Runner with a serious sugar addiction
Replies
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This will more than likely start a HUGE thread of discussions/debate/fighting because some people believe moderation is the key and some believe that refraining.
One way to resolve this would be to try both - give both approaches a try flip a coin to choose which one first.
You don't know until you give them a go.0 -
You can't be impulsive with your diet no matter how much you run. Be responsible for yourself and moderate your sugar/chocolate, or don't. It's that simple.0
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Sugar isn't an ADDICTION. It would be unmanageable to "moderately" consume something someone is addicted to which is why alcoholics have to stay away from alcohol, cocaine addicts have to stay away from cocaine, etc. It's very palatable which is why many have a hard time giving it up or severely reducing it. But sugar is needed in the body so it's processed in the body one way or the other.
I think the best approach is to learn how eat what treats you like, but don't go overboard rather than abstaining completely from them. I've had way better results with clients maintaining weight loss with moderation approach, than from strict/abstinence approach.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
If you'd told me a year and a half ago that sugar wasn't an addiction, I would have taken you down and pelted you with cupcakes. But then I went to a treatment program for binge eating disorder and the first thing they told me was that there is no such thing.
WHAT?
After a week of treatment I was eating a regular sized portion of Oreos (3 cookies) and stopped eating 1200 calories of huge cupcakes at a time. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a behavior addiction. I would classify it as a behavioral problem. CBT and DBT for the win!
Most of the time I just move along when I see people talking about their sugar addiction but I felt like putting my two cents in today. I agree to disagree with people who believe it is a true addiction.0 -
Self control is a muscle, you have to start building it in small steps.
Knock it on the head for a bit. Don't buy it! Have it now and again, and count it, put it in your allowance. Small pieces will be good.
If it creeps up again, refrain for a few days.
I'm like this with wine, and chocolate. I'm not giving either of them up, they are small pleasures that I enjoy, no way do they rule my life anymore. Having them stops me obsessing on them.0 -
How many calories per day are you eating? Running marathons requires a LOT of carbohydrate.
The reason why I ask is that before you diagnose yourself with "sugar addiction" - you need to check you're actually eating enough food to sustain your body and your activity levels, including either a realistic assessment of your activity factor (if you're using the TDEE - x% method) or you're accurately calculating and eating back your exercise calories (if you're using the MFP method), Strong cravings for carbohydrates is most often caused by not actually eating enough food, and this is a normal, healthy survival response that evolved to stop our evolutionary ancestors starving to death because they didn't know what a calorie was or how many they should eat in a day.
Even if you're obese, you still need to eat enough to sustain your body and activity levels. If you're running marathons then you can't be obese enough to be able to get away with more than a 20% deficit. If you're also mentally exaggerating how much fat you have on your body (as many women do) and really your body fat percentage is in the healthy range, your deficit shouldn't be more than 10%. If you're training for and running marathons, then eating at a 20% or 10% deficit is a lot lot lot of calories. If you're not eating lots and lots of food and calories, including lots of carbohydrate, then you're not a sugar addict, you're a normal human who is experiencing strong sugar cravings and bingeing on high calorie food because your body isn't getting enough food/energy. The remedy for that is to eat more. All this going cold turkey from sugary foods will make that problem worse, not better.0 -
Not going to disagree on Behavior Addiction (gambling is a good example). I just wanted to put out there that sugar as a substance isn't an addiction and that people shouldn't think that it is. That's all.
I think something that is tripping us all up in this particular facet of the discussion is that for people who tend to binge on sugary treats (and when I say "sugary treats" I'm talking about foods w/a sugar/fat combo such as cookies, chocolate bars, or ice cream), it matters little whether or not it is behavior-driven, substance-driven, both, or neither. The scientists may be overly concerned with these details (as they should be), but the people practicing compulsive behavior could give two hoots about the minute discrepancies and semantics. This insight is important when doling out advice to them.
Sugary/fatty treats or Salty/fatty treats may not ACTUALLY be an addictive substance (though remember - that has not been proven yet and some studies are heavily leaning toward demonstrating that they are), but they still often ACT like and MASK themselves as addictive substances for many, many people. Thus, the solution for dealing with this particular problem is more often than not different than it'd be for the typical person.
I say this because if it were merely "behavior addiction" then theoretically I should have been able to "learn to control myself" with things like cupcakes/ben and jerry's/harry and david's moose munch, for example even though I went to counseling and weight watchers and took prozac and read books and journaled and prayed and wished and hoped and tried moderation and tried everything under the sun for 10 years....but could NEVER conquer it. Even after attending Overeaters Anonymous and learning moderation with a host of other foods that used to trip me up....I just COULD NOT control myself with the sugary treats.
For me, personally, I had to THINK of sugary treats like an addictive substance (whether it was or not). Once I did this, the fog lifted from my brain and everything began to fall into place (mentally and emotionally). The Twelve Steps of OA suddenly made sense. Abstinence from those treats became the most powerful tool I ever wielded in my life. When done right and understood properly, it is not "restriction" and does not "tempt" you to eat more. It eradicated my cravings and I never suffered from them again. I subsequently learned I was actually quite a disciplined person and proceed to lose about 68 lbs in less than one year.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is... while it's good to point out that science has not PROVEN whether sugar/fat combos are actually addictive, we should still listen carefully to folks indicating they are having compulsive problems with these foods, be careful not to dismiss them, and suggest that they try one of two methods for overcoming these compulsions: either Moderation OR Abstinence - and leave that up to that person to determine which works for themselves. Both methods have been proven to work for people - it's just a matter of which type you are.
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In a way this is right.I say grow up. You're not 6 anymore. You can't be impulsive with your diet no matter how much you run. Be responsible for yourself and moderate your sugar/chocolate, or don't. It's that simple.
I have to talk to myself like this or my life is one big misery.
I can't stand even weighing more than 130lb. It makes me feel AWFUL.
It gets easier, particularly with a site like MFP.0 -
Afternoon all,
This is my first post on here, after a while of feeling pretty horrible about myself I wanted to share my thoughts and to hopefully receive some words of wisdom! I'm in a bit of a strange situation and would really love to know if any of you have shared this kind of experience.
I've always thought of myself as "big", even when I weighed less than I do now, partly because of my height (I'm 5"11). In 2010 I managed to lose 2 1/2 stone through Weightwatchers but now, despite doing way more exercise than I was back then, my weight has crept back up again. I'm currently 13 stone 8 lbs.
I started running in 2011 and have signed up for my first marathon at the end of this year (a terrifying prospect), however I definitely don't have the typical runner's physique! My issue is that I'm addicted to sugar, big time. Obviously so much so that it's undoing all the good I'm doing by exercising. Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits. I really feel like it's controlling me and the mid-afternoon cravings are unbearable, I usually end up giving into them rather than saying no. Ideally I'd like to get to a point where I can enjoy the occasional sweet treat (the thought of cutting out sweets for the rest of my life feels quite sad!) without feeling like life has to revolve around my next sugar fix.
Is anyone else going through something similar? Any advice on how to get out of this rut would be much appreciated :-)
Louise
Only way is a zero carb sugar detox
Yad!
Sugar cravings can be a very real thing and very habitual and hard to break.
My advice will be try cutting most of the junk food, especially the ones that trigger the cravings.
Understand that its unlikely you do not have a physical need for the sugar based junk food and more likely a psychological draw (but that's fine it means you can work on that area of equation).
Try cutting it for about a month (it will be tough) but after a month when you feel the cravings are gone or drastically reduced, try re-introducing them in moderation.
You may feel like many that when you are at the point of re-introducing them you actually realise there is sometimes no point based on the nutritional return you get for the calories.
Good luck with however you do it.0 -
I run and so on, on occasion.
I also eat a lot of sugary stuff.
However, I won't eat a sugary treat until I've met my protein goal and without there being enough calories left in the day and enough left that I can have something at 9pm, so I'm not too hungry until I next eat.
In some cases this may mean going for a run purely with the intent of eating some nice food.0 -
Not going to disagree on Behavior Addiction (gambling is a good example). I just wanted to put out there that sugar as a substance isn't an addiction and that people shouldn't think that it is. That's all.
I think something that is tripping us all up in this particular facet of the discussion is that for people who tend to binge on sugary treats (and when I say "sugary treats" I'm talking about foods w/a sugar/fat combo such as cookies, chocolate bars, or ice cream), it matters little whether or not it is behavior-driven, substance-driven, both, or neither. The scientists may be overly concerned with these details (as they should be), but the people practicing compulsive behavior could give two hoots about the minute discrepancies and semantics. This insight is important when doling out advice to them.
And it's also very frequently overlooked that cravings for food can have a purely physiological basis as a normal, healthy response to eating too little.
You can't diagnose someone with a psychological problem unless you've ruled out possible physiological causes for the behaviour in question. Arguing about whether on not psychological addiction to sugar exists is entirely missing the point if the cravings in question are actually caused by undereating.0 -
Chocolate cheerios as a dry snack? Take you longer to eat than jamming it with a spoon and milk (more sensory satisfaction) and the multi-grain dark chocolate crunch cheerios are pretty darned good. For the record, I don't eat cereal often but we got a sample of this so I popped a few.
1 serving:
90 calories
1.5 g total fat (.5 saturated)
110 mg sodium
75 mg potassium
total carbs 20 grams (2 g fiber, 8 g sugar)
2 g protein
My husband assumed these were terrible but they are actually0 -
bump .... in to see what people have to say (without fighting) .0
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Afternoon all,
This is my first post on here, after a while of feeling pretty horrible about myself I wanted to share my thoughts and to hopefully receive some words of wisdom! I'm in a bit of a strange situation and would really love to know if any of you have shared this kind of experience.
I've always thought of myself as "big", even when I weighed less than I do now, partly because of my height (I'm 5"11). In 2010 I managed to lose 2 1/2 stone through Weightwatchers but now, despite doing way more exercise than I was back then, my weight has crept back up again. I'm currently 13 stone 8 lbs.
I started running in 2011 and have signed up for my first marathon at the end of this year (a terrifying prospect), however I definitely don't have the typical runner's physique! My issue is that I'm addicted to sugar, big time. Obviously so much so that it's undoing all the good I'm doing by exercising. Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits. I really feel like it's controlling me and the mid-afternoon cravings are unbearable, I usually end up giving into them rather than saying no. Ideally I'd like to get to a point where I can enjoy the occasional sweet treat (the thought of cutting out sweets for the rest of my life feels quite sad!) without feeling like life has to revolve around my next sugar fix.
Is anyone else going through something similar? Any advice on how to get out of this rut would be much appreciated :-)
Louise
Only way is a zero carb sugar detox
Yad!
Sugar cravings can be a very real thing and very habitual and hard to break.
My advice will be try cutting most of the junk food, especially the ones that trigger the cravings.
Understand that its unlikely you have a physical need for the sugar based junk food and more likely a psychological draw (but that's fine it means you can work on that area of equation).
Try cutting it for about a month (it will be tough) but after a month when you feel the cravings are gone or drastically reduced, try re-introducing them in moderation.
You may feel like many that when you are at the point of re-introducing them you actually realise there is sometimes no point based on the nutritional return you get for the calories.
Good luck with however you do it.
riiiiiiiiiiight so you guys are advising her to do "zero sugar detoxes" and similar without actually checking how much she's eating to begin with?........... no, that's not remotely dangerous advice at all <--- sarcasm
I'm sure psychological addiction to sugary food is real for some people.........but most sugar cravings are a normal physiological response to eating too little, and doing a "zero sugar detox" will make that problem worse, not better.
The first question in this situation should be "how much are you eating?" and if the answer is a number that's not sufficient for training for and running marathons, the answer should be to "eat a lot more"
suggest sugar addiction (which probably does exist as a psychological addiction seeing as you can be psychologically addicted to pretty much anything) only after you're sure they're actually eating enough and that the cravings are not the result of undereating......0 -
Not going to disagree on Behavior Addiction (gambling is a good example). I just wanted to put out there that sugar as a substance isn't an addiction and that people shouldn't think that it is. That's all.
I think something that is tripping us all up in this particular facet of the discussion is that for people who tend to binge on sugary treats (and when I say "sugary treats" I'm talking about foods w/a sugar/fat combo such as cookies, chocolate bars, or ice cream), it matters little whether or not it is behavior-driven, substance-driven, both, or neither. The scientists may be overly concerned with these details (as they should be), but the people practicing compulsive behavior could give two hoots about the minute discrepancies and semantics. This insight is important when doling out advice to them.
And it's also very frequently overlooked that cravings for food can have a purely physiological basis as a normal, healthy response to eating too little.
You can't diagnose someone with a psychological problem unless you've ruled out possible physiological causes for the behaviour in question. Arguing about whether on not psychological addiction to sugar exists is entirely missing the point if the cravings in question are actually caused by undereating.
While I agree with you in theory (and thank you for pointing this out, I'm totally going to add this to what I've been saying), the OP in this particular case said, "Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits." The words, "old habits", to me, indicates this person has been dealing with this issue a long, long time. They also indicated they've always been "big"....so it seems to me that the odds are strong they haven't been "undereating" all these years.
As a compulsive overeater I tend to recognize "signs" in posters on these threads. I always reach out to them in PM's. I've not had a single one tell me I was wrong. I'm not saying I'm perfect or anything. I'm just saying....it's not all in our heads - this stuff is very real.
That being said, I'm glad you said this because it'd be a good first step to first clarify with these folks whether or not this is a problem that just cropped up when they started dieting, or if it's been more of a life-long issue. This would help hone in on the real problem. Thank you, sincerely, for the clarification.0 -
Afternoon all,
This is my first post on here, after a while of feeling pretty horrible about myself I wanted to share my thoughts and to hopefully receive some words of wisdom! I'm in a bit of a strange situation and would really love to know if any of you have shared this kind of experience.
I've always thought of myself as "big", even when I weighed less than I do now, partly because of my height (I'm 5"11). In 2010 I managed to lose 2 1/2 stone through Weightwatchers but now, despite doing way more exercise than I was back then, my weight has crept back up again. I'm currently 13 stone 8 lbs.
I started running in 2011 and have signed up for my first marathon at the end of this year (a terrifying prospect), however I definitely don't have the typical runner's physique! My issue is that I'm addicted to sugar, big time. Obviously so much so that it's undoing all the good I'm doing by exercising. Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits. I really feel like it's controlling me and the mid-afternoon cravings are unbearable, I usually end up giving into them rather than saying no. Ideally I'd like to get to a point where I can enjoy the occasional sweet treat (the thought of cutting out sweets for the rest of my life feels quite sad!) without feeling like life has to revolve around my next sugar fix.
Is anyone else going through something similar? Any advice on how to get out of this rut would be much appreciated :-)
Louise
Only way is a zero carb sugar detox
Yad!
Sugar cravings can be a very real thing and very habitual and hard to break.
My advice will be try cutting most of the junk food, especially the ones that trigger the cravings.
Understand that its unlikely you have a physical need for the sugar based junk food and more likely a psychological draw (but that's fine it means you can work on that area of equation).
Try cutting it for about a month (it will be tough) but after a month when you feel the cravings are gone or drastically reduced, try re-introducing them in moderation.
You may feel like many that when you are at the point of re-introducing them you actually realise there is sometimes no point based on the nutritional return you get for the calories.
Good luck with however you do it.
riiiiiiiiiiight so you guys are advising her to do "zero sugar detoxes" and similar without actually checking how much she's eating to begin with?........... no, that's not remotely dangerous advice at all <--- sarcasm
I'm sure psychological addiction to sugary food is real for some people.........but most sugar cravings are a normal physiological response to eating too little, and doing a "zero sugar detox" will make that problem worse, not better.
The first question in this situation should be "how much are you eating?" and if the answer is a number that's not sufficient for training for and running marathons, the answer should be to "eat a lot more"
suggest sugar addiction (which probably does exist as a psychological addiction seeing as you can be psychologically addicted to pretty much anything) only after you're sure they're actually eating enough and that the cravings are not the result of undereating......
Check my response where have I said zero sugar detox (only an idiot would make that statement).
I'm not even talking all sugar, get your specs on read it properly and see that it says cutting MOST JUNK FOOD.0 -
Afternoon all,
This is my first post on here, after a while of feeling pretty horrible about myself I wanted to share my thoughts and to hopefully receive some words of wisdom! I'm in a bit of a strange situation and would really love to know if any of you have shared this kind of experience.
I've always thought of myself as "big", even when I weighed less than I do now, partly because of my height (I'm 5"11). In 2010 I managed to lose 2 1/2 stone through Weightwatchers but now, despite doing way more exercise than I was back then, my weight has crept back up again. I'm currently 13 stone 8 lbs.
I started running in 2011 and have signed up for my first marathon at the end of this year (a terrifying prospect), however I definitely don't have the typical runner's physique! My issue is that I'm addicted to sugar, big time. Obviously so much so that it's undoing all the good I'm doing by exercising. Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits. I really feel like it's controlling me and the mid-afternoon cravings are unbearable, I usually end up giving into them rather than saying no. Ideally I'd like to get to a point where I can enjoy the occasional sweet treat (the thought of cutting out sweets for the rest of my life feels quite sad!) without feeling like life has to revolve around my next sugar fix.
Is anyone else going through something similar? Any advice on how to get out of this rut would be much appreciated :-)
Louise
How much are you running?
How many base calories do you eat?
Are you eating back your exercise calories?
How many races have you done?0 -
Not going to disagree on Behavior Addiction (gambling is a good example). I just wanted to put out there that sugar as a substance isn't an addiction and that people shouldn't think that it is. That's all.
I think something that is tripping us all up in this particular facet of the discussion is that for people who tend to binge on sugary treats (and when I say "sugary treats" I'm talking about foods w/a sugar/fat combo such as cookies, chocolate bars, or ice cream), it matters little whether or not it is behavior-driven, substance-driven, both, or neither. The scientists may be overly concerned with these details (as they should be), but the people practicing compulsive behavior could give two hoots about the minute discrepancies and semantics. This insight is important when doling out advice to them.
And it's also very frequently overlooked that cravings for food can have a purely physiological basis as a normal, healthy response to eating too little.
You can't diagnose someone with a psychological problem unless you've ruled out possible physiological causes for the behaviour in question. Arguing about whether on not psychological addiction to sugar exists is entirely missing the point if the cravings in question are actually caused by undereating.
While I agree with you in theory (and thank you for pointing this out, I'm totally going to add this to what I've been saying), the OP in this particular case said, "Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits." The words, "old habits", to me, indicates this person has been dealing with this issue a long, long time. They also indicated they've always been "big"....so it seems to me that the odds are strong they haven't been "undereating" all these years.
As a compulsive overeater I tend to recognize "signs" in posters on these threads. I always reach out to them in PM's. I've not had a single one tell me I was wrong. I'm not saying I'm perfect or anything. I'm just saying....it's not all in our heads - this stuff is very real.
That being said, I'm glad you said this because it'd be a good first step to first clarify with these folks whether or not this is a problem that just cropped up when they started dieting, or if it's been more of a life-long issue. This would help hone in on the real problem. Thank you, sincerely, for the clarification.
I'm not saying sugar addiction isn;t real (i.e. a real psychological addiction)... this thread just alarms me greatly because people are telling the OP to do "zero sugar detoxes" and the like without even knowing what she's eating to begin with. If it is the case she's undereating and craving sugar as a direct result of that, then all the advice about sugar detoxes and how to combat cravings and the rest is actually dangerous advice.
even if she's had problems with sugar addiction or complusive overeating prior to this, it doesn't mean that her current cravings etc are not the result of undereating. And in some cases people can be battling both.... if it is both then they first need to be sure they're eating enough so they're only battling the psychological issue0 -
All of the people advising a sugar detox, or cutting out junk food, or whatever, for an endurance athlete are out of their gourd and should stop giving such terrible advice on the forums. Good freaking lord. You have no idea what you're talking about and you're giving advice based not on nutrition or performance but whacked-out ideas you've learned from the popular media and stupid diet books.0
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Afternoon all,
This is my first post on here, after a while of feeling pretty horrible about myself I wanted to share my thoughts and to hopefully receive some words of wisdom! I'm in a bit of a strange situation and would really love to know if any of you have shared this kind of experience.
I've always thought of myself as "big", even when I weighed less than I do now, partly because of my height (I'm 5"11). In 2010 I managed to lose 2 1/2 stone through Weightwatchers but now, despite doing way more exercise than I was back then, my weight has crept back up again. I'm currently 13 stone 8 lbs.
I started running in 2011 and have signed up for my first marathon at the end of this year (a terrifying prospect), however I definitely don't have the typical runner's physique! My issue is that I'm addicted to sugar, big time. Obviously so much so that it's undoing all the good I'm doing by exercising. Chocolate is my biggest weakness and despite managing to go cold turkey a few times I always end up having a massive binge then going back to my old habits. I really feel like it's controlling me and the mid-afternoon cravings are unbearable, I usually end up giving into them rather than saying no. Ideally I'd like to get to a point where I can enjoy the occasional sweet treat (the thought of cutting out sweets for the rest of my life feels quite sad!) without feeling like life has to revolve around my next sugar fix.
Is anyone else going through something similar? Any advice on how to get out of this rut would be much appreciated :-)
Louise
Only way is a zero carb sugar detox
Yad!
Sugar cravings can be a very real thing and very habitual and hard to break.
My advice will be try cutting most of the junk food, especially the ones that trigger the cravings.
Understand that its unlikely you have a physical need for the sugar based junk food and more likely a psychological draw (but that's fine it means you can work on that area of equation).
Try cutting it for about a month (it will be tough) but after a month when you feel the cravings are gone or drastically reduced, try re-introducing them in moderation.
You may feel like many that when you are at the point of re-introducing them you actually realise there is sometimes no point based on the nutritional return you get for the calories.
Good luck with however you do it.
riiiiiiiiiiight so you guys are advising her to do "zero sugar detoxes" and similar without actually checking how much she's eating to begin with?........... no, that's not remotely dangerous advice at all <--- sarcasm
I'm sure psychological addiction to sugary food is real for some people.........but most sugar cravings are a normal physiological response to eating too little, and doing a "zero sugar detox" will make that problem worse, not better.
The first question in this situation should be "how much are you eating?" and if the answer is a number that's not sufficient for training for and running marathons, the answer should be to "eat a lot more"
suggest sugar addiction (which probably does exist as a psychological addiction seeing as you can be psychologically addicted to pretty much anything) only after you're sure they're actually eating enough and that the cravings are not the result of undereating......
Check my response where have I said zero sugar detox (only an idiot would make that statement).
I'm not even talking all sugar, get your specs on read it properly and see that it says cutting MOST JUNK FOOD.
if someone's struggling to eat enough, so-called junk food is actually not that bad for them. And telling someone who's undereating to cut out any kind of food is potentially dangerous advice. First fix the undereating. Then worry about the quality of the food. Macronutrient deficiency will damage your health much faster than micronutrient deficiency will.
marathon runners need to eat a crap ton of calories and so calorie dense foods are a good option to meet their nutritional needs.
this is one of the reason why I hate dichotomising food into "healthy" and "junk" because it depends on the situation and the rest of the person's diet. It's also why that famous swimmer guy eats a ton of junk food and still has 6 pack abs and a very strong, healthy body.... he'd be malnourished if he only ate the low calorie density foods that are recommended for sedentary people who are trying to not be morbidly obese any more.0 -
All of the people advising a sugar detox, or cutting out junk food, or whatever, for an endurance athlete are out of their gourd and should stop giving such terrible advice on the forums. Good freaking lord. You have no idea what you're talking about and you're giving advice based not on nutrition or performance but whacked-out ideas you've learned from the popular media and stupid diet books.
I'm still unsure where anyone has actually said sugar detox and cutting out junk food. OP says she has problem with chocolate and certain sweet treats mainly. Can't she cut chocolate and still eat pasta if she wants to hit her calorie needs?
ETA: Not saying anyone hasn't used the term, I just don't see it.
ETA2: I also think junk food is a relative term. Where some may believe bread is junk, others may not. It's hard to use that term with so many different thoughts about it. imo0
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