How to stop the sugar cycle -- cold turkey?

jessabethheather

When it comes to sugar, I know I have a problem. Please don't look at my diary, lol. For the most part I can make good, healthy eating choices, but if there is sugar in the house, I tend to start out with it, and then I spiral.

I know I need to beat the sugar addiction. To those of you that have done it, would you recommend phasing the sugar out? Or do you quit cold turkey?

twinmom01

if you want to cut down sugar for the long term it is best to gradually cut it out...make small changes of choosing other items to eat other than ones with a ton of sugar...

Personally going cold turkey on anything is just going to leave you feeling deprived and will probably cause binging...

Your best bet is to try and switch as much stuff to healthful sugar choices like fruits...then step it down from there.

When I am really watching my sugars I can keep them down to about 25-30 grams a day with the sources being fresh veggies and one serving of fruit a day (usually berries since they are lower in sugar) - I just spent a month watching my sugars...now I am in an upcycle for a few weeks where my sugars are about 40 or so a day...but once again pretty much from fruits (2 servings now) and veggies (and a little bit of dark chocolate)

jessabethheather

Thanks -- a big one for me is sugar cereal. I'm starting the morning off horribly, and I notice that the more I have sugar, the more I crave it during the rest of the day.

Juliane_

I started off with my drinks. I substituted nunaturals stevia.

Anomalia

I have no idea! I always crave sugar and it drives me crazy.

MB_Positif

I wish I had some great advice. When I first started on MFP I did amazingly at staying away from sugary treats. Lately now that I am close to my goal weight I have found myself giving in more often! Ugh!

cshipley11

Sugar is one of the hardest things to stop. Fruits are a great natural sugar, but I have also been using sugar free Jell-O, about 10 calories a serving and it really helps me with my sugar problems.

Unknown

Protein. When you get that craving, try to get a hold of a protein snack. It will stick with you. I have a massive sugar craving, and for me the only way to shake it is to just eat carbohydrates (complex) during dinner along with protein and vegetables. When I've eaten any carbohydrate, be it candy, chocolate, pastries, chips, crackers, etc. it just makes me want more of it.

I think sugar addiction is like any other addiction, the only way to not fall into it is to avoid it as much as possible.

StrongGwen

I totally understand! for me, I had to stop cold turkey and was very successful. I set a goal for no sugar or white flour/rice/potatoes from Jan 3 - march 13 (my birthday) and achieved it. If I eat sugar I already know I will have cravings for about 3 days, so i have to plan ahead to ignore them. Eating whole grains and lots of veggies and fruits helped a lot, and after the cravings stopped they didn't come back until I once again ate some sugary food. I have to just suck it up--cravings won't hurt me, won't last forever, and WILL go away. It's just my "lizard brain" trying to control my good sense. I use stevia for sweetening when I need it.

I had a HUGE accomplishment last week you might understand--I ate ONE peanut M&M. One and just one! don't always get it right but that time I did & it made me proud. Only true sugar addicts will appreciate this victory.

aray1107

I've actually talked to my Body Mind Nutrition professor about this a while back when I was having really bad cravings for sugar. I would crave cookies, chocolate, candy- anything! Especially after dinner, I just wanted that sweetness. It's really hard to get past it, but the less you have- it seems the less the cravings get. I had a wonderful professor a couple of years ago that I've kept in touch with and she's been GF/Dairy free/ SF for 10+ years. Amazing, right?

Words from my Professor:

Sugar is very addictive first off. Sugar is defined as ANY sugar that is added to ANY food product--cookies, cakes, candies, etc. Whole fruits are OK as well as juicing the fruit for a smoothie.

It's important to figure out why you're craving sweets. Why do you want it? It it hunger, mood, anxiety, etc? Some people eat because they're stressed out. If you notices that is the case, try some deep breathing and allow your self ONE piece of chocolate- NOT the whole bar to allow yourself to slowly get over the cravings.

Once you know the trend, then choose the amount to reduce in a day. If it's movement related or deep breathing doesn't seem to help- go for a walk and get your mind off things. If this doesn't help, it could be deficiency related.

If you start to notice you feel better by reducing sugar/sweets you'll have more support to continue to reduce the sugar. Never look at the process as a failure- failure is not a apart of this process- and you're learning something new about yourself which is important for you to enjoy life. Remember- it's always a learning process!

Good luck!

JustJennie1

if you want to cut down sugar for the long term it is best to gradually cut it out...make small changes of choosing other items to eat other than ones with a ton of sugar...

Personally going cold turkey on anything is just going to leave you feeling deprived and will probably cause binging...

Your best bet is to try and switch as much stuff to healthful sugar choices like fruits...then step it down from there.

When I am really watching my sugars I can keep them down to about 25-30 grams a day with the sources being fresh veggies and one serving of fruit a day (usually berries since they are lower in sugar) - I just spent a month watching my sugars...now I am in an upcycle for a few weeks where my sugars are about 40 or so a day...but once again pretty much from fruits (2 servings now) and veggies (and a little bit of dark chocolate)

^^ This.

Try this for a week or two and I bet your sugar cravings will lessen if not go away completely. I used to have the biggest sweet tooth out there (when I was a kid I used to make my own pixie sticks by filling straws with sugar :blushing: ). Now I can take it or leave it. I bought a bag of jelly beans on Monday and it's sitting on the desk right next to me untouched because I have no desire to eat them which is really sad LOL. But like the person I quoted said start out small. If you take your coffee and tea with sugar just cut down on how much you put in there until you're not putting any in. I used to get a large coffee with two sugars, then I cut down to one and then since I was left with a clump of sugar at the bottom of my cup and it really didn't add anything to the coffee I just stopped adding it in.

Baby steps! You can totally do it!

plcarpenter

I gave up sugar for Lent, and yesterday was the last day of lent...so that was 40 days of no refined sugar and I feel pretty good about it...this morning I put two level teaspoons of sugar in my coffee and I love it : ) but it's all the crap I'm going to leave behind.

StriversNYC

First, learn more about sugar and how it is unhealthy for you. That will give you motivation to change your habit.

http://www.2buildmusclefast.com/p/sugar-is-toxic.html

The problem is addiction.

My advice would be to remove ALL foods loaded with sugar from your home and grocery list. If it is there you will eat it eventually, there's no way around this but to eliminate them from your household. Good luck

Lula16

i hear ya'! my weakness is sweets. I ordered "the everything sugar-free cookbook" from amazon. Its not so much cutting out all sugar but learning to replace some of the bad ingredients. Look it up and see if its something you'd be ineterested in.

misticache

First, learn more about sugar and how it is unhealthy for you. That will give you motivation to change your habit.

http://www.2buildmusclefast.com/p/sugar-is-toxic.html

The problem is addiction.

My advice would be to remove ALL foods loaded with sugar from your home and grocery list. If it is there you will eat it eventually, there's no way around this but to eliminate them from your household. Good luck

Agreed