Sugar withdrawal

I've talked before about the negative effects of sugar. Eating it makes me hyper and not eating it makes me jittery. Although I have no scientific research to back me, I also think eating sugar makes me hungrier.

I believe one of the reasons I was so successful in the beginning of my journey is that I seriously cut back on sugar. Before I started trying to lose weight, my diet was loaded with sugar -- soft drinks, candy, ice cream, cookies, etc. When I joined Weight Watchers in January 2010, though, I eliminated most of these.

I'd still have a treat after dinner, but that usually consisted of a Weight Watchers popsicle or ice cream sandwich. Over time, I've noticed that I've gradually introduced sugar back into my diet. I eat lowfat ice cream and frozen yogurt with sugar. I eat the 100 calorie snacks (mostly cookies) with sugar. I've even been eating cereal with sugar. With all of these foods, I've tried to eat healthy amounts and stay within my Weight Watchers points allotment.

But the sugar just isn't good for me. The more I eat of it, the more I want. It's truly addictive.

So I've renewed my effort to cut back. I don't think I can eliminate sugar entirely because it's in everything. Well, it seems that way. Today, for example, I switched to plain oatmeal for breakfast. Blah! I had to add a little Splenda just so I could eat it.

The good news is that I noticed I didn't need a snack before lunch, which had become routine. The bad news is that my Lean Cuisine I brought for lunch had sugar listed as one of the ingredients. I ate it anyway. Then, for dinner tonight, I had leftover barbecue chicken. Well, the barbecue had sugar (but not high fructose corn syrup). And my frozen brussels sprouts had sugar. I think these were minor amounts, certainly compared to what I have been eating.

Plus, I am still eating fruit. I know it has sugar, but it's natural and doesn't seem to have the same effect on me as sweets. I think it's the processed sugar that's the problem. So for snacks today I've had fresh cherries, a banana and two rice cakes.

Usually at this time of night is when I really want to munch on something. But I actually still feel full from dinner. I'm a little jittery from cutting back on the sugar today, but I feel good. Unless you've experienced ups and downs in your blood sugar, it's hard for me to explain.

I think that if I could string a couple of days together like this one, I would feel amazing. The key is going to be getting through the next three hours without giving in to my sugar cravings, which are sure to come. But I'm already plotting what I will eat for a snack later this evening ... maybe a nonfat smoothie. The protein from the yogurt, which doesn't include sugar, but does list cane juice (which is essentially like sugar but not processed), should satisfy me.

If you have any suggestions for sugar-free snacks, please pass them along. BTW, I'm trying to avoid artificial sweeteners. I use one Splenda in my coffee and a half a packet in a cup of hot tea at night. Oh, and I bought frozen (unsweetened) fruit to mix with my oatmeal tomorrow so I wouldn't need to add Splenda to that again.