Farewell, My Love
Sugar. Sugar is my love. SWEET sweet tea. Crunchy coffee. Bottle Caps. Pasta. Brownie dough. Frosting.
Two years ago I read this blog post by The Sequinist about how she gave up sugar. I was intrigued. Of course it’s no secret that Sugar is the Devil, but I had never really considered trying to give it up. But she sounded as addicted to it as I guess am. I’d never thought of it as an “addiction,” but just a harmless “sweet tooth.” But the post made me think.
I thought about it for Two YEARS. Last year I did give up sweet tea for a month. I expected Big Results. But…I saw no change so I allowed it back in. Happily. But…the tea is just the tip of the iceberg (re-read first paragraph). And it wouldn’t hurt to try something that’s “good for me” every once in a while. I’m interested to see if I’ll feel better. If the inflammation in my heels and edema in my feet and ankles will reduce. If I have more energy. If my face stops breaking out. If I grow 5″ and my IQ goes up 50 points.
So I’m going to say farewell to sugar for two weeks. Then I will assess. Going in, I’m concerned about my hypoglycemia, even though everything I read tells me that if I’m not eating any sugar, then I can’t have sugar crashes. I should just feel level all the time. And I’m worried about being a cranky B as I go through what the internet is calling withdrawal (which sounds a little melodramatic to me).
I’m not doing the Bright Line eating that Lisa did. That seems way beyond just “no sugar.” But as I said, I’ll do two weeks then assess.
I’ll stock up on Good Options like steak, chicken, fish, hard-boiled eggs, frozen and fresh vegetables, hard cheeses and crackers, yogurt and berries, melon, apples and peanut butter (with no added sugar), avocados and rice cakes, and cashews, almonds and pistachios.
Bread seems to be a controversial item in the sugar detox world. One method says ABSOLUTELY NOT to any kind of bread, others say as long as it’s not refined white bread. I found this site that says “swap wheat bread for fiber-rich breads that are 100% whole wheat. Other breads like multigrain and sprouted are good options too, as long as those are the first ingredients on the package” and I’m going with that. I really don’t eat much bread – I’ve had a loaf of low-carb 7-grain bread in my cupboard for at least two months (low-carb breads last so much longer than other breads). But on the weekend I can do a bacon/egg/cheese on a slice of toast, or an avocado toast on a work morning for some good “feel full” fat to help me over the morning tea or coffee hump. And the morning tea/coffee, for me, is REALLY just about the sugar and cream.
And I’ll be drinking a lot of stupid water. ha. I am just not a fan of water. Not sparkling, not with lemon or cucumber slices or berries, not flavored. Sugary iced tea will be The Most Missed Item. “They” say to drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day. Well, for me, that’s almost 150 ozs of water! That’s 8 of these normal-sized 16.9 oz bottles. I will be peeing non-stop! I have also read recently (if you look long enough, you can find research to agree with almost anything you want!) that too much water is not useful. That if you’re peeing all day then the water is probably just running right through you and not doing anything useful anyway. I will try drinking four of those bottles every day. That will be challenge enough.
So! That is my challenge! I will giving up sugar from Monday, September 16 until Sunday, September 29. I know some of you said you’re already doing some sugar restricting…would love to hear how you’re feeling, what you’re eating, etc. And if anyone wants to do it along with me I could set up a private Facebook group (or an email group if you’re not Facebooky) just for us to compare notes, complain, etc. 🙂
Wish me luck!
Wendy Reynolds
Bettye, not to discourage you in any way but I did do Atkins( only protein , meat eggs little hard cheese and fat bacon mayonnaise) for two weeks . I did not feel any less tired or more energetic. I was in ketosis, did loose five pounds that came right back as soon as I stopped.
I would have started yesterday but had to devour 4 months of chocolate so I am back on Atkins. I will be a n email pal with you on this no sugar trip you are on
bettyewp
Mmmm…fat bacon mayonnaise 🙂
Yeah, I’ve done Atkins, too, and actually was always very successful with it. I lost almost 100 pounds one time. But eventually I went back to eating sugar and carbs and chips and ice cream and yeah, regained it all over about 7 years. I’m just never as enamored of losing weight as I am eating the things I want. I can finally admit that about myself. What usually prompts me to lose some weight is being frustrated that I can’t fit into the clothes I want to wear. Right now I’m concerned about just how hard it is to MOVE. I’m starting to Not Do things I like to do just cuz it seems too hard to move my body – across the beach, up the hill, whatever it might be. And I’m concerned about my hips – I’m sure they’d have an easier time transporting me if I wasn’t so heavy. And I think I’m actually pretty active for a very heavy person, but…I think I’d like to be able to be MORE active. Or at least hold the tide at bay as I get older.
It’s funny about diets. People think they can do them, lose weight, go back to their old way of eating, and keep the weight off. I hear so often “When I went off the diet I gained all the weight back!” Well, yeah. You (and I’m using the global “you,” not YOU Wendy) went back to eating the way/living the lifestyle you did that led to gaining all the weight in the first place.
Enjoy your chocolate! xoxo
jodie filogomo
I’m sure I was a sugar addict. If I had chocolate around, then I would eat it all. Which is terrible, I know. But when you’re addicted, you can’t stop. It wasn’t until my best friend died at age 34 that I realized I should do something. She had metastatic melanoma, and did a TON of research. She kept telling me that sugar feeds cancer.
But I didn’t give it all up at once. I’m too chicken for that. I just started cutting out the extra sugars that were easy to give up. Like peanut butter. I used to LOVE Jif. But did you know they add sugar to it?? And seriously the peanut butters without sugar tasted just as good.
Bread is another thing. We read the ingredients and only buy the bread that doesn’t have added sugar.
But that’s the thing. Everyone is different. What works for one person may not work for another for SO many reasons. One being our bodies really are different. Just like we react differently to different medications. Food is basically a medication.
Another thing that helps my inflammation is supplements. Granted, maybe if I gave up ALL sugar, I wouldn’t need the supplements. Right now I’m taking tumeric. But I alternate with others too.
So I’m babbling…you would think I was a nutritionist. LOL!!!
Good luck. And email me if you need a friend…
XOXO
Jodie
bettyewp
I’m so sorry about your friend, Jodie 🙁
Yes, all bodies respond differently. That’s why the “calories in, calories out” philosophy always pisses me off. It’s more complex than that.
But yes, I’ve had “sugar feeds cancer” preached to me for years. MANY things cause cancer, many of which we probably aren’t even aware of.
I was hoping to find more premade foods that had no added sugar, but EVERYTHING has some added sugar, it’s insane. Peanut butter, salad dressings, TOOTHPASTE! I know me, and one of the big things that always foils my attempts to eat better is that I have to prepare everything myself. I used to love to cook, now, not at all. I used to make a big pot of something on sunday (soup, chili, pasta, etc) and that would be dinner for a week. Now I don’t even want to do THAT. All of a sudden I just want to pop something frozen in the microwave for 4 minutes. Spending time on cooking and cleanup just seems like such a WASTE, when I would much rather be reading or writing!
Iris
Oh my goodness – I was just writing in my journal this morning about how much I hate cooking – and it takes so much of my time. I cooked a pork steak on the stove a couple of days and it took my FOREVER go clean up the mess, and that just added to the time I was in the kitchen when I could have been doing other useful things. I don’t “think” I eat a lot of sugar – coffee cream & sugar – I could drink it black, but don’t really like it that way. Otherwise it’s whatever’s added to the processed meals (junk) that I eat. Could I do what you’re going? Not sure, I hate to go to the grocery store almost as much as I hate to cook. Bad me, bad me, bad me.
Grace & Peace,Iris
http://www.IrisOriginalsRamblings.com
bettyewp
I sent you an invite to the Sugar Detoxers group!
Iris
Got it and joined. Do you how many years since I’ve been on an email list – think “Dock” 🙂
Iris
bettyewp
Ha! Was thinking that very thing when I created the sugardetoxer group today. I wasn’t even sure that Yahoo still HAD email groups but fortunately it did 🙂
Karen P.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your 2 week sugar free adventure, Bettye. I need to cut carbs, not specifically sugar, as I love unsweetened tea and sparkling water. What has helped in the past for me is using the low carb product CarbQuik (can purchase on Amazon) and topping with low sugar or sugar free jams and fruit for breakfast and snacks. I’d just mix it up and quick bake it in my toaster oven in the morning. It’s like Bisquick, so if you love bread products, it’s a great alternative and I liked the taste. I think I may order it again!
bettyewp
CarbQuik! I like it! It sounds like Nestle Quik!
I’ve never heard of that, will check it out. I do like Bisquik. I just make a small bowl of biscuit dough and eat it raw. Ha. I am NOT a good example.
Karen P.
CarbQuik has NO sugar in it! Just checked. 2 net grams of Carbs per serving.
Also just checked and had a big tasty spoonful of almond butter from Sam’s Club and it has ZERO sugar in it!
And just had some white cheddar skinny pop popcorn also from Sam’s Club and it has ZERO sugar in it.
All delicious! Haha
See, I don’t have an issue with sugar, its the overall CARBS that do me in! 🙂
But I went ahead and ordered more CarbQuik and will get some sugar free jam and get going on eating less carbs.
Karen P.
Oops, correction: The almond butter has zero added sugar!
bettyewp
I just put a box of CarbQuik in my Amazon cart 🙂
Karen P.
Can you add me to your no sugar email list?
(By the way, I got my Carbquik box in the mail yesterday and have prepared it twice (easy, just add some water–don’t even need to measure) and topped with butter and sugar free jam. Sugar free and very minimal carbs.Loved it!)
Even after 2 days of carb and sugar restriction I already feel different! My appetite is reduced and I’m not craving them anymore. It’s like my body remembered the last time I did this and slid right into that mode. Yay!
Thanks for getting me going!! Your blog entry really did the trick!
bettyewp
I just sent you an invitation from YahooGroups SugarDetoxers.
Ooh, I have to order my CarbQuik quick!
bettyewp
I ordered my carbquik today and should have it tomorrow.
In the past when I’ve done low-carb I’ve had a similar experience where once the carbs are cleared out of my body I no longer crave them, in fact I have hardly any appetite at all! I have to REMIND myself to eat – what a concept!
I’m thinking I can mix a little grated cheese in the CQ baking mix to make cheesy biscuits?
julia
Good luck! I’m curious how it works for you. Two weeks will go by so fast!
bettyewp
Oh gosh, I hope so! But the two weeks might just be the start. We shall see.
Marceline S Miller
Hi. Just a quick answer to your previous question – I’m not receiving emails when you respond to blog comments. But I don’t mind because I have no problem with going back and looking.
About the sugar – I’m interested in being a buddy on the 2-week trip, because I also need to at least reduce the sugar i eat. I hope I can be decent about it, because I really, Really, REALLY love it hahaha
bettyewp
Grr (comment replies not working). I went “behind the curtain” yesterday to see what I could see and I DID manage to fix MY subscriptions to newsletters (I hadn’t been getting emails for ages and this morning my inbox is like WHOA), but I don’t know if I managed to change anything re comments.
Thanks for checking in to see comments!
I think I’ll make an email group for the sugar thing, I’ll add your email to it and you’ll probably get an email you’ll need to confirm. We can whine about NOOO SUGARRR?!? together. It’ll be awesome.
diane
Count me in for the 2-week no sugar test.
Jaynn
Wishing all our you beautifuls a successful two weeks!! So excited for you all! Having a mission, something you are completing, something to plan for, look forward to – I love it, yay!!! Sounds like many of us will be waiting patiently (we’re adults, right? we can be patient) to hear how it goes. I imagine it really takes being in the right mindset to start. My 70 year old mother cut sugar out about a year ago and has never looked back. Cravings are gone and she lost a lot of weight. Her BP, however, did not go down. Her relatively mild fibromyalgia did not improve, but she did it and I am confident in the benefits.
Please be good to yourself – no beating yourself up if you slip, no self-defecating internal talk. We all do the best we can, every day all the time. It might not be consistent, but we do the best we can at the time with what we have.
That said, wishing you well on this journey – you can doooooo it!
bettyewp
Yay, Mom!
Trust me, I cut myself a LOT of slack…and I’m usually pretty good about sticking with things once I’ve made the mental decision to do it. But sugar?? That’s HARRRRDDDD.
Michelle
I’ll join the sugar free party!
Good luck with your sugar free journey!
Sometimes I eat bread and sometimes I don’t. I’m eating it for the first 2 weeks (pumpernickel) and then will go no bread for a few weeks.
The best thing (for me) about going sugar free this time of year is that it’s apple season. I could pretty much live on apples – so many different kinds!
bettyewp
I sent you an invite to the Yahoo email group “Sugar Detoxers.” I LOVE bread but don’t actually eat much. Maybe I’ll try making my own next week so I don’t have to worry about sugar.
Apples? Maybe you can help me. I’m always on the hunt for sweet, NON-MEALY apple. I just can’t eat those mealy apples. I’m sorta weirded out by a lot of fruits, ha.
Michelle
I hate mealy apples too.
During apple season I love to try all the heirloom apples. A lot of them are firm – in the beginning. They don’t keep as well as mass-market apples, so they will lose their texture in 3-4 weeks. Melrouge is my favorite. I also like winesap. There are others, but I forget the names right now. I go to my farm and try a few new kinds every week.
There’s also an apple from NZ called lemonade. It’s yellow/blush and really does taste a little like lemonade. That’s a good firm/sweet one.
I’ll keep an eye out for the group invite!
bettyewp
Lemonade sounds fun. Like it would be good in a white whine sangria 🙂 I’ve never heard of Melrouge.
Karen
Good luck Bettye. I gave up sugar at one point and it really did make a difference, especially in not feeling winded when I used the stairs, of all things. I felt a lot better but you really have to be diligent as sugar, in one form or another, is in everything. I forgot which brand of bread it was but that contained high fructose corn syrup and then they added regular old corn syrup too. Why add sweetness like that to bread? I found that some of the frozen breads were sugar free (Berlin Bakery was one of them). Maybe you will inspire me to get back on that train. Parents and in-laws both had medical issues and that led to my fall off the wagon. I just ate whatever was convenient.
bettyewp
Thanks for the good luck, Karen! Oh yeah, not feeling winded would be magical!
They really do sneak sugar into EVERYTHING these days! It SO crazy.
It’s so hard to stay on the wagon. ANY wagon, ha.
Let me know if you want to join the email group and ride the wagon with us!
Marian
I’m new to your blog and greatly enjoying it.
Please add me to your sugar detox email group!
I’ve gone off sugar twice and I have a few tips:
– the first 10 days are the hardest. After that, it’s more mental than physical cravings.
– stay away from the office break room, buffet tables at gatherings and anywhere there is temptation. Your brain is used to wanting all those brownies and you’ll have a long internal dialogue why you can’t have it.
– Trader Joe’s and most bakeries have a good brown bread without sugar. TJ – I think it’s “pain Pascal” – the bag tied with rafia.
– fresh fruit has lots of sugar. It’s not a good replacement when doing a sugar detox. Go easy on it! Crunchy vegetables are better.
– find lots of treats and a variety of healthy fun foods to look forward to and reward yourself. I personally like salt as much as sugar so my treats can be homemade popcorn with salt or corn on the cob with butter. Spicy Wasabi peas!
– bitter chocolate at 75% or higher was a godsend.
-I don’t like water either. Try making all kinds of aqua Fresca. You can even add herbs. I also treated myself to all kinds of sparkling waters.
– it’s all or nothing. I found the minute I reintroduced just a little sugar, I was back on sugar fast.
– on my own, it was easy to stick to the plan. People make a big deal about any dietary change and it becomes a discussion. It’s hard to avoid the discussion but it was repetitive and tiring and caused me to constantly focus on the very thing I was trying not to think about.
– I did feel healthier. It was very do-able.
I’m sure you’ll be successful! You’ll feel better and you’ll feel proud that you’re doing it.
bettyewp
Thanks for all your great tips, Marian! And welcome! I will add you to the sugardetoxers email group 🙂
Cheryl Gardiner
Hi Bettye, I enjoy reading your wonderful posts. I quit using added sugar a number of years ago and feel much better for it. I am Australian and read a series of excellent books which were written by David Gillespie, the first is titled Sweet Poison. The main reason I am trying to live a no added sugar life is to improve my own and my family’s health.
I do fall off the wagon from time to time, but get back on just as the author did in the sequinist article in your post. I agree with you that mobility is vital for maintaining our health and I am a few years older than you. I wish you all the best Bettye.
bettyewp
Thanks, Cheryl! Yes, not quitting when you have an OOPS is key. I’m generally of the “oh, i ate one cookie so I may as well eat the whole box” school. I wonder how these things get so ingrained in us?!?
Jacki
I eat so much sugar — from ice cream to jolly ranchers — but my biggest issue is my Starbucks Hot Chocolate every morning. Not having it makes me feel cheated. I drink all the water I’m supposed to — but I hate to cook, hate veggies, don’t like most fruit — I swear I’m held together with sugar. I’d like to give it up, might settle for cutting back first.
bettyewp
I hear ya, Jacki. Giving up my McDonalds Sweet tea hurts my heart. I feel so deprived and unloved when I can’t have it. THERE’S an issue.
Sarah
I gave up sugar last July. Actually I gave up most things that cause a significant insulin response (so also bread and pasta) and save my carbier items (potatoes, rice, fruit) for the evening. I basically eat almost no processed foods and in that way it’s been super easy, but I love to cook. I use monkfruit sweetener in my coffee but that’s basically the only thing I sweeten. I think it would work in sweet tea as well! I do feel loads better, more energy and less frequent (although not totally eliminated) joint pain. I do wonder about doing additional food sensitivity testing since I think I still have an inflammatory response to some things and I’m too lazy to journal. Good luck. I know it’s not easy, but you never have to say no to something forever…that’s too hard. I every now and again have ice cream, or something sweet – but I make those special occasions and that way I don’t feel too deprived.
bettyewp
Thanks, Sarah! I used to eat no processed foods, but that’s when I was still cooking. Now I am LAY-ZEE!
Ashley
Oh my gosh, I am thinking of you and pulling for you, sister! YOU GOT THIS!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
bettyewp
Thanks, Ashley, I’m gonna need all the luck I can get!