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giving up sugar - help! (Page 2)
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 2010-10-22 7:47 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
 Payson, AZ |  Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help!For those of you giving up sugar, what are you really giving up? It would seem your still eating fruit, which is good, so your not giving up all sugar, so are you just giving up foods that have added sugar? What about things with honey or agave as the sweetener? I'm just curious what type of stuff is being given up by you all. Sounds like it is going well though. |
| 2010-10-22 8:23 AM in reply to: #3166353 |
Expert 1233   | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! trigal38 - 2010-10-22 8:29 AM vonschnapps - 2010-10-21 10:14 PM This post could have been labeled 'giving up alcohol'. I gave up sugar, then fell off the wagon (Halloween Candy should be banned). I eat extremely well otherwise, but can't stay off the sugar. Need a better way than cold-turkey (turkey...with marshmallow covered sweat potatoes, and sugary cranberry sauce). Is there a sugarholic anonymous support group? I hear ya! I'm not usually very good at giving things up cold turkey either but I'm really determined this time. I was in some kind of sick of it mood and just went with it. I was really feeling awful (achey all over, low energy, crash every afternoon). I was way overboard though - maybe you should go on some kind of binge and make yourself sick then give it up again LOL. I'm kidding of course!! Now that I've quit I'm sticking with it because of my children. My daughter parrots everything I say and do (age 2) and my son is already in the habit of having a "special treat" after dinner every night (age 4). So now I've told my son Friday is "treat" day and if he's still hungry after dinner he can have a piece of fruit. By the way - we saw the biggest marshmellows ever at the grocery store yesterday. As big as tennis ball. On the way home I was dreaming of the smore I could make with those........ LOL! When I first saw this thread, at 10:00pm, I was drinking coffee and eating a candy bar, and was feeling lousy! So I did my binge! This morning I had my green tea without sugar, told my wife I was giving up sugar again (she's been there before), and what the heck, even if it's only for a short while, it will remind me to cut back. |
| 2010-10-22 9:12 AM in reply to: #3166388 |
 Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! bzgl40 - 2010-10-22 7:47 AM For those of you giving up sugar, what are you really giving up? It would seem your still eating fruit, which is good, so your not giving up all sugar, so are you just giving up foods that have added sugar? What about things with honey or agave as the sweetener? I'm just curious what type of stuff is being given up by you all. Sounds like it is going well though. I have quit refined sugar, not natural sugar. Somewhere I read that your body processes refined sugar different than natural sugar from fruit but I don't remember all the details. I have been trying to read labels and stay away from processed foods that have added sugar and I'm also not eating honey, agave or artificial sweetners. So my typical day before might include a handful of candy corn here and there, finishing my kids pancakes (with syrup of course), ketchup or ranch dressing on something, and then come the real sweets after lunch and dinner - cookies, chocolate with peanut butter, or ice cream. Now I'll have a handful of grapes or a few dates after a meal, I threw the candy corn in the trash, and just skip the extra dressings or ketchup. My original goal was to feel better and make general improvements to my diet so I feel like this is helping a lot! |
| 2010-10-23 8:44 AM in reply to: #3166627 |
| Payson, AZ | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! trigal38 - 2010-10-22 7:12 AM bzgl40 - 2010-10-22 7:47 AM For those of you giving up sugar, what are you really giving up? It would seem your still eating fruit, which is good, so your not giving up all sugar, so are you just giving up foods that have added sugar? What about things with honey or agave as the sweetener? I'm just curious what type of stuff is being given up by you all. Sounds like it is going well though. I have quit refined sugar, not natural sugar. Somewhere I read that your body processes refined sugar different than natural sugar from fruit but I don't remember all the details. I have been trying to read labels and stay away from processed foods that have added sugar and I'm also not eating honey, agave or artificial sweetners. So my typical day before might include a handful of candy corn here and there, finishing my kids pancakes (with syrup of course), ketchup or ranch dressing on something, and then come the real sweets after lunch and dinner - cookies, chocolate with peanut butter, or ice cream. Now I'll have a handful of grapes or a few dates after a meal, I threw the candy corn in the trash, and just skip the extra dressings or ketchup. My original goal was to feel better and make general improvements to my diet so I feel like this is helping a lot! Interesting that you are choosing to not eat honey either though. Are you thinking you might start using it later down the road? I made these cookies that have no refined sugar in them and instead used agave. Yummy. I think it is awesome that your doing what your doing. I am not sure I could do it, I really like my chocolate to much. One thing I did give up though is artificial sweetners. I still have the rare diet coke but they are pretty few and far between as I am not a pop person anyways. As far as dressings or ketchup, salsa and hummus are my favoriate replacements for that. I love a big salad with salsa as my dressing. And I use hummus on my burgers all the time. A nice spicy one is really good. |
| 2010-10-24 8:14 PM in reply to: #3168363 |
| Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! bzgl40 - 2010-10-23 8:44 AM trigal38 - 2010-10-22 7:12 AM bzgl40 - 2010-10-22 7:47 AM For those of you giving up sugar, what are you really giving up? It would seem your still eating fruit, which is good, so your not giving up all sugar, so are you just giving up foods that have added sugar? What about things with honey or agave as the sweetener? I'm just curious what type of stuff is being given up by you all. Sounds like it is going well though. I have quit refined sugar, not natural sugar. Somewhere I read that your body processes refined sugar different than natural sugar from fruit but I don't remember all the details. I have been trying to read labels and stay away from processed foods that have added sugar and I'm also not eating honey, agave or artificial sweetners. So my typical day before might include a handful of candy corn here and there, finishing my kids pancakes (with syrup of course), ketchup or ranch dressing on something, and then come the real sweets after lunch and dinner - cookies, chocolate with peanut butter, or ice cream. Now I'll have a handful of grapes or a few dates after a meal, I threw the candy corn in the trash, and just skip the extra dressings or ketchup. My original goal was to feel better and make general improvements to my diet so I feel like this is helping a lot! Interesting that you are choosing to not eat honey either though. Are you thinking you might start using it later down the road? I made these cookies that have no refined sugar in them and instead used agave. Yummy. I think it is awesome that your doing what your doing. I am not sure I could do it, I really like my chocolate to much. One thing I did give up though is artificial sweetners. I still have the rare diet coke but they are pretty few and far between as I am not a pop person anyways. As far as dressings or ketchup, salsa and hummus are my favoriate replacements for that. I love a big salad with salsa as my dressing. And I use hummus on my burgers all the time. A nice spicy one is really good. Woops, didn't see your reply! I was going to eat honey or agave but one of the responders to my original post said it would be the same as eating sugar so I just quit all of it. I'm sure I'll go back to eating some sugar again but for now I'm really not missing it that much. It gets easier every day. I gave up chocolate for Lent one year (I'm Catholic) and it was depressing. This time it's not so bad. Maybe I can count my Lent early this year LOL. Really I'm just taking it one day at a time and reminding myself I'm not trying to be perfect, just eat better. I really like salsa and hummus too, although hummus doesn't like me so much  I just bought some pesto to try too. And a food processor to try to make some of this stuff myself. This could get scary.....I'd love to try your cookie recipe! Send it on sometime if you get a chance. Thanks for your encouragement! |
| 2010-10-25 12:56 PM in reply to: #3166388 |
| 63 | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! bzgl40 - 2010-10-22 7:47 AM For those of you giving up sugar, what are you really giving up? It would seem your still eating fruit, which is good, so your not giving up all sugar, so are you just giving up foods that have added sugar? What about things with honey or agave as the sweetener? I'm just curious what type of stuff is being given up by you all. Sounds like it is going well though. Mine was to drop cookies, candy, candy bars, ice cream, etc. I still eat honey/brown rice syrup, fruit, and some things like dressing and ketchup but it was mostly to eliminate the late night sugar snacking that was becoming a daily habit. I'll also have a root beer after a long bike ride, they just taste so good! It's been a great way to give me more energy for my workouts and also help me lose some BF. ETA: Not the root beer giving me more energy but eating healthier foods and consuming less junk. Edited by dponder 2010-10-25 12:57 PM |
| 2010-10-25 4:04 PM in reply to: #3169588 |
| Alpharetta, Georgia Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! trigal38 - 2010-10-24 8:14 PM I was going to eat honey or agave but one of the responders to my original post said it would be the same as eating sugar so I just quit all of it. I'm sure some nutritional guru will jump in and explain this in more detail, but your body processes agave differently than honey or other refined sugars. So it's not at all "the same as eating sugar" as far as your body knows. Psychologically, that might be a different story (dependance on sweets, etc.). Found on the interwebs: Agave nectar has a lower glycemic index value than sugar or honey, making it a natural option for diabetics. For example, a tablespoon of sugar (sucrose) has a glycemix index of 65-69, and a honey has a glycemic index of 61-64 of pure, oganic blue agave has a glycemic index of 15-19. This means that agave marks as low-GI and sugar marks as the very high end of moderate GI. (In comparison, glucose, which is the sugar that our body creates by digesting sweets and starches has a GI value of 103 to 106). PS - mucho props for cutting out sugar! |
| 2010-10-25 6:44 PM in reply to: #3135191 |
Regular 174 Surrey BC Canada | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! I basically gave up sugar or 95% cut back on it as we can't toatally give up 100% In the US there are lots of "sweets" you can get that are sugar free or super low sugar and they satisfy my cravings nicely a good example is La Nouba Chocolate. 3 weeks after giving it up the cravings are way down and sugar free sweets keep my cravings satisfied all the time. Edited by Neilman 2010-10-25 6:46 PM |
| 2010-10-25 8:58 PM in reply to: #3171307 |
| Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! lisac957 - 2010-10-25 4:04 PM trigal38 - 2010-10-24 8:14 PM I was going to eat honey or agave but one of the responders to my original post said it would be the same as eating sugar so I just quit all of it. I'm sure some nutritional guru will jump in and explain this in more detail, but your body processes agave differently than honey or other refined sugars. So it's not at all "the same as eating sugar" as far as your body knows. Psychologically, that might be a different story (dependance on sweets, etc.). Found on the interwebs: Agave nectar has a lower glycemic index value than sugar or honey, making it a natural option for diabetics. For example, a tablespoon of sugar (sucrose) has a glycemix index of 65-69, and a honey has a glycemic index of 61-64 of pure, oganic blue agave has a glycemic index of 15-19. This means that agave marks as low-GI and sugar marks as the very high end of moderate GI. (In comparison, glucose, which is the sugar that our body creates by digesting sweets and starches has a GI value of 103 to 106). PS - mucho props for cutting out sugar! Thanks for the info! This is why I love BT |
| 2010-10-26 7:22 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
Elite 3223 Hendersonville | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! Agave is very high in fructose. It is lower on the glycemic index only because it has to be processed by the liver first. It is NOT any better for you than table sugar and I actually prefer table sugar as it isn't as high in fructose. This article is an AWESOME, helpful guide to sugar and sweeteners, including agave. Give it a read. I gave up sugar for one month in September and it was pretty amazing. I gave up all sweeteners - honey, sugar alcohols, all artificial sweeteners, cane syrup, everything. My sweets of choice were fruit (I try not to eat more than one serving of fruit a day) and heavy cream. Heavy cream and cinnamon in coffee is very good. The first week was terribly hard, but after that it got much easier. The most wonderful thing about the whole month was the freedom I felt. Complete and utter freedom from something I usually feel a bit out of control and stressed about. It was really meaningful to me and I learned a lot - including that I can go through an entire menstrual cycle without a single bite of chocolate! I try to get all my clients to do this, too, but it's a harder sell than gluten free, paleo, or anything else. But it WILL make you feel pretty awesome if you give it a try, and you WILL learn something from the experience. |
| 2010-10-26 7:24 AM in reply to: #3171307 |
Champion 8936  | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! lisac957 - 2010-10-25 4:04 PM trigal38 - 2010-10-24 8:14 PM I was going to eat honey or agave but one of the responders to my original post said it would be the same as eating sugar so I just quit all of it. I'm sure some nutritional guru will jump in and explain this in more detail, but your body processes agave differently than honey or other refined sugars. So it's not at all "the same as eating sugar" as far as your body knows. Psychologically, that might be a different story (dependance on sweets, etc.). Found on the interwebs: Agave nectar has a lower glycemic index value than sugar or honey, making it a natural option for diabetics. For example, a tablespoon of sugar (sucrose) has a glycemix index of 65-69, and a honey has a glycemic index of 61-64 of pure, oganic blue agave has a glycemic index of 15-19. This means that agave marks as low-GI and sugar marks as the very high end of moderate GI. (In comparison, glucose, which is the sugar that our body creates by digesting sweets and starches has a GI value of 103 to 106). PS - mucho props for cutting out sugar! Agave nectar is sugar regardless of glycemic index. It's actually MORE fructose heavy than HFCS which explains the low GI. Not sure how that could be processed any differently than any other sugar we ingest. It's the same as eating sugar (which isn't necessarily a bad thing IMO). |
| 2010-10-26 9:34 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
| Alpharetta, Georgia Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! |
| 2010-12-01 11:07 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
Elite 3471 Evergreen, CO | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! I like my marinara slightly sweet and always added a Tbl of sugar (or so). Last night I lightly sauteed some carrots w/ onion & celery and blended it with tomatoes and garlic and spices -- it was delicious! |
| 2010-12-02 9:07 PM in reply to: #3135191 |
Member 14 Huntsville | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! Boy, I sure would love to do this! I've thought about it many times. Is it best to just go cold turkey altogether? I keep telling myself "i'll do it as soon as I finish this ________ I have in my cupboard or freezer." But I keep buying it anyway!! Dang!! |
| 2010-12-04 2:45 PM in reply to: #3234844 |
| Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! heb1024 - 2010-12-02 9:07 PM Boy, I sure would love to do this! I've thought about it many times. Is it best to just go cold turkey altogether? I keep telling myself "i'll do it as soon as I finish this ________ I have in my cupboard or freezer." But I keep buying it anyway!! Dang!! Well, it might depend on your reasons for wanting to quit. I was trying to sort of detox myself. I new that my cravings were out of line. I am not usually a person to quit any food. Typically, I believe eating a variety of foods (even some bad stuff) in moderation keeps me from feeling deprived. In this case I was coming off of tri season which sends my sugar cravings way through the roof. It was not a weight loss driven goal but an I don't feel very good anymore goal. So, I quit cold turkey to get it all out of my system and then start over. Give it a try! After the first few days it was not as hard as I thought it would be and I definately feel a lot better. I am not as rigid now as I was during that month and a half but still use what I learned from that cold turkey experience to keep my sugar intake limited. skarl I also like to use baked squash in my sauces. It started as a way to sneak extra veges into my kids food but now I just like it! |
| 2010-12-10 5:11 PM in reply to: #3135191 |
| 1 | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! I, too, am trying to give up sugar! I'm on day 9. It is getting easier every day. And I feel great. I've been sleeping much better, too. I have absolutely none (no tsp here or there - no agave - no honey - no artificial sweeteners). I have dried fruit (no sugar added) when I feel desperate, but I hope to give that up, too, just because it's so concentrated...I have to have none only because I feel like I'm a true addict - that one tsp. leads to a cup which leads to a gallon! No kidding, I can't stop at one cookie or one piece of candy. It's gotta be cold turkey for me! One thing that inspires me is knowing that Jack LaLanne gave up sugar - cold turkey - at the age of 16 - and he's now 96!! That's 80 years with NO sugar whatsoever. And we know how healthy he is - he still works out 2 hours/day! |
| 2010-12-18 7:56 PM in reply to: #3135191 |
Elite 4547 | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! Here's my advice for giving up sugar. Don't get the 50-piece assortment bag from Reese's. It contains peanut butter cups Fast Breaks and Reese's Pieces. Between last night and tonight, I consumed 47 individual bags...almost 4000 calories and an ungodly amount of saturated fat. Tasted great, but right now I don't want to see these things again for another year! |
| 2010-12-20 9:31 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
| 28 | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! I am definitely not a doctor but believe the health reason that most people choose agave nectar or raw honey rather than cane sugar is because sugar cane's similarity to grass or wheat which some people have allergies to. For this reason, a lot of the same people that are finding themselves feeling better without glutens feel the same way without sugar. |
| 2011-04-15 9:10 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
| Master 1695 STL | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! Not to bring up an old thread but...I have a huge SWEET tooth and want to try to put it at bay. It seems like the more sugars I eat in a day, the more likely I am to crave and binge on sugars. I was wondering, do you who do not eat sugar eat yogurt or greek yogurt? I've cut out high fructose corn syrup and try to watch other sugars (other than fruits and veggies). Is stuff sweetened with pure cane sugar, raw sugar or even rice syrups just as bad? |
| 2011-04-15 1:28 PM in reply to: #3254747 |
| Alpharetta, Georgia Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! notadr34 - 2010-12-20 9:31 AM I am definitely not a doctor but believe the health reason that most people choose agave nectar or raw honey rather than cane sugar is because sugar cane's similarity to grass or wheat which some people have allergies to. For this reason, a lot of the same people that are finding themselves feeling better without glutens feel the same way without sugar. I've never heard this (and run with the gluten free crowd as I'm Celiac) - interesting. |
| 2011-04-15 3:02 PM in reply to: #3135191 |
Extreme Veteran 367 | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! I'm doing this for lent! I've allowed maple & honey, but no refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. Feels pretty good, lost 5 pounds.  It's just amazing how much sugar is in EVERYTHING. |
| 2011-04-18 2:15 PM in reply to: #3448290 |
Elite 3471 Evergreen, CO | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! goobergirl98 - 2011-04-15 8:10 AM Not to bring up an old thread but...I have a huge SWEET tooth and want to try to put it at bay. It seems like the more sugars I eat in a day, the more likely I am to crave and binge on sugars. I was wondering, do you who do not eat sugar eat yogurt or greek yogurt? I've cut out high fructose corn syrup and try to watch other sugars (other than fruits and veggies). Is stuff sweetened with pure cane sugar, raw sugar or even rice syrups just as bad? I find that any type of sugar, other than the sugar in fresh fruit, makes me crave more sugar. According to some studies, sugar is more addictive than cocaine. |
| 2011-04-25 8:35 PM in reply to: #3135191 |
| New user 4 | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! I am in the same boat as well! I have a massive sweet tooth! How I have been able to get it under control is like how I taper for a race. I slowly decreased my intake on a daily basis over the course of several weeks. It wasn't bad at all! If I needed a little sugar, I just got a tbsp of honey and that took care of the craving. It also helped that I took everything out of the house that could tempt me into eating things with sugar in it. |
| 2011-04-25 9:55 PM in reply to: #3465736 |
| Master 1695 STL | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! It also helped that I took everything out of the house that could tempt me into eating things with sugar in it. I think I would be officially dubbed as "crazy mom and wife" (more so than I already am) if I tried that! I have tried hiding it from myself, but, um, that didn't work so well! |
| 2011-11-03 7:08 AM in reply to: #3135191 |
| Bronze member | Subject: RE: giving up sugar - help! Reviving this after my Halloween sweet tooth kicked in. Opened up the Halloween treats early, big mistake. So, here we go again. Not as strict this time but out with the candy, apple crisp, chocolate chips dipped in peanut butter....... Anyone care to join me? |
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