Quitting sugar?

Any on here done it?
As a lazy vegan I’m prone to skittles, oreos etc when feeling lazy/depressed/knackered at work. I can nail a pack of party rings in a few mins. I’m also a bit of a fizzy drink junkie :/ I’m no lardarse as I do a physical job but it’s obviously fucking me up and I really don’t fancy diabetes.

I know I can’t have the obvious things like sweets, soda(reg or diet), ice cream etc. Also it’s snuck into white bread and other prepackaged stuff, even more so in many vegan alternatives to stuff.

I’m not avoiding naturally occurring sugars in fruit as that would just be silly.. I will lay off the oj, maple syrup etc tho.

So if there’s anyone on here with any pointers or handy alternatives then I’m all ears.

I currently 48hrs in and the headaches I’ve been warned of have kicked in en cue..

They're only temporary...bare with it.
Hard thing to do good luck.
Have plenty of water.. and chew food properly.. surprisingly people don't do this as much as they should...this will release sugars from starchy foods.

Ta, appreciated.

I did also pick knocking this on the head at the same time as taking a bit of a break from the jazz cabbage as well which is probably fuelling my anxiety over this.
Insanely vivid dreams + headaches isn’t much fun right now.

Fizzy drinks destroyed my teeth.
I could by a Dogma F12 with what my teeth cost me in the last two years.
Stop sugar now. My teeth were so bad I had five root canals in one session.

I quit sugar and then artificial sweeteners a few months ago, which I now realise was probably the wrong order. I found that quitting the sweeteners was far easier and massively cut the sugar cravings, so maybe try quitting sweeteners first?

It's been great, though. I upped my good-fats to make up the calories and, after the initial lull in energy levels, I feel like the level remains far more constant throughout the day - as opposed to dropping off a few hours after a meal.
It sounds so nauseatingly cliche, but I sometimes forget to eat, such is the lack of noticeable decline in energy.

As above, make sure you drink lots of water. Stick with it!

Never used to eat sugary sweets, but am awful now. Have zero will power and the other half keeping crap in the cupboards doesn't help

I did however go on a keto diet ages ago. Hot chocolate made by cooking coco powder into coconut oil followed by a "milk" of your choice - tended to use almond, but wonder if oat would have been better. Then sweeten with stevia to taste.

Not sure what vegan options for this, but sugar free Berry jellies and moose using jelly were tasty easy puds.

I slept for approx 1.5hrs last night due to headaches. Not amused!

Know the health benefits will be worth it tho.

taking a bit of a break from the jazz cabbage as well which is probably fuelling my anxiety over this.
Insanely vivid dreams

Sounds cliche, but CBD could be useful for this^

Rest assured you won't get diabetes from your sugar intake.

I did the keto diet about 12 years ago, lost 25kg in about 4 months and stayed sugar free for about 8 years.
I dabble a bit with good quality dark chocolate, and have the odd gingernut, but there's now sugar in the house, and no urges to. Fresh fruit and honey fill the void.

25kg? Wow that’s impressive. Any decent links to the keto diet?

I was smashing a bar of Lindt hazelnut chocolate a day. 150g of fat and sugar. Cut that out now but it was pretty hard at first.

I found carrot juice is a good alternative, 95% carrot, 5% apple to sweeten. Otherwise Big Tom which is spicy tomato juice, beetroot or gazpacho. All vegan and you won’t miss the sugar.

the info was a photocopy of a diet plan.
From memory you did two days of raw fruit and vegetables, then high protein diet with big breakfast, small lunch and protein shake for dinner, and low carb substitutes where possible, and zero processed sugar or foods.
Went from 106kg to 81kg. Plenty of gym and cycling burnt it off.
Weigh 86kg now and have for about 8 years now.

I’m currently doing the same thing. For me it’s always been chocolate that I crave. Earlier this year it was a bag of Cadbury’s giant buttons, put in the freezer for 10 minutes, in one sitting, almost every night.

Gaining weight is actually something I struggle to do, my BMI is on the very low side of normal. So I’m not cutting out the sugar for weight but for the reason it must be seriously messing up my body in all kinds of other ways. I always struggle with cravings the most at night, particularly if I’m watching TV.

Two things that are helping me. Oranges. I’m eating two a day, the sweetness satisfies the craving for me. And dried raisins. One or two small handfuls, probably a total of 30g a day or every other day. Touch wood, that completely kills the cravings right now. And considering those bastard Giant Buttons have 56g of sugar per bag, it’s got to be better.

The second thing that has really helped, and I think this is the most important factor and will make lasting change possible, is that I was comfort eating. Being able to step back, be honest with myself and come to the realisation that because I’m actually very stressed, shovelling chocolate into my mouth at 8pm every night was a reaction to that stress. That purple bag of sugary fatty joy was basically the equivalent of a toddlers comfort blanket.

For me, realising the purpose sugar serves and that I’m really craving comfort and distraction from my stress, has quite quickly made it easier to stop myself giving in to the craving. It’s added a sort of distance so that I can stop and think, don’t eat 56g of sugar you dumb fuck before I’m left holding an empty bag.

TL;DR someone is probably going to tell me oranges are bad...

Reading all this with interest - have definitely struggled with sugar myself! I tend to find it hugely addictive - I'm fine all day until I have anything properly sweet (a bit of dried fruit in cereal doesn't seem to cause the problem) but then once I've had something, I can't stop.

Also like you @fyoosh I don't show it as weight so it's difficult to persuade people that it could be an issue - the number of colleagues who shrug it off when I tell them I'm trying not to eat refined sugars, saying "but you're not fat so it's fine" it ridiculous!

Challenge accepted.

This is the he same for me, I know I comfort eat to fill a hole that can’t be filled and also to give me energy when what I actually need is rest/wellness. I have slid into dangerous territory with it and I worry because the ‘having a word with myself’ only work 10% of the time

A big issue I have is #vanlife at work as when you’re in a van with trailer it only leaves garages as an option for on the go munch. The 5am starts mean I’m often rubbish at food prep.
This are all just excuses, not valid reasons..

The 5am starts mean I’m often rubbish at food prep.

I'm into overnight oats at the mo, which I make in the early evening before then stick in the fridge. Some berries, plenty of seeds, grated apple, cashew, cinnamon, etc.

LadyLiz lives for overnight oats and makes a batch every Sunday. Will double up the mix and give it a whirl.

Try taking out a bag of carrots - I prefer the organic type to avoid the chemical coating. For evening cravings I tend to tend to roll up some cheap Lidl muesli with yoghurt and honey for a sweet hit.

headaches

This is probably a result withdrawl from sugar(which I'm sure you know...!) but could also be do to reduced carb intake if you were previously consuming a lot and have now cut it out. Even though I like the LCHF diet I often find that if I drastically cut my carb intake I often have trouble sleeping. Something carb heavy (but no too sugary) like sweet potatoes for an evening meal might help. Also up your salt intake a bit for the first few days can help.

Try Mark Sisson as a start point. Also the work of Robb Wolf and Dominic D’Agostino are worth looking at. It might be easier starting with LCHF before thinking about keto though as it easier to stick to initially.

keto

I liked it. Loads of energy, access to good food, a hobby.

However, my other half veto'd it after 2wks due to my intensely bad breath. Plus they're veggie which made meal times and absolute fucker, and we were saving for a home...the cost of that diet is crippling.

I normally eat a LOT of sweet stuff but I almost gave up sugar last year by accident when I was living in Italy.

I ate such filling lunches and dinners (lots of pasta, obviously, but generally filling up on LOTS of savory/cheese/meat and a glass of wine with dinner every night) I just didn't have space for it really and it wasn't on offer where I was staying: desert was a real special occasion thing but we had fruit after every evening meal which I think is quite typical.

The fruit definitely filled the gap I normally fill with pudding, and although Italian breakfasts are normally very sweet mine weren't apart from a bit of Nutella and freshly squeezed orange juice.

I came back having put on a bit of weight from all the stodge but with no real craving for sweet stuff. I was determined to keep it up of course but that lasted about a week in Britain :(

My sweet cravings are still greatly reduced though, I just don't don't have the same appetite for it now. I've heard that's the same for people who totally give up sugar then starting eating it again too.