I’ve also posted advice regarding snacks. It was railroaded by others saying Sugar is addictive.
Peoples “beliefs” around food and diets are more strongly held, with about as much scientific backing, as religion!
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We’ve seen the response over and over and over. You are beating the dead horse.
It really doesn’t matter if sugar is “addictive” or not if one has a really hard time passing up on sugar treats when they appear.
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I disagree.
Well said and fully correct 
/
Went through the whole thread, really enjoyed it. Thanks guys!
@schmidt, agreed, this has been a great thread. Significantly cutting back added sugar has gone better than expected, but I’m only five days into it. I’ve been able to go without sugar in cold brew coffee, but am adding honey to hot coffee. Adding honey to my oatmeal instead of brown sugar - need to work on weaning both of those.
No more snacking on sweets in the afternoon. Got some dried fruit, had yogurt with fresh berries and a little granola today. Baby steps …
Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop Popcorn. It has to be the smart pop, not regular popcorn. I’m having trouble finding the full size bags of butter (240kcal / bag) but have found the kettle corn recently (260kcal/bag.). You get low calories, high volume (6.5 cups), fiber, protein and carbs. The 100kcal bags are just not cost effective from my perspective.
I also get the free popcorn kernels from the super market and microwave them in a silicon cooking container.
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Thanks!
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I thought I’d give an insight on what my days look like by sharing yesterday’s diary:
Breakfast 1 (5 AM)
Steel cut oats (boiled in water) with sugar free applesauce
Coffee with fairlife fat free milk (actually two mugs)
Breakfast 2 (9 AM)
fat free greek yogurt
banana
rolled oats
blackberries
Lunch (11:30 AM):
homemade whole grain bread
Turkey Chili
Afternoon snack (about 1-2PM wish):
Coffee with fairlife fat free milk
Zucchini bread
some mixed nuts unsalted
After workout snack (5 PMish):
Shake made of almond milk, Strawberries, Chia seeds and some whey protein
Dinner (lunch leftovers) (6:30 PM):
slice homemade whole grain bread
Turkey Chili
salad made of zucchini, cucumber, tomato, yellow bell pepper, radish - balsamic Bianco dressing (homemade with only the vinegar, some honey, sea salt and water).
Night snack while watching NHL hockey (8:30 PM):
fresh apple with cottage cheese
totals:
calories: 2,483
51% carbs (324g)
32% protein (203g)
17% fat (48g)
My bread is homemade as I refuse to eat bread that has sugar or syrup added. I prefer to know what’s in my bread 
no added sugars at all, still a total of 97g of sugar (fruits, etc)
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I’m seeing people specify they go fat free on things like Greek yogurt. Why is that? I go full fat on stuff like that since healthy fats are important to a well rounded diet.
Also, avocados are a great, healthy fat, snack that I will have as well! Cashews too.
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Well, I sometimes do full fat, kind of depends what’s in the fridge. My nuts all contain cashews etc. Nuts overall are great for health fats. agreed on avocados…great also.
I sometimes go for fat free b/c of calories…
Please note that the above is just a snapshot of what a day can look like. Of course, I eat not the same stuff each and every day.
The question was about reducing sugar, rather than increasing healthy fat intake and the OP mentions eating nuts? There’s probably also the assumption that full fat may not fit in with overall calorie goals?
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More good info, thanks! Looking at my food log my overall fat percentage is higher than I would like, but my focus right now is cutting back on added sugars. I really appreciate the insight into your daily food intake.
I recently moved and changed jobs and now have an hour commute to the office. One realization I had this morning is that I may need to have a recovery shake on the drive in after a hard workout, rather than waiting to get to the office for breakfast. (I fuel my intervals during a hard workout with mix and maybe a handful or craisins before starting, and generally do easier rides fasted.) By the time I stretch, shower, shave, get to the office, and make my oatmeal breakfast it could be 1 1/2 - 2 hours since I got off of the bike.
Chocolate milk (ideally) or chocolate milk-substitute of choice will generally do the job of a recovery beverage very well.
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Second this, but if the goal is reducing sugar intake I think there’s probably a better option. I personally like Silk Dark Chocolate Almond “Milk”, but it has 17g of sugar. Then again, if you make sugar cuts elsewhere it can work well while still accomplishing the goal of sugar intake reduction.
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Ahh good point. I was just curious since I noticed low fat specifically mentioned if that was intentionally selecting low fat items or just what was available. Not trying to derail the thread by any means. That being said, if more calories are coming from fat then fewer need to come from carbs (not suggesting LCHF) which can benefit a diet based around reducing sugar intake.
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Agree fully with full fat yoghurt. No harm there. Put it on some low sugar cereal with nuts and seeds.
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Understand you 100%, but when I’m thinking about cutting sugar I’m not thinking about cutting sugar on the bike. Or in this case, immediately after.
There’s a crucial 2-3 hour window after exercise where carb uptake is increased. So, getting some simple sugars within 30 minutes of exercise is generally a solid move.
Of course, context is important. 1 hour endurance rides won’t necessarily demand a recovery beverage, while efforts that are more intense or of longer duration will.
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@Chasey007, concur. I’m focusing on cutting added sugars outside of workouts and that recovery window. I’m part way through the Endurance Diet book and like the general philosophy of reducing processed foods, as well, so I’m making an effort to do that as well. Once I reduce the added sugars, then I’ll look at fats. Baby steps!!
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there is usually a lot of added sugars in Craisins…at least from what I can remember. Switch to normal raisins, those are also sugary but naturally and do the job just as well
that’s generally true, but if you want to hit a certain carb goal, let’s say 5g per kg body weight, yo have to eat 325g of carbs if you are a 65kg person. If you eat foods that have more calories from fat and still try to hit the 325g, it is very likely to eat way to many calories…or am I wrong?