Truth!!
Angel Keys has a lot to answer for.
1 Like
Best of luck to you! (And I’m biting my tongue to keep from offering conflicting advice)
Good luck! Keep us updated:)
Good luck! 
I’ve gotten to the point of being a water drinker as well, soda makes me feel like sh** or any sugary drink, bloated etc. Definitely can tell the diff. Havent given up alittle sweet now and then. But will probably be next!
1 Like
Good luck! Sounds like a good plan!
1 Like
I gave up soda in 2017 and I don’t miss it a bit. To be fair before 2017 I only drank soda occasionally and only when we ate out.
2 Likes
I am also on a recently started journey to cut out the sugar (started on Friday). And I don’t want to scare you, but I felt so horrible at work today, I googled “why do I feel like crud by eating healthy”.
Apparently the withdrawal is real and it is not fun. But I’m taking it as a sign that the healthy food I’ve been eating is throwing my body for a loop and that’s a good thing!
You got this Matt! Thanks for sharing your journey (sorry that sounds corny…adventure? Nope not that either) oh well. We are here if you need to vent your sugar cravings /withdrawal.
And to draw this back around to Disney…my motivation is to drop the covid weight and get back to actually running runDisney events, not just walk with pace - which is the speed I’m stuck at currently🥺
4 Likes
Don’t give up! (And I told you not to call me Sugar on the forums)
11 Likes
Wishing you the best of luck. I do a Whole 30 once a year or so (which cuts out all the things I love for 30 days or more…sugar, gluten, alcohol, etc. ) and although it does wonders for resetting my body and relationship with food…good lord are the withdrawal symptoms real. I actually was supposed to start it on the 1st as well, but have pushed off to mid-month because.
2 Likes
That’s awesome. My SIL does one a couple times per year. It’s an incredible commitment. I tried a whole 30 a couple of years ago and caved after 14 days. It was ketchup that got me, which is ridiculous. I was in the angry stage. I was so pissed off that I couldn’t have ketchup unless I made my own.
1 Like
You can buy sugar free ketchup 
and Ketchup w/o high fructose corn sugar
1 Like
Today it’s easier to find sugar free ketchup. When I did the W30, not so much. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 
5 Likes
Good luck on you sugar free journey!
I’m on day 3 of Whole 30 and am feeling the sugar withdrawals. I’m definitely hangry, and probably driving my coworkers and family crazy! In my experience, once you get past the first couple weeks you feel so much better.
I started yesterday with something similar. Timing was because we were on a little vacation last week. Limiting food during vacation seemed like a dumb idea. When I’ve done this before, I’ve learned that vitamins, plus potassium and a decent amount of water helps with the withdrawal.
It was the book “Case Against Sugar” that converted me.
2 Likes
A couple years ago I did an extreme elimination diet (trying to get to the bottom of a medical issue and decided to try to rule out food triggers in one swoop).
This was literally what I ate for a month:
Supplements: iron, calcium, fiber powder
Organic foods of the below where possible
Water
Weeks 1-2
Lamb (preferably range-fed)
Rice-brown and wild
Iceberg lettuce
Green beans
Pears & pear juice
Grapeseed oil (preferably cold-pressed)
Oregano & basil (small quantities)
2 day transition to use up leftovers
Weeks 3-4
Turkey (preferably range-fed)
Potatoes
Cauliflower
Green cabbage
Artichokes
Apples & apple juice
Olive oil (preferably cold-pressed)
Rosemary & thyme (small quantities)
Unfortunately, no impact on the medical issue.
3 Likes
Several years ago, I did a similar thing. I was having on-going, and worsening, gastrointestinal issues. I went to see a GI specialist, who had me try an elimination diet, FODMAP, etc. Also did some testing to try to detect bad bacteria. Nothing seemed to work, and the next step was going to be broad-spectrum antibiotics to try to kill off (and then re-establish) my “gut flora”. But, I wasn’t too keen on the idea.
But, hearkening back to some science I had learned from years before (totally unrelated to my issue) I wondered if the issue was an IMBALANCE of gut flora, not necessarily BAD flora. So, I proposed to him that I first try using high-potency probiotics. He agreed it was a good idea to try, and gave me some criteria on what to look for. (200 billion+, ideally, of a variety of types, kept refrigerated since room temperature the pills can become ineffective, etc.) He also said that I would have to take it for a MINIMUM of a month before I could judge if it was making any difference, and ideally about 2 months.
Well, two months later, all of my GI issues were completely gone. And, years later, they haven’t come back.
Anyhow…how does this relate to sugar? Will, the processing of sugar in the gut is impacted by the bacteria there. A wrong balance, and sugar/carbs can cause particularly egregious issues.
Obviously, it isn’t a cure-all…but something that worked well for me.
8 Likes
Matt, I’ve struggled with weight loss (especially during the pandemic lockdowns in Ontario). I’m with a weight loss clinic here, and the food they recommended to ease the transition off of sugar is frozen fruit. It’s worked wonders for me. I have a bag of frozen fruit in my freezer, and when I get a craving for sugar, I have a few pieces in a small cup, and put it away. Eventually, I go back to that bag of fruit less and less, and I have been losing pounds every month. Not sure if it will work for your situation, but it was helpful for me.
Cutting sugar was not enough for me though - I had been doing ok with cardio exercise, but I had to add resistance exercises in and up the protein in my diet. Breakfast is usually greek yogurt, coffee, and a hard-boiled egg. Morning snack is a handful of raw almonds. Lunch is leftovers from the night before. Afternoon snack is a low-calorie protein bar (must be 200 cal or less), and Dinner is half a plate of veggies, Meat at 1/4-1/3 of a plate, and a starch or carb in the last 1/4 or less.
Evening snacks are occasional fruit, meat, or cheese if necessary. If I’m feeling very hungry, I bought a sodastream machine and will make sparkling water to help me feel full and eliminate the hunger pains without calories.
My resistance exercises are proving to be making a big difference - after weeks I can see the growing muscles in myself, which help fuel the weight loss, leading to a positive cycle.
Good luck!
6 Likes
I haven’t read it, but I’m aware of Gary Taubes. What happened to him is appalling - basically discredited for telling the truth and saying that we shouldn’t be feeding sugar to our kids! 
The man (and his wife) should be given a microphone, not slated!!
1 Like
Try monk fruit sweetener. You can get chocolate chips and peanut butter cups that are sweetened with it and keto friendly. Enlightened ice cream (tastes good) doesn’t spike my sugars as a post dinner snack. Also triple zero yogurt is good and not too sweet. Some Greek yogurts have carrageen (I get muscle cramps-magnesium lotion helps). I react to coffee and I’ve done liver detoxes (core restore) but I don’t want to give up coffee due to it’s liver benefits.
1 Like