Hello from a sugar addict!

Sooz4001
Sooz4001 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 19 in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone, I'm Sooz and I've joined MFP to track my eating and to cut down on sugar for 4 weeks leading up to a wedding (not mine!). I'm a total sugar addict and over the weekend I ate a whole swiss roll over two days on my own - the shame! Plus a few other sweet things....

I've tried many many times to cut out sweets and actually managed it a few years ago, and felt slim and fantastic. However, I fell off the wagon and since then haven't been able to stick to it. I'm hoping that with the support of MFP I'll be able to stick to it. Is anyone else trying to do this?

Replies

  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Sugar addiction is not a real thing. Make life changes that you can keep in the long run. Can you imagine living the rest of your life without ever having anything sweets?
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    ldavisvt wrote: »
    Heroin is a white crystalline substance derived from morphine. Sugar, is a white crystalline substance most often refined from genetically modified sugar cane. Both are highly addictive, brain altering, and quickly alter and bind to u-opioid and beta endorphin receptors which produce the infamous "euphoric" effect. An overdose or continued consumption of heroine could be fatal. Likewise, continuous consumption of sugar contributes to the leading causes of American deaths including heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and inflammatory disorders.
    I feel your pain as I love sweets too. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!! One day at a time!

    Did you just compare sugar to heroine?
  • jbirdgreen
    jbirdgreen Posts: 569 Member
    edited July 2017
    I am going off sugar too, and it does suck. Hubby and I have been trying for about a year to conceive with no luck. Got an ultrasound recently and it turns out that my ovaries look like I have PCOS, which can cause you to be infertile. My doctor's solution, and a solution found in one of my alternative medicine books, is low carbs or complex carbs only, which means absolutely no sugar.

    I was devastated because I love sweets, I am a really good baker. I bake as a side business/hobby, and my kitchen and pantry are full of baking ingredients (chocolate chips, different white flours, extracts, cookie butters/spreads, peanut butter w/ sugar) that I won't really get to use while I'm sugar free. I actually got a little depressed -- I had an MRI for a pituitary tumor at the same time (came back negative), and I actually wished for a minute that I had the tumor because that was treatable with medicine. So yeah, sugar is addictive. SMH.

    I had a false start last week -- I didn't have time to prep meals and I had a huge order of cookies (and I made an extra "taster" cookie for myself) -- but I am going to really put more effort into this this week. I've meal prepped this week to make sure that I don't go off the rails this week. Oatmeal for breakfast, salads w/homemade dressing for lunch, and beans/brown rice or cauliflower rice for dinner (I'm vegetarian).
  • marygregory714
    marygregory714 Posts: 2 Member
    Sugar cravings are so real
    I'm starting today with my bf his nearly 6stone over weight and I'm 3stone over and we both love having sweets and pudding after dinner.
    It's certainly a Journey trying to stop when there are so many temptations around us!!
    Good luck in your journey hope you do really well.
    Remember one bad day doesn't mean you have failed, keep going, keep trying x
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited July 2017
    A thread y'all might want to read to gain some insight:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10548746/sugar-addiction-myths/p1
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  • jbirdgreen
    jbirdgreen Posts: 569 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    ldavisvt wrote: »
    Heroin is a white crystalline substance derived from morphine. Sugar, is a white crystalline substance most often refined from genetically modified sugar cane. Both are highly addictive, brain altering, and quickly alter and bind to u-opioid and beta endorphin receptors which produce the infamous "euphoric" effect. An overdose or continued consumption of heroine could be fatal. Likewise, continuous consumption of sugar contributes to the leading causes of American deaths including heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and inflammatory disorders.
    I feel your pain as I love sweets too. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!! One day at a time!
    I know all the folks claiming to be "sugar addicts" will love that. But it is not true science. The body knows not the difference between the sugar you sprinkle on your cereal, the sugar in an apple, or the sugar your liver converts from the protein in your hamburger. White crystallized sugar has been around for centuries, long before people were claiming to be addicted to it. It was called "sukkar", an arabic word for sugar.

    I don't think it is on the same level as heroin, but I do think there is an addictive quality to sugar. Science may not agree yet, but anecdotally I do think that there is something to it being an addiction, or at the very least a very bad and stubborn habit. Thank you so much for breaking down the science; it's very insightful.

    OAN, American tastebuds (like mine) have been conditioned to think that EVERYTHING should be sweet. If you go into the grocery stores and start reading labels, every processed ingredient has a form of sugar in it --even *kitten* that shouldn't even have sugar in it. Ketchup? sugar. Peanut butter? sugar. Bread? Sugar. Veggie Burger? Sugar. Salad dressing? Sugar. Spaghetti sauce? sugar. When your brain is wired like that, cutting it out feels damn near impossible.

    Sorry for the kittens (expletives) -- maybe it's the withdrawals ;-).
  • heart31pa
    heart31pa Posts: 4 Member
    I crave sweets, not soda...i can live with just a diet soda once or twice a week. It's the pastries, chocolates, cookies and ice cream that are my weaknesses. I'm a type 2 diabetic so it's not good for me. My last A1C was 7.0 so it's alot better than it was when I was first diagnosed and it was 11.0. I started MFP July 1st and haven't had any of those things so we'll see. Wish me luck!
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I think we need to distinguish between products that have unnecessary added sugar (I will give you peanut butter on that score) and those where it's just part of the recipe. For example, most salad dressing recipes I come across contain some sweetener, whether it be sugar, honey, orange juice, etc.

    As does homemade ketchup.

    A small bit of sugar is usually needed in bread to proof the yeast. I've had homemade challahs that contain additional. Or honey. I'd say, if the sugar is high in the ingredients list, it's cause for concern. Its being on the label in any capacity? Not so much.

    Veggie burgers are actually pretty low sugar; at least the brands I buy:

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    I'd put spaghetti sauces with salad dressings: some sugar isn't uncommon. http://www.laurengreutman.com/frugal-pasta-sauce-recipe-using-hunts-crushed-tomatoes/ particularly if you're using canned tomato products, as opposed to picked out of your backyard garden and immediately put in the pot.



  • sugarstrawberries
    sugarstrawberries Posts: 140 Member
    edited July 2017
    Personally, it's real. It's not a physiological addiction but psychological. You can be called psychologically addicted to anything if it impedes your life. Heroin does not compare because it is a physiological addiction. Cocaine would be a better analogy. http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/is-cocaine-addictive.html

    My own example: I hadn't eaten anything with processed sugar in a few days since I am trying to break the binge habit. When I got to work, there were cookie bars sitting on my desk as a treat from a coworker. I immediately wanted to devour them, but I had to put them away, out of my sight for the rest of the day, in a completely different container than in which they came. Only when I couldn't stop thinking about them at the end of my day, completely bored (and also hungry but aware this would do nothing for my hunger), did I eat one. Immediately after I was finished with it, my brain went, "Great! What sugary binge stuff are we going to stop for on the way home?"

    There are other types of addicts who *can* indulge every so often because they understand that it is a psychological stronghold that they can overcome.
  • Lefty1290
    Lefty1290 Posts: 551 Member
    Oh, the sugar struggle is definitely real.

    Cutting processed carbs (I rarely eat cereal, granola bars, or frozen meals anymore) and eating more healthy fat has balanced my diet and helped me moderate my sweet tooth. Now, I can turn them down or stop myself where before, my brain screamed, "More! More!" and I would binge and feel guilty.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    ldavisvt wrote: »
    Sugar, is a white crystalline substance most often refined from genetically modified sugar cane.

    Sugar cane is NOT genetically modified.

    So, all white crystals are addicting? Stay away from the salt then too. Oh, and you might want to stop taking mineral supplements because most are crystalline substances in their purified form.

    Sugar is not addicting. It is a highly palatable food. If you find your self snorting it, discuss your lack of impulse control with a therapist.

  • lpina2mi
    lpina2mi Posts: 425 Member
    Another MFPer recommended this video. Although the focus is on carbs v fat, midway through there is a brain scan that is quite enlightening. https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2017/03/11/dr-david-ludwig-high-carb-vs-low-carb-vs-slow-carb-diets/
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