could you give up ALL sugar for a year?

[ninna]

*sigh* giving up sugar? oh my god there's nothing that makes me rush to the silverware drawer and grab the nearest tablespoon and jar of peanut butter than the mere idea of giving up sugar.

Think I'm kidding? Pfft. Guess what I did last week after browsing through the "I Quit Sugar" book at Chapters?

Yeah. We had to buy more peanut butter on the weekend.

It's crazy. I was reading the book and I thought, 'well, I'll try it!" So I only ate foods that didn't have sugar in them and I even went so far as to avoid fruit too. Because I use My Fitness Pal online, it was easy to track the amount of sugar I was ingesting.

Well! Going all "gung ho" and I was STILL at the higher end of that 6-9 tablespoons of sugar per day recommended for women (roughly 24-36 grams per day max).

I lasted two whole days. 2 days!!

I was exhausted. Depressed. Utterly unmotivated. And SO preoccupied with sugar that it was all I thought about. God. It was as bad...maybe worse?) as giving up cigarettes.

Then I crashed. I freakin' binged so bad on the sugar and hated myself every darned second for it because what kind of wuss can't go two days consuming sugar at the normal average levels?? Ugh.

I don't drink pop. I eat dessert maybe once a week. I don't eat pre-packaged crap like granola bars or cookies or pudding or even cereal. I don't use syrup on waffles. I seldom use jam. And with all that I am STILL at the high end of the scale? Ugh. Its frustrating.

Would I give up sugar? Yes...if I thought for one second that my family wouldn't assassinate me and bury me in the back yard because going without sugar made me SO miserable that the only possible worse thing would be to make me go without coffee. Actually, somehow I think I could give up the coffee and suffer it better than the sugar withdrawal.

Part of it also involves buy in from the family too. I get on "kicks." (Not gonna lie.) LOL. A couple years ago I was reducing the amount of meat and started making more vegetarian dishes. Last year gluten took a hit. I've never fully gone vegetarian or 100% gluten free and so I am hoping to cut back on some of the sugar we consume as a family but I think to cut it out entirely would be extremely difficult. I can't see it working for us to be 100% honest. At least, not like the way that family in the article did.

So for now, it's everything in moderation.

[walkonby]

*sigh* giving up sugar? oh my god there's nothing that makes me rush to the silverware drawer and grab the nearest tablespoon and jar of peanut butter than the mere idea of giving up sugar.

Think I'm kidding? Pfft. Guess what I did last week after browsing through the "I Quit Sugar" book at Chapters?

Yeah. We had to buy more peanut butter on the weekend.

It's crazy. I was reading the book and I thought, 'well, I'll try it!" So I only ate foods that didn't have sugar in them and I even went so far as to avoid fruit too. Because I use My Fitness Pal online, it was easy to track the amount of sugar I was ingesting.

Well! Going all "gung ho" and I was STILL at the higher end of that 6-9 tablespoons of sugar per day recommended for women (roughly 24-36 grams per day max).

I lasted two whole days. 2 days!!

I was exhausted. Depressed. Utterly unmotivated. And SO preoccupied with sugar that it was all I thought about. God. It was as bad...maybe worse?) as giving up cigarettes.

Then I crashed. I freakin' binged so bad on the sugar and hated myself every darned second for it because what kind of wuss can't go two days consuming sugar at the normal average levels?? Ugh.

I don't drink pop. I eat dessert maybe once a week. I don't eat pre-packaged crap like granola bars or cookies or pudding or even cereal. I don't use syrup on waffles. I seldom use jam. And with all that I am STILL at the high end of the scale? Ugh. Its frustrating.

Would I give up sugar? Yes...if I thought for one second that my family wouldn't assassinate me and bury me in the back yard because going without sugar made me SO miserable that the only possible worse thing would be to make me go without coffee. Actually, somehow I think I could give up the coffee and suffer it better than the sugar withdrawal.

Part of it also involves buy in from the family too. I get on "kicks." (Not gonna lie.) LOL. A couple years ago I was reducing the amount of meat and started making more vegetarian dishes. Last year gluten took a hit. I've never fully gone vegetarian or 100% gluten free and so I am hoping to cut back on some of the sugar we consume as a family but I think to cut it out entirely would be extremely difficult. I can't see it working for us to be 100% honest. At least, not like the way that family in the article did.

So for now, it's everything in moderation.

on ninna, that ordeal sounded dreadful!! I would never want a murder to occur over someone denying their bodies sugar, ha ha...however, I am curious what you ate in those 2 days that had so much sugar in it? The stuff you don't eat that you listed above seems extensive so I am curious what is left?
Success with eliminating sugar does not happen until YOU want it to happen, we cannot force this. I have tried too when I wasn't really ready to but felt I should and all I could focus on was sweets!? So depressing to fail.
Also when we as the cooks and shoppers are buying and making the family meals it is that much tougher on us because young kids really do influence what y gets brought into the house.
For now thank goodness you can feel sane again, at another time you may find another way to tackle this, but reducing our intake is better than doing nothing. Good luck.

[ninna]

on ninna, that ordeal sounded dreadful!! I would never want a murder to occur over someone denying their bodies sugar, ha ha...however, I am curious what you ate in those 2 days that had so much sugar in it? The stuff you don't eat that you listed above seems extensive so I am curious what is left?
Success with eliminating sugar does not happen until YOU want it to happen, we cannot force this. I have tried too when I wasn't really ready to but felt I should and all I could focus on was sweets!? So depressing to fail.
Also when we as the cooks and shoppers are buying and making the family meals it is that much tougher on us because young kids really do influence what y gets brought into the house.
For now thank goodness you can feel sane again, at another time you may find another way to tackle this, but reducing our intake is better than doing nothing. Good luck.

Where do the grams of sugar come from? Well, let's see...

On one day I had a total of 34 grams of sugar which is the top end of acceptable according to the I quit sugar book: 15 of those grams came from my refrigerated oatmeal which uses a 1/3 cup of frozen blueberries so I stand corrected on the "no fruit" part. (I just had no fresh fruit like apples or pears or cherries during the day); 3 of those grams came from homemade lentil soup and the ingredients used to make that (i suspect canned tomatoes are the culprit on that one); 6 grams of sugar from boiled cabbage (WTH??) and the remaining 10 grams came from raw carrots and raw green peppers.

So 16 grams of sugar from fresh vegetables???? LOL

I'm still waging the war against my inner sugar demon. I want to quit the sugar, I do...but yet there's a) an emotional attachment to sweets and b) a societal attachment to it because you cannot buy anything these days without sugar.

I'm also (like most people) very very busy. With what time am I gonna make my own homemade tomato sauce for example? How on earth am I going to buy school snacks that are all 100% sugar free AND do it on a budget. See...there's the rub for me-- the buying on a budget and the having the time to make from scratch. I've made my own granola bars before and I can't say they were much better off than the store bought ones--except maybe that I didn't use high fructose corn syrup in mine. I used honey which made them sticky but it didn't knock them down in terms of calories and fat and sugars either. I dunno.

[walkonby]

Where do the grams of sugar come from? Well, let's see...

On one day I had a total of 34 grams of sugar which is the top end of acceptable according to the I quit sugar book: 15 of those grams came from my refrigerated oatmeal which uses a 1/3 cup of frozen blueberries so I stand corrected on the "no fruit" part. (I just had no fresh fruit like apples or pears or cherries during the day); 3 of those grams came from homemade lentil soup and the ingredients used to make that (i suspect canned tomatoes are the culprit on that one); 6 grams of sugar from boiled cabbage (WTH??) and the remaining 10 grams came from raw carrots and raw green peppers.

So 16 grams of sugar from fresh vegetables???? LOL

I'm still waging the war against my inner sugar demon. I want to quit the sugar, I do...but yet there's a) an emotional attachment to sweets and b) a societal attachment to it because you cannot buy anything these days without sugar.

I'm also (like most people) very very busy. With what time am I gonna make my own homemade tomato sauce for example? How on earth am I going to buy school snacks that are all 100% sugar free AND do it on a budget. See...there's the rub for me-- the buying on a budget and the having the time to make from scratch. I've made my own granola bars before and I can't say they were much better off than the store bought ones--except maybe that I didn't use high fructose corn syrup in mine. I used honey which made them sticky but it didn't knock them down in terms of calories and fat and sugars either. I dunno.

Yes!! Finally someone who understands exactly what I was experiencing when I was logging every single measured and weighed morsel that went into my yapper on everydayhealth.com. For me the frustration came from trying to ingest the recommended amount of sodium, sugar, fat, proteins, and fibre without going over my caloric limit of 1100 a day.
I was always over on my protein and sugar ( even though I still lost my 2 lbs each week ) and those things occurred naturally from real food, not from anything processed, THAT was a surprise for me to learn what is in various veggies and fruits.

Since you are a busy Mom with young kids I am not sure it is possible to devote the time and extra money to accomplish this right now. Lord knows I would have scoffed at it back when my 3 were small, but at least the seed is planted and even if your kids see that you would love to reach this goal one day for your whole family, they will become educated about the dangers of eating poorly which is the first step in wanting to change.
Do you know how I have made my spaghetti sauce for the last 2 years? I toss 1 can of No salt tomato paste and 1 large can of No salt diced tomatoes into a blender and add numerous fresh herbs and some dried spices, a touch of water if I need it thinner. That is it. No sugar, well I mean no added sugar like they put into jar and can sauces. ( yeah the stupid tomatoes have sugar naturally but that is fine ) Then I use that sauce for cabbage rolls, lasagna, various gf pasta dishes I make. It has worked for us. I make a few batches at one time and toss it into the fridge to use for the week. Just a small change and does not impact my budget negatively because of the sales on paste and canned tomatoes often.

[list465]

Your spaghetti sauce sounds good! I tend to use passata (strained tomatoes basically) or fresh tomatoes in the blender (skins and all), add the spices and add to spaghetti, etc. I will admit that I enjoy that "fresh" taste far more than the rest of my family but I need to restrict my sodium intake and this was one of the easiest changes to make. This way I get to eat what everyone else is having and any leftover can be added to jar sauce (if we have some here).

[walkonby]

Your spaghetti sauce sounds good! I tend to use passata (strained tomatoes basically) or fresh tomatoes in the blender (skins and all), add the spices and add to spaghetti, etc. I will admit that I enjoy that "fresh" taste far more than the rest of my family but I need to restrict my sodium intake and this was one of the easiest changes to make. This way I get to eat what everyone else is having and any leftover can be added to jar sauce (if we have some here).

yes, the fresh clean taste that comes from making a simple home made sauce ( I always thought that it was called marinara, but I just Googled " passata " and now I see how people make oodles of bottles of passata for very cheap!! that is NEAT! ).
Have you ever made yourself a stock pile of it done by filling the jars and processing them in the boiling water?
Getting fresh plum tomatoes on sale can sometimes be a challenge for me unless I wait till those huge bushels come out late in the season. Hmmm, could I make the commitment to doing them up? Just thinking that would be so satisfying to have the jars at hand all winter! Thanks for your comment.

[Natalka]

My tomato sauce recipe - getting rid of the salt and sugar might work, though I have only made it as is. Mind you, this makes a big dutch oven full, so individual servings have very little.



20 large tomatoes, chopped, take seeds out
4 large carrots
4 large onions
1 tsp. dill
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Garlic if you like

Bring vegetables to a boil, add remaining ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes.

Cool a bit, then puree in blender.
Freezes really well.

[Natalka]

About sugar and labelling - Health Canada's newest proposal - and how to give your input on labelling if you like

http://globalnews.ca/news/1449744/wh...uld-look-like/

[Shwa Girl]

Where do the grams of sugar come from? Well, let's see...

On one day I had a total of 34 grams of sugar which is the top end of acceptable according to the I quit sugar book: 15 of those grams came from my refrigerated oatmeal which uses a 1/3 cup of frozen blueberries so I stand corrected on the "no fruit" part. (I just had no fresh fruit like apples or pears or cherries during the day); 3 of those grams came from homemade lentil soup and the ingredients used to make that (i suspect canned tomatoes are the culprit on that one); 6 grams of sugar from boiled cabbage (WTH??) and the remaining 10 grams came from raw carrots and raw green peppers.

So 16 grams of sugar from fresh vegetables???? LOL

I'm still waging the war against my inner sugar demon. I want to quit the sugar, I do...but yet there's a) an emotional attachment to sweets and b) a societal attachment to it because you cannot buy anything these days without sugar.

I'm also (like most people) very very busy. With what time am I gonna make my own homemade tomato sauce for example? How on earth am I going to buy school snacks that are all 100% sugar free AND do it on a budget. See...there's the rub for me-- the buying on a budget and the having the time to make from scratch. I've made my own granola bars before and I can't say they were much better off than the store bought ones--except maybe that I didn't use high fructose corn syrup in mine. I used honey which made them sticky but it didn't knock them down in terms of calories and fat and sugars either. I dunno.

I could be wrong but I think there is a difference from:

Added sugar (refined sugar)
Versus
Natural sugar (from the plant)

For the body to use the sugar in fruits and vegetables, it takes “work”. That means that the body is using some energy to process and digest the fruit and veggie. So not all the sugar is absorbed and converted to carbohydrates/fat. And the process takes much longer -- refined sugar is processed fast.

Plus fruits and veggies have water, fiber and vitamins. So fruits and veggies are more beneficial than eating or drinking refined sugar in soda, fruit juice, chocolate etc.

So, in my humble opinion, you are doing well.

If you had said you had Coca Cola for breakfast, Lindt chocolates for lunch and a cherry pie for dinner, then I would count the grams of sugar as you have done.

[walkonby]

Thanks for posting that big difference in how one form of sugar naturally occurring comes with wonderful built in health benefits to our bodies, but the added ones " rush " through our systems offering us very little except eventually wanting more.
I agree Shwa, knowing the difference in what kind of sugar is being eaten is important.

ninna the 34 grams that you stated were the top daily level allowed from that I Quit Sugar book does seem restrictive so maybe try to inquire online if that 34 grams is referring to ADDED sugars only?? not from sugar that is in the natural fruits, veg and oatmeal you ate. Maybe it is? Worth checking out.

[ninna]

Thanks for posting that big difference in how one form of sugar naturally occurring comes with wonderful built in health benefits to our bodies, but the added ones " rush " through our systems offering us very little except eventually wanting more.
I agree Shwa, knowing the difference in what kind of sugar is being eaten is important.

ninna the 34 grams that you stated were the top daily level allowed from that I Quit Sugar book does seem restrictive so maybe try to inquire online if that 34 grams is referring to ADDED sugars only?? not from sugar that is in the natural fruits, veg and oatmeal you ate. Maybe it is? Worth checking out.

Well, I'm working from memory now (I perused the book for about 20 minutes in chapters a couple weeks ago) but the author recommends going on this detox program where you rid yourself of ALL sugar (including fruit and other foods that break down into sugar like pasta) for something like 8 weeks before you allow yourself to have it in small increments after you've "detoxified" yourself. So my understanding was that ALL sugar goes. Even fruit like apples, pears, cherries, bananas, oranges. Ugh. All my favourites, of course. If you do eat fruit, she recommends the unsweetened types like blueberries (I could live with that) or grapefruit (pfft. There's hardly any point in grapefruit if you aren't going to douse it in sugar. yuuuuuuuuck!!)

I'm not a speed reader so I didn't finish the book (think I might've started hyperventilating at the idea and rushed to the Starbucks outlet for a Giant cookie to solve my panic..lol...) but the idea seemed a little extreme to me. I dunno. I also tend to be skeptical about things that yabber on too much about "detoxifying oneself." (ugh. I'm probably going to take heat for that remark!!) but I just find there's so many buzzwords over health like "30 day shred" (which, I haven't figured out WHAT the heck that is yet??) and "60 day cleanse" (no idea what that is either!) or "detoxifying diet" (huh??) that I tend to approach such ideas with caution. Guess maybe I've watched a few too many episodes of CBC's marketplace to get terribly caught up in the rhetoric.

I think reducing sugar is a good plan especially when one considers the correlation between sugar consumption and cancer, for example. And we've just gotten SO out of hand with the sugar in our foods especially over the last 20-30 years. There's a really fascinating episode of "The Fifth Estate" called "The Secrets of Sugar" that's worth a watch if you haven't seen it before.

That said, I am going to try to limit myself and see what I can do to keep my daily consumption within acceptable rates. This WILL be a challenge for me (Lord KNOWS I love the peanut butter!!!) but we are all a work in progress, eh?

[walkonby]

ninna I did watch that Fifth Estate show on sugar, ( very educational for anyone that was suspicious about sugar and the big companies involvement ) I am very sure I still have Michael Moss' book ( Sugar, Salt, Fat ) too, which I bought years ago ( I must have known in my heart eating like this was bad for me )

I can see now the method that the book you had advised a complete " restart " ( ha ha !! another buzz phrase to irk you ) for your body to discover sweetness all over again from a newbie's perspective. That sure sounds wonderful, but how many can do it ? That was the main reason I started the thread after reading the article on the family that really tried to change their dependance on the stuff.

Personally for me it has involved examining every ingredient I choose when making homemade meals, to scouring all nutritional labels for the best processed item I might opt to use for convenience. Some things HAVE gotten easier for me over time.
I no longer devour peanut butter the way I used to because I buy the kind with only one ingredient....peanuts. If I have any at all now it is a couple of tblsps spread onto apple pieces, and I am always surprised how delicious it tastes and how satisfied it leaves me.
Dry cereals are a thing of the past and I have not missed them at all. Commercially baked goods no longer drive me into a frenzy, looking at them now actually nauseates me if I am near a bakery window. To be fair though the whole gluten intolerance thing came into play before my war on sugar and salt, so that helped plenty.
We continue to bake our own cheesecake here so we do not feel totally deprived of a treat, but we make a gf crust, use low fat cream cheese, zero % fat Greek plain yogurt and Stevia to sweeten the filling and fresh fruit compote on top. It ain't heaven but it ain't hell either, a small piece goes a long way and it gets us over the tough times.
My dream is by Christmas I will have evolved even more and might not even need treats like that!! One can dream.

[SassyAshley]

I could see limiting or cutting back on processed sugars but it becomes a little harder when you start talking about cutting out natural sugars. I currently eat about 90% fruits and vegetable during the day well at work and to cut that out would be next to impossible at this time. Granted some are less sugary fruits but for me my diet is all about what is on sale that week, for example this week I am blueberries, raspberries, pineapple & peaches.

I also do not agree with all of the detox programs and I wonder long term what effect they have on your health, especially the pre packaged systems you can buy and who knows what is in these, they are not all natural or good for you in my opinion. I have read articles that say doing this makes it hard for your body to regulate itself as the body does natual detox at times. As well you are than not getting all of the nutrition your body needs. But that us just my opinion. I have never been a fan of detoxifying or cleansing especially when you can only have drinks or shakes for a whole day with no actual food consumed and to do it longer than a day I could not imagine. Personally I spoke to my doctor about this once and was advised due to stomach issues I have I would get myself in a lot of trouble if I tried.

[list465]

yes, the fresh clean taste that comes from making a simple home made sauce ( I always thought that it was called marinara, but I just Googled " passata " and now I see how people make oodles of bottles of passata for very cheap!! that is NEAT! ).
Have you ever made yourself a stock pile of it done by filling the jars and processing them in the boiling water?
Getting fresh plum tomatoes on sale can sometimes be a challenge for me unless I wait till those huge bushels come out late in the season. Hmmm, could I make the commitment to doing them up? Just thinking that would be so satisfying to have the jars at hand all winter! Thanks for your comment.

I don't tend to stockpile this - I'm usually really lazy and run the tomatoes through the blender to make my sauce (pinterest tip). That way I can buy the tomatoes when they are available on the "markdown" rack and I don't have to worry about sales, time commitment, etc. I also have a real fear about canning (although it's a great idea and would free up freezer space). I'd actually prefer to learn more about pressure canning because I understand it's possible to process smaller batches at a time and Canadian Tire had a pressure canner you could use in the microwave - I'm being too frugal to actually buy it yet!

Natalka - your recipe sounds really good!

[toban]

I cut out sugars ( cookies, cake etc) several months ago and lost weight. Sugar is in many things ,condiments etc. I try to eat more fruit.