Sugar Drug

jenni3626

So I have been ready more about sugar and the effects it has on the body. There is no nutritional value in it . . . in fact it causes a "high", so to speak, before causing the body to defuction and crash. This is not unlike a drug. Not to mention that it is extreemly addicting. I decided, after being inspired by a friend, to "fast" sweets (high sugary desserts) between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve. At first it was incredibily difficult and then it got easier to say, "No thankyou, I don't want a piece." Then came Christmas Eve and I was looking forward to a dessert or two. Well I totally went overboard and once I had my first cookie that morning I did not stop eating sugar for about 48 hrs! Did anyone else experience a sugar hang-over??? It made me feel slugish and somewhat depressed. And honestly, the tast of the treats was good, but just not worth how it left me feeling.

Anyways, I am back to fasting again until my brithday which is mid-January and then till Valentines Day. I think I need to set more goals, though, in order to help me enjoy the opportunity to have desserts when they come around. Like one dessert serving on my birthday and still try to work toward my calorie goals for that day (which will help me attempt to eat smart the rest of the day or to be sure to exercise on that day).

I just wanted to share this because I used to be somewhat of a sugar addict. We don't always consider sugar a drug, but I am a new believer. I have never done so well with my weight goals as I have recently and I attribute it highly to my fasting of sweets.

Does anyone have any other thoughts on this . . . or want to join me on a "sugar" fast, picking out special days in advance as goals and then celebrating (with a reasonable dessert serving - not pigging out like I did) on those days?

I do have to add that saying "I'm gonna cut back on sugar," never really helped me; but committing to a fast and saying, "I am not going to have any high-sugary sweets until this day" helps me stay the goal. Today I was in the theater watching Avatar (wow, amazing) and someone handed me a small Air-Head candy bar. I took it, then remembered (wait, this is all sugar), and handed it back.

No thanks, sugar, I've got something better in mind. Something like high energy, self confidence and emotional strength!

inkaddict

I am familiar with sugar hangover! It's exactly like drugs. Take one hit of sugar and I can't stop. I go on a bender like I'm freakin GG Allin or something... And then I have all this remorse later. It's best I avoid it all together if at all possible.
Since I changed my birth control a couple months ago, my insane sugar fiending has subsided quite a bit.

inkaddict

Oh yeah and sugar gives me hella bad canker sores too.

oregonlady

Oh yeah and sugar gives me hella bad canker sores too.

wow
maybe that is my prob.
i seem the get bad canker sores when i've been eating "bad":huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh:

TaraMaria

I couldn't agree more Jenni! I swore off sugar from November 28th or so till December 24th. No no no sugar! I was surprised at the amount of energy my body gained as the days, then weeks went on. I have several medical issues and sometimes spend days on the couch. I was extremely surprised when those days lessened because my body wasn't being "drugged" and thus not adding to my sluggishness! I was cleaning, doing dishes, making dinner: It was amazing!

Christmas eve I had two sugar cookies. I will say it was hard not to dive into the plethora of amazing treats my family had about. But like you after my second cookie (mind you, it did take TWO cookies before I slowed down to realize! lol!) I noticed that my taste buds were not that thrilled. And let me tell you, they were AMAZING cookies to me before I started my fast. I had another cookie on Christmas day and REALLY noticed an almost nasty taste in my mouth and stomach from it. I didn't have one more treat for that holiday!

Thankfully I missed out on a sugar hangover. This is not to say I'm not thinking about having a snack on new years eve! Ha ha! But I thought it was very interesting. I still have my bad days too where all I want to do is go into my pantry and make brownies.

I am all for sugar fasting and completely agree with the whole it has on our lives. I would love to join you in a sugar free zone! All the help and encouragement we can get from one another always helps!

Are you planning on a snack for new years eve? )

LosingIt4good

Wow! very motivational information here. Id love to join this after the first of the year. Ive been with MFP for a year but fell off the wagon last June and plan to get back on track after New years again.

I DEFINITELY know what a sugar hangover is like. I remember how crappy I felt the next day, all sluggish and tired with a headache because i ate too much sugary stuff all at once. I recognized it for what it was when it happened and definitely remember saying that I "never wanted to feel that way again"

Well.. guess what.. I fell off the wagon hard over the holidays. I love to bake and I made more than 10lbs of sweets for my friends hubby in iraq and probably consumed another 5lbs of the same goodies myself. I shoulda just made a single batch and mailed it right away, but instead I doubled everything and every day for 2 weeks, everytime I passed by the cookie jar in the kitchen my hand went in and YES I have felt the sluggish, tired, irritated, moody, grumpy me over those 2 weeks and now that they are all gone, I am HAPPY TO SAY...that I will NOT be making ANY more sweets or treats for a VERY long time!!

I am totally in on the fasting of sugar! I cant do it in moderation, my brain just doesnt work that way.. one little taste and I want more and more and more, so I just have to steer clear of it period!

etey7

i'll join your sugar fast! it's killing my weight loss efforts.. i totally experienced 'sugar high" wherein I ingested large amounts of sweet and sugary stuff and i felt lightheaded, a sudden increase in energy plus the sugar crash afterward.. made me lethargic all day plus an uncontrollable appetite for sweets.. the next day, i feel I'll never pig out again, but then one bite of any processed/refined sweet stuff, my brain gets happy.. and next thing I know, I'm pigging out again until my stomach and intestines explode.. my 15 lb weight gain is a concrete proof of my sugar addiction..:grumble:

I'm so frustrated with myself.. i feel as if all my weight loss efforts have been erased.. so I'm right there with you with the sugar fast.. do we have a specific time frame for this? or like our own? it'll be fun if we have a specific time frame for the group so we'll be accountable.. :flowerforyou:

kimber607

YESSSS!
Sam here....for 12 days before x-mas I swore off all sugar/processed foods
I have to admit I have no problem indulging on X-mas *and once that drug got in me..boy did I go overboard)
The next day I was able to get back on the bandwagon though, which is unheard of for me and still managed to loose 4 pounds over the Holidays

---

yeah!
BUT I've realized FOR ME it has to be all or nothing...even sweet/artificially sweetened drinks can lead me to binge on sweets
I'm reading a book now by Stephen Gullo and it talks about understanding your food history and boxing certain foods in or out of your life
That means based on your history either eliminating foods all together or having certain foods ONLY on special occasions and never ever buying them and having them available in your house....seems like common sense to some degree but on the other hand was like a light bulb moment...stop fooling ourselves


Good luck my fellow sugar addicts
Maybe we should start a support thread

Kim

jennbissonnette

I agree! Since you brought it up.... I have been on the Adkins diet before and lost a whole lot of weight pretty quick! But on the induction (the first 2 weeks) They have you cut sugars out. I thought i would be fine but omg, not so much. Those two weeks what your doing is kinda detoxing your body of alllll the sugars. What you do is cut out sugar and pasta, and pasta turns into a sugar so it makes sense. You can use Splenda as a sub and they have recipes for desserts and such. Its really not that bad and come thursday, ill be on it again! It as worth it like i said. So, if your looking to cut out sugar and lose weight...its great! Just make sure your cholesterol isnt high. You eat as much as you want for the most part. I lost 3lbs in my first week. DEF TRY IT!!!!!

-JeNn

LittleSpy

I definitely had a sugar hangover from the holidays -- I "binged" (NOTHING like I would've before and far less than everyone around me) for 3 days and I felt like complete crap (physically) afterwards. I could hardly believe how awful I felt just because I had eaten candy & cookies (I'm talking 1-2 small pieces of candy and 3-4 cookies max in a day). One of my major downfalls was sweets so I knew when I started this "journey" in September that would be something I had to stop. I quit eating candy cold turkey (I would eat at least one chocolatey candy bar every single day before) and like you said it got easier and easier to resist. I don't crave it anymore like I used to and I feel so much better. I'll still have a sweet treat occasionally in the future but I have no desire to ever feel like that much crap again.

carpediem13

I think cutting out most sugar is a really good idea. I've been conscious about what I've been eating that involves sugar and on my food diary I'm always over on the sugar. For a long time I used alternatives/substitutes (Splenda, aspartame, truvia) and they caused me other health issues so now I usually eat pure sugar cane. It's a proven fact that sugar will give you a high because it spikes your sugar levels in your blood and as a reaction your insulin causing you to later crash. (This is the same thing with simple carbs.)

So everyone can be as successful as they can with cutting out sugar I wanted to throw in a few points. Sugar is in soooo many things which is why the South Beach Diet is really hard because they basically have you cut everything that has sugar natural or processed. If you want to sugar fast I would focus on the simple carbs and added sugars like the cookies and sugar in coffee/tea. Just know that any simple carbs like white bread, crackers etc. will give you the same sugar high/crash as your body breaks them down the same way. Also fruit and vegetables sometimes have an extreme amount of sugar in them like carrots or bananas so if you want to curb that sugar tooth eat some of those but in moderation.

Another piece of this is that since this concept is essentially the South Beach Diet people should know that not too many people stick to that diet. (It does cut a lot of weight fast but doesn't always stay off because it's not the fat you are losing) It's a diet people use to cut weight but then they bounce back because they can't keep it up. I know personally when I was on it I felt horrible because I wasn't getting enough sugar to function and it limited so many foods that I would normally eat. Your body makes insulin to counteract the sugar and yes if you have too much it causes health issues. On the other hand if you cut out too much you will eventually have a relapse. Try keeping the sugar amounts low from natural sources and maintaining it should give you better success.

The last piece is about substitutes like Splenda. I had horrible reactions to Splenda as it has a binding component (Chlorine molecule) so your body doesn't process the sugar but it binds up and can get stuck in your organs like kidneys. The aspartame gave me horrible migraines. And Truvia was just weird my digestive system wasn't liking it, I had horrible cramps and couldn't digest properly. Now this may only be me but I would rather eat pure cane sugar and take the extra calories than a substitute that will eventually do something. (Especially because I always ate more with the substitute thinking it was ok)

I apologize for that being so long winded. Sugar and I have battled for a long time and I'm finally ok with where I'm at with it. I hope even a little of this information is helpful.

GTOgirl1969

I am familiar with sugar hangover! It's exactly like drugs. Take one hit of sugar and I can't stop. I go on a bender like I'm freakin GG Allin or something... And then I have all this remorse later. It's best I avoid it all together if at all possible.
Since I changed my birth control a couple months ago, my insane sugar fiending has subsided quite a bit.

Me too...and I'm lovin' the GG Allin reference!

tzvishear

i tried the the south beach diet a while back. the one thing that i did like about it was that during the first 2 weeks you cut out all sugar. the reason for that is to get the cravings out of your body. it is like nicotine. it takes a little while to get out of your system, but once you do you wont have the cravings like you used too.

jenni3626

TaraMaria,

Yeah, I didn't even realize it until I read your comment, but I had ton's more energy too! I mean, like a LOT. I was just so busy cleaning and shopping that I still felt a little tired from it, so I might not have realized the extra energy was there. But when I consider all the things I got done, well, I'm just not sure how I could have done that before.

No snack for me on New Years Eve. My fast is of high-sugary desserts, like cookies, cakes, pies, candy and stuff. Not all sugar -all together. I mean, like there is sugar in fruit and even light juice and bread (so I am not fasting that kind of stuff). But no desserts for me on New Years Eve. I think I will be fine with that, though, after my sugar craze on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

My next dessert day is on January 15th (which is my birthday) then after that I will go till February 14th.

Good luck with your fast. Sounds like it is helping you out as much as it is helping me!

jenni3626

Kim wrote - "Maybe we should start a support thread."



So, How do we do this? Not sure how that works. I will try to figure it out, but if anyone can help me that would be great.

jenni3626

Morgan - I totally agree with you about not going overboard with a sugar fast. I really don't know anything about the South Beach Diet, but I think trying to cut everything with sugar out of your diet would be so difficult (almost impossible). My goal has been to cut back on anything that would have sugar in the first 2 ingredients (if I am not sure I check the ingredients / if sugar or high frutose corn syrup is first or second then I pass on it) or those obvious things that are high-sugary sweets, like desserts and candy. I also don't drink soda (which is full of sugar). I think it is good to keep a healthy ballance of good sugars though - like bread (I try to stick to whole wheat) and fruits and such.

About the artificial sweetner . . . they scare me! I stay away from that stuff. I guess that is up to anyone who wants to join in. I don't like to use them because I hear different things from different people, but mostly that they are not much better for you than sugar because of the other elements in them. I don't know enough about them to give a very educated opinion though.

REPLY to BELOW MESSAGE:

Carpediem (Morgan) wrote,

"Another piece of this is that since this concept is essentially the South Beach Diet people should know that not too many people stick to that diet. (It does cut a lot of weight fast but doesn't always stay off because it's not the fat you are losing) It's a diet people use to cut weight but then they bounce back because they can't keep it up. I know personally when I was on it I felt horrible because I wasn't getting enough sugar to function and it limited so many foods that I would normally eat. Your body makes insulin to counteract the sugar and yes if you have too much it causes health issues. On the other hand if you cut out too much you will eventually have a relapse. Try keeping the sugar amounts low from natural sources and maintaining it should give you better success.

The last piece is about substitutes like Splenda. I had horrible reactions to Splenda as it has a binding component (Chlorine molecule) so your body doesn't process the sugar but it binds up and can get stuck in your organs like kidneys. The aspartame gave me horrible migraines. And Truvia was just weird my digestive system wasn't liking it, I had horrible cramps and couldn't digest properly. Now this may only be me but I would rather eat pure cane sugar and take the extra calories than a substitute that will eventually do something. (Especially because I always ate more with the substitute thinking it was ok)"

TaraMaria

Splenda and other artificial sweetners scare me too! I myself have had less then happy experiences with it and my husband is horribly allergic. My sister had to go on a complete detox for 6 months and when she started introducing some sweets back into her diet (by sweets I mean raisens...half an orange...it was INTENSE!) splenda gave her a HORRIBLE reaction. She actually had a rash!

When I say I'm cutting refined sugar/carbs out, I don't really count the carbs found in a more natural source like veggies/fruits though I for sure try not to go overboard. There have been afternoons where I could eat 3-4 oranges if I wanted to, just because I want that sweetness!

I'm so happy Jenni that you noticed the energy thing too! I hope that as everyone tried this out or continues on their fight against sugar that they experience more energy as well! I can't wait until you get a support thread up! )

jenni3626

If you are interested in joining a support thread for this Sugar Fast (a goal where I am having success in my own life) see under Motivation and Support and search for Topic: "Sugar Drug Fast - Support Thread. The details of the challenge will be outlined there.

pinkluckyhair

I recently bought a book called..." You are what you eat" and it has changed my outlook on a lot of things. Maybe you would be interested in reading it. It explains what this bad food does to your body and how to help yourself live a long healthy life.

jbunzsno

Well unlike your fasting I decided that I would have a sugar binge from Christmas to New Years. It has been the worst week of my life! I have been miserable, depressed, tired all of the time, constipated (TMI..sorry), I have been miserable. So I am doing a sugar fast also, I was calling it a sugar cleanse though. And I have had the worst headaches the last couple of days, and I know it's the sugar withdrawals. Yuck! Never again, will I let this happen. Good luck everyone with the Sugar Fasts and I am going to go look at a calendar to decide when I think I will be ready to have A dessert again.

dragonflyjill

A great resource for recovery form sugar addiction is the work of Kathleen DesMaisons. She wrote a book called "potatoes not prozac" which is a really silly name for an incredible book about her work on sugar and how certain people are more sensitive to it than others, and therefore more likely to become addicted. It is similar to how some people can drink alcohol in moderation but for some even one drink is a major problem. There is also an action plan for overcoming the problem, which is effective but not for people looking for a quick fix. I think the website is radiantrecovery.com. I highly recommend all sugar addicts check it out...