Getting sugar to fit into our eating plans

[Guest guest]

>

My question is the following...

> For any of you that have been able to remove sugar from your diet...how did

you approach it? How about foods that turn into sugar, like starches...did you

cut those out too? How about natural sugars like fruits...?

>

> Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks !

>

There are two ways to approach dealing with sugar Ruthie. I have tried them

both. The first is to go cold turkey and do without refined sugars,

maltodextrin, and corn syrups...the 'Big Three'. This is basically what a

diabetic diet/low glycemic diet does. It is hard for the first few days or a

week because your body is craving sugar. I know that when I did it, I ended up

with a migraine headache for the first few days while my body detoxed. After

that first week or so, my body got used to being without sugar and I didn't miss

it at all.. The second way to deal with sugars, is to limit them. Still being

moderate and avoiding the Big Three. The thing is that you then might have to

deal more with the daily challenges of cravings. That is what I am doing now. I

really am very conservative about sugars during the day. The only real sugar I

use is some 1 gram of sugar dressing mixed with lots of Balamic vinegar for a

dressing. Other then that I may just eat grapes or something as fruit, within

reasonable limits, is okay. Although this is more difficult for me to do as a

lifeplan as I get cravings, I feel it is a food choice behavior I can maintain.

The big difference for me in my eating plan on IOWL is that I do give

myself permission to have some sugar in the evening. I have decided that I can

EITHER have a small glass of wine or a scoop of low fat ice cream, to which I

had macadamia nuts. (Eating fiber with sugary foods, helps to reduce the insulin

flood.) I consider the eating program that I am creating now to be the prototype

of a successful life of weight management. ...How is it going you might ask?

Well, on January first I was supposed to go to Hawaii and bought three tops that

were exactly the same except for their sizes. I got two of them in XL. I then

got one in L, because although it was really too tight it was the only size left

and I 'hoped' as we all do, that I would really finally be losing weight. The

good news is that I HAVE!! I put those three tops on yesterday and the XLs are

just hanging and that tight L is just right! So I know I am on track for this

journey into a healthier body. Since you have been losing weight since you

started listening to IOWL, you must be too. Good luck with the sugar issues,

Ruthie. L

(PS. We didn't go on that trip because my back went out....and the GREAT thing

about that? The couple we were going with decided to get a divorce WHILE on that

vacation. Yikes, how uncomfortable would that have been? )