a search but didn't see one pop up....

A bit about us: Me = Lilly, 42, 5'7", about 300 lbs (man that hurts to type....). I have bad knees due to a car accident followed by surgery, and flat feet, both of which are aggravated by the excess weight. This is the heaviest I've been in YEARS, and I'm pretty disgusted with myself for it. I have a desk job which makes me utterly sedentary, and I work a lot of very quiet grave shifts, and eat out of boredom. I started walking on a treadmill today and plan to do so 5x a week.

DW = Jill, 38 in a month from now, 5'5", won't post her weight cause she hasn't said I could (lol), but suffice it to say also Pooh sized (though lower than my weight). She has a bum back/hip and also flat feet, both also exacerbated by the weight. She has an office job but is often on her feet and moving around. She began doing Jillian Michaels workouts, and will also be doing them 5x per week.

Like most people struggling with weight, we've both had ups and downs, struggling to take weight off and keep it off. We'd do well for a while, but then the weight would creep back up again, despite cutting back on calories/eating "diet" foods, eating "healthy" granola bars, etc. and then we'd just give up, because our efforts never seemed to pay off.

Jill recently picked up a copy of "Year of No Sugar", and it was a real eye-opener, reading just how pervasive sugar in all it's forms really is. Some things you EXPECT to have sugar, but lunch meats? Supposedly healthy soups? Broths and stocks? Not so much.

I do most of the grocery shopping for us, and my weekly trip today took twice as long as usual, given the need to check every single label of every single item I need to buy to make sure there were no added sugars. I'm looking forward to getting to the point where I KNOW which brands/items are safe so I can cut down on the time it takes to shop.

I'd love to hear from others, what success you've had, challenges you've faced, products you've found are NSA and fantastic (or maybe not so great), ways you've fought off temptations, whatever else you'd like to add!

 

[WannaBinPictures]

It really is crazy how it's in everything, especially the HF corn syrup.
I wish you guys the best of luck!!
Not sure if this will come into play for you guys or not, but just a heads up from someone who has had health consequences in the past . . . . beware of artificial sweeteners as a replacement for sugar.
I avoid them like others avoid sugar. LOL!! Bad, bad news.

No asparatame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium (Acesulfame-K), saccharin, stevia (processed)

Just two cents from my soapbox. LOL!

 

[LillsnJills]

It really is crazy how it's in everything, especially the HF corn syrup. I wish you guys the best of luck!! Not sure if this will come into play for you guys or not, but just a heads up from someone who has had health consequences in the past . . . . beware of artificial sweeteners as a replacement for sugar. I avoid them like others avoid sugar. LOL!! Bad, bad news. No asparatame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium (Acesulfame-K), saccharin, stevia (processed) Just two cents from my soapbox. LOL!

Thanks for the words of support, they're much appreciated! Going into day 3 and the withdrawal symptoms are already kicking in - headache, PMS style moodiness/irritability... Good times


As to the artificial sweetness...no, def avoiding those like the plague they are! The only sweetener we're using is dextrose (glucose), and sparingly with that. There's also "date sugar", though it's not really sugar at all, just dehydrated and pulverized dates. They don't dissolve in liquids, but can mimic the flavor of brown sugar in things like oatmeal and baked goods. Mostly plan to use it mixed into plain Greek yogurt, with a bit of fruit, to take the edge off the sharpness of the yogurt. I can't taste it at all at this point, but DW, who's less sugar addicted than I am, can taste the difference.

 

[pjlla]

Well, first of all, I applaud you for taking such a big step in the right direction to better health! And I would second what others say about avoiding the artificial sweeteners as well...... in fact, I would go so far as to say that you are better off using a SMALL amount of REAL sugar, versus artificial stuff. Be aware of all of the names that artificial sweeteners have so that you can spot them as you are reading labels.

You CAN get used to foods being less sweet and over time your taste buds will adjust. I find a bit of cinnamon and vanilla in my plain greek yogurt, along with the berries, helps with that sharp taste..... and try different brands.... I have found a LOT of difference between different brands of non-fat plain greek yogurt.... texture, taste, etc.

I don't particularly watch my sugars, but I think I am AWARE of my intake to some degree. I follow Weight Watchers, but also keep an eye on my carbohydrates and RARELY have white carbs of any kind.

Love to hear more about how the date sugar works for you. I actually threw a date into my smoothie this morning for the first time and was astonished at how long it took the blender to really get it smooth! At first I thought I had accidentally thrown in a date pit/seed! But it was just the chunks of date needing more blending. It did help with the sweetness of the drink.

Best of luck to both of you on your healthier life journey!............P

 

[LillsnJills]

Well, first of all, I applaud you for taking such a big step in the right direction to better health! And I would second what others say about avoiding the artificial sweeteners as well...... in fact, I would go so far as to say that you are better off using a SMALL amount of REAL sugar, versus artificial stuff. Be aware of all of the names that artificial sweeteners have so that you can spot them as you are reading labels.

Thanks, Pjlla! We're almost through day 4 and I have to admit, it's more of a challenge than I thought it would be.The cravings and feeling hungry when I know I'm not I expected, but the irritability has been over the top, and I've had to apologize several times to co-workers for it At least they were aware ahead of time that I was going cold turkey off sugar, so they totally understood, but I still feel like a bit of a jerk.

And totally agree, the fake stuff is way worse than the real thing! I avoided it as much as possible before this, so it wasn't that tough of a give up, thankfully.

You CAN get used to foods being less sweet and over time your taste buds will adjust. I find a bit of cinnamon and vanilla in my plain greek yogurt, along with the berries, helps with that sharp taste..... and try different brands.... I have found a LOT of difference between different brands of non-fat plain greek yogurt.... texture, taste, etc.

Surprisingly, I'm already finding my buds are adjusting! I've been using a bit of dextrose powder to sweeten my tea, and noticed last night that the same amount I used on Monday (which barely tasted sweet then) was too sweet last night. I do need to experiment a bit with some other yogurts. I've been doing Fage, which I preferred when it was the ones with fruit goop in them, but maybe I'd find a different one more palatable plain. I've done the cinnamon added to it, which is yummy, but I did it with honey (prior to this new diet). Will have to break it out again and try it with the date sugar.

Love to hear more about how the date sugar works for you. I actually threw a date into my smoothie this morning for the first time and was astonished at how long it took the blender to really get it smooth! At first I thought I had accidentally thrown in a date pit/seed! But it was just the chunks of date needing more blending. It did help with the sweetness of the drink.

Best of luck to both of you on your healthier life journey!............P

I haven't used it since that first night, but once I do I'll post feedback for it again. I love dates, but agree, they're so sticky and hard to work with. I've tried doing that very thing with smoothies and could never get an acceptable consistency.

Thanks again for your words of support! For all the feedback I've read elsewhere about the book, I'm surprised there hasn't been others joining in who are attempting to go no sugar added!