Hi, I went cold turkey at the beginning of October after reading David's 2nd book. I had tried to in give up sugar to some degree in 2009 after reading the first book. I was all fired up and determined to give up the sugar, trying to convert everyone around me.  But after 6 weeks I gave up(which seemed to please those around me) deciding I loved sugar too much and just couldn't do it, plus I now realize there was still a lot of hidden sugar in my diet. After reading The Quit Plan book in September 2010 and seeing how very addictive sugar really was I decided to give it another go. Again around the 4 weeks mark the cravings were so strong and I felt so depressed, but knowing how addictive sugar is seemed to help me push through all the more I was determined not to give in. And I made it, the cravings left and I started to feel alert, happy and clear headed. I was on my way. Then the week before Christmas I had a check up at the Drs to discover my cholesterol was still high 7. I was devastated, thinking that after 3 months sugar free it would have gone down at least a little. And everyone around me (experts included) were saying its the fat content of food, sugar has nothing to do with it! So I went into a panic mode thinking maybe I should stop the sugar free diet and concentrate on fat free instead. I'll be having another blood test to check my level in 3 months. Then Christmas eve hit and for 3 days I went crazy eating all the sweet delights that were brought into my 'sugar' free home, by our visitors. By Monday I was feeling absolutely awful. The foggy head and headache, stomach cramps, tiredness, it all came flooding back. Not to mention how incredibly grumpy I felt. So I totally stopped the sugar again, with great encouragement from my family I might add. By Saturday I was starting to see the blue sky(even though it was pouring with rain) and green grass again. My husband has now become the police sugar and has even started to cut down himself after seeing what it did to me!. So I am now completely convinced the no sugar diet is the only way to go and I'm trusting my cholesterol level will eventually drop. I now look at sweet things and really do see it as poison! I have no desire for it at all. 

were your triglyceride levels good though?  If you read more about chloresterol you may start to think those results aren't as all important as people used to think.   Look at these 2 sometime....                                       1:   http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fat-Cholesterol-are-Good-You/dp/919755538X/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IPDL87QGC740R&colid=1C28FUREU5942  2: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cholestrol-Myths-Exposing-Saturated-Cholesterol/dp/0967089700/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2W2OLM7II4Z9X&colid=1C28FUREU5942

Steph H wrote:

Hey Deb, it's so great that you've come back to to sugar free land. The withdrawl is hard, but the benefits are worth it - especially the clear mindedness.

The support of your nearest and dearest is so important too, it makes it just that bit easier to manage. Keep posting and I'm sure you'll get lots of support here too!

Hi Steph, thanks for your encouragement,it took me ages to pluck up the courage to post on the forum, but now I've started I can't see why I was hesitant! It's good to be part of everyone's support.