Quitting sugar --- healthy or too restrictive?

@jesse1354 I find when I quit cold turkey, the cravings get much easier to manage. I tell myself 'you're not going to eat it'. Period - it's not a possibility. However, I usually only do this when I've been 'off track' for awhile (aka the holidays). Then I'll cut out the sweets all together. It helps get my body out of that dangerous 'you only want sweets' mode lol.

On a regular basis though I don't deprive myself. I basically stick to eating healthy Monday-Friday and then give myself some freedom to eat yummier stuff on the weekends. However, I enjoy my healthy meals. I enjoy putting nutritious food in my body and knowing that I'm fueling it properly. But I also enjoy sweets, pasta, and giant sandwiches :) So I let myself have those too, just in moderation.
 
@jesse1354 i just quit sugar AND flour and i’m on day 5. the cravings are too real, but they are come and go. if you’re eating at matinence it might be easier but i’m eating in a 500-700 calorie deficit, so i’m struggling a bit
 
@jesse1354 I LOOOOVE desserts, so I found something like Whole30 to be unrealistic and restrictive. I think a good plan is cutting down and weaning yourself off added sugar. So like, allowing yourself 1 dessert on the weekend, or something along those lines. One you've done your initial detox, that 1 dessert or treat will be more than enough.
 
@jesse1354 I cut all sugar last summer because I wanted to lose a lot of weight fast. Six months later I'm down sixty pounds. I was also being careful with carbs, tracking calories, and exercising a lot. But I'd say it's worth it, and was a huge part of the transformation.

I went cold turkey, no refined or added sugars whatsoever. After just three days I bit into an apple and holy moly, it tased like the nectar of the gods in a colorful, crispy incarnation. If you can control yourself for just a few days during the early palate reset period, fruit will become your greatest ally in staying true. I incorporated other little hacks like making a shake sweetened with a banana or date and added some finely chopped unsweet baking chocolate at the end, so that I could enjoy the rich fatty texture of biting into chocolate but letting the surrounding fruit do the sweetening.

Now that I've lost the weight I wanted to (BF% 19.9 and BMI 21, woot!) I've brought sweets back in to my life, but on super special occasions only such as holidays or dinners out with good friends or something. Virtually never more than once a day and rarely more than once a week, and still no added sugar in my home cooking. Grocery shopping is still a bit of a pain in the ass with all the label checking, but I've been cooking a lot more so it's less troublesome that when I started.

Honestly I'm loving this lifestyle and don't think I'll ever go back.

Edit: It's harder in a relationship. I'm single, so it's easy to hold myself to my own standards. Whether we like to admit it or not, other people's habits rub off on us. The whole reason I went on this diet last summer was because I'd gained a lot of weight living with my previous roomies who always kept junk food stocked in the kitchen. A few nibbles here and there turned into binge episodes I haven't dealt with in years. Ask your partner if they would be willing to try a join you in trying a lifestyle change with you. As you stated, you've done this before so you could do it again with the right support system.
 
@jesse1354 For what it’s worth: during the week I don’t consume anything outside of my prepped meal plan. Even a “healthy” snack. I give myself weekends to have a cheat. This is still a very controlled habit.

For example: this weekend hubby and I are going to get a meal out. One meal focusing on protein and veggies but allowing ourselves some rolls etc. I will then cook at home the rest of the weekend. Spaghetti squash is on the menu as are sweet potato fries. I love to bake to relive stress so I bake the day before going to work. I allow myself one of the treats that I made and take the rest to work. Then it’s right back on my meal plan. This helps me stick to my plan because I can focus on making it to cheat day!
 
@jesse1354 i don't get it. i never get this. genuine question, how do people 'cut out sugar' when it's in everything? i mean, i get avoiding dessert and candy, but it's clearly more than that somehow...?
 
@ferdylaura Basically this. Sugar (and fat) are added to processed food to keep it from tasting like cardboard. There's no reason most dishes inherently need to have sugar in them.
 
@jesse1354 I try to only allow myself to eat any sugary things after exercise, it removes most of the unhealthy aspects of it and it's quite nice to reward yourself after exercise.
 
@cas The only sweet I even semi-regularly keep around the house is a pack of fruit roll-ups (because I'm basically 5 years old), and I eat one after the gym. 50 cal, 7 g of sugar. It presses the button, and then I'm done.

But then, sugar is not my vice. It doesn't feel addictive to me like some people in this thread describe.
 
@alan I never used to eat candy in past but figured that as I semi-regularly add sugars to post workout shakes I figured that I could just as well eat candy to get the carbs in me. Which is more fun but has unfortunately made me drawn to it at times when I shouldn't eat it as well so I'm probably just gonna buy candy in small amounts and rarely. Ease up on the need for discipline a bit.
 
@jesse1354 I just did this starting with the new year after having the exact same issue as you! (Except my cravings came about 8pm, after dinner. But I bartend so I get up later than most.)

Anyhow! I had to do cold turkey because, as you say, if I had even one bite, even a single M&M it led to me snacking sweets the rest of the night. I appreciate those that say cold turkey is too restrictive but for me it was the only thing that worked.

The cravings for me were ridiculous for probably the first 10 days with each day getting a bit better. First I delayed as long as I could (instead of 8pm tonight I'm not going to have anything until 8:30). As soon as I would have a craving I'd start a video game to distract my brain. I bought Mario Run specifically for this. Then when I did need something, I would have cashews (not sure where I read that they help, but for me they did) or some smoothie (made with low glycemic fruits, greek yogurt, peanut butter, protein powder). Some may say the smoothie is cheating but in a smoothie it still has nutritional value and isn't just sugar.

I guess there is intense debate as to whether or not sugar has "addictive qualities". In the past several years I've given up alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. Cocaine is the only thing that even comes close to sugar and in many ways my cravings for sugar were worse than for cocaine. And I'm so not exaggerating.

Last note, I was cranky, tired, and generally miserable for those first few days too. That is something to be mindful of as you deal with people. I teach and was able to do it over winter break so that was helpful in not taking out my withdrawal on other people.
 
@jesse1354 I sip on diet soda through out the day, or the 5 calorie crystal light. I normally don’t go crazy for sweets UNLESS I tell myself I’m not allowed to have them. When I go on a diet I start craving things out of the blue I never ate before.
 
@jesse1354 From past experience it might be better to limit your sugars from artificial sources rather than trying to quit cold turkey. Unless you have a medical condition or advised from a doctor there really isn't a good reason to completely cut out things you enjoy in moderation.
 
@jesse1354 TL;DR - It's been 3 years for me. Yes, you can "quit sugar". You can overcome cravings. It's not too restrictive, it's a lifestyle change with a balance that you can find. Sugar is a sneaky bastard that pops up in the most ridiculous places in our foods. *shakes fist at food industry* Only you can decide what is right for you :)

There was a book called I Quit Sugar, by Sara Wilson. That started me on my sugar free journey. Somewhere in the title in says "sugar detox" which I completely detest the word "detox" (healthcare provider here, detoxes are unnecessary) but I think they were going for more of a marketing term with it there. Anyway, she recommends an 8 week cut of all sugar, I believe starting the second week was to even cut out fruit and add it back it later towards the end. Oh, I should add, this is the sugar Fructose, it's part of what's in the white/brown baking sugars that you think of when you think of sugar, not cutting out lactose or glucose. Basically, you're trying to get yourself through the craving period and reset your tastebuds a bit.

I took the book and her advice with a grain of salt, but I did find it very helpful. For about 6 weeks, I had cut every added sugar. I was meticulous about everything we bought in the store. I think that was the most helpful part of this adventure, simply learning how much sugar is added to every GD thing we buy. Seriously, it's disgusting(uhh speaking from experience in the US anyway, not sure where you are). It is absolutely possible to find foods without added sugar, it just takes digging. The beginning was hard because it meant a lot of standing in grocery stores reading labels, throwing my hand in the air and yelling "Why must every marinara have sugar added!" "Who needs sugar in their tortillas!". But eventually I found great replacements for our old staples. It got me reading all of the ingredients in products, because man, do they sneak that stuff in there.

Finally, it helped. I can say I rarely, have hardly ever craved sweets since. It was hard during the process though. I think week 2 was where it was the hardest for me. The cravings, my god, I was almost sweating I was craving sugar so bad. I was most disgusted by that, this hold that sugar had over me. But I didn't break, and each week got easier and easier. We have mostly kept it up since then too. We keep no sugar at all in the house(so sorry to our guests that have visited, I forgot people put that in their coffee). We still have chocolate on occasion(we're not monsters, haha) but we buy the darkest that we can find. Honestly, overly sweet things kinda make me nauseous now. I had a small desert here and there while visiting family for Christmas, but really I wasn't craving any of it, more of a "Someone worked hard on this so I will partake". And it was fine, I didn't gorge myself, I didn't binge 6 cookies and then feel shame. It's been very liberating - I believe we're 3 years now on this journey.

I think everyone needs to strike their own balance and find what works for them. I read what Sara Wilson had to say, but I also did my own research. She advises against things like honey and maple syrup, meh, I do my own thing. I don't crave sweets like I use to so I find no harm in small quantities of them on occasion, they're just no longer a major part of my diet.

"You do you" is probably not really the advice you're looking for. So, maybe start with getting sugar out of the house, if it's not there you're not tempted. Start looking at the foods you're buying and search for foods that don't have added sugars, try sourdough breads from the bakery sections of the market, I found they're usually the safest bet on no sneaky sugars added. Get rid of everything sweet in the beginning, focus on savory meals with good fats. Those cravings in the beginning, try to quench it with a nice fatty snack, like avocado. Idk, that helped me in the beginning. A good snack filled me up and quieted the sugar monster. Explain to your loved one how you feel about this and why you feel this is important to you. You don't want someone bringing you home ice cream and cupcakes and derailing your efforts. My husband might have thought my efforts were a little crazy in the beginning, but he doesn't cook or shop, so he came along for the journey. He feels the same liberation from the cravings that I do. We can walk through the candy store, look at all the cute candies and walk right back out. We don't crush 2-3 toblerone bars per week anymore. Like anything, if it's going to stick, I believe it needs to become a lifestyle change. Along the way, you'll find the balance that works for you.
 
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