Chrisitan Graus wrote:Hi all.  My name is Christian, I'm a software developer, you'd think I could type.  (My name here is Chrisitan ).  I bought the new book on the weekend at the airport, and am waiting for the older books to come (  I had seen them in my travels but never quite bought them, the impetus this time was that my wife and daughter just bought a big box of diet shakes, which I felt sure were not going to do more than cost a lot of money ).  I've not started cutting all sugar yet, the truth is, I grow my own food and I have jars and jars of jam I've made, and lots of other fruit preserved in, yes, sugar.  So, throwing away things I grew is hard to come at.  

I already avoided seed oils, for a long time now.  I had recently decided to stop drinking soft drinks, b/c I know there's a ton of sugar in them.  I travel to the US a lot, and there, with a meal, you get endless drinks.  I try to not finish one, b/c if I get close, it will magically be filled again.  I've been drinking mineral water for a few days, and I'm finding I am always thirsty, which I assume means I am craving the sugar I associate with a drink.  I'm feeling determined to make this work, for my own sake, and for the sake of my wife and daughter who I hope will follow me away from a stream of insane diets and to a sane way of eating.

Hi Christian and welcome! For the first week or so I also had a raging thirst so I think that might be part of the withdrawal process.  I think sometimes people confuse thirst with hunger. I actually love mineral water with a squeeze of lemon and lime, tastes refreshing.  Keep focused, fill up on fats and protein rather then carbs.  Lots of those diet shakes are really bad and there is 2 reasons for this.  They are filled with nothing but sugar.  Once you go back to normal eating again you put the weight straight back on, because you are craving the sugar and eating more.  At the moment I'm actually having shakes for breaky (only during the week, weekend I have normal breaky which is eggs cooked in butter), this is because I struggle to have breaky in the mornings (trying to get 2 kids, 1 to school and the other to day care then rush to work, I don't get time to sit and have a decent breaky).  It saves me so much time and keeps me full for 5 hours.  I have found a brand that uses xylitol and stevia.  They do have a natural flavour which is plain which I hope to get (chemist didn't have it).  Some nice lovely treats after you have finished withdrawal is 85% choc, I love it! Plus strawberries with cream.  If you can bake make up some treats from the Sweet Poison Quit Plan.  I like to make up a batch of something and freeze it for snacks later.

Chrisitan Graus wrote:Hi, Janelle.  I am lucky in that regard, I work from home, so while I have a boy to get to school, once that's done, I come home and have breakfast.  I've been having bacon and eggs ( we have chickens, I am so glad to hear what I suspected all along, that eggs are not a 'bad' food ).  We also grow our own fruit, and I have a lot of strawberries and raspberries in the freezer.  Sadly, all my apples are preserved in fowlers jars, in sugar syrup ( I was so proud of myself... ).   I also have home made berry jam coming out of my ears.  My 'healthy' breakfast used to be fruit ( fresh for a few months, then preserved in sugar ), yoghurt ( nearly always with sugar in it ) and muesli ( full of sugar ).  I'm coming to realise that I knew I was a sweet tooth, but pretty much everything I like to eat, has been dessert.  I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes, but part of me still feels like I need to cut more than I substitute, for it to really make a difference ( although I am not terribly overweight and eating healthy matters more to me than what the scales say ).

I am very excited that butter is off the bad list though.  I've been avoiding vegetable oils for years, so that part should be easy, I use olive oil for everything.  

Before I was sugar free I was on one of those calorie counting fat free diets.  Although it did work I felt like I was starving all the time (eventually I hated feeling like I was starving and the food restrictions got the better of me so I kept going up and down) so to hear I could have butter I was estatic, butter is the best to cook with plus there is nothing like full fat greek yoghurt.  My son and I have eggs every day (I need to invest in some chickens), he loves my scrambled eggs cooked in butter with a splash of cream (and some grated cheese mixed in).  There are heaps of recipes over on the free forum website, my mission is to find substitutes for nearly every sweet favourite.  I've been off sugar for nearly 18 months and when I do get a craving for something sweet I love to have some strawberries with cream (my daughter's favourite as well).

Basically things like sugar substitutes and other sweet dishes are mainly treats and should only be taken occassionally, not a everyday thing.  I don't really need or want them anyway.