90/10 Rule alcohol food guilt food habits food mistakes sugar Sugar Detox temptations trigger foods

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Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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24 Comments

  1. Elle@thewaybyelle

    I detoxed from sugar about two months ago, but not by choice. I got a really bad stomach bug and thought I was dying for a day. I had the full spectrum of symptoms (you can imagine)! I spent one day in bed unable to keep anything down and the next day my stomach was still delicate. After two days of no sugar, I lost my cravings! I wasn’t hungry all the time anymore, I didn’t crave it. I have started eating sugar (unlimited amounts) on Saturdays, but it doesn’t taste as good as it used to. It’s amazing how I even find foods like almonds, green peppers, and peas really sweet now!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’m sorry you had such a horrible experience but at least you got over your cravings! I agree, once you kick the habit, everything else tastes better. I’ve been eating fresh blackberries from my garden for dessert for a few weeks now. Love it!

  2. rae

    I have to abstain completely. After a while I forget how it tastes, but one bite and I am hooked again. Candy and pastries are my addiction. Also, desserts. When I was a little girl we did not often have dessert, we had nine kids so we didn’t have it. I got it in my head dessert is what rich, successful, people had. As an adult I grew to relate celebrations with dessert and sweets. It may sound silly but I remember my first years in college, taking myself out to eat and ordering dessert- I felt successful and rich. To this day when I go out to eat I feel incomplete if I don’t order dessert. If I am too full I take it home. That has stopped now. I’m okay with it.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      YES! One bite and I’m back craving it. I’ve been thinking lately I need to go cold turkey. it’s so hard!

  3. Roz@weightingfor50

    I’m a firm believer in moderation over deprivation. That said, sometimes moderation can turn to excess pretty quickly. sigh. It’ll be a never ending battle for me…but we just keep moving forward!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I love that! Just keep moving forward! Good mantra.

  4. Jessica

    I am struggling with that right now. I eat sweets/empty carbs to keep my energy level up when my crohn’s is acting up and I get tired. I know that later in the day, I’ll get a crash, but it gives me just enough energy to make it through my shift or whatever I’m trying to do. Jobs don’t have beds that you can lie down on when I’m running low, so that is how I have coped which in turn doesn’t help my weight loss. I also get B vitamin shots and drink emergenc, but it doesn’t give me the same boost as much as refined sugar does. In fact, I just got done going to Top Pot and buying a maple bar because I know I have a long day ahead of me and I just wanted to stay in bed. I ate 1/2 and then threw the other half away and yet, as soon as I ate it, I felt guilty. I also eat sweets as a reward, so I need to find another substitute. I can eat fruits, but only about a cup at a time because fresh fruits and veggies make me ill cause of my tummy issues and again, it’s not as powerful of a boost. =( Sometimes though, I just do it even if I have to pay for it for a couple of days because I know it is healthier. A couple of days ago, I went to whole foods because I was happy that the Rman and I bought a couch. What do we do? We buy a mini size apple pie and then eat it that night with 1/2 scoop of ice cream. Again as soon as I got done eating it, GUILT. I tried to wean myself off of sugar for a couple of days and failed which is when I realized I was addicted and like you, I can’t just go cold turkey because then I obsess about it and binge. If you come up with a way of weaning yourself, let me know. I know some people do sugar substitutes but I feel wary of those.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Hey Jessica – sorry you are struggling! I know you’ve had a lot of crap and stress lately! Stress definitely doesn’t make it easy to resist things like that. I take a vitamin B supplement, too and it helps. So does coffee. 🙂

      I understand the food guilt too. I’ve been indulging a lot lately and need to reign it in. The guilt sucks! Stop beating yourself up.

  5. Biz

    I have to tell you that before I started Insanity – I don’t think there was a day for months/years? that I didn’t have at least one glass of wine.

    I would come home, chat with my hubs, get on comfy clothes and pour my glass of wine and make dinner. It was my habit. When I declared Friday and Saturday my only day for alcohol, I thought I couldn’t make dinner or hang outside with my husband while he had a cocktail and I had my glass of water – it wasn’t until I realized I didn’t want to waste my calories on alcohol and let the Insanity program actually work that I was able to kick my wine to the curb.

    And I look forward to wine on the weekend too! 😀

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thanks for sharing that story. I can really relate. I used to do the same thing, especially when Michael and I were first dating. Cooking dinner together was a “thing” and I had a glass of wine. But you’re right, it adds up fast and if it’s just a habit…why do it? I try and limit my alcohol to Fri and Sat nights too but will sometimes have some during the week with dinner. I just try and not make it a HABIT every night. Instead I have sparkling water.

  6. L

    I am just beginning to realize how addictive my personality really is–I love sugar. I am cutting down on how much of it I eat, but it is everywhere….in every thing. 🙁

    1. Lisa Eirene

      It really is! EVERYTHING. Salad dressing. Yogurt…everything! So hard to avoid.

  7. Karen P

    Great topic, as always, Lisa. I found that to have a clear mind for both weight loss and weight maintenance, I have to abstain. Once I started thinking about food as “it makes you well or it makes you sick” then it was much easier to choose no processed sugar/ no grains. I even had a doctor tell me to do that 10 years ago and I did not listen because I did not believe it.

    It took 8-10 weeks, I had my ah-ha moment and I haven’t looked back. I struggled with emotional eating for 40 years previously. And here was the answer. Abstinence. And I feel younger at 47 than when I was 27. Joint pain gone, weight loss possible, weight maintenance achieved with no success before. Low inflammation, low blood pressure. All without medicine, all by dialing in my food template with a clear brain.

    One great thing was the Whole30, then the re-introduction of foods one by one. It was easy to tell when a food was not right for me. Pumpkin and butternut squash give me some sort of bad reaction, so they are also out, even those those two foods are enjoyed by most people. Spaghetti squash, zucchini are in- whoot! Everyone is so individual in the food template.

    One other great thing is I can have a teeny amount of processed sugar. Say <4 grams, one serving. 85% chocolate, tiny drizzle of honey for cooking once and a while, or half a pack of beef jerky -most has added sugar. (kept on hand for hiking, getting stuck on the freeway, etc).

    Other things are much more clear: mint jelly with lamb (lapse), large bag of raisins (relapse), so I do not do moderation. So not worth the binge brain ,and the weight gain, and the joint pain. Puffy face and eyelids, too. 🙁

    With either abstinence or moderation, the best thing you can possibly do- IMO is pick a low inflammatory food template that is right for your body and mind. Getting there is a lot of trial and error, but so worth it. You are so young, glad you are looking at these things now.

    My refusal to face the pure facts about what was happening to my mind/body kept me stuck and at high risk for years. It's a miracle I did not have a heart attack while figuring it out. Better late than never.

    Keep up the good work. 🙂 Karen P

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I think it’s great that you were able to determine what causes issues, how much you CAN tolerate, and how to work around it. I’m with you. When I stop eating it and eat naturally sweet things (fruit or sweet potatoes, etc) I can tell the difference.

      I need to look into the Whole30. I’m really curious and know nothing about it!

  8. Miz

    for me it is all things in moderation BUT BUT BUT since I shed the sugar (candy/desserts) Ive not looked back…and not missed.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      How long ago did you shed it?

  9. Diane Fit to the Finish

    I am about moderation and that includes sugar. Although I would probably call it extreme moderation, if that makes sense. An occasional homemade dessert is okay for me but not junky, sugary nothing foods.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      There’s definitely a difference between the junky sugar and the good stuff. I can totally tell. I feel more satisfied with a LITTLE BIT of real dessert (homemade brownies, freshly made cheesecake,etc) as opposed to a candy bar.

  10. Ali @ Peaches and Football

    Oh sugar – how I love thee! I’m a sugar freak and add chocolate to that? Forget it. Zero restraint. But I’ve had to completely cut it out during my diet. I have substituted with some alternatives like stevia in my coffee and sugar-free caramel syrup in my coffee. I guess I still need that sweet fix. But long gone are my stashes of chocolate covered cashews and bite sized chocolate toffee. Too delicious. It’s better not to even have it in the house. Out of sight, out of mind.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I haven’t tried Stevia yet. Does it taste odd like some sugar substitutes can?

  11. Lynne

    I too am still trying to figure this one out. I know that when I go 100% deprivation I can think of nothing else but chocolate, but when I try moderation I find it so easy for it to quickly go from moderation to binge. So my honest answer is that I am not sure about what works for me at the moment.

    I did like the comment that Karen P made about considering if the item is going to make you well or make you sick – I may see how that impacts on my decisions.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Please let me know if Karen’s tip worked for you!

  12. Andrea@WellnessNotes

    I did a cleanse in January and stopped drinking coffee and alcohol. Coffee was really hard to give up, and I went through nasty withdrawal symptoms. I knew I didn’t ever want to go through that again, so I haven’t had coffee since (something I never thought I could do). I used to have a glass of wine quite regularly out of habit before the cleanse, but since then I have had only two glasses, and I really don’t miss it.

    With sugar, I feel I do fine when I don’t eat much of it. Once I up my intake, I start to crave it, so I try to keep my intake low.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I can give up alcohol pretty easily but yes, coffee is a challenge!! I may only drink 1 cup a day but I love it.

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