Hi All

I've been eating almost sugar free for 2 months and have lost about 6kg, and it has been effortless and is accelerating as I get used to new signals from my body.

If I had stopped drinking as well (I'm a social sort of person) I reckon it would have been a lot more by doing some (enlightening to say the least) maths. I have also exercised heaps (as i always have) and the big indicator is clothing which has strangely all got bigger (nice).

When I say effortless, I must add that giving up sugar had some hard moments, including a day near the end of the cravings where I felt that hungry feeling for 24 hours, even straight after eating and even when food was the last thing I wanted. For the first month, any exercise (I do quite a bit) induced a similiar feeling. 

I also had to get used to a few new bodily feelings, one was a feeling similiar to empty stomach hunger that seemed to be fixed by water, especially after exercise (it usually is when I've got dry lips so am already dehydrated). 

For the first time in my life, have got a blank about food between meals, then I get a hint that i'm about to get hungry by getting reminded "lightly" about food then within minutes I get the grumbling belly and need to eat NOW. I'm slowly getting better at predicting how long it will take, but it's about 4 hrs if I don't remember to have something in between meals or about 5.5 with a snack ( I'm not kidding, I have to try remember if I need that gap between meals due to my work etc). 

The last big change is the full signal, as I go further into this change I am getting much better at judging serving sizes and much better at not going past the signal, as it seems it's a few mouthfuls between satisfied and post christmas lunch stomach (the only time I used to get the really full feeling). You feel a bit bad not cleaning up your plate at a friends place, but it becomes the only option if you want to feel ok for the next 15-20 minutes. I am surprised at the serving size change. eg two months ago 400g steak? no worries, now? max 250g with some left on plate dependent on exercise. 

If you eat slower, the full signal gets "louder" if that makes sense, which helps to avoid the full stomach feeling.

Most of the time now after food I get the "Sushi" feeling, satisfied but not heavy. I don't generally make exception bar sugar in my diet and have found myself forced towards whole foods by that one fact.

Im 41 (but I act 24), and work for an airline, so have a very variable lifestyle with regards where and when I eat and seem to have no problem avoiding most sugar, with a little lateral thinking and pre preparedness.

My mother has always been the slimmest in the family and has never eaten much sugar, and reckons she has always received these bodily messages and was shocked when I said they were totally new to me. It explained to her my appetite which she just thought was "male". A girlfriend whom has the metabollic rate of a nuclear reactor was similarly shocked.

My father is a type 2 diabetic that is controlled by diet, and He and all my siblings have been overweight all our lives, i'm heading to a normal weight with seemingly no effort. I believe my genetics/upbringing combined make me very susceptible to sugar and would have ended up like my father for sure.

Other noticeable differences, I am not sure what can be attributed to no sugar, and what to weight and what to the push towards whole foods, but unless I stopped eating sugar, no of this would have happened.

Less sleep and more refreshed.

Better general mood.

More constant energy levels (except when you go passed the grumbly tummy - ouch).

Everything tastes better (especially red wine, coffee, vita brits and cheese).

No more dry skin on hands, feet (also hard heel softening) and face (my forehead feels mosturised all the time, weird)

No eczema on my inside of  elbows (been there all my life).

Better skin, always have had pimples on my sides and upper arms.......gone.

Less flatulance

No food cravings

I realise everyone is different, but I hope others are seeing a parallel.

Cheers (literally)

In the four weeks since I ceased documenting my progress on a weekly basis, I have continued to successfully lose weight. For two of the weeks, I plateaued and lost an insignificant amount. I was tempted to cut my carbohydrate intake, however I made a promise that I would not 'diet' or impose any restrictions with the exception of avoiding fructose. Consequently, I continued to eat as normal in the hope that I had either reached my preprogramed weight, or that I would slowly lose more. Thankfully, this week I have lost another 800 grams which takes my total weight loss for four months to a smidge under 10 kilograms.

Interestingly, during the plateau, I noticed my waist measurement still dropped and the 10kg weight loss has seen a corresponding 11cm reduction in girth.

My journey so far has brought with it the well wishes of many friends and colleagues as they watch the 'incredible disappearing man' visibly shrinking before their eyes. Dymock's Bookstore should pay me a commission!

I have turfed a lot of clothes. Jeans and slacks that no longer fit, shorts with elastic waistbands have been replaced with models which have a fixed waistband and belt loops, and the business shirts with suitably large necks have become dusting cloths.

Sadly, my favourite motorbike jacket (a beautifully made Brando styled creation in leather), now looks ridiculously large in the waist.

Last week, I bought a jar of glucose syrup and was asked by the check out lady at Coles what it was. I told her it was for use as a substitute for ordinary sugar. She proudly informed me that her husband was doing the same thing (avoiding sugar) but was using honey instead of sugar because, she proclaimed, it was far more healthy than sugar.

One cannot preach, especially in a supermarket queue so I merely suggested he try glucose. The advertising industry has a lot to answer for and I hope that David Gillespie's unflagging enthusiasm eventually allows his research findings to educate the majority of Australians in the same way as it has educated me.

To those who are struggling, take heart for it is well worth the effort. I understand the difficulty Mums have in trying to convince their children to deviate from the pattern which has been their life. No child ever appreciated a parent telling them "one day you will thank me".

So...practice making glucose icecream and buy Lucozade original as the occasional sweet treat. Now, I begin the next month and will post again mid November.

Best wishes to all.

DF