Can't get over sugar cravings. Help!

YakovSmirnoff
YakovSmirnoff Posts: 6
in Motivation and Support
Hi all,

I was a jockey and during my career I was extremely restrictive about what I ate. Eating well was easy as I was living on my alone, hence I was in control of what was in the pantry or fidge.

But now I'm out of the saddle and currently live with family members who keep the fridge well stocked with chocolates :love:. Consequently, I find that I'm consuming as many sweets as possible. It's as if I'm attempting to catch up on those years where I couldn't consume such junky food!

So any tips about kicking the white stuff? I'm very open to ideas!

Replies

  • di1428
    di1428 Posts: 165 Member
    they only thing that worked for me was to have NO sweets for a week or two...including fruits. seems like having the sugar just made me crave more sugar and so on with the vicious cycle.......so i took it one day at at time and just got thru the 2 weeks...just sharing what worked for me..good luck :)
  • Desterknee
    Desterknee Posts: 1,056 Member
    The cravings will be there. That can't be controlled. You need to work on self control, and restraint.
  • Phoenixchichima
    Phoenixchichima Posts: 416
    I'm with # 2 give it up entirely for a while but is there some other food you restrict yourself from? I miss chocolates, however, I have a cheese stick every day because its something I love & having that in my diet helps my cravings for other things. anotehr option is having ! small piece of chocolate thats very nice quality every day & working that into your plan. just and thats not bad.
  • LadySegaw
    LadySegaw Posts: 1
    When you have those urges try to wait 10 to 20 minutes to see if it passes. In the meantime, drink water which can help curb those sugar cravings. If you still want that piece of chocolate after 20 minutes then try hot tea with sugar free sweetner. It helps me! :smile:
  • PRguez
    PRguez Posts: 61 Member
    Substitute sweets for well ripen fruit; and drink water afterwards. The water makes you full and the fruit will give your body sugars (but the good ones).
    Having a bit of dark chocolate helps to ease sweet cravings too and it is better for your body.

    :)
  • TheCaren
    TheCaren Posts: 894 Member
    YOU CRAVE WHAT YOU EAT. I swear this has proven to be true by many more than just me. As radical as it might sound, cut out the sugary crap completely for a month at least. That includes artificially sweetened items - your body can't tell the difference between real sugar sweet and fake sweet. I swear it's worked for me. I rarely crave the items I cut out. (I also cut out chips becasue I could eat a whole bag at a sitting, no problem). My plan was to cut them out until I could control their portions. Now I just don't care anymore.

    When I cut those items out, I did not cut out items I had self control over. For example. My big thing is fruit flavored candy. Craved it and ate it CONSTANTLY. Chocolate? Not so much. So after a couple of months I had a piece of chocolate here or there when offered. I could take it or leave it. I still won't touch Skittles or Starburst. That crap's like heroin for me! LOL
  • KatyaZsky
    KatyaZsky Posts: 1
    Just a tip, try taking some extra chromium tablets! They're supposed to keep your bloodsugar levels stable.
    Your craving to eat more and more sugary stuff is possibly because it's out of whack, the chromium brings your sugar levels back on track to prevent any need or craving for extra sugar ;)

    People who have 'addictions' to sugary drinks like Cola are advised to take extra chromium supplements and this helps with the cravings ;)

    So try some chromium supplements, it'll take a few days for 'em to get everything in balance so you'll have to go cold turkey on the sugary things when you start taking them...

    Good luck! ;)
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    they only thing that worked for me was to have NO sweets for a week or two...including fruits. seems like having the sugar just made me crave more sugar and so on with the vicious cycle.......so i took it one day at at time and just got thru the 2 weeks...just sharing what worked for me..good luck :)

    I agree. The OP should go cold turkey for a couple of weeks. I sympathize. If I had complete control over my environment I would never have a problem.

    You might try doing a mild form of Intermittent Fasting at the same time. The fewer meals you're eating, the fewer the chances to transgress. Meditation can help as well.
  • wswilliams67
    wswilliams67 Posts: 938 Member
    The cravings will be there. That can't be controlled. You need to work on self control, and restraint.

    This is true in the beginning, but once you have flushed all that processed sugar out of your system, the 'physical' cravings will go away. It's the mental craving or 'habit' that takes discipline.

    Sugar is added to EVERYTHING for one simple reason... addiction. Just like Nicotine and Caffeine it is used to build an addiction to whatever it is put into to make you buy more of it on a constant basis. Why do you think McDonald's has sugar in EVERYTHING they sell? Even their salads have added sugar. It's not for preserving the food that's for sure.

    You really kinda have to go cold turkey with sugar. No sucrose, fructose, lactose, glucose, etc. until you are detoxed. Once detoxed you can add fruits back into your diet in limited quantities. ALWAYS avoid processed sugars. Once all the super-sugar is out of you you will notice how sweet normal unprocessed foods can actually be.

    Luckily there is Stevia/Truvia to get you through the detox as well.
  • Amy106Days
    Amy106Days Posts: 172 Member
    I don't know if I will ever kick sugar. One thing that helps my cravings for sweet is making sure to not go too salty. If I have a handful of salted nuts I immediately crave sweet to even it out. Unsalted nuts= no sweet craving. Not sure that is the same with everyone but for me I have to keep both levels even or I get a bad case of cravings.

    Another thing (again ,not as healthy as kicking sugar) :

    My hubby keeps delicious looking chocolatey treats in our fridge and cabinet and once I see the package I will go into craving mode so ... I keep dark chocolate hersheys cocoa powder on hand and chopped up frozen bananas in the freezer. Usually 1/4 frozen banana dusted with cocoa powder hit the spot and doesn't ruin my day. I also move his stuff to one shelf of or fridge an push it way back so I see fresh inviting foods first.
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
    Stop creating the Excuse.


    You "CAN'T" because you say you can't
  • Kelin
    Kelin Posts: 49 Member
    Sugar is addictive! For me, the only thing that works is having no sweets at all. The first time my mouth touches a piece of candy or something it opens the flood gates and I loose self control. So in my case I do a lot better if I just stay away from it completely.
  • YakovSmirnoff
    YakovSmirnoff Posts: 6
    Thanks guys and dolls for the advice! :flowerforyou: Good to see I'm not the only one who struggles with this.

    In regards to the not-eating-fruit advice; is this because of the fructose?

    Also looking into the chromium tablets as I've spent a bit of researching it online. By the way, I managed a little over 24 hours of sugar free :happy: Then I spurlged in a bit of chocolate but hey, it's Easter! But the good thing is that I didn't feel as out of control as the other times. Sometimes thinking about this thread really helps.

    Hope to update again soon.
  • shadowfeet33
    shadowfeet33 Posts: 45 Member
    First of all cool name (OP). Unfortunately cold turkey is the only solution I have found. You will want to punch someone for about a week but then it gets better :)

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