It’s been a month since I “gave up sugar”, but to be honest I have had some sugary things in those 30 days. I have had some wedding cake, champagne, wine, a bit of soft drink (combined with alcohol), and a single chocolate eclair sweet. Oh, and the odd bit of tomato and BBQ sauce.

What I have NOT had is biscuits, lollies (other than a single chocolate eclair) or added sugar to drinks. I have days of sugar free, and it’s only when I allow myself a down day or weekend with a treat here and there that I actually have something sugary. Or a special occasion, like a hen’s party or wedding.

I’m damn proud of myself.

I was someone who had juice for breakfast, a treat with a coffee (with a teaspoon of sugar) for morning tea, a post-lunch sweet, and not the healthiest of dinners. I was addicted to sugar, and I’m proud to say I’ve kicked the habit.

Finally.

I still have the odd craving, particularly now when its approaching *that* time of the month (sorry – overshare). The difference is that I can recognize its a craving, and not a need. Thus I can ignore it.

I’ve dropped a few kilos without trying, and if I made more fine tuning to my diet and exercise I could easily drop more. However for this first month my aim was to ensure I wasn’t totally deprived of all treats for fear of a relapse. As a result I have rediscovered my love for cheeses, chips and dips, and general savory items.

Trust me when I say everything tastes more amazing.

I have also discovered how good coffee can be without sugar.

Honesty, I am SO glad for the likes of friends and books for I never would have been able to take this step. Let’s see how month 2 goes now.

Here goes nothing!

Well I’m pleased to say that I have been sugar free for a week. Well, mostly. We are still having natural sugars and stuff. The only slip up that happened was a glass of flavored natural mineral water that C thought I had bought so poured us both a drink. Turns out it had 10g of sugar per 100g, so higher than my limit of 6g. But given the grand scale of it being a week since we started, I think the slip up of 4g barely registers.

The first day and a bit was tough with with cravings, and it wasn’t until the second day the headaches truly started. They were BAD; one to the point that I had to put sunglasses on to work at the computer because my eyes became so sensitive to light. I barely fought off the migraine that time.

Thankfully the headaches have gone, and at the moment I think I’m just feeling a bit fatigued. That might also be from my body clock being out of whack having worked night shift last week.

I asked C for his opinion, and he said those first two days were hell. His cravings were insane. He also had a strepsil for a sore throat, only to see his cravings intensify. Turns out there was sugar in the strepsil, so that little bit just made him want even more. Thankfully he managed to resist.

Weight wise I have dropped about 2kg. This may have been aided by finishing “that time of the month”, but given that last week we were still having chips and dip, and cheese and crackers, I can’t say my diet was too cautious otherwise, and I have never lost 2kg from a period before. We even hosted a BBQ on Saturday night with some drinking (friend’s birthday) which we kept to vodka lime and soda. C also ended up having a tuaca & mother shot (spirit with energy drink), but only one. I still resisted.

My cravings have reduced noticeably. I still wouldn’t mind a juice in the morning, but the urge for morning tea and post lunch snacks have gone. That’s a relief. I wouldn’t say I would trust myself if I had a sweet at the moment, but will see what happens in another week. On the 16th we will be attending a wedding, where I will have nearly no say in what I eat and drink. I’ve told C that can be our first proper blow out, then back to our controlled diets.

I will be sure to update you all again on my progress in the next week. I’m hoping to start seeing a difference in my energy levels, and another weight drop would be nice! Wish me luck!

So as I posted recently, C and I have given up sugar as much as we can. We are now 3 days into it, and both undergoing incredibly different experiences.

For me, my biggest cravings are juice for breakfast in the morning, biscuits with my coffee, and something sweet whenever I get sit still. It’s quite obvious from that list just how addicted I well and truly was. My withdrawals started off easy enough, a slight headache pain and the odd craving. I’ve not been drawn to the point of having to physically pull myself away from something as yet, so that’s good. Not a single slip up to date. Yet last night the headache truly started to come on to the point where it felt like I had some super muscular mini person constantly tugging on my forehead and nose. The headache was horrific, and this morning when I woke up it was still there. C immediately gave me some panadol, and I managed to drop back off to sleep for another few hours of solid sleep (thankfully the aircon was also switched on, so I didn’t die from the heat).

C has had quite a different reaction. No headaches to report, but still cravings. It doesn’t help when they have a box of chocolates on the front counter at work, but he has stayed strong. He had a minor slip up this morning when he had a couple of strepsils for a dry throat (caused by the air con at his work), then realised there was sucrose in them (as well as glucose – not so bad). He immediately swapped over to sugar free gum, but found that his cravings for sugar immediately jumped in strength. He really struggled with them, and has fought to get his mind off it today.

Today my biggest craving has revolved around drinks. I want a milo, or a juice. Something other than water or mineral water. I’ve tried milk, but it’s just not hitting the spot. This weekend we have a few parties to attend, which will be my first true test in giving up sugar. I will need to make sure I’ve had a hearty breakfast before I go, and we will be drinking vodka lime & sodas to ensure we don’t consume anything sugary. I’ll also get some dry white wine as a backup. We will need to watch what snacks are provided as well. I don’t know how much strength we have at the moment if there were to be sugary treats. I would like to think that we wouldn’t give in, but given we’re not exactly free from cravings I can’t guarantee that would be the case.

Fatigue levels seem to be good though, so that’s a good thing. I’ll just be glad when this headache has gone!

C and I recently decided to give up sugar, resulting in a mass clean out of our cupboards and fridge. Today I went to the grocery store to buy some non-sugar supplies so that we would actually have food to eat.

Oh my god.

I actually paid attention to the sugar content of some things I wouldn’t have thought would be a problem, and I was stunned. Mustard, tomato sauce, low fat cheese (!!!). It’s no freaking wonder I struggle with cravings for sweet stuff, it’s in everything we eat!

Thank goodness I had done a bit of research so that I didn’t go home empty handed. The bulk of what I bought was fruit and veg, meat and several different types of nuts, so the amount of processed foods we will be eating is quite low. I got a few snacks, chips and dips (no added sugar and low overall sugar total), and swapped soft drink for mineral and soda water. We never drank full strength soft drink anyway, but I will be glad to cut soft drink from my diet altogether anyway. it just means I’m on the wine when it’s time to have a drink!

This morning I had a poached egg on a slice of toast, and lunch was a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich on sour dough. I’ve also purchased rolled oats and we have frozen berries, so that will be another breakfast option for me. Eventually I would like to remove bread from my diet and have it as a treat only, as I know I get quite bloated from it.

So from here it’s onwards and upwards. I’m just waiting for the withdrawals now, it’s going to be tough.

But so worth it.