Tryna wean myself off sugar...

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...does anyone have any suggestions on how I can make it a little less painful?

I'm currently trying to go a full week without eatting chocolate (one of my biggest downfalls) and so far, I've stayed away from temptation for a total of 2 days. That said, those two days were pretty rough- the cravings were so strong I actually felt my stomach try to digest itself.

Currently, I'm combatting the cravings for sweet/sugary food items with low fat natural yogurt and apple puree but I don't know if it's the lesser of the two evils. The yogurt is organic, low-fat and probiotic: The plain kind one would use either as a brekfast condiement or as treatment for thrush-y'know, with the slight acidy taste?

It has mulched up pureed apples in it with no added sugar but I've heard apples are high in fructose.
So far, they seem to help satisfy my sweet tooth each to get me through the day but I'm not sure if this is the right way to go about things.

For the record, I am *NOT* in any way starving myself. I eat 3 regular meals a day, try to avoid over processed/fried food as much as possible and I walk roughly 4 miles at least 3 times a week so whilst I am moderately active, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

The reason I am attempting to give up or at least cut back on sugar is largely due to the fact that during my last check up, I was red-flagged as someone who could potentially develop diabetes.

I am thus at the "Borderline" stage and I've decided that my health matters more than a candy fix.

Also, I would like to loose a little weight before I go to the States in April. It's been a while since I've weighted myself on a scale (they depress me -___- ) but based on my last known stats, my weight is as followed:

-17 stone 7 pounds OR 245lbs

I'm told by my doctor that as my height is 5 foot 11.5 inches, around 215-225lbs should be my target weight so I'm looking to drop at least 10lbs.

I'd like to do this the right way and do it safely but I don't really know where to start (hence the chocolate ban) so I am posting here in the hopes of getting some advice.

Anything on beating junk food cravings would be an exceptionally big help as my biggest weakness is chocolate and ice cream. Hard monkeys to kick off my shoulders, really.

I eat honey and fruit to get my sugar fix.

Try fruit teas as well. I've been drinking them this week (because I found one I liked rather than for any motivational reason), and eaten far less junk food then I would do normally. But without sugar, of course! ^^

I'm not really sure about fruit tea. I do like green, though-it can be quite good for curbing the appitite.
Can you recommend any particular flavors that might be good for a noice to try?

I've been able to largely eliminate sugar from my diet (except for any sugar found in fruits)...

My problem is that I eat way too much complex carbohydrates (starch is a big one, although I also OD on fiber)... I can't feel full unless I've had a decent amount of bread product in my meal...

A good way to lose weight like magic is to separate up carbohydrates from proteins. Eat one protein meal a day, and one carbohydrate meal a day. It really works.

And cutting out sugar; don't have any in the house. If it's there it's too easy. And if you go out in search of some try and steer yourself to nuts, or fruit, or a piece of hard cheese, instead. Often just drinking something will take away the craving too.

But you know, chocolate, especially the dark kind, is actually not so hard on insulin production because the chocolate/cocao has some sort of alleviating effect, can't remember what.

.

But the really important part is that it doesn't have that much sugar in it. A lot of fat, yes, but who cares about that

I'm officially 5 days without eatting chocolate-a miracle unto itself. Having said that, it hasn't been easy with the run up to Christmas. Still, I've told my mom not to keep sugar in the house so as far as I'm aware, anything chocolate-y has been hidden from plain view.
That said, my step-dad is "playfully" teasing me by flaunting chocolate bars in front of me.

Question: How hard do I have to throw a shoe at his head in order to knock him unconscious? :p

If you eat complex carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta, bread, rice, it should take the edge off your sugar craving. Complex carbohydrates break down into sugar, but your body digests them more slowly. So having some should not be the same as eating sugar, but might help a little with the cravings.

Well, I'm drinking Strawberry, Raspberry and Cranberry at the moment, but that's a Sainsbury's own brand.

I'd suggest going into a supermarket and looking for a variety pack. That way you can see if there's one you like in particular without buying a full pack. ^^ Chances are you won't like all of them, but you can always pass them on to family or whatever. You should be able to get more than one type of variety pack as well, so if you don't like any in the first pack try a different one.

Well, I like apples so maybe apple tea is what I should look for?

ouinon - when you mentioned the dark chocolate, i think what you were looking for is that dark chocolate is the best to eat because it always has at least 70% cocoa solids, unlike milk or white chocolate. which also brings me to say white chocolate is the worst to eat, with some brands containing no cocoa solids at all but it is damn tasty!! lol
personally i prefer the taste of milk and white chocolate, but of course dark is better for you

ouinon - when you mentioned the dark chocolate, i think what you were looking for is that dark chocolate is the best to eat because it always has at least 70% cocoa solids, unlike milk or white chocolate. which also brings me to say white chocolate is the worst to eat, with some brands containing no cocoa solids at all but it is damn tasty!! lol
personally i prefer the taste of milk and white chocolate, but of course dark is better for you

what specific sugary treats were you most likely to eat before (apologies if I missed that part)? Try finding lower sugar replacements for them. I love banana splits, so I ditched the syrupy-sweet fruits, chocolate sauce, and ice cream for unsyruped frozen fruit (defrosted/slightly warmed, of course), honey, and fat-free greek yogurt. I actually got to eat more of the healthier version than I did the ice cream version, giving me something sweet that effectively replaced something too sweet by reminding me of a food I had an attachment to.

Another good strategy is staging. Basically, you start off a little less sweet, than a little less, and so on. You're not fighting super-strong cravings as often, and your sweetness tolerance adjusts as well, making it easier to make this a lifestyle change, as opposed to a a humongous challenge or a series of unhealthy crash and binge dieting.