Sugar Sugar Sugar Highs!! Am I the only one?

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ViviLane
ViviLane Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Sugar is my weakness! Whether its natural sugar (candy or fruits) or artificial (aspartame), I can't seem to get away from it! Even all of the low-calorie snacks have some form of sweetness, so what gives?!

Has anyone here been able to kick it cold turkey? Or was it a slow process? Will I go through withdrawals? Seriously! I haven't been brave enough to give it up yet. Is anyone else struggling with this? Overcame it?

Help!
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Replies

  • HollisGrant
    HollisGrant Posts: 2,022 Member
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    Hi, ViviLane. I'm a big junk food/sugar junkie. However, if I eat regular, balanced meals so I'm full, then I don't crave sugar. It's important to eat so I'm full and not to skip meals. I have to plan ahead and always have good food in the kitchen. When I don't plan, don't go to the store, skip breakfast, etc., then I reach for the junk food.

    My sugar cravings have disappeared since I started eating regular meals. I can't have a "cheat" day or just a little sugar. I can't control myself. If you put candy in front of me, I'll eat all of it. I get my sugar fix from eating a piece of fruit like an apple for dessert. Also, if I'm going to eat out with friends or meet them for coffee, I actually eat ahead of time (so I won't eat sweets) and then just order something small.
  • nannukka
    nannukka Posts: 52
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    Hello my name is Nannukka and I'm a sugar addict. Yes, hard for me too. I have also been able to limit my sugar craving by eating food and not being hungry, but I do need my daily fix. At least now. I can limit it so as long as I plan for it and fits my daily goals, I will eat it. That way I do not go overboard. But this seems to be an individual thing: some can have little others can not have at all. You just have to try what works for you. Unfortunately I do not like dark chocolate so that trick doesn't work for me. I just try to choose my "sugar stuff" in the low calorie end and then just have little. (I do not do artificial sweeteners just because I do not like the taste but also because I do not know what -if any- it will do to your body in a long run. but that is just me). Interesting fact: there has been some research done where they have found a link with children of alcoholics having bad sugar cravings (sugar addict). Some chemical thing.....not sure if it is true but there sure are some alcoholics in my family
  • jocostalot
    jocostalot Posts: 1
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    I tend to crave sugars not long after lunch times....it's like a sugar monster takes over me! All my hard work in the gym goes in 10 minute sugar frenzy! I've tried to combat it with a chocolate protein shake....so fat (well this week) its working.
  • kcaffee1
    kcaffee1 Posts: 759 Member
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    I am a recovered sugar FIEND! If it was a snack cake - the box was MINE. If it was a chocolate bar - the box was MINE, about the only thing I did that was "right" depending on who you talk to, was that I drank diet sodas. GALLONS of diet sodas.

    What let me get away from that vicious circle, especially having someone in the house who lives on sweets after dinner most of the time, was starting small. It was actually a quick process, but I started replacing sweeteners in my teas with a sweet tasting tea blend (like when I made my teas I'd toss in a packet of blueberry tea that has a nice sweet-ish flavor to it.) And, for the cakes I started working on replacing them with yogurt and fruits with a packet or two of stevia sprinkled into the mix. LOTS of yogurt and fruits! The candy was a bit tougher, I had to cut that out cold turkey. (Was kind of a shock to the system, but with the fruits providing so much natural sugars, it helped a ton!)

    Then, as my tastes started getting used to the natural sweets, the artificial and added sugars started getting TOO sweet. Up to, and including making my usual yogurt mix too sweet for the new preferences. Then, I started cutting back on the sweeteners to keep up with the preferences.

    Where I finally settled out was actually cutting out sweet stuff all together to my total surprise. About the only place I use any kind of sweetening is when I'm making a smoothie with almond milk and Greek yogurt - have to do something to help modify the sour of the yogurt. Everything else has it's own sweet flavor for me now, and I actually get to enjoy it.

    I've had ONE relapse, where I just HAD to have some ice cream. Wish I could have ordered a children's size portion, because even the tartest flavor I could think of was too sweet. I don't miss the sweets at all now, which is good because some medical issues that cropped up requiring me to cut those out of my available options.

    It is odd, but as you work on eating more natural flavors, your tastes will change. You may never completely come to DISLIKE sweet stuff, but it will have a much SMALLER mental draw!
  • Lilymay2
    Lilymay2 Posts: 2,524 Member
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    When I used to crave sugar - I ate salty chips. But now.... December 20th I was diagnosed with Heavy Metal Toxins. A Naturopath Doctor said " Do the Heavy Metal Cleanse and nothing white for a month" Well ... I started the 26th of Dec...actually had to do the cleanse for 3 months..... I am 22 pounds lighter, and added sugar gives me a headache. I also cannot eat anything with yeast in it - because it plugs my sinuses. I had a chocolate Easter egg at Easter and paid for it with a 2 day headache.
  • Lilymay2
    Lilymay2 Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Very good! I don't feel like I am missing sugar either. I use fruits in my oatmeal and smoothies. I haven't tried Stevia, but I have not started to bake anything yet... still trying to adapt to the gluten intolerances.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    How do you use sugar to get high?

    Thanks in advance. god bless. :flowerforyou:
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    How do you use sugar to get high?

    Thanks in advance. god bless. :flowerforyou:
    Heh. :D

    Considering sugar is in most things, I don't think I could cut it out. I love me my carrot juice far too much.

    Additional sugar though? Easy, wean yourself off. It took me a couple weeks, but I went from taking my espresso, "Dark as night, sweet as love." To simply: "Dark as night, bitter as a dethroned politician."

    I also avoid certain fruits, like oranges. I love them, but they're just too much sugar for too little other things, in my opinion. I'll replace that fruit intake with eating strawberries and blueberries. Those are amazing.

    For liquor? I say, screw it. Although I prefer non-sweet, very herbal drinks, sometimes you just need a mug of baileys that has been shown a picture of a pot of coffee. That's ok, if you aren't tossing back spoonfuls of sugar like mary poppins.
  • PiperGabrielle
    PiperGabrielle Posts: 31 Member
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    I crave sugar so badly late at night. If I don't have exactly what I want to eat in my house, sometimes I will make a special trip to the store. That is my absolute worst habit. It's not even that I eat when I want to, it's that I will give in to my cravings by making a special trip just to satisfy it. I have no advice, I need help just as much as you do.
  • GenF32
    GenF32 Posts: 184 Member
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    Ooooh this is SO my topic. Sugar has been my best friend and worst enemy for the longest time.

    After I gave myself a migraine eating a whole litre of icecream this time last year I did the 12 week I Quit Sugar program, and it was life-changing. Although it's really restrictive some of the habits I formed have stayed with me - like only using natvia instead of sugar, and not putting sugar in my coffee.

    I blogged about quitting sugar here if you'd like to check it out http://thisgenlife.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/how-and-why-i-quit-sugar/.

    I am insulin resistant so try to avoid it as much as I can, but it's still, and always will be, my biggest battle. Now I try the 'wait until Friday' trick and Friday night I allow myself to eat as much sweet stuff as I want. It always makes me feel like *kitten* afterwards, so I'm hoping that each time this happens I'm somehow re-programming that "sugar will make me happy" conditioning.

    The thing I've found that helps the best with the cravings is licorice tea. Get on it, and good luck!
  • basilbunches
    basilbunches Posts: 9
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    hey! i recommend you go to sarahwilson.com.au and check out her 'i quit sugar' tag! she has a looooot of info & advice on her blog if you go back through it, and if you like what you read and you want more, she has a ebook IQS plan, and an IQS e-cookbook. theres also an #iqs tag on instagram that i love. i did the IQS program for a while and it was definitely hard, but good. i didn't end up keeping going with it after the 8 week detox, but it taught me a lot about my sugar cravings and how eating sugar makes me feel (hungrier, grumpier).
    i have gone back to my sweet tooth, but not as badly, and i am still very glad i did it. it changed my eating habits in some ways for good - i have veggies & protein for brekkie now instead of fruit and yoghurt, and it is SO much more filling.
    give it a look!
  • GenF32
    GenF32 Posts: 184 Member
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    hey! i recommend you go to sarahwilson.com.au and check out her 'i quit sugar' tag! she has a looooot of info & advice on her blog if you go back through it, and if you like what you read and you want more, she has a ebook IQS plan, and an IQS e-cookbook. theres also an #iqs tag on instagram that i love. i did the IQS program for a while and it was definitely hard, but good. i didn't end up keeping going with it after the 8 week detox, but it taught me a lot about my sugar cravings and how eating sugar makes me feel (hungrier, grumpier).
    i have gone back to my sweet tooth, but not as badly, and i am still very glad i did it. it changed my eating habits in some ways for good - i have veggies & protein for brekkie now instead of fruit and yoghurt, and it is SO much more filling.
    give it a look!

    That was almost exactly my experience too :)
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I don't know if anyone has suggested this, but taking a fast from fructose (lower carbs-no fruit) for a couple of weeks seems to have completely gotten rid of my taste for sugary food. Apparently, the reason why it works is that it lowers your levels of fructokinase (the enzyme that your body uses to digest fructose) Sucrose, i.e. sugar, is 50% fructose and researchers feel that eating sugar is what elevates our levels of fructokinase beyond what it should be and that fructose is the portion that is "addictive". I must say that I craved fruit during that two weeks but when the fructose fast ended and I reintroduced a serving or two of low-fructose fruit per day (berries and citrus) that I no longer craved any kind of sugar. I was quite happy just to eat fruit and when I do get a piece of cake put under my nose at a party or something, I take one bite and leave the rest because it is just TOO sweet. It should be mentioned that most seriously obese people seem to have the ability to efficiently turn blood glucose into fructose.:noway: So it is advisable to restrict carbs at the same time. I am a lower carb person anyway, so that wasn't much of a problem. I usually keep my carbs to an average of 100 grams per day (higher on my cardio days--lower on other days). It isn't low enough to put me into ketosis but is low enough to give me good appetite control. Good luck!
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
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    Bump..

    Slow withdrawal is better because with cold turkey a binge usually follows... .imo. Everyone is different.
  • Armyantzzz
    Armyantzzz Posts: 214 Member
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    For me it was a slow process! I now stay with fruits as more of a routine than processed sugars, etc.:smile: However, every once in a while I'll nimble on something "sugarized" :wink: but that is far and in between and no where near regular. Sugar converts to carbs... carbs convert to fat.. Exercise burns both... but if you overload... you lose the intended effect of exercising and you run the risk of sugar related issues.
  • Chrisgriff32
    Chrisgriff32 Posts: 30 Member
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    I started taking 2 tablespoons of Braggs Apple Cidar Vinegar twice a day and it has eliminated my cravings for carbs and sugar. It really balances me out. I love it!
  • ViviLane
    ViviLane Posts: 28 Member
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    HollisGrant, That's such a great strategy! I've never considered eating prior to meeting people for outings! I am currently weighing my food, and use the mornings for the majority of my sugar intake (protein shakes, and green smoothies w/fruit). But my goodness do I miss my junk food!

    I was online last week and found a sweet low calorie snack called Sheila G's Brownie Brittle. It's like the crispy part of the brownie, and its 120 cals for 28oz (About 6 sizeable pieces). I really like this stuff, and have only delved into it twice since I got the bag. I also have those FiberOne 90 calorie brownies. Sooo good! So glad to know I'm not alone in my sugar issues lol.

    Interesting notion about the cheat day. I agree, I can't allow myself to have those either, for fear it will get out of hand.
  • ViviLane
    ViviLane Posts: 28 Member
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    Hello my name is Nannukka and I'm a sugar addict. Yes, hard for me too. I have also been able to limit my sugar craving by eating food and not being hungry, but I do need my daily fix. At least now. I can limit it so as long as I plan for it and fits my daily goals, I will eat it. That way I do not go overboard. But this seems to be an individual thing: some can have little others can not have at all. You just have to try what works for you. Unfortunately I do not like dark chocolate so that trick doesn't work for me. I just try to choose my "sugar stuff" in the low calorie end and then just have little. (I do not do artificial sweeteners just because I do not like the taste but also because I do not know what -if any- it will do to your body in a long run. but that is just me). Interesting fact: there has been some research done where they have found a link with children of alcoholics having bad sugar cravings (sugar addict). Some chemical thing.....not sure if it is true but there sure are some alcoholics in my family

    I usually eat sugar to curb my anxiety! I believe my granddad (passed away prior to my birth), was an alcoholic from the stories I have heard. Go figure!
  • issyfit
    issyfit Posts: 1,077 Member
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    Two weeks of South Beach phase one got rid of my sweet cravings.
  • ViviLane
    ViviLane Posts: 28 Member
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    I started taking 2 tablespoons of Braggs Apple Cidar Vinegar twice a day and it has eliminated my cravings for carbs and sugar. It really balances me out. I love it!

    I totally started doing ACV this week! I did notice that if I drank it prior to a meal, I ate less. My weight loss also nearly doubled for the week. I suppose I need to curb my pessimism, because I just wrote it off as a placebo effect! I'll definitely stick to it going forward!

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