going sugar free

so I've decided to give up sugar (still eating fruit but no chocolate or not fruit desserts of any kind) and think I may as well keep a journal of it here. I am not giving it up permanently, but want to try it for a month or so to see if it makes my workouts more effective and productive or simply put--if it helps me lose more weight.
This is day 2...so far, so good, way better than I expected. I did have two pieces of cheese bread or whatever that is from Red Lobster yesterday but didn't have the very decadent looking molten lava chocolate chip cookie hot fudge sundae, even though I really wanted it.
So far today--had some nonfat yogurt with three small handfuls of dry rolled oats and one small shot of pomegranate juice and some acai pulp. It was MUCH better than adding cooked oatmeal like I tried and nearly gagged on yesterday.
Lunch was a mexican salad and a protein shake smoothie with a cup of raw milk, frozen berries, one banana, one scoop of protein and some dry, rolled, oats, which actually add a lot to the smoothie and keep me from getting hungry throughout the day.
I think dinner will be a salmon fillet and an artichoke with cherries for dessert.
It sucks but I'll have to switch from raw milk to organic skim, I think, at this point it's more calories than I need.
My trainer exercised me to death this morning, I'm still in recovery.
No major sugar cravings though, which really surprises me..am feeling a bit anxious about a few things IRL and that is usually when I'm craving sugar...we'll see how this goes, it's only day 2.

Good luck!!! I've been trying to cut way back but I don't know if I could give it up altogether.

Have you had organic skim milk before? I don't buy it regularly but we all prefer it...it tastes like full non-organic milk.

I may have to add oats to DH's smoothies...he gets one every morning with a banana, blueberries, frz. strawberries, two eggs, protein and full fat yogurt (he's trying to gain weight). He loves them but complains they don't keep him full long enough.

What is raw milk?

raw milk is non pasteurized, no homogenized milk...essentially, straight out of the cow's teat.
Monica, oats help a lot, they really help me feel full, I noticed that when I put them in my yogurt and my trainer's whole point in having me eat oatmeal was to keep me full throughout the morning so I realized that I could add them to my smoothie and have the same effect throughout the day. They add some taste but not much, it's just for the effect and it works.
I used to drink organic 1% and it was really good but nothing compares to raw...but raw is whole milk and when you're dieting, it defeats the purpose so I'm afraid for now, it will have to be replaced with organic skim. I only do organic because in the non organic milk industry, the bull calves are sold as veal and veal is one industry I am vehemently against so I avoid it by going organic...no such thing as organic veal therefore no organic calves go into the making of it.
As for your DH...man, oh man, I wish I needed to gain weight....

So far, I'm actually having no sugar cravings...so far so good. I had veggie chili for dinner last night, along with baked julienne fries that were essentially frozen potato strips that I baked. I must have been craving salt instead, which is weird because I hate salt...I'm wondering if my lack of sugar is making me suddenly want salt?
Anyway, the potatoes weren't that good and totally not worth it, won't be buying them again. What's interesting, though, is that I was really craving veggie chili, that I made myself, whereas earlier in the day I thought I'd want an artichoke and some salmon...the one thing I'm starting to notice with regard to giving up sugar is that I seem to be more in tune with what my body actually wants whereas before, I just couldn't wait to get to dessert.
I do feel a bit better but I wouldn't say I notice a tremendous difference there...maybe once I cut out the potatoes and cheesy bread from Red Lobster, I'll have a better idea of if I'm feeling much better than before when I was on a lifelong sugar high.
I was so exhausted last night that I fell asleep in my clothes, my contacts, and without brushing my teeth or anything...wonder if that is part of the "withdrawal" process or if I'm just worn out from rigorous workouts five days a week...?
We'll see how today goes, have had 2 apricots and about 12 ounces of water so far, that's another thing, need to up my water intake.

Yeah, it's no fun being to a guy skinnier than you so I'm doing my best to fatten him up. He's always been skinny, and it's always bothered him so we're working on it.

Jennifer have you ever looked for Raw non fat? We buy it all the time because Katy doesn't like the whole milk so we mix it for her. I cant go back to pasteurized milk now, our tummies are so much happier with raw!

where do i get some of that? I would LOVE that. Or do you make it, like by dilution, and if you know the measurements then I am all ears and would be eternally grateful!

Just got back from my workout and I am starving! My trainer says it's a sign the training is working...he says that the whole point of these $%%%$$% heavy weight lifting sessions is to raise my metabolism and if I'm hungry now, then it means it's working. I told him I think fat people are hungry all the time and that being hungry is not necessarily a sign of progress...I think he came close to kicking me out of the gym for saying that but I don't see what is wrong about it...isn't hunger what leads to weight gain in the first place?!
Anyway, I am heating up the rest of those potatoes because now I am so hungry that I want some comfort food. And then after this, there will be no comfort food in my house.
I'll probably also finish yesterday's chili or maybe I'll put some into another mexican salad...I think I could eat mexican everyday, seriously, the spicier the better.
Still no sugar and still no major cravings for it. I am sure after a month I will want a dessert but I am wondering if it will taste as good as before or better for the lack of having had any for so long or worse because I won't want it anymore?
This is the main reason I'm journaling all of this...so I can write down how I feel along with what I'm eating and what I'm craving so I can go back and see the evolution of it all.
But I have to say, if I can give up sugar for a month, and to be fair, this is only day 3 but if I can actually do it, anyone can.

I buy it in the store right next to the whole milk. if you cant find it than skim the cream off the top and you would in essence be 'making' skim milk. If you freeze all of your cream you can make ice cream when you finally decide to have dessert. My sister makes a killer raw chocolate ice cream with agave instead of sugar

I am going to try that but it comes in a container with a very narrow top...should I pour it into a bowl and let the fat rise and then skim it off and then pour it back into its container?
I know that sounds complicated but would love to stick to raw but it's chock full of extra calories that I don't need right now...hmmm, wonder if I could try that skimming it myself....
Or what if I poured it through a sieve or something?
eta--what store do you get yours at? Mine comes from Whole Foods from a local (meaning somewhere in FL) farmer...wonder if I could call their company and ask them if they could make it skim...bet lots of people would buy that....

This post has been edited by cameragirl21 on Jul 22 2009, 09:36 AM

OMG, I pigged out like crazy for lunch...I was so hungry but I don't even think it's that...my trainer wants me to take pics for his new website and he won't clearly explain to me what he wants and every idea I suggest he doesn't like. I'd like to insert appropriate smiley here but there is none to express how I feel...maybe the eye roll one.
He says I need to get outside my comfort zone as a photographer and that is kind of weird because lately I've been thinking that myself...I swear, if I didn't see him talking to other people, I'd seriously entertain the notion that he may not be real, or not human, or a ghost, like in "The Sixth Sense" or something because he seems to know everything that I'm thinking and it really irks me sometimes.
Anyway, maybe the stress of it got me to eat but I finished those stupid potatoes, covered them in balsamic vinegar...Idk why I prefer potatoes with balsamic vinegar, must be a closet Brit. And then I added some of yesterday's chili to as mexican salad and had a protein smoothie with enough oats to fill up for a week or so. For sure adding the oats helps a lot in keeping me from being hungry.
Hope I do better at dinner...documenting how I felt today so that I can read it again next time I feel like this and realize that I'm stress eating which is not good. I also feel like crap after eating all that, which is also not good.
Better luck tomorrow, and at dinner. Still no sugar and no sugar cravings, so far, so good.

Now I buy it at a store called Sprouts but I used to buy at whole foods. And I guess if they dont sell it that way than yes it is very easy to skim yourself

Barely had dinner last night but it was a salad with spinach, some berries, walnuts, and blue cheese.
Small mex salad for lunch...I'm on a Mexican kick and a glass of milk, not much of a breakfast, just a handful of cherries.
Still no sugar cravings, let's see what dinner brings.
Narrowly escaped a car crash yesterday so I'm a bit shaken but grateful...still have to replace my alternator to the tune of 400 bucks...yuck.

ok, so the dairy queen tagalog sundae or whatever the heck it is suddenly has me seriously craving tagalogs...first serious sugar craving since the sugar free kick...I'm thinking 30 days to make it simple...so 4 days down, 26 to go.

So I woke up this morning with a strange realization--what I used to have for dessert daily, a 100 calorie pack of m&ms or exactly 100 calories worth of Reese's pieces, well, I don't want any of that anymore. Idk why I woke up this morning with this thought because I generally didn't eat chocolate in the morning but I realized that if someone offered me either of those two things I'd not want them...now that is an odd feeling.
It's not to say I have no desire for any sweets...I am craving chocolate chip cookies, real homemade ones, not Chips Ahoy or something like that, which I never truly liked anyway, btw.
My trainer had said that if I give up sugar for a while and then allow myself to eat only really high grade desserts, like from Epicure, that I would not want the other stuff anymore and that it would take less of a high grade dessert for me to get my fix, like maybe he meant a few bites or something? Not sure exactly and never asked because I could not envision not craving simple chocolate like m&ms.
Haven't weighed myself so Idk if there is any net effect yet, it's only day 5. Had an artichoke with hollandaise sauce for dinner along with a protein smoothie...yesterday was a crazy day and I was just nonstop so I barely had time to eat during the day. I felt too full after dinner yesterday, though, so I guess it's time to cut my meals down in size again.
I don't think I could possibly give up fruit though so I know there will never be a true sugar free episode in my life but fruit is healthy so I guess it doesn't matter. I do wonder if after another five days I'll stop craving chocolate chip cookies and other sweets also. It's just weird that my daily dessert is the first to go, craving wise, anyway, it's only day 5 but so far so good.
The longest I can think of that I've gone without sweets is 2 weeks, so I'm curious if I can make it to the 13th day, day 5 is no big deal, really.

Man, oh man, I lifted 80 pounds today so I was just psyched, I definitely am much stronger since I started working with this trainer about 4 weeks ago. He said to eat more protein so I'm going to experiment with some fish recipes and see how that goes. I seem to be doing ok without sugar and still have no serious cravings at all, but it's only day 5. Today I realized I could conceivably go without dessert forever but I don't want to, I think we are all entitled to an occasional treat but that is the key here--occasional whereas before it was a 2-3x daily thing, or at least once a day. I'm thinking maybe once I get through this that I could plan on having dessert maybe twice a week or so and make it a really good, decadent dessert instead of a 100 calorie pack of m&ms just to get a sugar fix.
I'm going to try to take my diet up a notch by sticking to things like artichokes, fish, and fatouche like salads where there is only good stuff and nothing added for filler that's unhealthy, like cheese and whatnot. Oh yeah, I don't put pita in my fatouche and when I order it at restaurants, I always ask them to hold the salt and the pita so neither goes into it when I make it at home.
Found a recipe for pan seared balsamic glazed artichokes that I'm eager to try and a recipe for tandoori sea bass that I will probably try with tilapia this weekend, unless I can find some sea bass.
I wonder if I'll get sick of fatouche salad if I have it at least once, sometimes twice a day, along with a bit of fish and maybe some hummus, protein shakes, nonfat yogurt, and fruit? Now that would be a quick weight loss diet but wonder if I can stick to it...?
Let's see if I can just stick to it through this weekend and then we'll see....

Ok, this is day 8...yesterday was the first day I had to fight some serious cravings...I think it means that I can probably have dessert once weekly to be satisfied. I went to Whole Foods and they were sampling this cake I absolutely love--chocolate cake with rich, mint icing. I normaly don't care for chocolate cake but this is to die for and they sample it rarely so I was way bummed that I couldn't have some but I was proud of myself for turning it down. Did have 4 tostones yesterday though so I still have some work to go as far as my diet goes but there is no sugar in tostones so I didn't break the sugar fast.
To make matters worse, I need a gourmet cupcake for a photoshoot and I had to go to the bakery yesterday and go into great detail explaining what I wanted when I ordered it and that was a bit rough...I am more than a quarter of the way through it though and it will hopefully all be worth it in the end.
Still haven't made a fatouche salad, though, had buffalo shrimp and an artichoke for brunch...at least I left out the hollandaise. Dinner will be fatouche and grilled salmon.
Have had tons of water though, so at least I'm good there.
Other than a bit yesterday though, the cravings are totally under control and almost non existent, so that's a plus. Did buy some more raw milk though, I just can't stomach going back to pasteurized, pun intended!

Ok, today I completely wigged out for no reason, I mean, not for no reason but I totally overreacted to something and I am starting to wonder how much of it may be due to not having had sugar for 9 days now, along with the stresses of life which are definitely getting to me. I just felt mad at the world! I actually felt ready to throw things which is totally not my style, I may get pissed but I don't throw or destroy things, ever. Not that I threw anything but I was tempted.
My trainer is driving me crazy. I'm grateful for the tough training but I almost had a full blown asthma attack today, the kind that requires an ambulance all because he wanted to overwork me on the treadmill. He said I was just panicking but I felt like I couldn't breathe. He also keeps asking me business advice, like logos and fonts and website advice and WTF, I am a photographer, my knowledge lies in pictures and conveying ideas, emotions, etc thru pictures, I don't know squat about logos and fonts and whatever the freak else. Idk, I seem really angry today, it's like I just woke up angry and again, Idk if it's from lack of sugar. Idk why it would make me so angry, it's usually the opposite, too much sugar or even regular amounts of processed sugar in the diet is usually what makes people angry, like their sugar levels aren't regulated or something. Anyway, that's what a nutritionist told me once, Idk if it's true. I'm still seething, it's like I can't quite settle myself, lashing out at everyone around me, not seriously but enough that they know something is up with me.
Just documenting all this so I can look back and determine if it's due to the sugar fast or if it's just other things that I won't go into here.
For the record, just so I can truly look back on today--I am mad at Robbie, I am mad at Sylvia, I hate Ezmeralda, I am so mad at Ormy that I can't describe how I feel about him in socially acceptable terms, Arelys went so out of her way to be nice to me that I can't possibly be mad at her, I wish I could explain why I'm mad to Zoya and my mom, I think maybe I should just marry Abe...then all my problems would disappear, and then quite probably be replaced with new ones.
I am putting all this in writing so I can look back and see what a total a-hole I sound like, who knows if it's the sugar or if I'm really just being an a-hole. The question is--how much of all this is my fault, sugar or not?
I can't believe I'm admitting all this in a public forum but I started documenting all this here so I guess I have no other place to put it.
Ok, I looked back on what I wrote and oddly enough, I feel better. Maybe I just needed to get it all out and putting it in writing is the equivalent, for me, of throwing things.
Day 9--the first day I started to go mad, lol.

Ok, I am determined to end this day on a positive note. I really wanted to edit out the previous post and at least remove where I rant on about whom I hate and whom I'm mad at as if I were a seventh grader.
Anyway, I settled down and refuse to turn into the type of woman I despise who gets hysterical and lashes out for no reason.
I found some cherry pie flavored Larabars that have no white sugar, just dates, almonds and unsweetened cherries and it was really good! So maybe that will be dessert until the 30 days are up.
What can I say, I'm healthy, happy for the most part and every problem I have is mercifully, solvable. I also have arguably the best view in Miami. So I should just be grateful and I refuse to turn into a freakazoid. I did, however, diss my poor neighbor when he wanted to hang out today because I respect him too much to be around me the way I was today.
Oh yeah, my mom told me today how disappointed she is in me for the way I was acting today, lol, if I were 8 it wouldn't sound so out of place but anyway, she's right, and I'm disappointed in me too.
Tomorrow will be a better day, and it will be 1/3 of the way through this wretched sugar fast.

oh yeah, and I also want to add that I got some tostones at Whole Foods and they were gross...I guess the whole healthy food thing is working because I could actually taste the grease in the tostones and it seriously grossed me out. I am only posting this here to document so that next time I want tostones, I can look back and read this. No more tostones for me!

I spoke to Peggy last night, a nutritionist guru and explained what was happening to me and she said, "the sugar detox can make you feel worse since your brain chemistry is trying to adjust"...this being a direct quote. So I feel tons better today knowing that I'm turning into some perverse, bizarre, feminine form of Godzilla but rather am going through a natural sugar detox, which I would never have thought to call it that but apparently that is what it is.
I don't hate anyone today, nor am I mad at anyone and I take back what I said in a bout of anger and frustration and sugar detox yesterday.
I haven't slept enough as usual, though, and am already exhausted and still have to meet with my trainer and then take pictures, oh, how I wish I could just go back to bed.
Anyway, I had a type of soul cleansing last night, which is by and large why I didn't sleep enough, not for inability to do so, and feel a whole better and more aware today. And am also trying hard to keep everything in perspective.
My friends say that with all I have going on, it would be ideal to go back to sugar so I can be fully cognizant and aware, as last night I sent an important email from the wrong email addy and left my binder at the post office and didn't realize it till I got home so I wasted an hour driving all the way back to get it, and simply put, seem to be spaced out and forgetful and kind of walking around in a slight daze. I am determined to get through this, though, as I'm sure my body chemistry won't take forever and a day to adjust.
This is day 10, I am 1/3 of the way through...the worst thing is, though, that I realized if I break the fast with a giant cupcake or something of the sort, I will be defeating the purpose of all I did and I'll probably feel sick as a dog as my body chemistry will once again be out of whack.
So I'm thinking that I'll have to start small, like small bites of sugary things instead of an entire cupcake or something like that.
It's only day 10 and I'm already plotting what I'm going to eat to break the fast...it's kind of pathetic, for lack of a better word.
Peggy also told me to keep a journal, which is what this is, so at least I know I'm doing something right if I keep updating this.
I am definitely getting thinner, that much I can see, we'll see what another 20 days of this will do.

I lifted 125 pounds working out today and have a bit of blisters on my hands from it. I feel very strong and that's a good feeling. I was starving by the time our workout ended. My trainer thinks that completely eliminating sugar is probably a bit extreme but I'm 1/3 of the way there so there is no turning back now. I am having buffalo shrimp for lunch and maybe some salad if I feel like some afterward and then some fruit for dessert or maybe a smoothie.
Today is a much better day than yesterday and I am grateful for that.

This is day 11 and I'm feeling much better. I had a Jenniferized version of a BLT, without the B of course and with an egg instead for breakfast because that is what I was craving and now I'm going to have a fatouche with some fish...I am finding that I am eating much less lately just naturally, I just get full faster and that is great.
My trainer is working me to death. He insists I don't have asthma and that it's all in my head because docs told me my whole life that I have asthma...um, no, I'm pertty sure those asthma attacks and sessions with the Nebi were real. Anyway, my body is just tired from doing this everyday but I am getting through it and he says I'm doing great but he annoys me a bit. This morning when I was taking a walk, he ran into me as he was on his way to work in my building and he insisted on walking with me and I really didn't have anything much to talk about with him so it annoyed me a bit. He does train well, though, even though he complains about a lot of things and that drives me nuts sometimes.
This journal thing is much better than I expected, wish I could journal about everything in my life, I bet I'd have it all much more together.
Idk how it's going to be going back to eating sugar, I mean, once I've gone through this whole brain chemistry change thing, Idk how I'll feel after eating sugar again. Guess I have to take it slow and just eat occasional desserts. I do long for dessert again but I'm not craving it like crazy and that is good. This is definitely doing what I'd hoped--jump starting my diet...everything unhealthy tastes gross to me now.
But I hate feeling like I can't have something, I just hate limitations. I don't mind not eating meat, guess I never wanted it to begin with but just knowing I can't have sugar is kind of a yucky feeling, like being imprisoned in some way because I am not allowed to have something that I normally want. Anyway, this whole thing made me pull that book "Moose" out and read it again, it's about fat camp and I guess that is how I feel a bit, like I'm in my own homemade fat camp except I'm not really fat, just not the size 2-4 I used to be, but I'm working on that and I can do it.
Hope this day continues like this, other than feeling weak from being overexercized, I am feeling fine.

This is day 12 and I really wanted a dessert after lunch. I can't believe I'm not even half way through. I am worried that feeling like this means this exercise will be pointless because I just want to get thru it so I can have dessert. I'm even thinking a daily dessert is not a big deal as long as I don't have too much. Like maybe a sliver of something and half a cup of milk, so why am I even doing this? It just seems like a failure if I stop now.
At least I'm not all batty like I was on Monday and other than craving a dessert or some junk food, like potato chips, I am feeling fine. The thing is, if I let myself have the chips, I'll just hate them like I hated the tostones...junk food tastes gross to me now.
I do miss sugar though, even sugar free pudding sounds good about now but I don't think the sugar substitutes are healthy either, except maybe for stevia.
At any rate, I am doing better than I was earlier in the week and that is a definite plus.