How to Quit Sugar

Hey all,

I've been trying to quit sugar for about two years now; I liken it to quitting cigarettes. I feel the same withdrawls as I did when I quit smoking, only sugar withdrawls last longer and sugar cravings are MUCH stronger for me than cigarette cravings EVER were. And it was hard to quit smoking! So you can imagine how difficult this sugar thing is.

Anyway, I've been off of sugar for almost a month now, which is longer than I've ever made it. I feel as if I have finally gotten over the 'hump' of withdrawls, and it should be smooth sailing from here. So, having finally found the way to quit sugar (for me personally), I figured I'd share to help those of you embarking on the same treacherous yet infinitely rewarding journey.

1. Cut out refined carbohydrates, too. Refined carbohydrates are only one simple digestion step away from being sugar itself, so cutting out or strictly limiting refined carbohydrates helps keep your body from going through nothing more than a slow, drawn out withdrawl process. In other words, you'll still have sugar cravings if you keep eating refined carbs.

2. For the first few months, go easy on honey, natural maple syrup, and other 'natural' sweetners (especially ANYTHING from the sugar cane plant, organic and natural or otherwise). These things are supposed to occurr in our diets sparsely anyway, and if we eat them in the same frequency as we used to eat refined sugar, there's not much difference where the body is concerned. The point is to eat things that convert straight to sugar sparsely, not including fruit.

And the following is the most important one that has helped me more than any other tip:

3. Identify your self-sabataeur. After millions of attempts to quit sugar followed by a sugar-binge three days later, I finally sat down with myself and said, 'what is the one determining factor in my failures? where is the one point in which I decided to recind my decision to not eat sugar?' I realized that each time I 'gave in,' some sort of justification process happened in my head. I told myself, 'you can't survive without sugar forever.' 'You're a professional cake decorator, you SHOULD eat sugar, it's your trade!' 'maybe just for valentine's day.' 'perhaps sugar isn't so bad for me, after all.' All of these things went through my head, to the point where finally I broke down and ate something sweet.

The next time it happend, I was prepared. I told myself, 'this voice telling you that you don't really want to live sugar free is just one of your withdrawl symptoms. Every time you ignore this voice, it will get quieter and you will get stronger. You made a commitment to yourself when you were thinking with a clear head. Keep it!"

This helped me IMMENSELY. Also, a great thing to remember is that if you have sugar cravings at night, if you can just make it to bed before eating sugar, I PROMISE you the sugar craving will be gone first thing in the morning, when you can start afresh in your commitment to yourself. Knowing that helped me, too.

Another things that really helped is the fact that I know that if I give into a craving, the craving won't stop, it will strengthen. I know this from experience. So, as long as I'll still have the pain of craving AFTER I eat whatever it is, I might as well just endure the craving without trying to satisfy it, 'cause it's insatiable by nature.

Lastly, every time I was REALLY confronted with a sugar craving (I work in a bakery as a cake decorator, so BELIEVE ME I've been tempted on a daily basis), I would ask myself if it would really be worth breaking my month-long fast from sugar with a whatever-it-was. Usually, it wasn't. I mean, if you're in a five star restaurant or patisserie, that's one thing, but if it's gas-station donuts, that's quite another.

So, I hope this helps some of you. We all know sugar is bad for us, and tons of health professionals prescribe diets and lifestyle plans that include going off of sugar. I haven't, however, seen much in the way of helping with the process of quitting sugar, which is really where most of us get lost. So, use this advice the best way you can, and keep on pluggin' away!

Renata

Thank you again!  Have you got a weight problem?  Have you lost weight doing this very strategy you've suggested to me?  What is your story?  It's so tempting to try the weight watchers thing again, since the holidays really did a number on me this year.  I'm  panicing I guess, because my clothes are tight and this is the highest weight I've been in years.  I just hate it.  May I ask your age?  I'm 52 5ft. 6in. tall as of today, 158.5 lbs. yuck!  I would love to be 145.  What about exercise...   I hope it's ok to ask so many questions?

Could any of you give me an example of refined sugar food? Thanks :D

xxx Ali

Any food with "sugar", "glucose-fructose" or "high fructose corn syrup" in the ingredients.  "Evaporated cane juice" really isn't any better either - it's a fancy way of saying "sugar water minus the water".  That includes foods like:

• most cereals marketed to kids
• most items you'd find in the bakery section of the grocery store (but possibly not the higher quality whole grain breads)
• cookies and other packaged desserts
• pudding, jello, etc.
• jams and jellies
• ketchup, syrup and most other sweet condiments 
• a lot of frozen dinners (especially flavours like Sweet and Sour ____ or ____ in Plum Sauce)

Good for you Edamane and everyone else here for quitting sugar.  I went through similar experiences to many of you several years ago, when I started learning about healthy eating and decided to completely change my eating and dietary habits and cut out sugar, white flour and really all processed foods from my diet.  The change has been amazing.  Boundless energy, weight loss, no more headaches, no more aches and pains, incredible recovery from fatigue.   And the best part is, I don't miss it.  I have taught myself how to make simple recipes and some complicated to still get the sweetness I want from fruits mostly.  I do use Stevia as a sweetener occasionally as it is all natural and calorie free, but I used one small bottle about once a year.   I still eat pumpkin pies, apple pies, date squares etc. and find I enjoy them just as much as I did before. 

If you eliminate processed foods and sugar from your diet, you will find your taste buds adjust and everything with natural sugar in it, becomes that much sweeter.  Apples, oranges, pears, berries...everything is so much tastier and sweeter.  

Original Post by tedeeze:

Thank you again!  Have you got a weight problem?  Have you lost weight doing this very strategy you've suggested to me?  What is your story?  It's so tempting to try the weight watchers thing again, since the holidays really did a number on me this year.  I'm  panicing I guess, because my clothes are tight and this is the highest weight I've been in years.  I just hate it.  May I ask your age?  I'm 52 5ft. 6in. tall as of today, 158.5 lbs. yuck!  I would love to be 145.  What about exercise...   I hope it's ok to ask so many questions?

 My story is that back in 2004 I turned 40 and was over 200lbs.  Something had to be done but I was really reluctant to 'diet' because I hate feeling hungry.   Having accidentally read a book about a 'Low GI' diet I decided it sounded sensible and gave it a try.   Low GI is everything I've been talking about.... whole, unprocessed, unrefined foods, home-cooked foods, very few simple starches, practically no refined sugars.... and luckily it's the kind of food I actually prefer to eat.    I also found that my family like the food too ... they don't know they're 'on a diet' they just think the meals have improved a lot!     Combining a change of food with slightly reduced calories meant I didn't feel hungry very often, even though I was technically eating less.  Adding in a little exercise (just half an hour a day) I went down to 150lbs (I'm 5'6") within about 9 months and I'm still there - give or take - now.   My shape changed quite early on, I noticed, which was a big boost.  Like the previous poster, my improved diet leaves me more energetic and positive.  My doctor's really happy with my BP and all those other things too.

My big problem with WW (and I've done it in the past) is that they like to give out the message .... eat what you like as long as you count the points.  My experience is that 'eating what you like' really doesn't work if 'what you like' is a lot of processed junk, starchy and sugary food.  Their special diet foods (which they push at every opportunity) are very unsatisfying for example.

BUT... if you go along to WW, ignore the hard-sell and combine their points system with the principles of healthy eating (or Low GI or clean eating) you would get the best of all worlds i.e. a nutritionally improved, more satisfying, diet and group support.

Bravo!  Wow I'm impressed!  And I have to say you're so right about the WW thing.  I always felt like I was hungry with the empty foods we could have.  I am now on day 6 of no sugar and it has gotten a little easier... FINALLY!  I've made a conscious effort to eat more fruit, salad and protein.  I do feel better.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to handle just a little sugar.  That seems to be a huge downfall.  We'll see how it goes...

If you give yourself long enough on 'real food' and make a big effort to stick with it on avoiding sugar and refined starch (also alcohol, I forgot to say) to the best of your ability there does come a day... and you just have to trust me, I'm afraid... where you get offered a plate of biscuits, you eat one and you find it just a little disappointing.  If you 'give in' at any point, don't throw the towel in just pick up where you left off...  it still works, just takes a little longer.

My downfall was a weekend combination of glasses of wine washed down with copious chinese takeaways.  Because of my Low GI diet I didn't touch a chinese takeaway for literally six months.  One day I thought I'd treat myself so I ordered 'my usual'.  I couldn't believe just how horrible it tasted... sickly sweet sauces, over-salted, greasy as hell and with nasty chemical aftertastes into the bargain.  I was so surprised at how bad it was that, four years later, I've never had another.   Tastebuds completely retrained!!!

You're already noticing a difference after 6 days.  In another two or three weeks you'll be well out of the habit and really not miss it that much.  Once you're at that stage that's the time to trim the calories just a little, increase the exercise just a little and ease into the weight-loss.  Like I mentioned before, don't shock your body with vicious calorie-cutting or vigorous exercise or it'll get too hungry and start wanting sugar again...

Keep smiling  Love to know how you get on.

Well hello again,

I have to tell you what happened to me today.  It is day 7 without sugar or refined carbs.  I started to walk on my lunch hour for exercise.  Not too much, just about 20 minutes or so.  I barely got back to work when I had what I think  resembled a hypoglycemic attack.  I was shaking, sweating, and grabbed everything in sight to eat (except sugar)to calm it down.  Finally I had to eat some candy to feel better.  This has happened to me a few other times in the past.  Last summer it was no sugar no flour for 5-6 days and I went to work out and right after ...bam!  My mom and sister both have low blood sugar and have similar experiences.  I thought if I stayed away from this stuff and ate whole foods I'd be fine but maybe not.  I might need a little sugar in my diet.  Have you had anything like this happen to you?

We all need a little sugar in our diet - but did fruit really not do the trick?

I had been having three fruits a day when this happened.  I'm going to see the nurse practitioner today and see what she thinks.  Everybody tells me "Oh you should never go cold turkey like that!"  Well I guess to me it made sense to, but for some reason my body doesn't like what I did.  I have a normal blood sugar level as does my mom, sister, grandfather...all whom have the same type of problem.  We'll see after my appt. what they come up with.

When was the last time you ate something before you went for your walk?  How big was breakfast?  Mid morning snack?  .... 

I think you should see a doctor and check for both hypoglycemia and diabetes and anything else that might cause those symptoms in an attempt to rule out as many possible physical causes as possible and isolate and deal with the actual problem.  I highly doubt it's "sugar withdrawl" but in this day and age you never know.  But really, see a doctor and figure this out because your dietary changes should be under the direction of your physician, given your obvious negative reaction.

I disagree Susie if you are referring to sugar as "refined sugar".  Yes we need "sugars" in the form of fruits and berries etc. as they are packaged in nature vitamins and nutrients and fibre to slow absorption.  But "refined sugar" does not occur in nature and is not something our bodies are designed to process.  Refined white sugar is the only food source in the world that has absolutely no nutritional value beyond pure calories. 

I usually eat all day long... I have always been a grazer.  Before I left the house at 6:30 am I had a handful of nuts.  I get to work by 7 and have a decaf with 2 creamers.  By 8 I had steel cut oatmeal with cream, nuts, and banana.  I had a rice cake, and then a tsp of Peanut butter ...and water. 

If you are still trying to lose weight tedeeze you should really consider cutting down on the nuts and nut pastes.  A "handful of nuts" could mean as much as 200-300 calories.  Add to that nuts on your oatmeal, peanut butter, you could easily have consumed 400 calories just in nuts before lunch.   While they may be "healthy" they are still packed with calories and are not really ideal when you are trying to lose weight. 

Hi Johnnyp, and thanks for your info. 

I do realize that nuts and pb are quite caloric.  I have a pretty good idea when I eat them how much I'm consuming.  That particular day I was having more than usual because I needed the protein and didn't have any available.  But in my head I was counting...  I've been so frustrated lately because I started losing weight and gained it all back at Christmas.  I feel like I've been two steps forward and two back these days.  I try to stay between 1300 and 1400 calories a day but I never really feel satisfied.  If I don't go to bed at least a little hungry I know I won't lose any weight.  I try to do 30 walk a few times a week, but I have to work harder at being consistent. 

Hear enough whining for one day???  Ha-ha!

Any good tips for keeping me somewhat full without always lusting after other food?

Thanks for your input...btw what's your story?  I could use some motivating.

Hi Johnnyp, and thanks for your info. 

I do realize that nuts and pb are quite caloric.  I have a pretty good idea when I eat them how much I'm consuming.  That particular day I was having more than usual because I needed the protein and didn't have any available.  But in my head I was counting...  I've been so frustrated lately because I started losing weight and gained it all back at Christmas.  I feel like I've been two steps forward and two back these days.  I try to stay between 1300 and 1400 calories a day but I never really feel satisfied.  If I don't go to bed at least a little hungry I know I won't lose any weight.  I try to do 30 walk a few times a week, but I have to work harder at being consistent. 

Hear enough whining for one day???  Ha-ha!

Any good tips for keeping me somewhat full without always lusting after other food?

Thanks for your input...btw what's your story?  I could use some motivating.

Looking at your menu I'd suggest that next time you go out for a walk you have a banana or something before you go.... Maybe even have lunch and then take a walk afterwards.  I think probably a lot of why you felt dizzy was because it had been a while since you'd eaten.  A rice cake with a tsp of peanut butter wasn't enough to keep you going from 8am.... and rice cakes are a refined carbohydrate into the bargain. 

If you had a bigger bowl of oatmeal with fewer nuts that would cut the calories down.  And if you started your day with a slice of wholemeal toast rather than more nuts that would also reduce your totals without making you feel less full. 

Original Post by johnnypenso:

I disagree Susie if you are referring to sugar as "refined sugar".  Yes we need "sugars" in the form of fruits and berries etc. as they are packaged in nature vitamins and nutrients and fibre to slow absorption. 

 I did not mean "refined sugar".  I meant sugar.  I assumed the fact that I went on to mention fruit (an excellent source of natural sugars) made that clear.  My bad.

Hi everyone.

It's reassuring to know there are so many other addicts out there. I have found all of your posts really inspiring. Well done to all of you still off the sugar and good luck to any of you just starting out.

My partner and I are big addicts... and what's so bizarre is that we have a big garden full of fruit and vegetables that we lovingly tend to and really enjoy eating yet we still go the junk food (chocolates, biscuits, meringues, cakes etc etc) on a regular basis. In fact, I have a daily habit which my partner doesn't know about. I will often have my sugar binges in private.

So, I am ready to quit sugar. I don't enjoy the ups and downs or the steady weight gain that I've had. I want to be clean and free!

As I sit here I have just had my morning coffee with two large spoons of sugar (I will have about 4 or 5 of these a day) and eaten a packet of shortbread biscuits.

My biggest concern is knowing that I will wake up in the morning and want to make a coffee with sugar. I can't stand coffee without it so not only am I worried about the sugar withdrawal but also caffeine withdrawal as well.

Do you have any tips for waking up on day one and how to get through it?

I quit smoking last year so I know I can do this but just need some help for those first days.

XX

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I feel that eating more carbohydrates prevents one from craving for sugar. If your serotonin levels aren't low, cravings won't haunt you..