Sugar is Killing me - HELP!

schwarkmom

I feel like just giving up. I have been training with a personal trainer for about 8 weeks several times a week and I have only lost 4 pounds. I keep gaining fat and loosing lean muscle. And not really making any progress. I also do eliptical/cardio min of 3times a week.

I blame this on the sugar binges I go on. I dont have the capacity to only have a little bit of sugar, and I when I go without sugar for very long all of a sudden I just give up and eat a lot, like a package of Milanos or whole bags of whatever, usually consuming between 1500-2000 in one sitting. I want sugar so bad and I dont know how to to stop.

I need something real to do. Being told to have an apple or piece of fruit when I want sugar is not helpful to me.

I want to get in shape and learn to eat right and be able to teach my kids to eat right, but I feel really hopeless.

Any ideas how to kick this sugar addiction?

BrendaLee

I'm dealing with the same addiction, and lately it's been all-consuming. Honestly, the only way to quit sugar...is to quit sugar. I tell myself every day that I'm done, not doing this anymore, tired of it...then I go to the mall, and I come home with 2 litres of ice cream and a bag of cookies. I really am tired of it though, and as of tonight I've decided again that I need to quit...especially after seeing that I'm up about 5 pounds over the past few weeks- pretty much completely due to sweets.

What helps? Hmm...nothing that I've found really helps beat a strong addiction. Green tea can help if the cravings aren't too bad. Exercise can take your mind off of it for a while. Coming on here and reading through some posts (and learning you're not alone) helps. All in all, it comes down to not buying it, not eating it...and learning to suffer through the withdrawal.

It's a very common addiction, and lots of us here are trying to beat it.

patsysite

I am there also. It doesn't reallty matter if you fall down many times as long as you get up and keep on going. You are doing great! Just keep it up! Congratulations!

patsysite

You need to think smarter when going grocery shopping. Plan your meal ahead of time. Create your grocery list and stick with it. If it is not on your list don't take it home. Support from family members is a big plus.

racoon1

The first time I decided I was serious about lising weight sugar was a big one on the list to totally cut out, even in my coffee ( I do use Splenda but ONLY in my coffee) everytime I had a sugar craving I'd slowly enjoy a tsp of peanut butter sometimes with a glass of milk or eat a hand full of rasins (any dried fruit is good most taste soooo sweet, YUMMY) ... Now a days I'll have a half serving of raisin bran cereal with half cup of so good soy milk no sugar added- this satisfies my sweet tooth and increases fiber intake witch is essential for weight loss hope this helps and maybe also helps you to thinks of other ways too.:flowerforyou:

racoon1

adding to my previous post this strategy helped me to lose 25lbs.

tiffanygil

Are you a diabetic? Diabetics usually crave sugar....just a thought.. But I have the same problem once I start I cant stop. So I try not to even start because I kw I cant have "just one"

katznketo

Been eating it for the last few days. Once I start, I can't stop either. So heres to getting back on my plan. No sweets at all. I just want to eat healthy and now that I've had my little binge, well, I'm done screwing around. I want that next size pants I bought to fit. I'm gonna hang them on the outside of my closet to remind me. be blessed, kc

thebean

as mentioned before, could be a result of being diabetic. i also had terrible sugar cravings and found out that i have candida albicans - yeast. just like a yeast infection but all throughout the internal organs. (yeast infections are a symptom but there are many many symptoms, like fatigue, sugar cravings, depression, weight loss/grain, etc.). i had no idea about this condition til i was telling a friend about my symptoms and she told me i have this same problem that she does. you should go to a bookstore and find a book about yeast-free diets for candida. there are quite a few out there. they have symptom charts so you can see if that's what you think you have. its a "modern disease" so there's no medication you can take for it and there's nothing a doctor can do for you. if you think you have it, you need to do a special detox diet to get the sugar out of your system to kill off the yeast. otherwise, the yeast will cause you to have extreme sugar cravings when it needs fed. and its a very serious infection that can lead to cancer, lupus, and many other things. the diet has you go cold turkey with sugar - no milk, no fruit, no refined flour, etc for the first little while and you gradually add it back into your diet. it is sooo hard not to eat sugar at first. and you feel terrible the first week or two because as the yeast dies off it releases toxins in your body and makes you extremely fatigued with headaches. but after that phase, i can honestly say i have never felt better. i have so much energy. i NEVER crave sugar anymore. i have heard from multiple people that the candida diet makes you lose lots of weight. i am technically not "overweight" and i lost 5 lbs in the first 3 days of starting the diet, and another 5 shortly thereafter. its not necessarily a heathly balanced diet, but its necessary if you have the problem and you need to get it cleaned out of your system. its definately something to research if you have sugar cravings - the problem could be much bigger than you think it is!!

divambs

I've found sugar (or any kind) cravings can be indicative of an imbalance somewhere else in the body's chemistry. It's always a good idea to make sure you have a work-up with your health care practitioner to rule out anything that might be the cause.

Something else to consider is that even if there isn't a "condition" to blame, our bodies tend to be quite overloaded and "toxic" due to environmental factors (pollution, etc...) and toxins in the foods we eat. And let's not forget about all that stress we endure! This overloads our liver, the chief metabolic organ, which can throw everything out of whack, especially our ability to detoxify naturally.

Some tips:

1.) Cleanse your body for 2 weeks. Eliminate caffeine, alcohol, sugar, dairy, wheat, oats, corn, soy, nuts, unhealthy fats (ie, fried food). These are foods that tend to be the biggest metabolic stressors and eliminating them helps give your body a break so it can do what it needs to do. Sip on lots of water. You'll be eating lots of vegetables and fruit, with 2-3 servings of lean protein every day along with some healthy carbs (steamed brown rice, sweet potato), all while staying within your calorie range. The first few days can be tough as your body detoxifies, but by day 3-4, I always start feeling better and my cravings go away. I'm one who craves savory and sweet when things are out of whack! Another tip: eat organic as much as possible. If our food has been processed and treated with pesticides or antibiotics or hormones, we put all of that into our bodies...YUCK!

2.)To satisfy that sweet tooth, try a homemade smoothie. My family has one almost every evening awhile after a small balanced dinner (like grilled salmon, salad and 1/2 sweet potato). We do a fruity one and a chocolate one and they are BOTH amazing. Recipes below:

3.) Also, natural sweeteners that do not negatively impact your blood sugar are the way to go. Agave and stevia are two options. Everything else (splenda, equal, sweet n low) is either a chemical, synthetic of known carcinogen...things that can only exacerbate a sweet tooth or toxic state.

4.) After 2 weeks or so, you can slowly add in certain items and notice how your body reacts. One item at a time per day helps identify foods you might be sensitive to. Any sensitivity can throw off your balance.

5.) Hang in there! You are working hard and doing a great job! Sometimes our bodies just need a little help to do what they are designed to do.

Fruit:
1 cup of frozen blueberries/strawberries
7 ounces water with 1 ounce unsweetened pure cranberry juice
1 scoop vanilla whey protein (a brand without artificial sweeteners such as designer whey protein)
1 packet stevia (or truvia)
Blend until creamy

Chocolate Banana Berry:
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
7 ounces water with 1 ounce unsweetened pure cranberry juice
1/2 frozen banana
1 scoop chocolate whey protein
1 packet stevia

Hope this helps! Keep working hard!

betoGod

You say you are working with a trainer. Do they have you on a diet? What is you intake of carb, protein, and fat? Often binging comes from not eating enough quality carbohydrates in the diet or by eating too much protein. Yesterday I was dealing with that problem with my son who just started a high protein diet given to him by a bodybuilder friend. He is learning through his craving how to eat properly.

I can also relate to your problem as I sometime have that, maybe once a month. I have often heard it is better to allow ourselves a little bit of what we crave daily rather then denying oneself totally. Personally, denial for 6 days works, if I allow myself to have just a little taste on the 7th. I often find that once I get over the initial cravings, it usually takes a week or so, I'm okay for quite a while. Also, the better I eat and the more I record my food, the easier it is to control the cravings.

Hope that helps you.