Kicking the sugar habit

LaneyDoll · 06-01-2012, 10:59 AM

I was recently watching the HBO documentary "The Weight of a Nation." In it, health experts discussed a variety of concerns, one of them being the amount of sugar we drink.

Now, I know that I love my first thing in the morning caffeine fix but I do not drink coffee. So, I choose Diet Dr. Pepper instead.

However, after watching this, I realized that I need to cut out a huge amount of the sugar I drink (mmmm, cran-grape juice) but wondered about other options. Options like: diet soft drinks, tea sweetened with Splenda and Crystal Light pour ins for water.

I know I need to drink more and more water and hope to get there one day but during the transition, what are my best options? I know we have some fitness peeps out there, so come help please?

aishah · 06-01-2012, 11:07 AM

in my experience, fake sweeteners are extremely bad for you (speaking from years of a diet coke habit & being around other folks with similar habits). many of them are toxic to our bodies. when i was trying to transition to drinking less soda, i switched to iced tea and limeade with not much sugar, or even just water infused with a lot of fruit. i would definitely not recommend replacing a regular soda habit with fake sweeteners. because of my bad experiences with sweeteners, when i do drink soda now (rarely) i drink real soda...and try to get the kind with actual sugar when i can.

good luck! this is really hard. i hope it works for you!

tantalizingfemme · 06-01-2012, 11:15 AM

I drink three things (I know..sounds boring) tea (hot and iced), water and coffee. I make iced tea at home and use agave nectar as the sweetner. You can also do that with water. You can add a little agave and fresh lemon juice to give it a "lemonadey" flavor. I also use fresh lemon or lime in my water if I want flavor.

Good luck! It is amazing how much sugar is consumed by drinking.

Talon · 06-01-2012, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaneyDoll

I was recently watching the HBO documentary "The Weight of a Nation." In it, health experts discussed a variety of concerns, one of them being the amount of sugar we drink.

Now, I know that I love my first thing in the morning caffeine fix but I do not drink coffee. So, I choose Diet Dr. Pepper instead.

However, after watching this, I realized that I need to cut out a huge amount of the sugar I drink (mmmm, cran-grape juice) but wondered about other options. Options like: diet soft drinks, tea sweetened with Splenda and Crystal Light pour ins for water.

I know I need to drink more and more water and hope to get there one day but during the transition, what are my best options? I know we have some fitness peeps out there, so come help please?

Hi Laney,

Good for you for trying to cut down on your sugar intake. Some ways to sneak water into your diet are herbal iced teas....so many flavors to choose from, and all can be sweetened w/Splenda or Stevia.
Simple iced water where you add fresh oranges, cucumbers, lemons, limes, berries, mint, ect.
Mineral waters/selters where you can add lite cranberry juice cocktail or any number of lite juices (1/2 of each over ice).
You can also make lite juice "ice cubes" and have those handy to add to plain water, too.

One great thing about water is that it's fairly easy to get creative with.
Hope this helps.

JustJo · 06-01-2012, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaneyDoll

I was recently watching the HBO documentary "The Weight of a Nation." In it, health experts discussed a variety of concerns, one of them being the amount of sugar we drink.

Now, I know that I love my first thing in the morning caffeine fix but I do not drink coffee. So, I choose Diet Dr. Pepper instead.

However, after watching this, I realized that I need to cut out a huge amount of the sugar I drink (mmmm, cran-grape juice) but wondered about other options. Options like: diet soft drinks, tea sweetened with Splenda and Crystal Light pour ins for water.

I know I need to drink more and more water and hope to get there one day but during the transition, what are my best options? I know we have some fitness peeps out there, so come help please?

Wonderful goal.....sugar is deadly stuff.

Unfortunately, for me, I've found that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas make me crave sweets more, not less. Others in the HWL thread have found them to be a huge help....so it's probably a personal body chemistry thing.

I drink a lot of water, black coffee, a little 1% milk, and a whole lot of home brewed iced tea sweetened with agave nectar. Agave is low-glycemic, which means it doesn't spike your blood sugar like sugar, honey, fruit juice, etc. do.

The other good option for me is stevia....a naturally calorie free plant that is very sweet but also doesn't spike the blood sugar.

One of the things I used as I transitioned out of my soda addiction (diet sodas....I'm diabetic), was the Sobe Life Waters. They come in a variety of yummy flavors. Be aware though that only some are zero calorie and sweetened with stevia.....the others are no different from grabbing a soda.

Good luck!

Amber2010 · 06-01-2012, 11:19 AM

That is great that you are trying to get sugar under control. We can't stop from having suger heck it is in the fruit we eat but the stuff that we can get away from is a great start. I was in a college class and they were talking about the sweetner in Diet drinks has the same stuff in it that they put into dead bodies so to me that is not a good thing to put into us. Of course coked is used to clean a car battery so I am thinking that really is not something good to put in our system either. I did work hard on training myself to drink unsweetened a lot. I love Unsweet tea with lemon and my coffee is always black. I think the main thing as you said LaneyDoll is to drink lots and lots of water. It takes about two weeks to start this habit to get your mind and body use to it but it is sure worth it.

LaneyDoll · 06-01-2012, 11:21 AM

What about the Crystal Light pour-ins? Any thoughts on those?

JustJo · 06-01-2012, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaneyDoll

What about the Crystal Light pour-ins? Any thoughts on those?

Those are artificial sweeteners as far as I know. At one point they had talked about a stevia-sweetened one, but I'm not sure if it ever came out on the market...

Apocalipstic · 06-01-2012, 11:31 AM

I drink diet soda and crystal light pour ins and Splenda in my coffee and for cooking.

I have been trying to make the switch to Stevia, at least in my coffee.

I really like the idea of lemonade with agave too, I am going to try that this weekend. I would like to replace my diet soda intake, I have tried, but so far have been quite unsuccessful.

Best of luck to you!

DapperButch · 06-01-2012, 04:30 PM

Two options of sweetners if you want to stay away from sugar and not die from the toxic stuff of artificial sweetners:

Stevia (truvia) or Agave Nectar.

Otherwise, sugar won't kill you as quickly as the artificial sweetners will, so pick regular Dr. Pepper over diet Dr. Pepper.

Also, Jo mentioned that diet soda makes her crave sugar more. It is true. That is why people see a weight reduction even when they quit drinking diet soda; the person eats less sugar b/c they crave it less...therefore, they lose weight.

ETA: No to crystal light - it is not made from stevia or agave.

cookie-face · 08-29-2015, 08:42 AM

Personally I find homemade beverages to be the best- make large amounts of them, keep them in the fridge and fill a re-usable bottle with them. This way, you can control the amount of sugar to your taste.

I personally use stevia to sweeten my drinks. I make lemonade and herbal teas, especially lemongrass, and then put them in the fridge. If you have a juicer you can make your own juice, but fresh juices have to be drunk quickly, you'll use a shit ton of fruit which can be expensive, and they can be naturally high in sugar.

06-01-2012, 10:59 AM	#1
LaneyDoll Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Girly girl femme Preferred Pronoun?: She; Ma'am; Miss ;) Relationship Status: Pitbull protected. Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 2,204 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 6,892 Thanked 7,683 Times in 1,607 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	Kicking the sugar habit I was recently watching the HBO documentary "The Weight of a Nation." In it, health experts discussed a variety of concerns, one of them being the amount of sugar we drink. Now, I know that I love my first thing in the morning caffeine fix but I do not drink coffee. So, I choose Diet Dr. Pepper instead. However, after watching this, I realized that I need to cut out a huge amount of the sugar I drink (mmmm, cran-grape juice) but wondered about other options. Options like: diet soft drinks, tea sweetened with Splenda and Crystal Light pour ins for water. I know I need to drink more and more water and hope to get there one day but during the transition, what are my best options? I know we have some fitness peeps out there, so come help please? __________________ There are beauties who stop traffic and then there are beauties who grow obsessively in the hearts of the susceptible.

06-01-2012, 11:21 AM	#7
LaneyDoll Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Girly girl femme Preferred Pronoun?: She; Ma'am; Miss ;) Relationship Status: Pitbull protected. Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 2,204 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 6,892 Thanked 7,683 Times in 1,607 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	What about the Crystal Light pour-ins? Any thoughts on those? __________________ There are beauties who stop traffic and then there are beauties who grow obsessively in the hearts of the susceptible.

06-01-2012, 11:31 AM	#9
Apocalipstic Pink Confection How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She, Her, Ma'am Relationship Status: Dating Myself Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Nashville Posts: 4,266 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 17,195 Thanked 11,361 Times in 2,838 Posts Rep Power: 21474856	I drink diet soda and crystal light pour ins and Splenda in my coffee and for cooking. I have been trying to make the switch to Stevia, at least in my coffee. I really like the idea of lemonade with agave too, I am going to try that this weekend. I would like to replace my diet soda intake, I have tried, but so far have been quite unsuccessful. Best of luck to you! __________________

06-01-2012, 04:30 PM	#10
DapperButch Roadster Guy How Do You Identify?: FTM, Stone Butch Preferred Pronoun?: He Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Northeast Posts: 7,745 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 26,545 Thanked 26,814 Times in 5,772 Posts Rep Power: 21474858	Two options of sweetners if you want to stay away from sugar and not die from the toxic stuff of artificial sweetners: Stevia (truvia) or Agave Nectar. Otherwise, sugar won't kill you as quickly as the artificial sweetners will, so pick regular Dr. Pepper over diet Dr. Pepper. Also, Jo mentioned that diet soda makes her crave sugar more. It is true. That is why people see a weight reduction even when they quit drinking diet soda; the person eats less sugar b/c they crave it less...therefore, they lose weight. ETA: No to crystal light - it is not made from stevia or agave. __________________ -Dapper Are you educated or indoctrinated?

08-29-2015, 08:42 AM	#11
cookie-face Member How Do You Identify?: Lesbian Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She Join Date: May 2015 Location: University, a whole nother planet on its own Posts: 100 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 199 Thanked 457 Times in 89 Posts Rep Power: 4124039	Personally I find homemade beverages to be the best- make large amounts of them, keep them in the fridge and fill a re-usable bottle with them. This way, you can control the amount of sugar to your taste. I personally use stevia to sweeten my drinks. I make lemonade and herbal teas, especially lemongrass, and then put them in the fridge. If you have a juicer you can make your own juice, but fresh juices have to be drunk quickly, you'll use a shit ton of fruit which can be expensive, and they can be naturally high in sugar. __________________ “I myself have seen this woman draw the stars from the sky; she diverts the course of a fast-flowing river with her incantations; her voice makes the earth gape, it lures the spirits from the tombs, send the bones tumbling from the dying pyre. At her behest, the sad clouds scatter; at her behest, snow falls from a summer's sky.” ― Catullus

06-01-2012, 11:07 AM	#2
aishah Member How Do You Identify?: queer stone femme shark baby girl Preferred Pronoun?: she, her, little one Relationship Status: dating myself. Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: dallas, tx Posts: 1,495 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,823 Thanked 6,442 Times in 1,288 Posts Rep Power: 21474851	in my experience, fake sweeteners are extremely bad for you (speaking from years of a diet coke habit & being around other folks with similar habits). many of them are toxic to our bodies. when i was trying to transition to drinking less soda, i switched to iced tea and limeade with not much sugar, or even just water infused with a lot of fruit. i would definitely not recommend replacing a regular soda habit with fake sweeteners. because of my bad experiences with sweeteners, when i do drink soda now (rarely) i drink real soda...and try to get the kind with actual sugar when i can. good luck! this is really hard. i hope it works for you!

06-01-2012, 11:15 AM	#3
tantalizingfemme Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Me Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: * Posts: 4,184 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 3,957 Thanked 3,985 Times in 822 Posts Rep Power: 21474855	I drink three things (I know..sounds boring) tea (hot and iced), water and coffee. I make iced tea at home and use agave nectar as the sweetner. You can also do that with water. You can add a little agave and fresh lemon juice to give it a "lemonadey" flavor. I also use fresh lemon or lime in my water if I want flavor. Good luck! It is amazing how much sugar is consumed by drinking.

06-01-2012, 11:19 AM	#6
Amber2010 Member How Do You Identify?: Happy, Crazy, Bubbly, Funny, Strong, Outgoing, Friendly Preferred Pronoun?: Femme Relationship Status: Complicated Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Florida Posts: 200 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 920 Thanked 594 Times in 154 Posts Rep Power: 3787185	That is great that you are trying to get sugar under control. We can't stop from having suger heck it is in the fruit we eat but the stuff that we can get away from is a great start. I was in a college class and they were talking about the sweetner in Diet drinks has the same stuff in it that they put into dead bodies so to me that is not a good thing to put into us. Of course coked is used to clean a car battery so I am thinking that really is not something good to put in our system either. I did work hard on training myself to drink unsweetened a lot. I love Unsweet tea with lemon and my coffee is always black. I think the main thing as you said LaneyDoll is to drink lots and lots of water. It takes about two weeks to start this habit to get your mind and body use to it but it is sure worth it.