Sugar addiction and lack of control

I try not to keep sugary stuff in the house, that helps me a lot. I have 3 young kids, so the chances of me loading everyone in the car to go fulfill a sweet craving are slim to none (it's a hassle, and I'd have to buy something for the kids, too, lol). It took a while, but I feel like I have control over my excessive sugar habit now. I still occasionally overindulge, especially if it's in my house from a birthday party or something, but 80-90% of the time I am really good and it's easy, even the candy in the checkout line at the grocery store isn't tempting anymore.

I can't control myself after a week of no chocolate! I always crave sweet treats, and struggle saying no to cake.
However I have stopped putting sugar in my tea, coffee. I don't drink fruit juice unless its freshly squeezed and I try and use honey as a substitute for whenever I need a sweetner!

I loose control with emotions and stress. I will walk into the kitchen and finish half a tub of peanut butter and then regret it almost instantly!

i feel your pain, i have NO self control and an addictive personality (i am addicted to exercise! as well as eating, binge eater fml)

don't cut out the things you crave, get BETTER versions of it.

crisps, have redsky or similar (anything with just tattie, and proper salt and vinegar, no additives) get a big bag and put into 20g bags so you don't eat the whole thing in one go.

have homemade popcorn instead (youtube how to make it yourself if you don't know), bit of flavoured oil and some salt and bobs your uncle 20-50g bags of that.

proper nice chocolate with at least 70% cocoa, break into squares, and have 2 in a bag/tupperware.

unflavoured almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, 30g in wee tupperware boxes

dried fruit (mango and dates are my fave) 20g in tupperware

then you have good portions to take to work, or have as a snack.

savour each bit! take your time don't hoover it up, pay attention to what you are eating and you'll enjoy it more, if you're not enjoyig it STOP EATING!!!

paying attention stops me from wanting more as i've satisfied the 'itch'.

have a blow out course (of a 1-3 course meal) once or twice a month (not in the same week). for instance, have a healthy starter and main then have a fudge cake for afters.
or have a takeaway main course with trimmings and no starter or afters.

offset what you eat, if you pig out on one day you can make up for it the rest of the week, the body doesn't know what 'day' it is and you should work your eating regime to weeks rather than days,

and don't weight yourself every day, once a week or less is fine otherwise you'll stress over putting weight on after being at the gym! or enjoy losing weight on a particularly hot day when you've just lost water through sweat.

be realistic, you know what your vices are,work around them and use them as your treats. work for it!

1. Try a little bit (a square or two) of very dark chocolate as a treat, maybe once a day. I find I can have a little bit of this, whereas milk chocolate makes me want the whole bar.

2. I have heard that eating fake sugar/no cal sugar sub's doesn't help you get over sugar cravings. Some have suggested it makes them worse then cutting sweets entirely. I've never been fond of those, so I can't say from personal experience but you might try cutting those out as well for a while and see how you feel.

The other thing could be to limit yourself to something really good once a week, instead of mediocre stuff all the time. When I first started cutting out cokes, I said to myself 'I can have one on Friday'. So I had one a week for a while until I didn't want them at all. I have used this method cutting down on other things too. There is something about knowing you only have to wait a few days, that it isn't restricted forever, that is helpful to me. YMMV.

Tips? how did you guys do it?

Several years of practice at portion control, weighing and measuring, and enjoying treats in moderation. We've all used different "tricks" to get there but the real trick is to keep trying and not to give up.

Honestly, I'm the exact same way! Therefore, I've opted to just not have many. I've found that if I don't eat many sweets, the cravings stop, but when I do I totally over indulge. This past week at work we had miniature chocolates so I had one mini Reese's cup, which eventually led to 3 more and 4 mini Hershey's over the course of the rest of the day. I counted all calories though. With that being said...if I opt to have sweets, it's usually a skinny cow ice cream sandwich which is already portioned.

So, uhm, yeah, as the title says...

The moment I start restricting- I go for a day or two and then binge. No self control. I will have two candy bars, an ice cream and a third of a trifle in the same day. That kind of thing.

I tried cutting out sugar and eating diet (artificially sweetened) treats only, as someone told me that the sugar cravings would go away if I didn't eat sugar. I tried NO JUNK at all but being labelled a health nut and staring at friends and family eating stuff I can't have especially on special occasions, is not for me.

I don't want to give up on treats completely, I just wish I could have just one once in a while...to be able to say no... to eat real food instead of replacing it with junk...to not feel so out of control!

Tips? how did you guys do it?

Well, to start out with I can see that part of the issue is that you're cutting out things all together all at once. That sends your body into a craving...hence the binge and the feeling of a loss of control. Have you tried cutting back rather than cutting out altogether? Addiction to sweets is just like any other addiction. You take away your "fix" you're going to be having a fit. Try getting "fun sized" or "bite sized" candy bars instead of "Kind sized".

I came across a good article written by Sue Thoms regarding food cravings. According to her sources, food cravings typically last only three minutes. Many binges are caused by outside stress or boredom leading to overeating. What I, and others would recommend is that when you're feeling stressed or bored, rather than reach for some Lays or a Snickers, go for a walk or do something active to take your mind off of food.

Link to original article: http://www.mlive.com/health/index.ssf/2012/01/how_long_does_a_typical_food_c.html

hello there.... i just started this program..... I see you are accomplishing weight loss.... May i inquire as to how you are doing this? Is it strictly by using this app? and if yes for how long have you been doing this. Does it get easier? My sugar intake was at a minus yesterday and i did not even eat any sweets.... Is there a way to look why certain numbers are in red at a minus? Sorry for all the questions...

The app is just a tool, it's a food journal to track your calories. I've been using it for approximately 3 months so far, and most of my success thus far has been from watching my calories and changing the types/quality of what I eat. Less heavily processed, highly salted junk food, more fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains. There's a million different ways to "lose" weight, but what they all boil down to, more or less, is diet and exercise. True success comes from changing your mindset, not from strictly using the app. You have to want to change your old habits.

It's a long road, and you may trip and fall a few times, but don't let that discourage you. If you fall off the path, brush yourself off and get right back on it again. Remember, weight loss is a journey, not a quick fix.

Good luck to you, I know you can do it.

Sugary foods are definitely triggers for me, too, but I don't want to totally abstain either. My solution is to stick with healthy foods during the week and plan for a "treat" meal and a sweet "treat" on the weekends. I deliberately set my calories a bit lower during the week so I can eat a few more calories on the weekend. When I find myself craving something during the week, I make a mental note of it and plan to have it on the weekends. I also focus on choosing things I really, really want for my treats instead of just mindlessly eating things that are not amazing just because other people are eating them. I don't use my "treats" on things like crappy store-bought cookies or fast food -- I save them for foods that really taste good to me. When I do eat treats, I pay attention and truly savor them so I enjoy the experience instead of shoveling them down in a mindless binge.