Anyone want to join me? I’ve been planning this for about two weeks and I start today. I probably should have posted earlier in case anyone else wanted to get ready to join in the challenge. I’ve done a bit of research and made some purchases for my groceries.
So far my tea doesn’t taste nearly as good. I’m used to a hot, sweet, creamy drink every morning. I still have the hot, and creamy but no sweet which is going to be a challenge to get used to.
The challenge is no added sugar at all. Naturally occurring sugars like fructose and lactose are fine, it’s only added sugars that are off limits for a month. I eat way, way too much sugar and I start to get a headache if I go too long without it so I know I need to cut way back. I don’t plan on going sugar free for ever, but I think a month without it will be a good way to get over the sugar addiction.
Here are a couple of links to get started, if anyone is interested. I debated weighing myself before and after but I didn’t really want it to be about weight. But I did weigh myself anyway just as another way to measure how it’s going.
If nobody else is interested, I’ll just let the thread drop but if there are others who want to join, we can give each other encouragement and maybe some helpful hints.
I’d offer to join you, but it would be cheating. My wife and I haven’t had a sugar bowl or added sugar to anything except baked goods for nearly ten years. We don’t drink any type of sweetened beverages either…just water, club soda, juice, or unsweetened iced tea. Once you get used to it, you won’t (and shouldn’t) go back. There’s already too much sugar in just the basic prepared products (like salad dressings) one buys at the store.
(We don’t use any artificial sweeteners and don’t have any in the house.)
What are we talking about as added sugar? Does that mean just something that I personally add sugar to (like a cup of tea)? Or does it count foods which I buy in the store which have a lot of sugar in them (like ice cream)?
I would join you but I have to wait till the cookies are gone. I have done this before and it was hard at first, then much easier, and then I got to the point where I had to make an extra effort to find tomato sauce with no added sugar because the stuff with added sugar bothered me. Sadly, I have relapsed. Well, not with the tomato sauce but, you know, with the cookies.
I find chai spiced tea is a lot better without sugar than some other varieties. There are enough spices to keep it interesting. (I don’t add milk, either.)
No sense being overly wasteful which is why I prepared by eating up the stuff that has added sugar. Last night for New Year’s, I had sushi and today I ate the rest even though it does have some added sugar.
Added sugar means any non-naturally occurring sugars. So the sugar found in fruit and milk is fine but the sugar added to the majority of store bought foods is not. There is a huge list of things that are added sugar in the second link in my op. Many of those added sugars aren’t actually bad for you, like honey and maple syrup. The problem is that I’ve become so dependent on the sweet taste that all of my food has.
I think this is going to be very challenging for me. I’ve had a low-grade headache all day. My tea wasn’t really enjoyable at all. For breakfast I had plain oatmeal with blueberries and cut up banana which was actually really good.
I have Hypoglycemia so I’m hoping to stop having those sugar highs and lows and more stability.
There’s added sugar in so many things! I don’t mind the work but it’s a shame that we (I) have become so used to sugar in everything.
I’ll join you. I need to give sugar the boot. I have a feeling that my self-diagnosed caffeine addiction is more of a sugary drink addiction… I practically run off of syrupy sweet coffee, tea, and soda.
Same here with my tea. I’ll have an entire pot of tea over the morning hours. The tea itself isn’t bad, it’s all the sugar I add to it. Last week I started cutting down on the amount I put in each cup of tea and didn’t notice a huge difference so I thought it would be no big deal this morning and boy was I wrong. I really crave that hot, sweet drink.
And no artificial sweeteners either, so no stevia or aspartame. Those trigger dopamine just the same as regular sugar so the cravings don’t get less, they can actually get worse (according to what I’ve read anyway and I’m inclined to believe it).
I just finished my dinner and it was really delicious. I had whole-grain orzo with tofu and steamed veggies.
Day 3 and my tea tastes significantly better. Not sweet and delicious but way more palatable.
I’m finding that I’m hungry all the time, though. Even after having eaten a good-sized meal. Is that just my body craving some of the sweet, white death? I don’t know but it’s a bit frustrating.
I’m sleeping poorly but not feeling as tired as I normally do so I don’t know what’s up with that, either.
I made some homemade mayonnaise for the first time because I couldn’t find any with no added sugar. It’s really tasty! Just a whole egg, a cup of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I also made some bread because I couldn’t find any without sugar.
The staff room was completely full of delicious looking baking and chocolate treats but I didn’t give in. I also told my coworkers so they don’t try to offer me stuff.
I haven’t had sugar for 20 years now (well almost no sugar), hypoglycemia risk of diabetes, by now I’ve completely lost the taste for sweet stuff. About a year into it, I offered a visiting friend some coffee, poured him a cup and he asked “where’s the sugar?” oh, um… So I stopped offering visitors coffee and tea.
I’ve also cut down on salt, for taste I make my food spicy or have it with tangy fresh herbs like basil and peppermint. Instead of mayo I use avocado or pesto, and if I have fries, instead of ketchup I have them with vinegar or dijon mustard.
President’s Choice’s range of Blue Menu has a lot of sugar free and low sodium food, e.g. pasta sauce and peanut butter. For bread, here in Vancouver I found some decent sugar free ones made by “Olivier’s Breads,” not sure if it makes it to the Island. When I was on the Island I found some nice multigrain bread made by a local brand (from Tofino?) not totally without sugar but low enough. Some of the Middle Eastern style pita breads are also sugar free.
Try eating smaller but more frequent meals to keep the sugar level constant, that might get rid of the hungry feeling. I also have a late dinner otherwise I wake up hungry in the middle of the night, or try to have something light but high protein near bed time, like an avocado or peanuts. You may want to get a glucose meter and test your sugar level regularly.
Good luck. If you’re hypoglycemic or have a history of diabetes in the family it’s definitely good to cut out sugar.
While I don’t plan on going sugar-free for ever, I do think I’ll continue not adding it to my tea. It does taste better with it but I’m very quickly getting used to not having it. I also am missing having a cold pop in the evening but it’s not that big of a deal really.
There used to be Ezekiel bread at the grocery store that I know doesn’t have sugar but they don’t seem to carry it anymore. Good to know about the President’s choice options. While I’ve found that there’s sugar in just about everything, I’m also finding a whole lot of no sugar added options, as well. Tonight I had delicious chili with quinoa and black beans and corn bread with some cantaloupe for dessert.
I do have Hypoglycemia but I’ve never purchased a glucose meter - maybe I’ll pick one up tomorrow.
Today was definitely a challenge. I have the day off with no errands to run so I have been home and the “sugar snack bug” has been poking my brain all day. All I want is some pop and ice cream. I didn’t cave, though. I had some microwave popcorn instead.
I think my taste buds are changing, I had mashed turnip with my dinner and I couldn’t believe how sweet it was. In fact that sweetness is what almost made me break and have something with sugar.
well done you for staying strong - the 1st week of these things are the worst so you’ve done well.
My wife and I are on day 3 of our January detox - it’s a bit more extreme - no sugars, no oils, no carbs, just fresh vegetables and even then there are limits - no potatoes, no avocadoes, only apples, grapefruits and lemons for fruit. no caffeine or alcohol. plenty of water
we did it last year for 4 weeks and the changes you experience are interesting - headaches and dizziness for the 1st couple of days, your palate changes, and your desire for heavy food also diminishes. by the end of the month our appetites had shrunk noticeably. eating fresh crunchy veg gets a bit boring but it’s only a couple of weeks I lost 9kg over the four weeks and only put on 5 over the rest of the year.
About 15 years ago, I realized I was drinking ~500 calories a day, between sodas, sweet tea, and sugar in my coffee. I switched to Splenda for sweetening my coffee and my home-brewed sweet tea, and pretty much stopped drinking sodas altogether, since there really aren’t any diet sodas that I like the taste* of.
So now, except for the occasional (and I do mean occasional - often months go by without one) sugared soda when the only alternatives are diet sodas and water, I’m drinking essentially zero calories per day. I won’t say it’s caused me to lose weight, but it’s made it a lot easier to maintain a decent weight.
*Given that I really like the taste of my Splenda-sweetened sweet tea, I really don’t get why soft drink makers can’t come up with diet sodas that I’d like.
One week down. Though weight-loss wasn’t my goal, I’m down 2.5 lbs. I’ve definitely been eating much better this week. Healthy, delicious meals made from scratch. I went to the local health food store and found some things I was looking for, like Ezekiel bread and no sugar mayo.
I thought I’d stumbled upon an amazing thing when I looked at the ingredients of flavoured club soda - no sugar! I figured it’d be like orange pop. Wrong! It was so gross. Still miss sugar in my tea but I’ve switched from milk to cream so that makes a bit of a difference.
There’s an idiot at work who keeps offering me chocolate and candy. He’s keeping a daily tally “day 5 and counting!”. “Wot an idiot” ~ Hermione Granger.
I lost 9kg over the four weeks and only put on 5 over the rest of the year.