How to battle sugar addiction

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  • alisonltaylor39
    alisonltaylor39 Posts: 1 Member
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    Great comment about weight loss being simple but not easy. I'm not sure why it is so difficult to consistently eat less than your body burns. I want to get fit, be healthy and lose some weight. I've been at a set weight for the last many years and have not yet been successful in getting off even 10 pounds! While I am able to do well for periods of time, I then fall off the wagon especially in social situations or around holidays...and I mean any holiday:)
  • harringtonen
    harringtonen Posts: 41 Member
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    Personally, I need to go with the gradual approach. I used to voraciously crave and eat 2 candy bars on my second break at work. Then I started bringing a sugary yogurt for my second break instead. Now I have added more protein to my lunch so most days I am not even hungry during my second break. I don't think this would have worked without the mid-way point. I still struggle and I almost never reach my calorie goal for the day but it is a lot better than it was and I am ever-so-slowly losing weight. Good luck on your journey!
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    godsgrl33 wrote: »
    I think some people can do the portion control with sweets, but for me, I think I have to pretty much cut it out, unless it's a special occasion.

    And the likelihood of you failing actually increases when you severely restrict something. This whole thing is about learning how to moderate. Few people are good at it to begin with. When I read stories of successful people, meaning lost weight and maintained over a long period of time, one of the most common themes is that they learned how to moderate. Most had ups and downs, but kept on and learned. I also find that their diets are very very good, but it takes time. Good luck and I don't mean to single you and pick on you, just making a point.
  • AEC50
    AEC50 Posts: 124 Member
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    godsgrl33 wrote: »
    I think some people can do the portion control with sweets, but for me, I think I have to pretty much cut it out, unless it's a special occasion.

    Yes, I'm the same. If I have one cookie or muffin, I'll have the whole batch. So much easier to just never start. Though, I have found ways to trick myself. A big dollop of Cool Whip on an iced coffee made with chocolate protein powder or a scoop of Halo Top are my go-to treats that are truly one and done.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    jmp463 wrote: »
    I have noticed that when I cut way back on sugar (candy, cakes, Ice Cream) after a week or so I dont really miss them. When I go through periods where I eat a lot of those things- I find I want more. So if that is not an addiction then I dont know what is. But what do I know?? You are going to get the "sugar is not bad" 100s of times in this thread. Some people can eat it in moderation others cannot. My advice to break your your non-existant "Addiction" is to not have it around the house. There really is no other way. If you know you over-eat something and cannot moderate - then you only choice it to not go near it. This is true of booze or cigarettes or gambling or drugs -- things that become addictions. So while people can argue positives and evils of sugar (and they will) - I would tell you to avoid. Its not like you are going to hurt yourself in any way by giving up foods with large amounts of sugar.

    The bolded is nonsense. And further, comparing something that you absolutely have to have to exist (sugar) to alcohol, cigarettes and gambling is disingenuous at best.

  • kcmsmith0405
    kcmsmith0405 Posts: 259 Member
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    Eat more protein. I was eating way to much sugar until I upped my protein to 30% - now I find that I can still eat sugar but I can stop and/or pass it up a lot easier. I also discovered that I don't go rooting through the cupboards for sweets anymore which was a common practice for me before. It was an eye opener for me that I could stop the cravings without totally cutting or going low carb.

    I also switched to a sugar/stevia blend for my morning coffee (all the taste, less sugar!) and cut out soda all together.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    If you either can't fit it into your calories or are unable to successfully moderate your intake, then just don't buy it. Then you only need self-control for half an hour at the supermarket - and most people should be able to manage at least that.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    jmp463 wrote: »
    I have noticed that when I cut way back on sugar (candy, cakes, Ice Cream) after a week or so I dont really miss them. When I go through periods where I eat a lot of those things- I find I want more. So if that is not an addiction then I dont know what is. But what do I know?? You are going to get the "sugar is not bad" 100s of times in this thread. Some people can eat it in moderation others cannot. My advice to break your your non-existant "Addiction" is to not have it around the house. There really is no other way. If you know you over-eat something and cannot moderate - then you only choice it to not go near it. This is true of booze or cigarettes or gambling or drugs -- things that become addictions. So while people can argue positives and evils of sugar (and they will) - I would tell you to avoid. Its not like you are going to hurt yourself in any way by giving up foods with large amounts of sugar.

    Exactly the same here.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    hkincaid87 wrote: »
    Those saying that its not an addiction are wrong. Its been shown in studies that sugar lights up our pleasure receptors in our brain the same way cocaine and other illicit drugs do. It causes a rush of serotonin and dopamine that makes us feel good. I can absolutely be an addiction.

    I don't agree it's an addiction, but a lot of this comes down to what you think an addiction is.

    For OP's purposes it doesn't matter -- if you think it does, how? -- and getting into a debate about whether it is or isn't distracts from advice that will help her.
  • brendaolson2014
    brendaolson2014 Posts: 1 Member
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    crystalham30 wrote: »
    Curious if anyone has any suggestions on battling sugar addiction? I have tried several times i can do it for a few days but then I fall off the wagon and have a full out binge.
    fee
    A friend of mine gave up sugar altogether two years ago but she joined a group to keep her accountable and learn more about healthy eating I think its called Overeaters Anonymous? She claims to be addicted and says she has an addictive personality so this was the best route for her. She has lost about 80 lbs, looks amazing, is the healthiest ever in her life and is a true inspiration to others! All for giving up sugar! Keep reading! The best thing is your awareness of too much sugar! Good Luck!
  • joycefarmer68
    joycefarmer68 Posts: 29 Member
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    V4kerker wrote: »
    Out of Sight out of Mind. For starters if it's in the house get rid of it.

    Yes so true! If it is not there not temptation! I have 3 kids so if I buy it I realize it will be gone...Trying to buy healthier snacks for myself and my kids too.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2017
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    jmp463 wrote: »
    I have noticed that when I cut way back on sugar (candy, cakes, Ice Cream) after a week or so I dont really miss them. When I go through periods where I eat a lot of those things- I find I want more. So if that is not an addiction then I dont know what is.

    This is true for me too, and I'd say it's a habit.

    In particular, what I found after experimenting with cutting out added sugar and with cutting out snacking is that if I got out of the habit of snacking (which was most of the opportunity I had to eat sugary things, and which would tend to make me overeat even if I snacked but stuck to non sugary things) that I stopped thinking about food at times besides the times normally ate.

    This is why I said it's important to focus on specifics. For a lot of us REDUCING sweets (if you eat a lot) or putting structure on them (only after dinner, only if I've had a day that hits my nutrient goals and I have the calories) can be helpful. For me, what matters is not grazing, not eating unplanned snacks, and generally eating larger balanced meals and not snacking. For others eating nutritious snacks and not getting overly hungry may help more.

    Point is these are the kinds of things that are helpful, not whining about how others don't agree with you that it's an addiction.
    My advice to break your your non-existant "Addiction" is to not have it around the house. There really is no other way.

    This wouldn't have helped me one bit, since it assumes I had it in the house and overate in the house. I actually never kept sweet stuff in the house until I was losing weight (and now it doesn't tempt me at all to have something like ice cream in the refrigerator). I overate sweet stuff due to work or being offered something home-baked or impulse purchases.
    If you know you over-eat something and cannot moderate - then you only choice it to not go near it. This is true of booze or cigarettes or gambling or drugs -- things that become addictions. So while people can argue positives and evils of sugar (and they will) - I would tell you to avoid. Its not like you are going to hurt yourself in any way by giving up foods with large amounts of sugar.

    But you aren't really saying avoid. Lots of foods have sugar (fruit, for example) and aren't a problem for most who have control issues with some sugary things (I used to have big issues moderating home-baked pastries, which have sugar and fat -- cutting out everything with sugar would have been pointless, and same with everything with fat, and same with things with sugar and fat that I wasn't tempted by or had no issues moderating -- I've never struggled with chocolate, for example). If she has trigger foods, identifying them and figuring out how to deal with them is a more specific process than "act as if sugar is alcohol and you are in AA."

    This doesn't even follow from your statement that you want sugar more if you eat a lot of sugary things vs. cutting way back on them. Cutting way back on them perhaps even is what a lot of us would call moderating them. But of course you want to slam the rest of us rather than recognizing that.
  • joycefarmer68
    joycefarmer68 Posts: 29 Member
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    kcmsmith0405 wrote: »
    Eat more protein. I was eating way to much sugar until I upped my protein to 30% - now I find that I can still eat sugar but I can stop and/or pass it up a lot easier. I also discovered that I don't go rooting through the cupboards for sweets anymore which was a common practice for me before. It was an eye opener for me that I could stop the cravings without totally cutting or going low carb.

    I also switched to a sugar/stevia blend for my morning coffee (all the taste, less sugar!) and cut out soda all together.

    Now that is an idea on eating more protein...I am trying the low carb diet it helps since you eat a protein and a fruit with it. Thanks for the tips!

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