Need serious help with SUGAR!!!!
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my sugar issue really had to do with magnesium deficiency,once i started taking supplements i was able to stop with 1.
I still love sweets and eat 1 piece of sweet everyday be it a chocolate,small piece of cake etc.
There are times when i do feel like eating more sweet like during TOM or stress-I pick up fruit in such cases and still stick to my 1 sweet a day rule.
I also found that increased vegetable intake helps the body from craving sweets, i think its all the vitamins in vegetables that make sweets less tasty.I added vegetable juices to my diet and now i get an aversion if i eat too much sweet.Try upping your vegetables and eat them until you are full,it keeps you full and not wanting to eat more.
You know, I have never realized this, but since I have inserted a veggie into every meal, the sweet cravings have been better!0 -
I think I'm in love with all of you!!!
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Yes and YES. I battle too and you have to go cold turkey and never look back. Look at it as a cocaine addiction. Do it once and you are back in your cycle. Trust me. It will take a week or two, but you will notice your whole frame of mind change, you will become more peaceful and the cravings will go away. That means the white breads and stuff like that too. Don't even go there.
No. A cocaine addiction is a physical dependence. Sugar is absolutely not. It's a psychological habit.
Treating something that is not a physical dependence as one is not the correct way to proceed.0 -
It's not an addiction. It's a habit, albeit a pretty deeply ingrained one if this has been lifelong behavior.
I beg to differ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceFyF9px20Y Unless you can provide more scientific evidence than is shown here. Those stating that sugar doesn't have addictive qualities, I would love to see your scientific proof of studies that have been done.
aaaaaand to prepare for what replies ensue after this...
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A tablespoon of sugar is only 45 calories.You need to stop eating fatty foods with sugar in them. Just sayin.0
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fructose turns to fat!
keep your sugar intake to 10%!!!!!
skullshank and joanne moniz
Is this, like, a preemptive strike as a joke?0 -
1) Long term I think it will make you give up the attempt to change if you say "I'll just never eat sweets again". That's just not realistic since you obviously enjoy them so much.I have battled sweets all my life. It wasn't so bad when I was in my teens and eating a bag of oreos because I was skinny!! Now I'm FAT. 5'3 and 185lbs AND almost 50! I am a sugar-aholic. I love cookies, donuts, cakes, brownies, not just one piece and walk happily away either. I have to eat it until they are done.
I am worse now than I have ever been. Being a stress eater doesn't help since my job is very stressful and there is crap to eat everywhere!!
I've tried just limiting myself to a "serving" so I get my sweets without feeling deprived but it never seems to work.
Do I quit cold turkey?? Is this to be looked at as any other addiction?
Thank you all in advance.
2) Since you are a stress eater, the biggest first positive change you could make is to have good alternatives immediately at hand...on your desk, in your desk drawer, etc. Instead of grabbing a donut, grab an apple...grab some celery sticks with a little bit of peanut butter..
3) As part of my "long term change" thinking, I am committed to exercising more. I don't eat ALL of them back...but I do eat back a good chunk of my exercise calories and they tend to be on "bad" food...something that is higher-fat, higher-sugar etc. that I *like*. My job is to end up healther overall but I am not going to switch to a rabbit diet. The occasional ice cream bar or donut isn't making me fat...it's the consistent overeating...too many calories in and not enough out. Look for ways to add additional activity every single day. Park farther from the front door at the office. Take the stairs. If you can do a face to face meeting instead of phone/email/IM, do that.
4) Since it's unrealistic to think you'll permanently give up sweets, try not to eat very many PRE-made sweets. Instead cook them yourself and make them healthier. One easy way to make your brownies less fatty and add some protein is to replace the cooking oils with a mixture of approximately 1 cup of water and 1 can of pureed black beans. It SOUNDS awful but trust me...it's not. These have been served to teenagers who ate them and didn't balk at any "funny taste"...the cocoa completely masks the beans and they add plenty of moisture so you don't need the oil.
5) When you DO have sweets, focus on choosing ones that are a little lower fat/lower calorie. Instead of milk chocolate, do dark most of the time. Twizzlers are a (relatively) low-calorie sweet. Hard candy over chewy candy (because you can suck on a single piece of hard candy for a long time...sometimes a serving of those is 3 pieces for around 100 calories and that might last two hours).
6) Drink water as you're snacking to fill yourself up more. In many cases, we THINK we're hungry when really the body just wants more water. Give the body what it wants and it will take care of you.0 -
JOIN US! I wondered if I could go 40 Days and 40 Nights without sugar, one of my MFP friends challenged me to try, then a few more joined in . . . I'm sending invitations to some of you. If I miss you and you'd like to join, message me and I'll invite you too.
GOOD NEWS: It IS possible to give up sweets. I failed on Day 38 of my first attempt, so had to start over . . . I have another 18 days to go on this run.
BAD NEWS: Sweets cravings do not go away for everyone. I like sweets and I want to eat them. In the last 60 Days, I've had a maraschino cherry (I was going to let that slide with a penalty) and three chocolate truffles (clearly a failure on my part) - but I still crave them on a daily. It gets a bit easier after the first few days, but they're ALWAYS there in the background.0 -
I highly recommend the 21 Day Sugar Detox. It's a book written by Diane Sanfilippo. This is her website: http://balancedbites.com/21dsd. I'm on day 18 and I can't believe how my cravings for sugar and carbs have all but disappeared without "suffering".
Lol, why are their fruits and veggies and other sugars allowed on this detox, because they are "good" sugars?0 -
Show me someone that goes through withdrawal symptoms similar to drug or alcohol addicts and watch them be "detoxed" and then MAYBE i will consider food addiction a real thing.
^^This! I know addicts that have died detoxing from actual drugs...never have I ever heard of someone dying from not having sugar!
No one ever died from compulsory pulling out their hair, or chewing their fingernails. The fact is that there are "things" that can be just a "addicting" and just as difficult to deal with or stop as drugs and alcohol. Have you ever seen someone tight in the grips of Anorexia or OCD? Would you preach to them how the thing ruining their lives is "all in their head" and not an "addiction?" Psychological issues can be far more binding and powerful than drugs - often times psychological issues are the underlying WHY when someone begins an addiction. There is a feeling of helplessness so someone starts hoarding dogs, a lack of control in your life, but you can throw up every day, there is pain held inside that you can't let the world see, but a quick slice to the skin relieves that tension. Perhaps their issue seems to you, to be easily dealt with, but vica versa an issue that seems insurmountable to you might be swept aside by another. Don't belittle someones struggle, you have no idea the challenges that they face, nor the pain in their lives.0 -
Cutting out sugar cold turkey is just asking for failure, if you ask me. I used to cut out so many things from my diet cold turkey, believing that it would be better for me, but it wasn't. I began to feel restricted and unhappy; eventually, I just gave up altogether - dieting, exercising, everything! Now, on my third or fourth time around using myfitnesspal, I allow myself to have sweets and sugar, just as long as it fits my macros. Everything in MODERATION!
Sugar = carbohydrate!0 -
What really helped me was to learn to pause, just for one minute and ask myself, " is this an emotional need, or is it a physical desire". I have tried quitting sugar cold turkey many, many times, which did produce a positive result for a while but I ended up in a far worse place when I just had a serving of something sweet during the sugar-free lifestyle.
If you really feel that you can permanently quit cold turkey, I take my hat off to you, and anyone else that has done it. It did not work for me and I had to find another way of dealing with it. Here is what I did:
1. I took supplementation seriously. In my experience, if there are any deficiencies in my diet, I crave all kinds of crap. One of the posters in this thread suggested potassium. I think they are on to something. Find out where you are lacking.
2. Up your protein intake - the good kind will keep you feeling fuller for longer. Log your current calories on MFP and find out what your current number is, and what your ideal number should be.
3. How is your exercise? Your endorphin levels are stimulated by exercise and the wonderful thing about the brain’s natural narcotics is that they give you the feelings of well-being without the unpleasant side effects. So, when you feel a carbo craving coming on, go take a brisk walk outside instead of running to the refrigerator. Do this often enough and you’ll find yourself craving the exercise rather than the sweet snack.
4. Consider a career change if at all feasible, or if not, can you find ways of reducing your stress levels at work?
5. Finally, if you have checked all the boxes, done all you can to build and sustain your physical and mental well-being and decided that you really do want that donut, eat it slowly, mindfully and gratefully. Appreciate what it is doing for you rather than wishing it never happened. It is just a donut after all. Just make sure that your indulgence is premeditated and deliberate and love yourself with every bite.
If you take the all-or-none approach, you will experience both in miserable measures. It is like tying to get to an optimal home temperature by adjusting a freezing thermostat to boiling and then boiling to freezing until you break the thermostat. Slow and controlled is the way to adjust. Don't expect your habits to change overnight.
Be Well!0 -
fructose turns to fat!
keep your sugar intake to 10%!!!!!
skullshank and joanne moniz
Bull ****!!!0 -
i feel your pain. I am a chocoholic myself (i love chocolate) . it's hard but you have to control it. whenever i feel for a piece of chocolate, i grab some carrot sticks, celery sticks and peanut butter (jiffy has to go cups for dipping). if you don't like carrots, use apple slices and eat it with or without the peanut butter. or have carrot sticks with some hummus (my personal fav is sabra olive oil and rosemary)0
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Show me someone that goes through withdrawal symptoms similar to drug or alcohol addicts and watch them be "detoxed" and then MAYBE i will consider food addiction a real thing.
^^This! I know addicts that have died detoxing from actual drugs...never have I ever heard of someone dying from not having sugar!
No one ever died from compulsory pulling out their hair, or chewing their fingernails. The fact is that there are "things" that can be just a "addicting" and just as difficult to deal with or stop as drugs and alcohol. Have you ever seen someone tight in the grips of Anorexia or OCD? Would you preach to them how the thing ruining their lives is "all in their head" and not an "addiction?" Psychological issues can be far more binding and powerful than drugs - often times psychological issues are the underlying WHY when someone begins an addiction. There is a feeling of helplessness so someone starts hoarding dogs, a lack of control in your life, but you can throw up every day, there is pain held inside that you can't let the world see, but a quick slice to the skin relieves that tension. Perhaps their issue seems to you, to be easily dealt with, but vica versa an issue that seems insurmountable to you might be swept aside by another. Don't belittle someones struggle, you have no idea the challenges that they face, nor the pain in their lives.
Lack of self control =/= addiction0 -
I don't usually recommend that. But if it is truely as bad as you say it is in the OP. You may have to try and quit cold turkey. Nothing anyone says her here is going to help you. This will have to be something you do for yourself.0
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Wow everybody and their brother has a opinion on here!! Even throwing their certifications around. It is an addiction (food in general, not just sugar) not any different from a drug user or alcoholic except you have to have food to live. You go cold turkey and after a few days the cravings start going down, but once you cheat you start all over with cravings, it's different for everyone but there is no such thing as moderation for me, moderation turns into a free for all, you give me an oreo you might as well hand me a shovel to get the whole pack to my mouth faster. Don't care who says it isn't an addiction, it is for some people. I eat all I want and don't track any of it, but all I eat is fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds and beans,and I am losing weight steadily, keeping my addiction at bay. So commence the *kitten* chewing!0
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I have this same issue! What I found is if I drink my special tea, my craving is satisfied! Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Tea, either hot or cold.0
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Wow everybody and their brother has a opinion on here!! Even throwing their certifications around. It is an addiction not any different from a drug user or alcoholic. You go cold turkey and after a few days the cravings start going down, but once you cheat you start all over with cravings, it's different for everyone but there is no such thing as moderation for me, moderation turns into a free for all, you give me an oreo you might as well hand me a shovel to get the whole pack to my mouth faster. Don't care who says it isn't an addiction, it is for some people. I eat all I want and don't track any of it, but all I eat is fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds and beans,and I am losing weight steadily, keeping my addiction at bay.
You don't have self discipline when it comes to certain things, it's not an addiction. Do you get physically sick when you don't eat certain things? No. You want them, but you don't have a physical need for them.
I like Peanut Butter cups. I will eat as many as i please if i have them around. Does that mean i'm addicted to them? Not at all. I just don't care to follow moderation with them.0
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