Goodbye Sugar! (well, at least a lot of it)

[TypeADisneyDude]

Hi All!

I've decided to try to reduce the amount of extra sugar I consume each day. My initial methods include cutting out soda (even though I LOVE coke) and avoiding baked good/pastry breakfast options.

Does anyone have any other good tips or snack ideas for this?

Thanks so much!

 

[pjlla]

Good for you for making such a positive change in your diet and health!

Are you looking to reduce your overall carbohydrate intake, or just simply white sugar type intake??

I guess my biggest advice would be to read labels! There is SO MUCH hidden sugar out there. Anything on an ingredients label that ends in "ose" is usually sugar.... fructose, glucose, sucrose. Things like ketchup and salad dressings can be big hidden sources of sugar. Also deli meats and "not sweet" carbohydrates (like bread) often/usually contain sugar in some form.

But beware of replacing the real sugar in your diet with artificial sweeteners! Most of them are just pure poison and should be avoided.

Snacks can include nuts and all-natural unsweetened nut butters (although watch your portions, they are really calorie dense), obviously veggies like carrot sticks, celery, sliced jicima are all great with hummus and/or lowfat cheeses such as Laughing Cow light wedges, lower sugar fruits such as berries, homemade fruit smoothies (almond milk is a good alternative to dairy milk).

Best of luck in your efforts to improve your health!...............P

 

[TypeADisneyDude]

Thanks for the tips!!!! Yeah, I'm just looking to reduce refine sugar, and maybe I'll tackle carbs later. I'm trying to take everything in small steps, lol.

 

[bdoyledimou]

make sure to avoid fruit and vegetable JUICE -- (not whole fruit , just juice)

So many people don't realise that oz for oz fruit juice (apple, orange, tomato etc) have MORE sugar than cola!

 

[TypeADisneyDude]

Also great info! Thanks!

I found this great free app called "Lose It." It lets you track your calories and you can set it to also report the amount of sugar you're eating. My fave part of the app though is that you can scan the bar code on any sort of packaged food, and it will bring the nutritional info up and log it for you!

So excited! Yay for day #2!

 

[DEA]

Another thing for which to watch out: Low-fat products often have more carbs than the full-fat version of the same product, some of which may come from added sugars.

Just in general, I have tried to stop getting snacks in large bags, where I can just keep eating out of the huge bag. Because I will. Willpower: I am bad at it. But if I get things that are portion controlled I can make better decisions.