Hi from New Zealand. In April I purchased & read Big Fat Lies quickly followed by The Sweet Poison Quit Plan and have been sugar free since then. At the start my sole focus was weight loss. I wanted to get my BMI back into the normal range after years of yo-yo dieting. I'm a comfort eater and would binge eat whenever I felt anxious or stressed etc. I felt trapped in that cycle of feeling anxious, overeating to calm down, then feeling more anxious about everything I'd eaten. I decided to quit sugar cold turkey and get away from sweet food completely, so I didn't use dextrose either. I've been surprised to find that it's much easier for me to say 'no thanks' when offered baking or dessert rather than trying to limit myself to 1 piece (nearly always unsuccessfully) in the past.
My weight loss has been slow but steady and my BMI is now in the normal range. The biggest change to being sugar free though has been that my anxiety levels have dropped way down and I feel so much calmer now. Without sugar, bingeing has thankfully lost its appeal.
Recently my husband decided he would give it a try so I thought that was a good time to try our 3 children on 'no sugar' at home as well. Since then it's been more a 'reduce sugar' journey for them rather than my complete 'no sugar' one. I've now started baking with dextrose and I'm enjoying the occasional sweet treat again.
I've found these discussion forums really helpful and inspiring. Thanks!
