Advice anyone? One sugar addict to another?

CrystalFlury

I hit my goal weight back in mid May and since then I've been trying to maintain. First off, I thought losing was difficult but soon found out maintaining is a completely different story. Looking back, I'm wondering if maybe I was too restrictive on myself or maybe I was doing just fine and only recently let off too much slack. I feel that since the end of June I've been allowing myself too many sweets. Sweets as in frozen custard, ice cream, cake-type desserts or cookies. Now, I know MFP is a place to aid in lifestyle changes, which I believe wholeheartedly I have made some huge changes. However, it really, really bothers me that I'm still able to stuff myself with sweets I really shouldn't be eating often anyway and not feel completely guilty about it whether it be due to high calorie count or noticing how high my sugar intake has been.

I've tried thinking of different ways to make myself limit the 'bad' foods, whether it be not buying them at all, only going out for treats every once in a while, having them around the house, but only if they're individually wrapped. I feel like I've tried everything under the sun and I'm still failing at the portion control aspect of sweets/desserts in general. It bothers me that I'm able to control myself when it comes to normal meals and eat only what I should and then turning around and messing up ROYALLY by consuming 500+ calories in dessert-type food.

The reason I bring this all up is because the last several days I just completely slipped and ate the above quoted number, plus some. I also tried not logging thinking maybe the stress of logging every thing I consume is getting to me, but I don't think it's that either. It's almost like I've gone, heck I've lost the weight I wanted to lose, I can treat myself to some desserts. Well, now I'm getting to see the effects of it (gaining again) and the last time I really binged I woke up the next day feeling draggy and horrible.

I feel like desserts are an addiction of mine and breaking the habit is really difficult. Does anyone have any advice? The only thing I can come up with is to try and quit cold turkey as painful as it might be. After having experienced this more than once I'm beginning to think a switch gets flipped (by eating any sweet) and it makes me crave MORE. At one point during my weight loss I was able to become sweet agnostic but I don't know how much of that was me being absolutely set on wanting to lose the rest of the weight and how much of it was me honestly not caring for the sweets in the first place.

RHSheetz

Crystal,

I am a sugar addict, and have been off of sugar since January 3rd, 2011. When I first went off of sugar, I was on a low glycimic diet, so my blood sugar no longer spiked or valleyed and that eliminated my cravings for it. But I still needed to learn to deal with the issues that normally caused me to eat sugar. Was I board, Tired, Stressed, Frustrated, lonley ..... Everytime I desire to eat sugar, I stop and ask myself WHY I want it. I will not eat it for any of these reasons.

After my time off of sugar, I have eaten some from time to time. Usually, I plan out when I am going to have it, and plan on having it usually days ahead. (i.e. I will have ONE desert at the family reunion, I will have a small slice of BDay Cake)... You need to control the food, not let the food control you.

Congratulations on catching this BEFORE it became an issue. I would suggest the following:

1. Stop eating sugar (any sugar) for 2 months MINIMUM. To get it out of your system
2. Stop drinking diet sodas (artifical sugar can trigger the desire for sweet and it is several times sweeter than sugar)
3. Once you get it out of your system, make a plan for how often / when you will eat sugary foods. (special occasions, when I have x number of calories left at the end of the day AND I have not had it for x number of days).
4. be prepared, after you have a sugar desert/treat, you WILL crave another, make sure to keep your goal in mind and say NO
5. If there are things you can not resist, DO NOT EAT ONE. Peanut Butter Cups and Heath Bars and permanitly BANNED from my food list.
6. Find alternatives. I find Fruit is a great alternative, it is healthy and sweet. I will eat it instead of that Sweet sugar stuff. (Also, I have found a few alternative items that I enjoy that are sugar free but sweet and it hits that craving as well).
7. Write down and remember how you feel after eating sugar. It REALLY is not pleasent.

Good Luck, this is the way I deal with my addiction.

Bob

lwoods34

As one sugar addict to another, I really dont know how much help I can be because I am in the same boat as you! I have been successfully maintaining my weight since the beginning of March and even though I exercise every day, log all of my food and stay under my calories (I usually eat between 2400-2500 calories), I still eat cookies, and ice cream! I have a coach that I have been working with for 15+ years who has consistently advised me to stop eating all kinds of sugars and to give myself a few weeks to completely detox from them so I wont want them anymore. I have done that in the past but always get to a point where I think its okay to have a few cookies here and there without going overboard! You start with thinking 2 or 3 cookies will be enough and then once the sugar is in your system you end up building up tolerance to you where 2-3 cookies doesnt do it anymore, you have to have 4-5...then 4-5 isnt good enough, then it becomes 6-7 and the cycle continues to the point where you have to eat an entire bag to satisfy that "craving." In this instance my coach recommends going cold turkey and substituting other things such as fresh fruit or even frozen fruits. Also, she suggests that we dont have "cravings"..that when we get into that cycle of disordered eating, its never really about a craving but instead its more about an emotion or a feeling that you are having about something but really dont know how to deal with it. Whether it be stress from work, home, finances, relationships, etc. Instead of turning to sugary food for comfort, we need to learn to deal with whatever feelings are coming up for us at that time.

Now for ME, I do believe that usually the "cravings" arent related to food but more to an emotion. Times where I am stressed, angry, lonely or depressed, I turn to sugary foods for comfort. Because at the moment that Im eating it, I feel "better." But of course the feeling doesnt last very long so I go back for more to get that good feeling back...and the cycle begins. As far as going cold turkey....I have been there and done that and I always go back to eating the sugary stuff. I truely believe that for ME, I dont want to spend the rest of life telling myself that I CANT have this or that! When I say that I CANT have it, my inner child takes over and Im like a little kid stomping her feet because she cant have something! Then it becomes, I want, I want, I want! Then you try to keep denying what it is that you want to the point where when you finally do allow yourself to have it, you go overboard and binge! So I try not to say that I CANT have something because for ME it only leads to disaster!

What I have been trying to do is eat all of my healthy foods and allow myself to have my treats! Why??? Because I want to live my life!!! I already restrict myself as it is: I dont eat out anymore, I strictly drink water (no juices), I dont smoke, drink, do drugs, etc. (not that I would want to smoke, drink or do drugs, lol). I workout over 2+ hrs per day and Im not trying to say that I "deserve" it or that I "earned it" because I workout so much BUT at the same time, Im not on a diet! This is a lifestyle change for me and to ME that means learning how to work a little bit of everything into my eating without feeling that I CANT have something or feeling deprived of what I like to eat. Now this is where my coach and I butt heads constantly because she believes that I should restrict myself and get rid of it all together because it only leads me to feel overly tired, achy and depressed!

So whats the answer? Honestly, I really dont know! I know that for me I dont want to restrict myself for the rest of my life BUT I dont want to go overboard and feel like the whole is going to end later on! So for right now, I try to do everything in moderation!!! If I want to have my cookies, I have my cookies! If I find that I am having too many on a daily basis, I tell myself that I can have cookies 2-3 days out of the week and I will choose which days to have them! If I want ice cream, I have my ice cream! If I find that Im having too much of it on a daily basis I cut back for a few days and keep myself extra busy so I dont have spare time to think about it. I drink more water to keep myself fuller! Or I might try to stay out of the house a little longer so by the time I get home, I just have time to eat dinner and go to bed! I just try little things that will help pass the time! But I cant and wont say to myself that I CANT have this or that ever! For me, Ive been trying to that method for 15+ years and it hasnt worked for me!

I am so sorry this may be long and drawn out but I hoped that it helped a little bit! You are not alone in this!!

RHSheetz

lwwods,

You know, I do not look at it as "resticting" myself. I look at it more as making healthy choices. I KNOW that the amount of sugar I want to eat is NOT healthy for me. I think you need to come to terms with it, and bring it back in moderation, if and when you are ready. But we ALWAYS need to vigulant about are we control it, or is it controlling us.

lwoods34

RHSheetz:

I totally get where you are coming from! And different things work for different people! Trust me, my coach has tried to get me on her bandwagon for 15+ years and it hasnt worked. Its to the point where she says as long as it fits into my calories, its fine! I DO have my sweets in moderation and when I feel like like its getting out of control, I cut back on it for a fews days until I have it under control again! You are right, we need to control the food that we eat and NOT have the food control us! For some, its easier said than done and it may take a VERY long time to come to terms with certain things! We each have to go our own paths and find and figure out what works for us! What works for Person A, might not necessarily work for Person B! Its all about trial and error until you get the right formula!!

CrystalFlury

Thank you you two for your input and your stories. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this issue. For now, since I've gone shopping recently and stocked up on fruit, I'm going to try my best to make fruit my only dessert/sweet. I'm also going to think more about the "why" before jumping on sweets in general (including fruit) when I get a craving.

zonah

I read the book, "Potatoes not Prozac" which is about sugar addiction. I try to keep my protein high to curb cravings, I take PGX which is a fiber supplement that lowers the glycemic index of the food I eat. I think I have an allergy to sugar. I do eat artificially sweeten things for a treat. But even with that I have to becareful because there is still binging I can get into which is about the compulsive nature of a sugar addiction or allergy. I think of it like being an alcoholic because the cravings are so strong and can have such a negative consequence. I really like the feeling I have when I take my pgx and avoid sweets my moods seem so much better. I love being on an even keel.

Here is a link to the book I mentioned. http://www.amazon.com/Potatoes-Not-Prozac-Solutions-Sensitivity/dp/141655615X