Mochi the difference is amazing, you are not just leaner, you project so much clarity and life force in the 2nd photo.

I didn't eat sugar for 5 weeks last year and during it I was convinced I wanted to keep eating that way. But I am now so addicted to sugar. I want to change but I'm really resistant and a bit scared right now.

I don't want to say to myself things like "sugar is dead to me" because although they may work for others, it is the kind of psychological splitting that could have me flipping back to it in a BIG way.

The way I did it last time was by being gentle and tricking myself. I decided to follow a challenge by Zuzka Light to not eat sugar for 1 DAY. I enjoyed it so much I played a game of trying another day, then another. I wasn't giving anything UP, I was just playing a game.

I started again because a traumatic event happened and I didn't care anymore.

I also think Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar is similarly gentle (she treats it as an experiment).

Exercising diminishes sugar cravings for me, if I am eating protein in a timely fashion and not overdoing cardio (which can leave me with an unquenchable carb thirst if I haven't eaten protein).

Not many people talk about sleep. Lack of sleep hugely influences sugar cravings (as well as ability to remember to make something healthy to eat).

At this point I'm not sure whether to do something like Whole 30 or a Leptin Reset, or go for a softly softly approach again. One way or the other I need to do something!

Anyway, you are inspirational Mochi.

Wow Nancy! What an amazing difference! It may be "only" 10 lb but it's in the right place and it's going to be so much healthier for you! Way to go! You look so toned too.

I wish I could do no sugar but I am seriously addicted to candy and my diet does include a fair amount of carbs. I am losing weight just from nursing and having to avoid dairy (DS2 is allergic), but I'm sure I'd lose more if I cut down on carbs and exercised. I don't want to diet while nursing though. DH has lost a lot of weight on a low carb diet which is great because he has a tendency toward metabolic syndrome so he needs to lose weight and cut carbs.

You are seriously inspiring though, Mochi! High five!

Brava, Nancy!
I know so well that sensation of being glad for progress while simultaneously disappointed that the change isn't all I desire. Oh yeah. I get that. Still, with active, busy lives, and a culture that breeds poor eating and inactivity, to make progress is real accomplishment. You look smaller, better proportioned and much, much stronger. Kudos!

Mochi, I'm a bit hesitant to join in here because I'm not convinced that eliminating a food group works in the long term unless you are positive you willing to live with that restriction for the rest of your life. That said, I think you ought to feel proud of how you've changed your shape so dramatically in such a short time. Whatever you are doing is obviously working, but maybe it's time to start thinking in terms of decades instead of weeks.

Almost anyone without a medical condition can lose weight by strictly monitoring what they eat and by being disciplined about their daily exercise. But eliminating foods you enjoy requires constant discipline and monitoring; if you waver, you start feeling guilty and that can set you up for a whole host of other issues. Why not make peace with your cravings and figure out a way that you can enjoy them sensibly? You are obviously doing well with your current approach. Maybe it's time to learn from your success and figure out how you can turn your current approach into a lifestyle?

Gaylene, you articulate my concerns (for myself - just talking about what works for me). Thinking in decades is less exciting but more effective. It's important to me to participate fully in social life and celebrate it (eating birthday cake for example). It's also important for me not to use demonization of foods as a tool (the book on orthorexia encapsulates my concerns well).

I like the (somewhat mythic) ideas about the way French people supposedly enjoy in moderation, but I think I'd have to figure it out differently for myself as I think it's more complex - smoking, dieting, and social competitiveness around thinness are also part of their mix.

For a while I ate "clean" with one cheat day a week. That worked very well, however it did not allow me to fully experience the hormonal benefits of going without sugar (ie a full cycle). Will have to experiment.

Congratulations for what you've accomplished! You look fab! It's truly amazing the difference 10 pounds can make.

Huge difference and ten pounds are not a small feat. Congratulations!

Weighing in here on the question of abstention vs. moderation.

As Mochi knows (I think it is included in one of the LE lessons) human beings seem to be divided on this.

Some of us are better as moderators. We get all rebellious if we hear a rule that we can never do this or that again. Further, we don't suffer from addictions or unusual cravings, so it is possible for us to eat "just a little."

I'm a moderator.

Others of us have to be abstainers. There is no such thing as "just a little" in our vocabularies (or it might be there, in our vocabularies, but we can't honour it.) We get anxious when we have to make constant decisions about whether we should or shouldn't have this or that. Anxiety breeds more anxiety, which smashes our sleep patterns (also not good). We feel better if we have ruled something out or in.

Lots of people do this for reasons other than weight loss or fat loss, by the way -- and do it perfectly successfully. Take my stepson -- who converted to Judaism and now cannot eat the seafood he loves. Or my vegan stepdaughter. If our commitment to something is very strong, that can override our desires.

So once we figure out what type of person we are, it becomes easier from a weight loss point of view. For myself, Gaylene, I agree with you. It would be tough for me to say an absolute no to anything -- and I can't rule out a whole food group.

But truthfully, added sugar is not a food group. We get plenty of sugar from fruits and veggies and don't really need what is added in our western diets. That's all desire talking. There is nothing wrong with the desire. But we should recognize it as such.

Mochi, you're such an inspiration! I'd LOVE to loose 10 pounds. My poison is alcohol, which is basically sugar to one's metabolism.

I've started to make these pumpkin protein bars and have found that carrying them around with me helps keep my hunger and cravings at bay. I see the candy jar but think, Nope, I don't need that, I've got my bars. So far it's worked well for keeping me eating clean during the day....
it's when I get home in the evenings that things go awry...or I get invited out to happy hour with people I LOVE to chat with and just cannot resist a few beers...sigh.

ETA - recipe is here. Oat flour only, no oil, and no sugar - only apple sauce and xylitol (I use stevia for my husband's batch because xylitol is tree-based and he is allergic to tree nuts so I stay on the safe side. with stevia you use about half as much because it's sweeter. I've also thrown in some flax seeds with my last batch).

Great progress! I don't need to lose any more weight but due to health issues I am off sugar. Off a lot of things actually. It isn't the deprivation that is the hardest thing. The hardest thing is reading every label & not being able to eat out without asking the waiter lots of questions & still having a reaction because sometimes they don't know.