Eliminating Sugar From Your Diet

[Dohertysgirl]

I don't usually crave sugar and therefore I don't consume much of it, but I don't feel like I am denying it to myself. Although I've noticed that if I have something sweet like say ice cream (my great weakness) two days in a row, my body starts craving it, and that seriously scares me. When this happens I usually go on a sugar detox for a week or so, where I have no sugar what so ever to get it out of my system. I have a friend who needs something sweet every single day, and she has probably had sugar every day for years. I do not want to end up like that, it's scary to watch how she makes up reasons and excuses to herself to eat sweets. I swear that sugar is just as addictive as nicotine.

 

[TheKiwi]

Your body will get used to the change. I've eliminated most (I say most because I will still let myself eat the occasional desert) because there are of the sugar (besides fruit and honey) from my diet. Eventually your body gets used to the change, and no longer craves "bad" sweets. Before, I wasn't a big fan of fruit, but now I crave it over "bad" sweets. Good luck!

 

[FashionGrrrrl]

Hmm...I notice that I crave sugar the most when my energy is low. I would suggest eating small, regular meals and making sure you get enough protein and whole grains throughout the day and maybe it will make it easier to stay away from sugary foods. I think if you keep your blood sugar level relatively even it will be much easier to give it up. And like many people said, fruit is awesome. I love things like strawberries because they're sweet and they are so healthy.

 

[Lara_L]

My doctor reccomended that I eliminate sugar from my diet, and I have, slowly! Well, I guess I still eat a little honey on my yoghurt, but I've really cut out things like cakes and biscuits. Anyway, its been a few months, but my skin looks so good! I really feel its because of the changes I've made to my diet. Also, my dark under-eye circles are pretty much gone!

 

[salomelovesjohn]

^^^
Wow, I wonder if my dark circles are sugar related?

I've been trying hard to cut back on my sugar consumption. I've stopped eating sugary snacks at work - which isn't easy because someone down the hall keeps a candy dish. I use Splenda in my coffee or get a soy latte, which has enough sugar added for me. I've found that if I don't have any sugar in the morning its much easier for that day, but if I have something sugary in the a.m. it sets me off to wanting it all day.

I really think some people are more sensitive, my mom and I both go nuts for chocolate, white bread, rice, but my sister doesn't. She's lucky that way.

 

[coffeeandasmoke]

I'm trying to replace a lot of sugar with splenda. I'll never give up the chocolate completely, but sugar in anything else isn't hard for me to give up.

 

[misssakura]

This isn't weight discussion or anything but I've read things similar to this over the years:

Can Splenda Cause Weight Gain?

Yes, all diet sweeteners can cause weight gain for many reasons. The body doesn’t consider Splenda (or any chemical sweetener) as food; therefore, fake sugars don’t satisfy your body’s demand for nourishment, which in turn increases your craving for real food.

Simple carbs (manmade sugars) pass through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. This means weight gain, increased fat and elevated blood sugar that can lead to weight gain. And Splenda is a simple carbohydrate!

Carbohydrates are the most abundant source of energy found in nature. They are products of plant photosynthesis, which provide the plant’s fuel for life in the form of sugar. When we eat complex carbs, we are eating the plant’s energy, which in turn becomes our own energy. When we eat the right kind of carbs, we are providing our bodies with fuel so we can perform daily activities from thinking about work to walking up a flight of stairs. If you are eating a balanced diet with reasonably sized portions, carbohydrates from natural sugars should not cause weight gain. But these days we are victims of the “fear of carbs and sugar” fad, and the artificial sweetener manufacturers seem to be taking advantage of this with a "sugar-free" marketing frenzy. And don't forget that Splenda is a simple carb.

This will probably be edited because it has the word 'weight' in it. I just dislike artificial sweeteners. They don't seem very healthy to me. :/

 

[JoyNips]

Don't know if anyone's said this, but eliminating sugar completely is actually very dangerous for you. You see, the brain needs sugar, it's the energy that makes your brain work. Cutting out all sugar will at some point make your brain use it's natural fat (glia cells i.e) as energy, which can cause it to short-circuit. Bottomline is that you can end up having fits or worse, have basically any kind of mental issues.

So never ever cut out all sugar! Eat fruit daily and do allow yourselves sweets like once a week.

/Anna

 

[rainglow]

Your brain's main food is carbohydrate, not refined sugar. It technically is a carb but it's the least healthy way to get your daily carbs in. Plus I was only aiming to cut out sugary junk, not all sugars

 

[sonjanicky29]

For a religious fast (Lent(im not catholic so i do not go by the traditional lent restrictions)i eliminated all sugar from my diet.I then kept on doing it because my skin looked amazing.I have always had very good skin but eliminating sugar made it even better.During the holidays, i started to eat sugar again.Now i'm going back to no sugar.I have some oreos because its very hard to quit cold.I plan to eliminate cookies by next week.Its better to pace yourself tho.I suggest apples or honeydew to quench any sugar craving your getting.Non natural sugar is bad for your health but sugar in some form is essential to health.I hope you do well on your goal.Just pace yourself.

Sonja

 

[Zen]

My sugar cravings were wild at one point. Too much of it and bouncing all over the place. After that sugar rush dies, I die with it, crashing into this deep moody, bitching attitude. Take more processed sugary foods and I'm right back up to being all happy again! Caffeine had that effect on me as well. I kicked caffeine out the door too! That was sooo hard to do.

Now, I eat more of a vegetarian way. The more I eat fruits and vegetables, whole grains, whole wheat, I crave more of it. Your body changes over time. It's getting used to, but before you know it, that's all your body craves. I have seen good benefits to not eating meats, some dairy, and sweet, sugary, processed foods. However, one can't completely deprive themselves. I will each night at the end of my dinner eat a bite size reeses peanut butter cup for dessert! No more, no less. ...and oh! I do eat sugary stuff on special ocassions like the holidays or birthdays but not TOO MUCH...

 

[Whitelinen]

I don't believe in Splenda etc, but I neither like sugar. I try to avoid sugary treats the best I can. Of course there is sugar almost anything we eat, in fruits etc, but that is different. There is a massive change when I do eat sugar (as in refined sugar) and when I don't. When I don't, I have a lot more energy, I am happier, my skin looks better, my metabolism is better, my mood is better... There are a lot of benefits for me. What kind of bugs me is that everyone is supposed to like cookies etc. I prefer a nice juicy apple, I don't think a cookie tastes good plus it makes me thirsty. But when trying to say this to other people, they ask you if you are on a diet and it is considered extremely rude to say no to a piece of cake. Anyone else has these experiences? How do you deal with them? Do you just say you don't eat that or ... ?

Good luck to all of those who are in the process of doing this I can recommend buying a lot of juicy, fresh fruits and berries. You will quickly notice they have much more flavor than chocolate.

 

[Deleted member 36123]

^ OH MY GOSH I totally know what you mean!! All of my friends think I'm the strangest person in the world because I prefer to eat really healthily. They don't understand it when I say no to birthday cake and they think it's weird that I'll bring my own food if I know they are going to be ordering in greasy pizza at video nights. I don't understand why I'm the one thats considered weird? Why is it more normal to fill your body with processed fatty junk? The worst part about it all is that it does make me feel like an outsider sometimes or like something is wrong with me. It really starts to screw with you after a while But I guess you just have to ignore it and know deep down that you are doing whats best for your body!

 

[cestmagique]

It seems like other people look down on it because they think that you consider yourself superior. When I was vegan my family was really annoyed by it because they thought I judged them when they brought home a pound of chicken. But that simply wasn't true... anyway I've been feeling like crap lately so I did a complete overhaul of my eating habits, including cutting out sugar. When I'm at home I always eat my own food so my family thinks nothing of it, but it's harder when I'm at a friend's house or out to eat. I just try to avoid making eating a social thing; and making it a money issue always works too! A friend of mine always wants to try new, relatively expensive restaurants so I just tell her that I'm trying to save money and we go to a dollar movie instead. Feigning illness always works too, or saying you just ate and you're full... kind of sucks to have to strategize so much just because you care about you own health though!!

 

[misssakura]

Uhoh..i'm drinking a cappucino. But I did turn down icecream last night....and a chocolate bar.

 

[sakina]

I'm the opposite of most of you.

I don't crave just sugar AT ALL. In fact, I usually complain that my drinks/ candy are too sweet. Although I still eat a good amount of chocolate and cream and what not, it's the fat I crave not the sugar.

I also tend to have rather low blood sugar a lot of the time and have to have some candy just so I don't feel dizzy. However, almost none of my food has refined sugar so maybe I'm not getting as much as my body craves.

 

[starfish]

I was a huge sugar-addict until one day last summer when I decided to eliminated ALLLL refined sugar, which meant no more sweet chili sauce, no more white bread, no more... anything basically.

me eliminating sugar had nothing to do with a weightloss either, but I was afraid of it sounding that way and didn't know how else to explain it, so I didn't want to tell my parents and when they invited me to dinner (which doesn't happen all that often, but still), they had made cookies, bread, ice cream etc. for dessert and I don't want to be rude. so slowly, but surely I kind of slipped back into my old habbits 3 or 4 months later.

my problem is that I can't eat anything moderately, too. I'm incapable of saving anything for later, I have to eat all the candy I got at the store, even though it'll make me feel ill.

I still crave candy, but not as much anymore. the big mistake I am making is that I'm actually allowing it to myself these days, which is not good. before I would climb the walls if I didn't get my sugar. nowadays it's actually most oftenly making me feel sick.

 

[cestmagique]

^I can't moderate anything either. I am okay with eating natural sugars like honey (though I limit them) and so yesterday I had some organic ice cream. After that ONE instance I am now reeeeally wanting sugar! It's so irritating. I can go weeks without wanting sugar and then after a bit of controlled freedom, cravings come back so quickly. So either I just deal with these rough patches or I cut all of it out forever.

 

[MulletProof]

My sugar cravings were wild at one point. Too much of it and bouncing all over the place. After that sugar rush dies, I die with it, crashing into this deep moody, bitching attitude.

sounds like me!
I now buy a large caramel frappé with extra caramel every single day, rain or shine.. it makes me so happy. I know I need to slow down.. but a vegetarian lifestyle will never get me quite as "high"..

 

[annelein]

It seems like other people look down on it because they think that you consider yourself superior. When I was vegan my family was really annoyed by it because they thought I judged them when they brought home a pound of chicken. But that simply wasn't true... anyway I've been feeling like crap lately so I did a complete overhaul of my eating habits, including cutting out sugar. When I'm at home I always eat my own food so my family thinks nothing of it, but it's harder when I'm at a friend's house or out to eat. I just try to avoid making eating a social thing; and making it a money issue always works too! A friend of mine always wants to try new, relatively expensive restaurants so I just tell her that I'm trying to save money and we go to a dollar movie instead. Feigning illness always works too, or saying you just ate and you're full... kind of sucks to have to strategize so much just because you care about you own health though!!

I have a friend who tends to bring her own food and decline most things our group of friends offer. She eats very healthy, whereas the rest of us are more normal. I, and from what I've gathered other people in our group, don't exactly "look down" on her for her eating choice. But we are saddend when our food offerings are not accepted - it is a joy to cook for your friends and having the gift of food refused can feel like your signs of affection are being refused. We know that she is not refusing us. But there is no denying that happily accepting a cooked meal as is, rather than picking through it discarding most parts of it as "bad", is a smoother social greasing.

Even if you/my friend/whoever tries, for the sake of the own health which objectively is commendable, to avoid making eating a social thing - it still is for the people around. Sharing a meal is a bonding thing and refusal to partake could be seen as a refusal to bond ... (Also, sharing in "forbidden acts" like pigging out on cakes together makes a strong bonding experience. Showing your weakness, for ex for chocolate, and having the other person accept that makes friends. Showing your weakness and having the other person confirm that it indeed is a weakness than can be overcome, only that you, you weak weak chocoguffing piggy, haven't, doesn't make friends in the same smooth manner ... )

Just providing the "other side" of superhealthy eating versus normal "aware" eating habits and some group dynamics based on my observations.