Eliminating added sugar from your diet

[Electronicpants]

Huntsman said:

Electronicpants said:

Until I noticed last night myself hunting through the cupboards for anything with sugar after my dinner and subsequently scoffing 1/3 of a packet of chocolate Digestives, standing up in the kitchen at the open cupboard.

So, no more, I'm the boss, not the sugary loveliness

Only a 1/3 of a pack?

Welllllllllllllllll.............

I may have had some of my mother in laws chocolate brownie before hand, that, and the fact there was only 1/3 of a pack left

[peterperkins]

Huntsman said:

Electronicpants said:

Until I noticed last night myself hunting through the cupboards for anything with sugar after my dinner and subsequently scoffing 1/3 of a packet of chocolate Digestives, standing up in the kitchen at the open cupboard.

So, no more, I'm the boss, not the sugary loveliness

Only a 1/3 of a pack?

Lightweight. Family pack in one sitting no problem...

[Huntsman]

This is day 14, weight loss is gradually happening.

Its playing havoc with my 'movements'

[Huntsman]

Day 29.

Lost 9 lbs! Was 18 stone 6lbs, now 17stone 11 lbs.

Today there is a Macmillan cake sale in the office, I've given all the loose change from the door pocket in the car, but not had cake. Back in the 'sugar days' I'd have smashed at least 6 items from the cake sale.

[The Ferret]

Huntsman said:

This is day 14, weight loss is gradually happening.

Its playing havoc with my 'movements'

After reading the first couple of comments on page 1 this was my exact thought, glad someone else brought it up.

Been doing a pre holiday diet for 2 weeks now, 2 weeks left. Not intentionally cut out all sugar but seriously changed my ways and decided to just eat better (which has naturally led to most sugar being cut out) and reducing portions. I reckon I've cut out 1000 calories a day in not eating the choc bar and crisps with lunch, then snacking on bits after dinner, and generally making dinner a lot smaller. I wasn't putting on weight before but for some reason don't seem to be losing any.

Anyway where were we, ah yes arse movements. I had assumed doing the above would mean less of them, and probably more akin to a constipation than before.

How wrong was I. If I haven't lost weight today I really don't know what's going on.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what's causing these effects?

(Before anyone asks, seen docs and no "issues" with anything, just a serious case of tap arse)

[Hoofy]

Are you basically cutting out carbs and eating mainly more roughage ie vegetables?

[Huntsman]

Hoofy said:

Are you basically cutting out carbs and eating mainly more roughage ie vegetables?

Yeah. That's about it.

Cut out sweets, mints, chocolate, cakes, fudge, nougat, honey comb, biscuits, ice cream, flap jack, cookies, donuts etc.

Only wholemeal bread, less pasta, less spuds, brown rice.

So, most of the processed sugar and reduced the white carbs, this is my longest ever run like it, feel much better.

I've not gone OCD about it, so still eating some stuff with added sugar, like coleslaw, or pickle.

[Hoofy]

Huntsman said:

Hoofy said:

Are you basically cutting out carbs and eating mainly more roughage ie vegetables?

Yeah. That's about it.

Cut out sweets, mints, chocolate, cakes, fudge, nougat, honey comb, biscuits, ice cream, flap jack, cookies, donuts etc.

Only wholemeal bread, less pasta, less spuds, brown rice.

So, most of the processed sugar and reduced the white carbs, this is my longest ever run like it, feel much better.

I've not gone OCD about it, so still eating some stuff with added sugar, like coleslaw, or pickle.

So you're not cutting out carbs then?

[Huntsman]

Hoofy said:

So you're not cutting out carbs then?

Not, not entirely. Massive reduction though.

I'm trying to get my head around this approach being for good, a permanent change.

[Hoofy]

Huntsman said:

Hoofy said:

So you're not cutting out carbs then?

Not, not entirely. Massive reduction though.

I'm trying to get my head around this approach being for good, a permanent change.

Fair enough. I still don't see the point although I do try to regulate my junk food intake just for health purposes. There are millions of fit, healthy, competitive athletes who don't avoid carbs. As someone who competes on an amateur level in tennis, I can't see how avoiding carbs will improve my technique.

But I do find it interesting to read about other people's experiences hence my interest in this, vegetarianism, IFing etc.

[Halb]

Huntsman said:

Not, not entirely. Massive reduction though.

I'm trying to get my head around this approach being for good, a permanent change.

It's about what you can sustain in your diet, as you say, and still enjoy life. THe modern UK diet is mostly st as it is and the ore you cut out the st, the better you feel and look. I've enjoyed the youtube vids of Eric Berg and Tom De Lauer recently, they may give you ideas.
https://youtu.be/x_VFWscxj34

[Huntsman]

Hoofy said:

Fair enough. I still don't see the point although I do try to regulate my junk food intake just for health purposes. There are millions of fit, healthy, competitive athletes who don't avoid carbs. As someone who competes on an amateur level in tennis, I can't see how avoiding carbs will improve my technique.

But I do find it interesting to read about other people's experiences hence my interest in this, vegetarianism, IFing etc.

What is IFing?

What follows is based on my own thoughts, school boy chemistry from 30 years ago and assumption, none of it may be correct!

In our muscles the only sugar to react with oxygen to create movement is sucrose. All other sugars, carbs, starch, glucose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, pasta, bread, rice, spuds, starch, carbs, donuts, cake, etc, its all just longer chains of sucrose. Call it what you like, its all varying chain lengths of sucrose. Sucrose is the only thing we burn, everything else needs to be broken down (by enzymes?) into sucrose. Let’s just call it all sugar.

You might dig up a sugar beet plant and knaw on it for a bit, you might get some sugar into your body by doing so.

You might grab an orange and eat it, you might get some sugar into your body by doing so.

But dig up 2 dozen sugar beet and process it into a mars bar, or pick a dozen oranges and turn into Waitrose finest fresh OJ, a lovely as those both may be, is an awful lot of sugar.

I drive to work, sit at a desk. Not a lot of movement. I’m not very sporting. Running around after a toddler, mending stupid old cars and maintaining wooden boats is most of my activity.

I’m fat, I needed to address the balance between the ‘sugar’ intake and the sucrose burn in my muscles. So that’s what I’ve done.

[So]

Huntsman said:

What is IFing?

Intermittent fasting.

[Flibble]

Huntsman said:

What follows is based on my own thoughts, school boy chemistry from 30 years ago and assumption, none of it may be correct!

In our muscles the only sugar to react with oxygen to create movement is sucrose. All other sugars, carbs, starch, glucose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, pasta, bread, rice, spuds, starch, carbs, donuts, cake, etc, its all just longer chains of sucrose. Call it what you like, its all varying chain lengths of sucrose. Sucrose is the only thing we burn, everything else needs to be broken down (by enzymes?) into sucrose. Let’s just call it all sugar.

You mean glucose for what the body runs on.

Sucrose is a disaccharide, i.e. molecule built of two simple sugars, namely glucose and fructose. Most natural sugars are mixtures of fructose and glucose, fruits for instance contain a mixture of fructose, glucose and sucrose in varying proportions. Generally more fructose gives a sweeter taste.

Starches are long chains of glucose molecules, which are rapidly broken down into glucose in the body. There's some evidence that fructose is "worse" metabolically than glucose, but I'm not up on the latest research.

We can also burn fat to some extent (as ketones), but this is less efficient than glucose metabolism, hence glucose is the primary energy source unless you're on zero carbs.

[Sticks.]

Halb said:

It's about what you can sustain in your diet, as you say, and still enjoy life. THe modern UK diet is mostly st as it is and the ore you cut out the st, the better you feel and look. I've enjoyed the youtube vids of Eric Berg and Tom De Lauer recently, they may give you ideas.
https://youtu.be/x_VFWscxj34

That was interesting, thanks. And, as you said, sustainable too.

So many fad diets are 'only do this/don't do that' that it's refreshing to see that by having a balanced diet and understand a bit about how food works, making small, focused changes can help achieve what you want.

[Halb]

Sticks. said:

That was interesting, thanks. And, as you said, sustainable too.

So many fad diets are 'only do this/don't do that' that it's refreshing to see that by having a balanced diet and understand a bit about how food works, making small, focused changes can help achieve what you want.

That's it, just what you can sustain.

I fast, for the past four years 16/8 IF, though I halt it as and when, it worked like lightning for me. I'm currently playing with prolonged fasting.
Been looking at nutrition for a long time now; understanding how macronutrients,hormones and exercise can work together for the best bang for the buck is the best method for sustainability I've found.

[Huntsman]

Halb said:

That's it, just what you can sustain.

Yes, I do feel that I can sustain what I am doing now.

Missing out the sweets and cakes and crap doesn't bother me at all.

Reduced spuds/rice etc is fine and I'm eating more veg too.

Hopefully, I'll shed another couple of stone and stick to it.

[So]

Huntsman said:

Halb said:

That's it, just what you can sustain.

Yes, I do feel that I can sustain what I am doing now.

Missing out the sweets and cakes and crap doesn't bother me at all.

Reduced spuds/rice etc is fine and I'm eating more veg too.

Hopefully, I'll shed another couple of stone and stick to it.

Sustainability is the key.Make nothing off limits, but only eat carp occasionally.

I tend to say to myself, "I know what that tastes like, do I REALLY want it?" If the answer it yes I eat it, without guilt. But 9 times out of 10 I decide that I don't want it that badly.

[Huntsman]

2 Months - no sugar.

Total weight loss is 12 bs, it has slowed down a bit. Although I was in Denmark for work last week, eating in hotels doesn't help, bit too much bread and spuds (read burger and chips!).

I'm totally off the cake and sweets and not missing it at all. Given weight loss has slowed, I obviously didn't need it all.

[grumbledoak]

Well done.

Bread next, at least it was for me. White carbs are swiftly glucose once your stomach gets at them.