Quitting sugar --- healthy or too restrictive?

[jesse1354]

I've found myself bingeing on all kinds of sweets lately. My diet and self control are good until i hit a 5pm wall where i crave all the carbs and all the sugar!!

I have a bite of one sweet thing and it becomes a neverending hunt for something else.

With this in mind, i was wondering

1) how people quit sugar -- cold turkey? How do you resist temptation when it is s c r e a m i ng?
2) how sustainable it is to do so - i tried the no sweets train for ~3 years, got into a relationship, and admittedly enjoyed all the dates way too much zzzz

How does everyone strike a balance? Help!

 

[need]

@jesse1354 I have to go cold turkey. No sugar is much easier than low sugar. FWIW, I don't have any issues with incidental sugar like in ketchup or in fruits. Just sweets will trigger me.

 

[mumofthree]

@jesse1354 I’m a recovering food addict, particularly sugar. Hit 1 year of sobriety at the beginning of January.

I treat it like a drug addiction. Abstinence. I don’t do any sort of sweetened desserts, no matter what kind of sweetener is used.

I’m happy to say that the cravings went down to a more than manageable level when I finally removed everything that was triggering them. The last food I removed from my diet was chocolate.

Every once in a while I’ll get a craving, usually during PMS. They last maybe a couple of minutes. Then they’re gone in a flash.

One of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

 

[graceoverfear]

@jesse1354 Something that worked for me was quitting corn syrup. I have a tendency to get super addicted to candy, but by quitting corn syrup I cut out the worst, most processed things. It also forces me to think before going for something sweet. And I get to eat fancy pastries which are way better than candy anyway.

 

[ohyoupokedme]

@jesse1354 Same, i love sugar!

My Sugar Journey

In the beginning, I stopped using sugar in preparing meals (most of the time its not necessary except if you're making dessert). Got used to more savoury meals. Add sweet veges to your diet like carrot and corn to help with your transition. We used to have always want dessert with every meal (wont lie we still do want dessert). So, instead, we make more "healthier" desserts like fresh corn cooked with light coconut milk and a bit of sugar (Its really good). You can try using raw sugar or molasses, that is a good alternative.

After awhile, you'll begin to get used to "blander" meals..and food that used to taste "flavorful" is now too sweet, salty, rich, greasy etc. In fact, a simple diet taught me to about practising gratefulness, satisfaction and contentment over what you need, not what you want.

All the best!

 

[rollinsonphilip]

@jesse1354 1) Do something else! Do some star jumps, a weird dance, message a friend. I normally recommend downing a lot of water as a minimum as it helps you "consume" something, but the distraction can keep you away from thinking about sugar. Usually thinking about it makes it worse, but you can't not think about it unless you're doing a different activity.

2) Eh. I might have a slice of baked something during the day (no more than 3 days in the week) to put me on, but usually I restrict chocolate to bedtime. Dark chocolate kicks the cravings better.

I've found flexible rules work with me. Cut out things like juice, soda as they are a lot of sugar for little substance, and that'll usually kick the majority of the cravings.

Eat fruit instead.

 

[phananh]

@jesse1354 completely quitting all sugar cold turkey is usually unsustainable, and you need (complex) carbs for optimal health. try to replace your sweets with fruit. too much fruit is bad (too much of anything is bad), but fruit has so much water and fiber it's harder to overeat than processed sugar. also make sure to include whole grains such as brown rice and barley in your diet, along with protein and fat to keep you full. general guide is 40-50% carbs, 25-30% fat and 25-30% protein. also, using artificial sweetners for cooking or to add to things like coffee is also good, because they're much much sweeter than sugar and therefore you need to use much much less. i recommend stevia, monk fruit, or splenda

 

[phananh]

and it's ok to indulge once in a while. it's when it happens every day on top of your regular meals that it becomes a health problem

 

[phananh]

and another really important thing: do not and i mean do not consume liquid calories. they're so unsatisfying and the mix of caffeine and sugar in soda is a one way ticket to junk food addiction. fruit juice, and smoothies that you haven't made yourself (because theres a large chance they were made with heat, ridding them of fiber) should also go. if you're going to indulge, save it for something good

 

[cabinmom2012]

@jesse1354 I've got a very strong sweet tooth, so my way of trying to limit my sugar intake isn't to cut out sugar, but to only eat sweet things that I have made myself, as much as from scratch as I can. I have white sugar, brown sugar, and organic sugar to mix in with flours, etc, and I make small batches at a time so I can finish them in a week. I have a stand mixer for the "I give up" whipping/stirring part, which only happens if I'm trying to make frosting or meringue. I don't use a hand mixer, and do everything by hand whenever possible, including kneading bread dough. My taste buds have gotten more sensitive to sugar since I started doing this, but fyi I've also never been able to enjoy eating Reese's (it's just too much of everything). Fruits are a great way to continue having sugar in your life without actually cutting them out completely; one of my all-time favorite snacks is a microwaved banana. The heat breaks down the starch and makes it sweeter, and it's way healthier than something from a bakery.

 

[theonemarcus]

@jesse1354 Eat fruit if you want sugar, simple.

 

[rebekahr]

@jesse1354 .

 

[annemoon]

@jesse1354 Lower your carbs or tell yourself you're only allowed a certain amount of sugar (natural or added) a day. If you eat a piece of cake because it's your coworker's birthday, now you can't have both mango and strawberries in your smoothie. At some point, you'll start to look at sweets as somrthing you have to account for. Nothing is off limits as long as it's within your limits.

 

[redimi2]

@jesse1354 So if you find urself craving sugar, cutting it out entirely is the exact opposite of what u want to do. Have a bit of sugar if ur craving a sweet. Do not deny yourself. I have a history of restricting and then binging and this “cut out” mentality is what triggered my disordered way of viewing food. I personally would strongly strongly advise u not to cut it out. Moderation is key to a balanced life and mindset towards nutrition and happiness.

 

[aanntdark5161]

@jesse1354 Do you *want* to cut out sweets completely? Or do you want to be able to enjoy carbs in moderation and stop binging on them? I think that big lifestyle changes are more likely to be successful if they're things that you sincerely want or need to do, and completely cutting out a food you like and eat a lot of is a big lifestyle change. A lot of things can be sustainable if you're motivated to do them. Personally, I'm not motivated to give up sugar because I don't want to.

If you're crashing at 5 PM, that might be a sign that you need a healthy mid-day snack to keep you going, or that you need to plan your meals so that you know what you're going to eat in the evening. I find that I'm more prone to binging in the evening and craving carbs if I didn't eat enough earlier in the day.

I also suggest paying attention to patterns and adapting advice to your own habits. For example, I know a lot of people don't keep candy around the house because they're prone to overeating it, but I find it helps me to have things like mini candy bars because I can eat a couple of them and feel satisfied. If I don't have that, I'm more likely to eat a full-size candy bar or something else that has more calories and sugar. I also try to avoid eating sweets just for the sugar (like, it has to be something I truly want, not just whatever I can find. If I'm truly hungry, I can find something healthier and treat myself another time). I try to approach it the same way I try to handle money--I can have what I want if I can afford it, but I have to budget for it first.

Sugar cravings do get better once you cut back, though, even if you don't cut out sweets completely.

 

[teabag]

@jesse1354 I'm TERRIBLE at restricting anything and I love sweets. However, I did a month without and what I found was that a) it was VERY hard but b) it made me less interested in very sweet things afterwards for a bit. I wish I could do it again, because that result did not last after a few months, and I'm sugar obsessed again.

 

[alamal1]

@jesse1354 I quit cold turkey. I allowed myself to eat as much as I wanted of anything that was cool with my diet. So calories went away while I was adjusting. Took about two weeks to get through the withdrawal

 

[cynthiafaithful2090]

@jesse1354 I have no advice for you other than to vent that I'm doing a modified whole 30 in solidarity with my husband which cuts added sugars. I was never one to binge on junk food but NOW I WANT IT ALL SO BADLY. I've literally had dreams of birthday cake. On the upside, it's really enlightened me on how prevalent sugar is in everything, and I've realized sugar is not a significant factor in my energy levels.

 

[kareemmontreal]

@jesse1354 Eat enough during the day. That might help solve those cravings.
I don’t eat sugar anymore. An occasional homemade brownie? A bite of birthday cake? Sure. But I don’t like how it makes me feel. Years ago, I binged on every sweet you could imagine and had no “control.” When I was this excessive, I am sure I was too rigid in my diet.
So, I think it would be great to start limiting if and filling the void with things like cacao nibs, halo top, etc. eventually you’ll realize you feel better and more in control when you can moderate it.

 

[clmorgan]

@jesse1354 Stupid question, but when people quit sugar do they quit things that are obviously full of sugar (cookies, chocolate, etc) or literally everything with added sugar? I ask because I'm supposed to avoid sugar due to PCOS and insulin resistance but I still use sauces and chilli jam paste in my cooking, both of which have less than 20g of sugar per 100g.