Are you a sugar addict? I am.
In 2005 I vowed to quit and began
writing about life without sweets.
This site contains a forum,
product reviews, my journal,
educational Sugar Challenges,
and the Stop Being Sweet ebook.

10 Tips That Will Help You Quit Sugar

September 19, 2009 • Comments (2)

1. Keep It A Secret

You’re at your friend’s house for dinner. Dessert comes and you announce, “No thanks, I am quitting sugar.” The most common reaction is laughter, surprise and disbelief followed by your friend attempting to temp you into just one bite. Instead of telling them you are on a mission, quietly say you just don’t feel like it. Suddenly they’re concerned, offer you some fruit or something else, and soon the situation passes.

2. Get Rid of the Stuff

Get rid of all the tempting foods from your kitchen, pantry, closet, cupboards, car, purse, backpack, desk, etc. Wherever you keep it get rid of it! Even if you get a hankering for something sweet, it’s a lot hard to eat sugar when it’s not there.

3. Replace Sugary Snacks with Healthy Foods

When you’re hungry for a candy bar but you don’t have any in the house, you’ve got to eat something. Stock up on all the good things you like to eat and you’ll end up eating more of them.

4. Bring Dessert to Parties

People do not usually make healthy, sugar-free desserts. When you go to a friend’s for dinner, bring a fruit salad or some other type of sugar free dessert for you and everyone.

5. Avoid the Places You Used to Go

If you are accustomed to eating lunch in the break room and that includes having some cookies from the cookie jar, a free soda from the tap and some candy from the candy vending machine, then start eating someplace else. Eat at your desk. Eat outside. Take a walk. It is not like you will never go back to the lunchroom, but while you transition from a sweetie to an unsweet person, staying away helps.

6. Write Down Everything You Eat

Include how much you paid as well. You will be surprised at the end of the week.

7. Don’t Do It Alone

If you can, find a friend and avoid sweets together. It really helps to be able to discuss what you’re going through with others who are also going through the same thing.

8. Expect to Eat MORE

When you first quit sweets you will end up actually eating more (healthy) foods in order to satisfy your sweet cravings. This will pass.

9. Read Books & Websites

There is tons of information on the subject of sugar. Read, read, read and learn, learn, learn.

10. Create An Outlet

Create a blog. Keep a personal journal. Make drawings. Cut the lawn. Feed the birds. Find or figure out an activity that you like to do and do it whenever you have the sweet cravings. It will not be easy at first, but in time you will be able to change your behavior.

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 09/19/09 • Comment

Little Sugar Addicts: Why You Can’t Quit Sugar

September 15, 2009 • Comments (0)

Ever wonder why you can’t quit sugar? It’s probably because you are too old to have videos of yourself grabbing for, overeating, overacting to, and being rewarded for all of your cute’n’sweet behavior. With positive reinforcement at such a young age it’s no wonder we just can’t stop ourselves…

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 09/15/09 • Comment

Sweet Failure at the Local Chocolatier

September 04, 2009 • Comments (0)

Last night Gwenn and I went into our local Chocolatier. They often have Portland made sugar-free chocolates sweetened with agave. But last night they were out. Gwenn got a sweet chocolate thing and the staff offered me an agave sweetened hot cocoa drink. I asked if they could make something cold, like a chocolate shake. They said they could. After the cashier had a lengthy talk with the staff behind counter (explaining what I wanted) they charged me several dollars for a drink that contained milk, some cocoa powder, and a squirt of agave syrup. It was awful! Still, I was thankful that they tried.

There are alternatives to sugar sweetened chocolates out there but I suggest you not be the guinea pig when ordering them or you might be in for a disappointment. Find a place that has something already made and perfected and you’ll be surprised and amazed at how good (and sweet) agave chocolates can be.

Posted in My Personal Journal on 09/04/09 • Comment

Benefits of Stevia Website Launched

August 29, 2009 • Comments (3)

The nonprofit association Calorie Control Council launched a new website, SteviaBenefits.org, to provide “accurate and reliable information” regarding stevia, a natural, zero calorie sweetener.

The site features recipes, frequently asked questions, and links to external sites such as http://www.caloriecontrol.org, http://www.purevia.com, http://www.steviaextractintheraw.com, http://www.suncrystals.com, http://www.truvia.com, and http://www.fda.gov.

But wait a minute! Truvia? Purevia? Those are Coke and Pepsi’s trade marked brands of Stevia extract. When selecting their external links, why did the Calorie Control Council choose so few companies to plug?

I think we’re in for something big. With reports of sugar shortages and GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status given to Purevia and Truvia, the American Heart Association’s recent report about how Americans should cut down on sugar, and the launch of informative websites about Stevia such as SteviaBenefits.org, one might think we are on the edge of a national push toward eating Stevia sweetened food products.

Stevia is still considered a dietary supplement. That means you can find Stevia sold at your local health food store as if it were some kind of vitamin powder (or liquid). Until Stevia itself gets GRAS status it cannot be used in commercial food products such as cookies or candy bars. However, Coke and Pepsi have created their own versions of Stevia which are a form of Stevia-based sugar alcohol. That’s Truvia and Purevia.

I wonder if the FDA will give GRAS status approval to all Stevia based sweeteners or will they continue to only pass on patented name brand (Coke, Pepsi, etc.) versions of Stevia extracts. I know at least one Stevia company that has submitted their Stevia to the FDA for approval with no word thus far. There’s big money and politics in the sugar and Stevia industries. My hope is that Stevia gets the green light and that it turns out to be the wonder-sweetener it claims it to be.

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 08/29/09 • Comment

Beware of Eating Out

August 26, 2009 • Comments (0)

Last week I spent seven days in Port Townsend, Washington at a graduate school residency. Part of our time as students there includes meals which are served to us cafeteria style three times daily. While the idea of having all of your meals made for you sounds wonderful, in reality it isn’t so great.

Sweet Residency Foods

The food service was sweet, and I don’t mean that in a good way. Even though I avoided the ice cream and cake desserts, I ate stuff that I’d normally never eat. For instance, the spaghetti sauce was most definitely sweetened. The breaded chicken patty was also no doubt laced with some kind of sweetener. It’s a very subtle thing, but there are sweeteners in nearly everything we eat when we eat food from an industrial kitchen such as the one at my school. Things you wouldn’t normally label “sweet” often contain added sugars. For instance, bacon has sugar in it. Ham is sweetened. Sauces used to season beef contain sugar. Salad dressing is sweetened. Soup is often sweetened. Vegetables come frozen out of a bag and then get covered in sweetened seasoning sauces. Pancakes and French Toast of course have sugar in them. Maple syrup is often just flavored corn syrup. The crust in the quiche contains sugar. And the orange juice at brunch was so sweet I had to dump it out.

By mid week my energy had tanked and I woke up every morning with crust in my eyes. I’ve been a sugar-addict long enough—and off sugar long enough—to know what it feels like to be experiencing the effects of sugar. Whenever I go to my residency I bring apples to help regulate my diet. I went through over a dozen apples and a jar of unsweetened peanut butter by mid week. Now that I’m home it’s good to be eating foods with familiar ingredients.

Next time you eat out, ask if there is sugar in the foods you are eating. Nine times out of ten your server will have no idea and nine times out of ten your food will contain sweetener in some form or another. Beware of eating out!

Posted in My Personal Journal on 08/26/09 • Comment