Seriously Addicted to Sugar!
Replies
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walterm852 wrote: »Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.
This. I know this is tangential, but I rarely even venture into the forums anymore, because everything becomes a earth-shattering argument and hairsplitting semantics. Some of my friends on here refuse come in at all anymore. I tend to be more stubborn though and sometimes can't look away from the trainwrecks. =P
Back to the subject, I also have a sweet tooth, and although I know and understand all the cico, I absolutely notice that when I indulge in some very sugary sweets, my weight will not budge for some time* after that, despite my calories not being over my limit. And I am *sick and tired* of the "youre not logging correctly" crap. My exact same "incorrect" logging was working fine before, and regardless, I am rarely less than 100-200 below my target, so I have plenty of room to for small errors. Weight loss is definitely not linear, but I can tell you when it's gonna take longer, its when I eat something very (refined) sugary. Some days it is really harder to stay moderate on sweet goodies, but if you can make yourself avoid it for a few days, the desire does go down. Until you indulge in it again. =P
*for some time, meaning longer than other periods of eating the same amounts.
edit again: To help, I use stevia in some things, I use lightly sweetened things with splenda for example, fiber one brownies instead of deli brownies. I try to substitute as well as cut back. Just something Ill probably always have to deal with, because I really love chocolate, and very sweet and very rich foods. I cut out regular pop about 6 years ago, with rare exceptions, and these days, the regular pop just doesnt even taste good. Especially since the "no aspartame" diet pepsi, which i think tastes great. I had also switched to very dark chocolate back then, but I never did like it. Id rather have a smaller piece of chocolate i like than a big chunk of bitter chocolate. Its all choices
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walterm852 wrote: »
Actually, most of the time it's people who have addictions that scoff at sugar addiction (especially when the sugar = cocaine comparison crops up).walterm852 wrote: »I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.
I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.
People who have never had addiction problems will never understand.
FTR, I have a drug addiction. The only way I stopped was to stop taking the drug. Can't really do that with sugar because you would starve to death.
I know people scoff at it, and I described in my post, its not as scary as alcohol...for me.
I also know in my experience with addiction and addiction recovery, people use comparisons but it doesn't make the situation any better. "I was more of a drunk than you" or "Coke addiction is worse than alcohol addiction" so blah blah blah. Because cocaine addiction is "worse" doesnt make the original poster feel any better about what he is feeling and going through right now and his ability to stop.
Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.
Yeah, because your alcoholism and counseling experience is much better than my drug addiction. Yes, you know what you're talking about. I know nothing at all.
OP still hasn't said what foods are causing his/her overeating, aka the "sugar addiction". I still bet it's basic "junk" foods that can either be eliminated or moderated without the need for complete removal of all sugars.
Where did it say I was a counselor?
Again, with the mocking Gif, why ridicule?
But I know, as my wife, I am not always right :-)
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ConnieT1030 wrote: »walterm852 wrote: »Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.
This. I know this is tangential, but I rarely even venture into the forums anymore, because everything becomes a earth-shattering argument and hairsplitting semantics. Some of my friends on here refuse come in at all anymore. I tend to be more stubborn though and sometimes can't look away from the trainwrecks. =P
Back to the subject, I also have a sweet tooth, and although I know and understand all the cico, I absolutely notice that when I indulge in some very sugary sweets, my weight will not budge for some time* after that, despite my calories not being over my limit. And I am *sick and tired* of the "youre not logging correctly" crap. My exact same "incorrect" logging was working fine before, and regardless, I am rarely less than 100-200 below my target, so I have plenty of room to for small errors. Weight loss is definitely not linear, but I can tell you when it's gonna take longer, its when I eat something very (refined) sugary. Some days it is really harder to stay moderate on sweet goodies, but if you can make yourself avoid it for a few days, the desire does go down. Until you indulge in it again. =P
*for some time, meaning longer than other periods of eating the same amounts.
That "you may have some common inaccuracies in your logging which many of us have fallen into over the years and it may help you to reassess" crap has help me and hundreds of others on this board. I stick it out around here because MFP has changed my life and I would like to help others have some of the success I saw as well, but calling my advice "crap" or denigrating those trying to help around here drives away far more helpful posters, ime.14 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.
I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.
Let's take a deep breath OP. First, let's review some facts. You are 28 years old, 5'8 and currently weigh ~195 lbs? Are you male or female? Are you trying to lose weight? What is your goal weight?
You seem to feel sugar is the source of your troubles, that you eat too much of it. Can you be more specific? What sorts of things are you eating? Do you track your foods here? How many grams of sugar are you consuming? When you are eating sugary foods (and I'm assuming you mean sweets not straight sugar or fruits/vegetables) do you feel out of control, like you are binging? Or do you just eat a little too much a little too often and feel that you should cut back?
Sugar isn't actually an addictive substance, but it is in many tasty foods that people find comforting and may have difficulty moderating. The good news is that by gaining perspective on how much you are actually consuming and what the triggers are for overconsuming it, you can possibly learn to moderate these sort of foods so that you can achieve your goals and still enjoy the foods you love.
I don't know if OP is coming back but I'm interested in the answer to some of the questions I posed, as well as understanding your original comment that you've tried giving it up many times and always go back to it. Can you elaborate more about that? Have you ever tried moderating your sugar consumption, rather than taking an all or nothing approach?1 -
ConnieT1030 wrote: »walterm852 wrote: »Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.
This. I know this is tangential, but I rarely even venture into the forums anymore, because everything becomes a earth-shattering argument and hairsplitting semantics. Some of my friends on here refuse come in at all anymore. I tend to be more stubborn though and sometimes can't look away from the trainwrecks. =P
Back to the subject, I also have a sweet tooth, and although I know and understand all the cico, I absolutely notice that when I indulge in some very sugary sweets, my weight will not budge for some time* after that, despite my calories not being over my limit. And I am *sick and tired* of the "youre not logging correctly" crap. My exact same "incorrect" logging was working fine before, and regardless, I am rarely less than 100-200 below my target, so I have plenty of room to for small errors. Weight loss is definitely not linear, but I can tell you when it's gonna take longer, its when I eat something very (refined) sugary. Some days it is really harder to stay moderate on sweet goodies, but if you can make yourself avoid it for a few days, the desire does go down. Until you indulge in it again. =P
*for some time, meaning longer than other periods of eating the same amounts.
I stopped coming onto the forums for months because of the ridiculous buthurt and woo and claims of things that simply could not be substantiated but were down to feelings. I have many many friends too who refuse to post on forums because of the exact opposite of what you claim
Should we plot your discomfort against mine ? Who would win? Am I allowed fewer feelings about abject rudeness because I post more? Being a "mega" poster means we've seen it all before and we still have the patience to come back and address it over and over again.
Doesn't matter really does it... it's my choice to post or not, just as it is yours and nobody gets sympathy because they fail ..., as a discussion board if you aren't able to have a discussion maybe you shouldn't post, if you are unable to have your ideas and concepts challenged maybe you shouldn't post13 -
Mega posters postsHistory has shown you you can't eliminate so moderate
Quit focusing on sugar, and focus on calories instead
Get your calories right, eat foods you enjoy to your calorie limit and move more
Sugar isn't keeping you overweight, your all or nothing mindset is (and your food intake and movement levels)GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Back in the days when I had a job and there were office treats, I just ignored them. I have the ability to draw a line in the sand and say no more. A sort of cold turkey approach.
I've been able to moderate treats in the past, and I expect to be able to do so again. I don't know what's going on with me right now and am working to get through this phase. I suspect it has to do with cutting body fat, but that's me.
What are you feeling? Do you just feel out of control? Like once you start you can't stop? Do you feel like since the food is bad you might as well eat the whole bit and then you're never eating it again?diannethegeek wrote: »ConnieT1030 wrote: »walterm852 wrote: »Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.
This. I know this is tangential, but I rarely even venture into the forums anymore, because everything becomes a earth-shattering argument and hairsplitting semantics. Some of my friends on here refuse come in at all anymore. I tend to be more stubborn though and sometimes can't look away from the trainwrecks. =P
Back to the subject, I also have a sweet tooth, and although I know and understand all the cico, I absolutely notice that when I indulge in some very sugary sweets, my weight will not budge for some time* after that, despite my calories not being over my limit. And I am *sick and tired* of the "youre not logging correctly" crap. My exact same "incorrect" logging was working fine before, and regardless, I am rarely less than 100-200 below my target, so I have plenty of room to for small errors. Weight loss is definitely not linear, but I can tell you when it's gonna take longer, its when I eat something very (refined) sugary. Some days it is really harder to stay moderate on sweet goodies, but if you can make yourself avoid it for a few days, the desire does go down. Until you indulge in it again. =P
*for some time, meaning longer than other periods of eating the same amounts.
That "you may have some common inaccuracies in your logging which many of us have fallen into over the years and it may help you to reassess" crap has help me and hundreds of others on this board. I stick it out around here because MFP has changed my life and I would like to help others have some of the success I saw as well, but calling my advice "crap" or denigrating those trying to help around here drives away far more helpful posters, ime.lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.0 -
OP, hopefully you do come back to elaborate and answer the questions others have asked here.
If the issue is that you are over-eating sugary snacks, pre-logging really helped me with that. I would decide I was going to have some M&Ms, so I would weigh out a serving, log it, and look at how it affected my totals for the day. Made me a lot less likely to get up and measure out another serving!
I also can't say enough about how diet soda/iced tea helped me. When I just want something sweet, or I'm bored and start thinking about the junk food in the cabinet, a can of Coke Zero can usually head that off with no calories wasted.
I also will snack on a piece of fruit in those situations if I have some calories left. A banana or some melon is nice and sweet, but there is 0% chance of me accidentally eating 500 calories of either. Now if you really love fruit and keep a lot on hand, that might not work for you, but it does for me.
I would advise against thinking that you are addicted to sugar. It's really easy to think you have no control over the situation and it's not your fault, which makes it easier to just keep doing what you're doing! Taking responsibility for your eating habits means you have the power to change them - best of luck! :drinker:5 -
I always wonder how long someone has been harboring a resentment when they come on to strictly argue against long-time posters. "I don't come on here because you are arguers!" What's the point?
I agree that some foods sort of trigger me. I have trouble moderating certain sweets, too.
I just don't buy them.
At work, I take the stance that, "I don't eat treats at work, only stuff I bring in myself."
Is it easy? No, but I want to maintain my current weight and if I allow myself to get back into the habit of eating sweets, it's difficult to stop. I do have one day per week when I have some treat I've been thinking of, and it's something I do mindfully.9 -
walterm852 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Awesome, I agree the posts should be about helping the OP, per my first post, I offered my experience.
As I understood it, your advice was give it up and said that you find that hard for 3 days?
The problem is that we don't know what specific foods OP perceives herself or himself to have issues with, and of course you can't (or most shouldn't) give up all sugar -- it's in vegetables and things like sweet potatoes, it's in fruit in high quantities (like I said, more sugar in an apple than one of my chocolate chip cookies), and your body quickly converts starches into the composite sugars.
You may be saying to give up added sugar or foods that one perceives as especially tempting or sweet, but if so it's worth noting that for some of us (probably most, although OP might be really into soda or hard candies, who knows), the tempting foods are items with sugar + fat and not all of them, just certain ones.
Anyway, giving them up (or up for a while) could certainly be a good approach, but it also can be counterproductive as the little dialogue I presented was intended to show -- I think it has to do with how feelings of being out of control around food come about, although is not the only way that happens.
(For the record, I know about addiction, and don't really care if we call feeling out of control around sweets addiction or not (well, I think it's inaccurate, but if someone finds it helpful doesn't bother me if they use it) -- I think that argument should be in another thread.)
What I do think is important if someone feels out of control around some foods, which is generally what is communicated with the A word, is to stress that there are lots of different reasons this happens and specifics matter and typically help in finding how to deal with it for yourself. Just assuming someone must give up sugar (which isn't a good idea for most, many foods with sugar, like fruits and veg, are healthy) or even added sugar may not be the right answer.
NOT criticizing you for saying it worked for you, although I am critical of the assumption that we don't understand.1 -
I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.
I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.
Knowing how much of it you eat is a good starting point. I'm going to try not echoing a ton of the questions others are asking, but more information really would help us customize our advice to your particular needs, @manther88.
When I'm eating the most sugar and feel least in control of my choices, it's emotional eating for me. It either means that I need to reassess my depression treatment or I need to return to other tactics instead of eating my feelings. Going through my self-care checklist, getting anything done that's been stressing me out or I'm avoiding, cleaning my house (keeps me busy plus helps with my stress), journaling, talking to friends, calling my therapist, etc. can all help me.
I also like to look at my diet in terms of what I need to include more of instead of what I need to take out. Keeping my calories in line and focusing on 100 grams of protein every day and 3-5 servings of veggies leaves a lot less room for sugar.4 -
OP, hopefully you do come back to elaborate and answer the questions others have asked here.
If the issue is that you are over-eating sugary snacks, pre-logging really helped me with that. I would decide I was going to have some M&Ms, so I would weigh out a serving, log it, and look at how it affected my totals for the day. Made me a lot less likely to get up and measure out another serving!
I also can't say enough about how diet soda/iced tea helped me. When I just want something sweet, or I'm bored and start thinking about the junk food in the cabinet, a can of Coke Zero can usually head that off with no calories wasted.
I also will snack on a piece of fruit in those situations if I have some calories left. A banana or some melon is nice and sweet, but there is 0% chance of me accidentally eating 500 calories of either. Now if you really love fruit and keep a lot on hand, that might not work for you, but it does for me.
I would advise against thinking that you are addicted to sugar. It's really easy to think you have no control over the situation and it's not your fault, which makes it easier to just keep doing what you're doing! Taking responsibility for your eating habits means you have the power to change them - best of luck! :drinker:
Ooooh yes. A diet A&W root beer in the evenings helped my sugar cravings in the evenings so much! If the OP can drink diet soda without other issues, it's worth a try to see if it helps them.2 -
My nephew is in prison for robbery to feed his drug addiction. He's never told me about anyone who is locked up for stealing to support their candy habit.
Just a thought.7 -
I can only give you my perspective: I have never had a sweet tooth, but I was on the highest end of pre-diabetes- how did this happen, my daily average is only 100! Turns out it all night-time fasting that messes up my glucose. However, I was told lowering my daily intake of carbs (even though it wasn't terrible) and losing weight would help lower my nightly spikes. So, I decided to try eliminating added sugars from my diet. HOLY MOLY that was harder than I thought it would be! I don't recommend it for long-term sustainability, however, I think trying it can teach you a thing or two about how YOU see and use sugar in your lifestyle.
Here was my biggest takeaway from it: be conscious of the sugar you eat and just like calorie counting be accountable and make concerted room for it in your life. Cook at home and make your own sauces and gravies and casseroles - you will see quickly how much sugar many things require and IMO when you have to put that sugar in yourself you can't help but be aware of it. I made myself BBQ baked beans from scratch- ketchup, brown sugar, maple syrup, oh gosh, I was like "REALLY??? It REALLY needs this much sugar??" I stopped putting sugar in my coffee when I started making my own instead of ordering from behind the counter, and I started making my own salad dressing and pasta sauces. I used to lovvvve sweet Philippine style pasta sauce, but now I savor a much less sweet herby and garlicky blend instead. I used to love apple juice, now I think of it like liquid candy, and if I have some, it's like an amazing refreshing dessert.
That's my best piece of advice. Once you start having to add sugar to your dishes yourself, you will hesitate, and realize how much you DON'T need for something to taste good. And when it comes to already prepared or sweet treats: just put a bite or tablespoon on your plate, it won't kill you, enjoy it- but just a bite-sized amount (when I do this, I find that I usually don't even finish it!). Good luck!0 -
Overeating/having trouble with moderating sugar is most definitely an issue. I have this issue at times, so I understand. it is incredibly frustrating and triggered by many different situations (for me, it is lack of sleep, lack of exercise, stressful times and even depression). I have seen how many in the past have responded to words similar to OP's very first sentence "I've been addicted to sugar my whole life" which triggered the whole 'sugar is/is not a drug' debate. To put sugar in such a light and compare it to the likeness of drugs can even make it mentally harder for some to moderate sugar or quit, especially those with an all-or-nothing mindset.lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
I offered my personal experience. For me, elimination worsened my sugar cravings. I eliminated, craved then gave in and binged. It wasn't until I began to moderate and pay attention to what I ate that I was able to moderate my intake of sugar. I simply wasn't going crazy for it like I used to when I thought I had to eliminate it. Of course, I've fallen many, MANY (many many) times, but I get back up and start over. YMMV.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »walterm852 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Awesome, I agree the posts should be about helping the OP, per my first post, I offered my experience.
As I understood it, your advice was give it up and said that you find that hard for 3 days?
The problem is that we don't know what specific foods OP perceives herself or himself to have issues with, and of course you can't (or most shouldn't) give up all sugar -- it's in vegetables and things like sweet potatoes, it's in fruit in high quantities (like I said, more sugar in an apple than one of my chocolate chip cookies), and your body quickly converts starches into the composite sugars.
You may be saying to give up added sugar or foods that one perceives as especially tempting or sweet, but if so it's worth noting that for some of us (probably most, although OP might be really into soda or hard candies, who knows), the tempting foods are items with sugar + fat and not all of them, just certain ones.
Anyway, giving them up (or up for a while) could certainly be a good approach, but it also can be counterproductive as the little dialogue I presented was intended to show -- I think it has to do with how feelings of being out of control around food come about, although is not the only way that happens.
(For the record, I know about addiction, and don't really care if we call feeling out of control around sweets addiction or not (well, I think it's inaccurate, but if someone finds it helpful doesn't bother me if they use it) -- I think that argument should be in another thread.)
What I do think is important if someone feels out of control around some foods, which is generally what is communicated with the A word, is to stress that there are lots of different reasons this happens and specifics matter and typically help in finding how to deal with it for yourself. Just assuming someone must give up sugar (which isn't a good idea for most, many foods with sugar, like fruits and veg, are healthy) or even added sugar may not be the right answer.
NOT criticizing you for saying it worked for you, although I am critical of the assumption that we don't understand.
Awesome post ..thank you. I have no problem with disagreeing and appreciate your discourse.
You may be right, but I need to give up sugar for 3 days to break out, that doesnt mean others need to. I also mentioned L-glutimin as a potential solution.
I am not alone in thinking there is a relationship
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20648910
Lets have a healthy 2017!0 -
A "sweet preference" is not the same as "sugar addiction."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20056521
"Difficulty to control" - yes.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/237191444 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.
I'm not one much for snacking, I pretty much stopped years ago. I might have a piece of fruit late afternoon, but most days, if I feel like having "something", I usually reach for either a diet soda or a cup of herbal tea.
I think you're onto something with snacking.
My problem is night eating. I can't do dessert. I'm on something like protein fluff until I get myself sorted out.0 -
cerise_noir wrote: »Overeating/having trouble with moderating sugar is most definitely an issue. I have this issue at times, so I understand. it is incredibly frustrating and triggered by many different situations (for me, it is lack of sleep, lack of exercise, stressful times and even depression).
diannethegeek brought up these kinds of issues too (I think adding in the fact that poor sleep can make it harder is an important one for some of us), and I kind of alluded to it with my reference to emotional eating. I really do think understanding what's going on when you are tempted to overeat or feel out of control can be super important. That I feel like eating when stressed or upset or down is good to know, as I can be conscious that it is emotional and focus on other ways of dealing with it (exercise is a big one, and one reason I'm having trouble now is I love to run and am not supposed to for a bit to let my tendon heal; meditation and journaling are also things that have helped me, and (ugh) ;-) sitting with the feelings and all that).2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.
I'm not one much for snacking, I pretty much stopped years ago. I might have a piece of fruit late afternoon, but most days, if I feel like having "something", I usually reach for either a diet soda or a cup of herbal tea.
I think you're onto something with snacking.
My problem is night eating. I can't do dessert. I'm on something like protein fluff until I get myself sorted out.
I really struggled to give up "desserts" after dinner.
I have recently had great success with 100g 2% Fage, a tablespoon of regular vanilla yogurt and a half-serving of fruit mixed in. Sweetish, but with that protein pop and not much fat.0 -
OP, hopefully you do come back to elaborate and answer the questions others have asked here.
If the issue is that you are over-eating sugary snacks, pre-logging really helped me with that. I would decide I was going to have some M&Ms, so I would weigh out a serving, log it, and look at how it affected my totals for the day. Made me a lot less likely to get up and measure out another serving!
I also can't say enough about how diet soda/iced tea helped me. When I just want something sweet, or I'm bored and start thinking about the junk food in the cabinet, a can of Coke Zero can usually head that off with no calories wasted.
I also will snack on a piece of fruit in those situations if I have some calories left. A banana or some melon is nice and sweet, but there is 0% chance of me accidentally eating 500 calories of either. Now if you really love fruit and keep a lot on hand, that might not work for you, but it does for me.
I would advise against thinking that you are addicted to sugar. It's really easy to think you have no control over the situation and it's not your fault, which makes it easier to just keep doing what you're doing! Taking responsibility for your eating habits means you have the power to change them - best of luck! :drinker:
This is all really solid advice.
Prelogging was very, very helpful to me at one time. Now I sort of generally map out my day in my head.
I also find diet soda and herbal tea with zero calorie sweetener to be very helpful as well. I'm a pretty big fan of fruit, too.2 -
Absolutely. On average, I sleep around 3-4 hours per night, and 5-7 on a really good night (happens perhaps 3 times per month). It may all be due to stress. When I have less than 3-4 hours, I feel hunger and the need for carbs hit me harder than any other time. Like, this morning I woke up earlier than usual and was hungry, but this time, I waited it out instead of giving into that monster and the feeling passed after a few hours and my hunger wasn't all over the place. I was quite pleased that I was able to finally (accidentally) overcome this, as a typical non sleep day would start with carbs, then would end up as an out of control day.lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Overeating/having trouble with moderating sugar is most definitely an issue. I have this issue at times, so I understand. it is incredibly frustrating and triggered by many different situations (for me, it is lack of sleep, lack of exercise, stressful times and even depression).
diannethegeek brought up these kinds of issues too (I think adding in the fact that poor sleep can make it harder is an important one for some of us), and I kind of alluded to it with my reference to emotional eating. I really do think understanding what's going on when you are tempted to overeat or feel out of control can be super important. That I feel like eating when stressed or upset or down is good to know, as I can be conscious that it is emotional and focus on other ways of dealing with it (exercise is a big one, and one reason I'm having trouble now is I love to run and am not supposed to for a bit to let my tendon heal; meditation and journaling are also things that have helped me, and (ugh) ;-) sitting with the feelings and all that).
Emotional eating has definitely been quite the downfall for me over the years. There have been many opportunities for it. You're right; recognizing the triggers (instead of placing blame where it shouldn't belong) is incredibly important to get to the root of overeating. Boredom, anxiety, depression, eating out of habit, stress. Some of these, the eating trigger can be diverted to a different activity- as you mentioned, exercise is a good one. One huge thing that got me me though, is this: Eating provides TEMPORARY relief/happiness/good feelings to any of those situations. One may feel good during, but what about after? Temporary is not worth it. To me, the happiness that comes from my weight loss results and after exercise outweighs any temporary happiness I may or may not get from binging on chocolate.
2 -
I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.
I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.
I have addiction-like issues with sugars. I dropped it, cold turkey, from my diet as much as possible by following a very low carb high fat ketogenic diet. My sugars are usually under 5g per day, my cravings are nil, as low as I don't eat much carbs or sugars, and I lost weight and my health improved.
Sugars are like an addiction for me so I treated like an addiction. I try to keep it out of my life.1 -
cmriverside wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.
I'm not one much for snacking, I pretty much stopped years ago. I might have a piece of fruit late afternoon, but most days, if I feel like having "something", I usually reach for either a diet soda or a cup of herbal tea.
I think you're onto something with snacking.
My problem is night eating. I can't do dessert. I'm on something like protein fluff until I get myself sorted out.
I really struggled to give up "desserts" after dinner.
I have recently had great success with 100g 2% Fage, a tablespoon of regular vanilla yogurt and a half-serving of fruit mixed in. Sweetish, but with that protein pop and not much fat.
My problem is that I'm a "picker" at night if I don't feel full and a volume eater. I'm doing the protein fluff to give me that full feeling so I don't go looking for food. I've been staying up later lately too, and I used to go to bed earlier. I don't know what's up with that. It's like my body clock reset. I need to change that.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.
I'm not one much for snacking, I pretty much stopped years ago. I might have a piece of fruit late afternoon, but most days, if I feel like having "something", I usually reach for either a diet soda or a cup of herbal tea.
I think you're onto something with snacking.
My problem is night eating. I can't do dessert. I'm on something like protein fluff until I get myself sorted out.
I really struggled to give up "desserts" after dinner.
I have recently had great success with 100g 2% Fage, a tablespoon of regular vanilla yogurt and a half-serving of fruit mixed in. Sweetish, but with that protein pop and not much fat.
My problem is that I'm a "picker" at night if I don't feel full and a volume eater. I'm doing the protein fluff to give me that full feeling so I don't go looking for food. I've been staying up later lately too, and I used to go to bed earlier. I don't know what's up with that. It's like my body clock reset. I need to change that.
Sorry to go off topic, but @GottaBurnEmAll have you tried protein sludge yet? Pretty much the same ingredients as fluff but without the mixing.
50g chocolate protein powder
20g PB2
100ishml almond milk
Mix together with a spoon.
But then..... Microwave it for 60 seconds. It ends up slightly crunchy on the outside and gooey chocolate deliciousness on the inside.
Top with yogurt or cottage cheese. I make mine in the morning, put in the fridge to kinda harden up/set and microwave just before eating.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.
I'm not one much for snacking, I pretty much stopped years ago. I might have a piece of fruit late afternoon, but most days, if I feel like having "something", I usually reach for either a diet soda or a cup of herbal tea.
I think you're onto something with snacking.
My problem is night eating. I can't do dessert. I'm on something like protein fluff until I get myself sorted out.
I really struggled to give up "desserts" after dinner.
I have recently had great success with 100g 2% Fage, a tablespoon of regular vanilla yogurt and a half-serving of fruit mixed in. Sweetish, but with that protein pop and not much fat.
My problem is that I'm a "picker" at night if I don't feel full and a volume eater. I'm doing the protein fluff to give me that full feeling so I don't go looking for food. I've been staying up later lately too, and I used to go to bed earlier. I don't know what's up with that. It's like my body clock reset. I need to change that.
Sorry to go off topic, but @GottaBurnEmAll have you tried protein sludge yet? Pretty much the same ingredients as fluff but without the mixing.
50g chocolate protein powder
20g PB2
100ishml almond milk
Mix together with a spoon.
But then..... Microwave it for 60 seconds. It ends up slightly crunchy on the outside and gooey chocolate deliciousness on the inside.
Top with yogurt or cottage cheese. I make mine in the morning, put in the fridge to kinda harden up/set and microwave just before eating.
That sounds delicious, but low volume. The thing about fluff is that with all the air it makes you feel FULL and takes forever to eat. That seems to be key for me right now.
I need to make that sludge one of these days, though. I love the gooey/crunchy sound of it.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Ugh.... please don't start the 'sugar is a drug, sugar is like *insert drug of choice*' crap.
Yeah, I agree, and I don't think the argument is helpful to OP either. Talking about what specifically leads to him or her feeling out of control and what we all did to help us cut back on foods we tended to overeat probably is what would be helpful.
I understand that some people for whatever reason really want to argue that it is an addiction, but I don't see how that helps OP.
Good point. I'm sorry I went there.
Okay, I'll share. I'm at a point where I can't moderate right now, so here's what I'm doing. I'm just not buying things. That's easy for me to do because I have to eat a special diet and need different treat foods than my family does. I really have no other advice. If it's not around, you can't eat it.
Cool, and I hope helpful to OP. I'll add mine: I've been struggling with moderation some too (emotional eating stuff), and what works for me is getting back to my original plan of focusing on three main meals, no snacking. I can have a dessert after dinner and fit in the calories, but if I start snacking on office stuff I have no control lately.
When I first started, I cut out all sugary snacks (added sugar in general) because I wanted to see if that made a difference and because I wanted to teach myself not to go to them for emotional reasons. I still enjoyed having a little something after dinner, and would have cheese (really good cheese) or other non sweet things, and now I try to alternate; my dessert is not always sweet (and I sometimes don't have it).
Adjusting to not snacking always takes a few days, but then I mostly don't think about the stuff on offer. (Harder now since what's on offer is better, so I usually do work more stuff in around Christmastime.)
Oh, and beyond this, what I said about having a plan is important, OP. You can't just say "I'll eat less" but should (or it helps me to) have a plan of how you want to eat and how to accomplish that (when you will make meals, foods on hand, that sort of thing). Logging helps with that too.
I'm not one much for snacking, I pretty much stopped years ago. I might have a piece of fruit late afternoon, but most days, if I feel like having "something", I usually reach for either a diet soda or a cup of herbal tea.
I think you're onto something with snacking.
My problem is night eating. I can't do dessert. I'm on something like protein fluff until I get myself sorted out.
I really struggled to give up "desserts" after dinner.
I have recently had great success with 100g 2% Fage, a tablespoon of regular vanilla yogurt and a half-serving of fruit mixed in. Sweetish, but with that protein pop and not much fat.
My problem is that I'm a "picker" at night if I don't feel full and a volume eater. I'm doing the protein fluff to give me that full feeling so I don't go looking for food. I've been staying up later lately too, and I used to go to bed earlier. I don't know what's up with that. It's like my body clock reset. I need to change that.
Sorry to go off topic, but @GottaBurnEmAll have you tried protein sludge yet? Pretty much the same ingredients as fluff but without the mixing.
50g chocolate protein powder
20g PB2
100ishml almond milk
Mix together with a spoon.
But then..... Microwave it for 60 seconds. It ends up slightly crunchy on the outside and gooey chocolate deliciousness on the inside.
Top with yogurt or cottage cheese. I make mine in the morning, put in the fridge to kinda harden up/set and microwave just before eating.
That sounds delicious, but low volume. The thing about fluff is that with all the air it makes you feel FULL and takes forever to eat. That seems to be key for me right now.
I need to make that sludge one of these days, though. I love the gooey/crunchy sound of it.
Yeah you're right, it is low volume. I got sick of making the fluff, plus i HATE working with xanthan gum, it has a vendetta against me lol0
This discussion has been closed.
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