How to Overcome Sugar Addiction

So I have been eating alot of fruit lately, and different kids. I am happy to say for right now, I have been very satisfied and have not had the urge to binge on sugery items, such as honey buns, and ice cream. I'm extremely full too, and have no desire to eat anything sweeter than an apple. I never really ate bluberries before outside of a muffin, and find that they are very delicious, and satisfying.
 
njoyabl said:
So I have been eating alot of fruit lately, and different kids.
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You're eating KIDS? :eek: Sooooo...

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...how do they taste?

:leaving:
 
Stop eating it for a week or two and it will go away.

I also had this addiction, and was unable to stop eating sweets like ice cream, cakes. I could literally eat a whole box of ice cream, and would be unable to stop eating it until it was all gone.

I forced myself to stop, and while it was hard at first and I definitely craved it, I have now been 1.5 months without it and most importantly have not craved it.

I now walk by ice cream trucks and coffee stand with pastries every day and I am not at all tempted to buy them.


I think some of us have to treat certain foods like alcoholics would treat alcohol. I personally know that if I eat even one little thing, it will start me on the downward spiral of eating huge quantities all the time. So I don't allow myself even a tiny bit. I also lost 25 pounds over this period.

I hope I can keep this up, but it is always in the back of my mind that if I eat even one thing I might end up right back where I started. I feel like I'm an alcoholic or a drug addict with respect to sweets and pastries.
 
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AllCdnBoy said:
yea, i'm curious too ... it's crossed my mind, but I've never been able to do it.
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:puke:

I don't think its all that: you know how they eat crap and when you buy cheaper meats from the supermarket where the animal has been eating cheap grain it never tastes as good as the higher quality stuff.
 
biggestloser105 said:
Stop eating it for a week or two and it will go away.

I also had this addiction, and was unable to stop eating sweets like ice cream, cakes. I could literally eat a whole box of ice cream, and would be unable to stop eating it until it was all gone.

I forced myself to stop, and while it was hard at first and I definitely craved it, I have now been 1.5 months without it and most importantly have not craved it.

I now walk by ice cream trucks and coffee stand with pastries every day and I am not at all tempted to buy them.


I think some of us have to treat certain foods like alcoholics would treat alcohol. I personally know that if I eat even one little thing, it will start me on the downward spiral of eating huge quantities all the time. So I don't allow myself even a tiny bit. I also lost 25 pounds over this period.

I hope I can keep this up, but it is always in the back of my mind that if I eat even one thing I might end up right back where I started. I feel like I'm an alcoholic or a drug addict with respect to sweets and pastries.
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I know exactly what you mean about treating it like and alcohol addiction or something. Today, I woke up late, got to work late, drank a cup of coffee with regular sugar, and there it was..............I passed a cherry pie in the machine. I hadn't eaten anything else and failed to pack my lunch. And there it went, but only half resides in my belly, I generously gave the rest to the trash bin. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. Buying a bottle of water right now!
 
njoyabl said:
I know exactly what you mean about treating it like and alcohol addiction or something. Today, I woke up late, got to work late, drank a cup of coffee with regular sugar, and there it was..............I passed a cherry pie in the machine. I hadn't eaten anything else and failed to pack my lunch. And there it went, but only half resides in my belly, I generously gave the rest to the trash bin. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. Buying a bottle of water right now!
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The thing that helped me stop initially was reading how much crap is in junk food. Restaurants will put a lot of MSG in their food, anything processed has really bad chemicals like artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and other things human beings just aren't meant to eat. The quality of ingredients tends to be low, with the aim being to make money. So they might put crap in the food to make it cheaper/last longer.

I am really careful about reading labels now, and I won't eat anything that doesn't have clean ingredients. There is obviously still clean junk, but far less of it. And you would generally have to go to a particular store to buy chocolate without crap in it, or pastries without crap in them and so on.

I don't know if you respond to that sort of thing. But thinking that way helped me stop initially. And once I stopped eating it my taste buds changed and I don't crave it anymore.

The biggest junky item that I still have a weakness for is white pasta. But I haven't had that in 2 weeks now, and I'm not itching to go buy it.

The other thing that is really helpful is to eliminate everything remotely junky from your home. Throw it away and don't buy it. If it's not there it's much easier not to eat it, then you'll just have to deal with temptations when you're out of the house.
 
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I used to be very attached to sugar- had about 3 tsp in a cup of tea or coffee, I was at one point even adding it to low calorie hot chocolate! (you know the type- with more sweetner then you can tollerate? I added more sugar!)

I also was addicted to sweetener- my body I think, thought it was sugar. I would easily get through 3 packs of chewing up (not three sticks, three packets!) within a 6 hour shot. I was chain chewing and as soon as the sweet taste went I was onto a new stick. Hotchocolate when I was drinking it would be about 5 in a row....I should add here I was anorexic at the time (BMI15) and rarely ate much else then fruit, sweetner foods and vegetables. I was probably hungy but also heavily addicted to the stuff. I would have never thought to have eaten meat or fish as what I actually wanted was sweet foods.

I cut mine out the hard way: cold turkey. I never managed cutting down, It put alot of pressure on me to never lose my nerve. If I'd only cut down its then alot harder to say to yourself "just have less" every time and stick to it. Its far easier if you no longer own any sugar or sweetener foods, that way when you do have a bad day its far less harmful.

I noticed the first 2 weeks were hell, the following weeks were somewhat easier. Here I am several years later and I only have the sugar which comes naturally in fruit. You could say I was being OTT by cutting it out completely but aside from the taste (which does fade if you give it time) I can see little benefit with added sugars and sweeteners. I feel I'm better off without them and now seveal years on, thats all the motivation I need to stop eating and drinking them.
 
summer123 said:
I used to be very attached to sugar- had about 3 tsp in a cup of tea or coffee, I was at one point even adding it to low calorie hot chocolate! (you know the type- with more sweetner then you can tollerate? I added more sugar!)

I also was addicted to sweetener- my body I think, thought it was sugar. I would easily get through 3 packs of chewing up (not three sticks, three packets!) within a 6 hour shot. I was chain chewing and as soon as the sweet taste went I was onto a new stick. Hotchocolate when I was drinking it would be about 5 in a row....I should add here I was anorexic at the time (BMI15) and rarely ate much else then fruit, sweetner foods and vegetables. I was probably hungy but also heavily addicted to the stuff. I would have never thought to have eaten meat or fish as what I actually wanted was sweet foods.

I cut mine out the hard way: cold turkey. I never managed cutting down, It put alot of pressure on me to never lose my nerve. If I'd only cut down its then alot harder to say to yourself "just have less" every time and stick to it. Its far easier if you no longer own any sugar or sweetener foods, that way when you do have a bad day its far less harmful.

I noticed the first 2 weeks were hell, the following weeks were somewhat easier. Here I am several years later and I only have the sugar which comes naturally in fruit. You could say I was being OTT by cutting it out completely but aside from the taste (which does fade if you give it time) I can see little benefit with added sugars and sweeteners. I feel I'm better off without them and now seveal years on, thats all the motivation I need to stop eating and drinking them.
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Good grief! 3 packs of gum! you totally were addicted. Thanks for the comment and experience, all of the suggestions give me alot to think about of fighting this thing.
 
So, I just wanted to give an update on how I did over the holiday weekend with my sugar intake. I didn't do bad, I don't think, not too bad. The biggest oops is I drank some soda, but it was half one day and two days later another half, gave the rest away. They were can sodas. There was nothing sweet to snack on until yesterday when I realized after I ate 4 mini donuts that I was cramping and it is that TOM again, so before I knew it, they were gone. I was craving sweets really bad, but after that, I just drank some diet tea and ate on some ice everytime I wanted to pig out on sweet stuff, because I normally cannot stop once I start. I ate a honey bun this weekend too, but it was a little one and I know I did far better than normal with it being that TOM. So that is the reason why I say it was too bad, because I know just how bad I am. Today, I'm okay, and hope it sticks.
 
Sounds like you did pretty good! And it's especially easy to oops when your schedule changes. At one point I was going no caffeine, no sugar, and it it was Christmas time. I was flying to visit my folks and the plane was delayed so the airline came around with beverages while we were waiting. Without even thinking about it, I asked for a Coke. Not even a diet Coke! I think I drank like a quarter of it before it even registered.

It sounds like already you're doing better just by really thinking about it! I do think if you can focus on going 'just' 2 weeks without giving in you'll also be in a lot better shape. If you need to, wait until TOM is gone and then make the two weeks your priority. If you focus too much on 'forever' it's harder to live in the moment. Small goals are more manageable, plus you just start again if you don't make it. :D (That and the 2 weeks "sugar detox" could really help)

Hang in there!
 
Hello Friends.......

Tips to overcome sugar addiction are

1.Recognize that you are battling a true addiction. As the saying goes, admitting you have a problem is the first step. Decide whether you want to go "cold turkey" or gradually cut down your sugar intake.

2.Start your day with a meal rich in lean protein and complex carbohydrates, such as eggs and whole grain toast.

3.Drink lots of water. Water is a natural detoxifier. It will also help you feel fuller and less likely to reach for a sugary treat. Many times people mistakenly think they are hungry when they are actually thirsty, so make sure you are drinking at least sixty-four ounces of water every day.

Thanks
 
This whole thread has been incredibly helpful to me, thanks to all of you. Seriously. I recently had to realize I definitely am addicted to sugar and did not even realize it. If I was stressed (which can cause weight gain, too) I would decide to add M&Ms to our popcorn during family movie night. Or, suddenly be stressed and decide within an hour or two that a vanilla cone would make me happy. Hmm... emotional eating? I thought so. However, since life has been smooth and happy for a year for me now (aside from the daily stuff, what can you do, lol) I realize that if I try to go even a day without "something sweet" I get irritable. After doing research (and last year looking into speaking with a therapist about emotional eating) it turns out I am addicted to sugar, which apparently was playing into my stress and not the other way around. Hope this made sense, lol.

Anyway, I am going to put myself on a sugar detox and the tips in this forum have given me some much needed advice to just DO IT! =)
 
gfara5 said:
This whole thread has been incredibly helpful to me, thanks to all of you. Seriously. I recently had to realize I definitely am addicted to sugar and did not even realize it. If I was stressed (which can cause weight gain, too) I would decide to add M&Ms to our popcorn during family movie night. Or, suddenly be stressed and decide within an hour or two that a vanilla cone would make me happy. Hmm... emotional eating? I thought so. However, since life has been smooth and happy for a year for me now (aside from the daily stuff, what can you do, lol) I realize that if I try to go even a day without "something sweet" I get irritable. After doing research (and last year looking into speaking with a therapist about emotional eating) it turns out I am addicted to sugar, which apparently was playing into my stress and not the other way around. Hope this made sense, lol.

Anyway, I am going to put myself on a sugar detox and the tips in this forum have given me some much needed advice to just DO IT! =)
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Thanks for stopping by, I'm glad the thread is helping someone else besides me. That's the great thing about this place, we can all learn from each other and each other's diaries. I am now completely off soda and candy. I still have a muffin or so when I want it, but I am not like I have to have it ya know. Sweets aren't kept in the house besides tea, lemonade or orange juice. I don't buy a big thing of ice cream anymore because it was always too tempting and I could never resist it when I saw it, so now if I do want ice cream, I have to run out and get an ice cream cookie, and most of the time, I don't want to run to the store for just that, so I end up eating a yogurt or an apple. Let me know how your detox goes! Good luck!
 
Sugar isn't my addiction, starch is. I'm all about potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. Its very hard to get rid of, but its a mental game and you just need the right tools. Here's how I did it at least.
1. Be conscious of your thought process. Mindless binging is just that. Your brain turns off (or as I say, hides in the corner in shame) and you've consumed all the sugar in the house before you even notice it! Be aware of what you're thinking. The more you become aware of your own behavior, the easier it is to see what triggers it. For me, boredom, drinking, and being around other people offering me bad stuff were my worst ones. I no longer even -say- the word bored in reference to myself, i actually don't drink anymore, and I had to learn how to tell people "no."


2. Own your own body. Dude, this is the only body you get. One night (I used to be a night time snacker) I devoured so much garbage. there was no reason, I was just BORED.
I had to literally get pissed off at myself. -I- own my body, and I talk to it to this day like its a bratty 3 year old. "Just because you -want- something doesn't mean you can just go have it!" lol, it works, and after a month of that I very rarely crave anything anymore.

3. Compare, and don't ignore. If you pretend it never happened, or, like I used to, take food into my room and eat it when no ones looking, no one is accountable if you just don't think about it. MAKE yourself be accountable. Thats different than beating yourself up about it though. Then I compare it to someone else. What would I think of someone else who did that. I'd think they didn't have the slightest self control! My 13 year old step sister does that, and I constantly have to tell her to stay out of the kitchen, because she sneaks in and steals things, then hoards them in her room. Its not healthy, and if a 13 year old should know better, so should we!

addictions are nothing more than bad coping mechanisms, and sometimes you can't just "quit it". Understanding the behavior and redirecting it is the most successful way i've found to change it.
 
kellylmt said:
Sugar isn't my addiction, starch is. I'm all about potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. Its very hard to get rid of, but its a mental game and you just need the right tools. Here's how I did it at least.
1. Be conscious of your thought process. Mindless binging is just that. Your brain turns off (or as I say, hides in the corner in shame) and you've consumed all the sugar in the house before you even notice it! Be aware of what you're thinking. The more you become aware of your own behavior, the easier it is to see what triggers it. For me, boredom, drinking, and being around other people offering me bad stuff were my worst ones. I no longer even -say- the word bored in reference to myself, i actually don't drink anymore, and I had to learn how to tell people "no."


2. Own your own body. Dude, this is the only body you get. One night (I used to be a night time snacker) I devoured so much garbage. there was no reason, I was just BORED.
I had to literally get pissed off at myself. -I- own my body, and I talk to it to this day like its a bratty 3 year old. "Just because you -want- something doesn't mean you can just go have it!" lol, it works, and after a month of that I very rarely crave anything anymore.

3. Compare, and don't ignore. If you pretend it never happened, or, like I used to, take food into my room and eat it when no ones looking, no one is accountable if you just don't think about it. MAKE yourself be accountable. Thats different than beating yourself up about it though. Then I compare it to someone else. What would I think of someone else who did that. I'd think they didn't have the slightest self control! My 13 year old step sister does that, and I constantly have to tell her to stay out of the kitchen, because she sneaks in and steals things, then hoards them in her room. Its not healthy, and if a 13 year old should know better, so should we!

addictions are nothing more than bad coping mechanisms, and sometimes you can't just "quit it". Understanding the behavior and redirecting it is the most successful way i've found to change it.
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You know now that you've said it, I have to stop and wonder about my relationship with starch. My favorite things, macaronin and cheese, fettecine alfredo, and all sorts of pasta with cheese and cheese sauces.
 
French fry was my first word! lol
I don't even eat wheat bread anymore, any kind of bread or grain and all I want is bad stuff the rest of the day. When i'm closer to my goal I may be able to allow those back in but right now I can't risk it. It's not so bad anymore, this morning my family made pancakes and I didn't hardly even notice. But those first couple weeks were a real pain. nothing like quitting smoking mind you, just feeling deprived and annoyed. But you have to remember that its supposed to be empowering. You have your control back, and it isn't like thats the LAST mac and cheese on the planet, it will always still be there later. A few times the only thing that saved me from giving in was thinking "ok... what do I want more, to eat this stuff and feel like absolute crap afterward, or to wake up tomorrow and see a loss on the scale and feel good?"

I'd also add eating every 2-3 hours. this keeps your blood sugar level all day
 
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munawarmuniruae said:
1. Add self care. Before you attempt to eliminate anything from your life – even something negative, such as food addiction – it’s important to add to your life, so that you are operating from an overflow, not a deficit. Eliminating sugar will create a vacuum; better to fill it with something positive – self-care – than something negative – self-sabotage. Have a good book to read, to fill the hours you might have spent eating ice cream in front of the TV; take on a hobby instead of baking.

2. Keep your blood sugar stable. Eat breakfast, eat protein with every meal or snack, eat low GI foods, and eat at regular intervals. Why? All of these things will stabilize your blood sugar, so that your moods and energy are at an even keel. Much of the time, I craved sugar because I was hungry (I was always trying to limit my eating because I was always trying to lose weight). Eat enough so that you feel satisfied, and regularly enough so that you feel stable, and you won’t crave so much junk. Learn more about what and how to eat from the sugar addiction reading list.

3. Treat yourself like you’re in detox. The first week of sugar abstinence is hard, when the cravings are at their most powerful. Be kind to yourself: this is not the time to tackle a large project, to implement lots of changes, or to work overtime. Why do people go to a spa when they’re detoxing? Because they need extra support. Likewise, give yourself extra support. Go to bed earlier. Take naps. Cook simple meals (and don’t make the same mistake I did: don’t cook meals for your family that have ingredients in them that you are trying not to eat. Don’t make sugar abstinence any harder than it needs to be.) Spend time in prayer and meditation. Call on others for support and encouragement.

4. Don’t focus on weight loss. While weight loss is usually a natural consequence of giving up sugar, don’t make it your focus. It’s better to channel your energy towards one goal at a time. So put aside your weight loss goals for now and focus on getting sugar free. Then, when you’ve achieved sugar abstinence, you can work on losing the excess weight. Weight loss is the side effect of loving your body and freeing yourself from food addiction; not the focus. Furthermore, you might be delightfully surprised to see how much easier it is to lose weight when you’re not eating sugar in the first place. Of course, we all have to eat. Check this list of sugar free snack ideas.

5. Know your true value. While yes, your body may be sugar sensitive, and while, yes, you may gorge on sugar, you are not defined by your behavior. You are not your addiction. While I think 12 step programs have a lot of value and support, I don’t endorse the idea of “once an addict, always an addict.” Picture yourself free from sugar. Believe that you can live a life free from sugar addiction. Focus on healing; not on the problem.

6. Create a supportive environment. For the first month after I gave up sugar, I asked my family to hide the few sweet foods we had in the house: raisins, granola, and dark chocolate, so that I wouldn’t seek them out and eat them. I avoided certain aisles in the grocery store, movie theaters, and abstained from any baking. Later on, when I was in the habit of not eating sugar, and no longer physically craving it, I was able to be around sugar without succumbing to temptation. Yes, this can be especially tricky to avoid sugar when around family during the holidays.

7. Be a detective. Give yourself time to experiment. Use your body as a guinea pig: what foods make you feel good? What foods make you feel bad? How did I learn that dried fruit affects me in the same way that refined sugar does? By observing my body after I ate it. How did I learn that eating tortilla chips makes me crave sugar? By observing my body. How did I learn that legumes, lean meats, and nuts satisfy my hunger and give me stable moods? By observing my body.

8. Give up fake sugars. I know this is a tough one to follow: many women rely on Diet sodas when they’re craving something sweet. But in my experience, aspartame, Nutrasweet, Splenda, and even low carb sugar products (protein bars that are “low sugar”) don’t quell sugar cravings, but increase them. A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio found that a person’s risk for obesity went up a whopping 41% for each daily can of Diet soda. See also this list of hidden sources of sugar.

9. Just start over whenever you slip and fall. You don’t have to wait until the next morning, or succumb to the thinking that says, “I’ve blown it; I might as well have some brownies to go with it,” when you slip up and eat sugar. Giving up sugar is hard. It’s ingrained in our holidays, in our meals, in our society. Be kind to yourself when you mess up, and get right back on track. Create a positive affirmation to use: “I am resilient,” or “I am starting over,” when you make a mistake. Have some protein, make a cup of mint tea, and brush your teeth. Then remove yourself from your food source: take a walk, call a friend, go outside, go to the library. Do something to change your environment so you can switch gears. Be mindful that there are 3 stages to healing a sugar addiction. What stage are you in?

10. Forgive yourself. I felt terrible shame about my sugar addiction. Releasing that shame was like lifting an enormous weight off my psyche. We are all imperfect. If you have food issues, offer yourself self-acceptance. All those times you gorged on sugar? Recognize that you were doing the best you could, and that as you know better, you can do better. Sugar addiction is not a character defect; it’s a symptom of a lack of self-care skills. Most of us aren’t taught how to care for ourselves in healthy ways, which is why we seek comfort in food. The good news? Healthy self-care can be learned. It’s something you get to practice, everyday. What a gift.
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Great advice! I find myself drinking about 3-4 cans of diet soda a day. Not to mention snack on any sugar treats. I try not to buy them at all but my will power is very low at times. It seems like once I start eating sugar, I can't stop for days. It's horrible. I am going to stop drinking diet sodas and sugary things as of now. It will be my new start. Wish me luck!
 
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