Food addiction-Sugar

Inspiring_Sara

I believe that I have a food addiction the only thing I crave mostly is sweets but I find myself mindlessly eating... I wont even realize that I am. Its like once I start I cant stop.

I want to hear from fellow/former food addicts
Any advice?
What helped you?

angie007az

I'm not addicted to sweets, just salty items. I switched to baked chips. I also measure all nuts and snacks to 1/4 cup servings.

Inspiring_Sara

Yeah My issue is too that I am allergic to all nuts...treenuts and peanuts. Also shellfish.

drcain

I am more of a grazer and would prefer to eat all day long. I just started with chewing on gum throughout the day...nothing tastes as good after having the mint taste in your mouth

jmarcin78

I do not keep anything sugary or salty a la junk food in my house. I cannot. I will eat it. One serving bags? Nope, I will eat every single on of those bags. The only thing that works for me is to NOT keep them in the house. I know this may not be the best strategy for everyone, but it works for me. I have absolutely no self control when it comes to stuff junk food. So it is best to just cut off the supply completely.

Inspiring_Sara

See my issue right now is that my boyfriend keeps this stuff in the house and has not interest eating healthy so I cant keep it out but I will have to try the gum thing!

Acg67

I believe that I have a food addiction the only thing I crave mostly is sweets but I find myself mindlessly eating... I wont even realize that I am. Its like once I start I cant stop.

I want to hear from fellow/former food addicts
Any advice?
What helped you?

I learned to stop making excuses ie "sugar addiction" and buckled down and stuck to a diet

mamahannick

Both hard mint candies and gum are good distractions. They give you a little something sweet with minimal calories and occupy your mouth from mindless eating.

TX_Rhon

See my issue right now is that my boyfriend keeps this stuff in the house and has not interest eating healthy so I cant keep it out but I will have to try the gum thing!

Is he is twisting your arm and making you eat it? I hate to sound all 80's cliché but Just Say No!

I have 2 teenagers. I cannot blame my bad choices on the fact I keep food in my house for them.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Keep fruit in the house to feed your sweet tooth...?

DamePiglet

This girl thinks she has an addiction, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG1bB-nztOk&list=RDGG1bB-nztOk

It's really quite sad.

MapleFlavouredMaiden

I think the whole "sugar addiction" thing is a bunch of baloney. They used to vilify fat, now it's sugar. People love having something to blame. The best advice I can give you is to just not have trigger foods in the house if you are prone to bingeing. But don't eliminate them completely or you'll go nuts. There's no reason to be super restrictive if you're staying under your calorie limit.

quietair

I was addicted to soda. Four or five cans a day addicted. So, I switched to tea first, full sugar. Then I started paring the sugar content down and drinking it until it tasted sweet to me again. Once I got to 1/2 cup sugar in a gallon of tea, I was good. I think that ended up like 50 calories per pint Mason jar. I didn't use sweeteners because I wanted to try to learn how to like less sweet things rather than use sweeteners to keep up a level of sweetness that wasn't healthy for me anyway, you know?

I don't know how you'd accomplish this with food, but when I get a chocolate craving, I go to the local cake store, buy 1 or 2 cake pops, eat them, and immediately go next door to walk around the museum for an hour or so. To oversimplify, what works for me is to sate the craving with something small and flavorful, then immediately shift my focus to something else and get a little exercise while doing it. Hope that helps in some way!

(Edit: I should also mention I'm not doing this everyday, maybe once a week, and I don't even like soda anymore. I'd say its ok to keep the stuff around the house, just not in quantities that will wreck your progress, you know?)

quietair

I think the whole "sugar addiction" thing is a bunch of baloney. They used to vilify fat, now it's sugar. People love having something to blame. The best advice I can give you is to just not have trigger foods in the house if you are prone to bingeing. But don't eliminate them completely or you'll go nuts. There's no reason to be super restrictive if you're staying under your calorie limit.

Good advice, especially about having easy access to trigger foods. Let me tell you about the entire large pizza I ate after one week of eating healthy...lol

TheWorstHorse

I love sweet stuff, I ate it without thinking and when I went without it, I seemed to crave it. I still have sweets once in a while, but I know when I am eating it and where it fits in. Here's what I did that worked.

Cravings are tough but only for a couple of weeks, but they are mostly mental habit and they come and go, so with a little time, it gets a lot easier. How to get through the first couple of weeks? First, ask your boyfriend to store his sweet stuff in a private place so you have to ask for it if you want it. Second, log everything you eat. Third, if you have one particular sweet habit (mine was having a cookie along with the coffee I bought most mornings) drop it right now.

The combination of having to ask for it, logging everything so you see it, and dropping one habit to prove to yourself that you can will help you build better eating habits and free you from the demon sugar.

YearsWorthOfFAT

I plan out meals (i don't do it too strictly, though. If i planned a pb sandwhich but end up wanting ham instead, i'll just get ham)
So i won't have the problem of being hungry.
Just try to realize you should stop if you're walking to the kitchen cabinet again. It's hard to say no though.

kammyrios

I do not keep anything sugary or salty a la junk food in my house. I cannot. I will eat it. One serving bags? Nope, I will eat every single on of those bags. The only thing that works for me is to NOT keep them in the house. I know this may not be the best strategy for everyone, but it works for me. I have absolutely no self control when it comes to stuff junk food. So it is best to just cut off the supply completely.

^^^This^^^ sorry pushed the button too soon. I went for a week one time eating NOTHING BUT SWEETS! Nothing else.... I could do that again.....

TX_Rhon

This girl thinks she has an addiction, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG1bB-nztOk&list=RDGG1bB-nztOk

It's really quite sad.

Dear Lord! I was at work!!!! But wow.........poor thing. She does have an ad****ion!

czardastx

See my issue right now is that my boyfriend keeps this stuff in the house and has not interest eating healthy so I cant keep it out but I will have to try the gum thing!

I ask my wife to hide her sweets. She's welcome to them, all of them she wants. But I don't want to have the added temptation of having them on the counter or in the cupboard where I can see them. Occasionally I'll ask her to share. But in all reality I know where she hides them, but I can resist if it's out of sight, out of mind. Maybe try something like that with your boyfriend?

Holly_Roman_Empire

I do not keep anything sugary or salty a la junk food in my house. I cannot. I will eat it. One serving bags? Nope, I will eat every single on of those bags. The only thing that works for me is to NOT keep them in the house. I know this may not be the best strategy for everyone, but it works for me. I have absolutely no self control when it comes to stuff junk food. So it is best to just cut off the supply completely.

Why not try to teach yourself some self-control? That's what it's going to take in the long run. You can't make everything out of sight, out of mind.

quietair

Maybe "addiction" is a buzzword in this respect and the sugar cravings aren't truly addiction, but the food reward cycle is tough to break, and I'd argue it resembles an addiction. I might respectfully argue that someone new to this would benefit from not having the temptation around and someone more seasoned would have more self-control or coping mechanisms available to deny satisfying those urges. That seems to be what has worked for me so far, and I have less and less cravings and can deal with them more easily than I could 45-ish days ago. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Wtn_Gurl

yeah me too i had a sugar addiction and believe me, it will begin again if i start putting desserts/sweets/soda pop /and snacks in my mouth (cookies, cake, brownies, muffins, bakery etc)

I decided to give up all those snacky desserts. it took about 2 weeks and the cravings went away.

I do not suggest weaning yourself because once you take a taste, it wont help. you have to really not eat it at all.

try it for 2 weeks going without those things, and see if it will help.. But you have to make some kind of effort. just say no. and stay away from it.

if you do this, and you subsitute other things instead, it helps. For me Fage yogurt does the trick.. its protein so its filling for some reason, and even though it has some jam in it, its not major and seems to help when i want something sweet.

so yeah, i could get tempted, but i choose not to eat that stuff.

other people who dont have food addictions might be ok eating cookies and stuff, but for me a sugar addict, its beter to not eat it.

Wtn_Gurl

I think the whole "sugar addiction" thing is a bunch of baloney. They used to vilify fat, now it's sugar. People love having something to blame. The best advice I can give you is to just not have trigger foods in the house if you are prone to bingeing. But don't eliminate them completely or you'll go nuts. There's no reason to be super restrictive if you're staying under your calorie limit.

No, its true. I can tell its an addiction when I am stressed and i go to food to self medicate. Thats actually what a food addiction is, - using food for anything other than fuel for the body.

Its also true when i would eat the food and actually feel a sense of calm come over me. same as when you medicate yourself with other things.

food has a lot of emotional baggage attached if you let it. food can be associated with activities, events, holidays etc. like on thanksgiving, if you said I could have a choice between all the fattening comfort food, vs a meal of lettuce and tomatos, then I'd not choose the lettuce salad.

But i do believe as an adult, I have the power to change my food choices, so that the most powerful food addiction has no more rule over me. i dont believe i am a victim or helpless to change. Thats why I am here losing weight, not making food rule over me.

Inspiring_Sara

I find some of your completely insensitive and hurtful. I didn't ask if you believed in food addiction I asked for fellow addicts or people for advice. Do your research everything you put in your body makes your body react... I don't want anymore replies. thank you to the ones that gave advice I appreciate it
TO THE NEGATIVE PEOPLE: this is a site to help and motivate people not to tear them down and make them feel like that can't post a forum bc it might not exactly go by what you believe. I completely understand not being able to tempt yourself and for you to tell somebody they need self control is wrong.
Apparently you guys do to if you cant even ignore one post that goes against your standard of thinking.
Food Addiction is real its very real they have done studies where foods high in sugar and other addictive ingredients have the same chemical reaction as meth and heroine. Not excuses they actually have detox/rehab programs for it. so again don't be judgmental and if you have something negative to say just please take it to a different forum I am just a girl trying to get some help.

claptrap_beepboop

I think the whole "sugar addiction" thing is a bunch of baloney. They used to vilify fat, now it's sugar. People love having something to blame. The best advice I can give you is to just not have trigger foods in the house if you are prone to bingeing. But don't eliminate them completely or you'll go nuts. There's no reason to be super restrictive if you're staying under your calorie limit.

Not true. Sugar actually stimulates dopamine release in the brain which causes it to become addictive in many cases.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15987666

claptrap_beepboop

Don't let them get to you. You are doing the first thing you can, which is asking for help. Some people do not even get that far.

Inspiring_Sara

Thank you I find it ridiculous that people that can say its not real I know first hand.
for me I know food has a lot of emotional baggage bc its like once a take a bite of anything my body is like OH I WANT THIS AND THIS AND THIS and before I know it I have eaten well over my calories for a day in setting.

Wtn_Gurl

Maybe "addiction" is a buzzword in this respect and the sugar cravings aren't truly addiction, but the food reward cycle is tough to break, and I'd argue it resembles an addiction. I might respectfully argue that someone new to this would benefit from not having the temptation around and someone more seasoned would have more self-control or coping mechanisms available to deny satisfying those urges. That seems to be what has worked for me so far, and I have less and less cravings and can deal with them more easily than I could 45-ish days ago. Your mileage may vary, of course.

yeah i can agree to that. what i do is have a piece of fruit. That takes the place of desserts for me. I know I could lose MORE weight by going very low carb (a very low carb diet that ispopular these days),, but that would be too hard for me, and i believe i can do it with moderately low carb. I mean, why live life 12 months where i have to sacrifice some eating pleasure. so i mean we have to find something to substitute for the cravings.

Wtn_Gurl

Thank you I find it ridiculous that people that can say its not real I know first hand.
for me I know food has a lot of emotional baggage bc its like once a take a bite of anything my body is like OH I WANT THIS AND THIS AND THIS and before I know it I have eaten well over my calories for a day in setting.

yeah! food is like crack to a crack addict. the more you eat the more you want.

there were times when I had to eat my daily bakery pastry or even two, and also what i ate during the day (1-2 desserts like that) and the next day, i wanted more,, so it seemed like an endless need for sweets. so when i chose to stop feeding myself that stuff, i was able to STOP craving it. so i cannot do everything in moderation for that kind of food. really but you have to find something else to replace it. so fruit is it for me. coz its sweet,, some people would say dont even eat fruit coz its sweet, but for now that is working for me.

greentart

Mind/matter. This 'addiction'? Its how you've trained your body so far in life. When you have a craving for something salty, your mind immediately goes to chips because that's what you've always done before hand. Have a sweet craving and head for the ice cream? Again, its what you've always done in the past so its what you mind automatically thinks when you have a craving.

Go cold turkey. It took about 3 weeks for my cravings to go away, and when I DID have cravings, I replaced them with healthy items. Now I crave fruit and veggies instead of processed junk.

As far as having it in the house, I buy my boyfriend unhealthy snacks because he likes them. I don't eat them. YOU'RE the one in charge of your body, your mind, and your cravings. It really comes down to willpower, and how badly you actually want to eat healthy and lose the weight.

Only YOU can eat the food, just as only YOU can say no to the food. Sorry, don't use your boyfriend as an excuse for your crappy eating habits.

EDIT: Fixed typo.

Josh_lol

I have a very similar problem. My house is full of unhealthy food. So I get my own lower-sugar/calorie snacks to snack on to help me keep away from the sweets and cakes. Fruit, ice lollies and sugar-free soda seem to be the best thing to stop me eating them.