Sugar Addiction

I"m a total sugar addict as well. I can never stop at one, I always have to have more
I found what worked was to simplmy get all refined sweets out of the house, and ice cream is to never be in the freezer! If we do have lollies or chocolate, I chuck it in the 'junk food box' for everyone else in the family to eat.
I also switched to dark chocolate-that really helped as well.

:noway:

I have an answer but you're not going to like it.

Cold turkey. Like any addict, you need to say no to your trigger. Get rid of all added sugar. For the first 4-5 days you'll feel like you have a mild case of the flu, with a rip roaring headache. Then something magic happens -- you'll feel so much better, your cravings will stop and you'll be so proud of yourself.

I know because I'm a sugar addict and while I've done cold turkey several times, I go back to my drug again and again. And I hate it.

If forever sounds like too much of a commitment, commit to 30 days. When you start to crave sugar, have some mint tea or go for a walk. Good luck!

Are you logging it? Does it fit in your daily...or weekly calories and macros? Can you just say no, or do you need rehab? Are you spending rent money or car payment money on your next fix? Or is your major problem that sweet things taste good and you like eating them?

I have an answer but you're not going to like it.

Cold turkey. Like any addict, you need to say no to your trigger. Get rid of all added sugar. For the first 4-5 days you'll feel like you have a mild case of the flu, with a rip roaring headache. Then something magic happens -- you'll feel so much better, your cravings will stop and you'll be so proud of yourself.

I know because I'm a sugar addict and while I've done cold turkey several times, I go back to my drug again and again. And I hate it.

If forever sounds like too much of a commitment, commit to 30 days. When you start to crave sugar, have some mint tea or go for a walk. Good luck!

This helped me as well! When you cut back added sugars you'll also notice a lot more when you do eat a bunch of sweets. You won't feel very great and it promotes staying away from junk even moreso.

I just went cold turkey as well. I also cut out processed carbs, because your body treats them like sugar, which can trigger sugar cravings.

I have some advice! I love sugar too. I get my sweet fixes from cocoa dusted almonds (emerald makes them and you can even get them in 100 calorie packs.0 they're dry roasted and not fried and taste like chocolate without being covered in chocolate! its wonderful.

another thing i've discovered to help me were vitamuffins! you can find them in the frozen food section. They're 100 calories, and packed with vitamins. I have them when I am craving chocolate cake (I get the chocolate ones!)

I also recently discovered air popping pop corn in the microwave. I do it plain and just add a small amount of dark chocolate chips and shake it up. Tastes so good.

just little fixes to help with the sweet tooth! hot chocolate helps (you can make your own healthier hot chocolate with cocoa and stevia..)

All of her suggestions are awesome and usually do the trick for me too. I would keep the snacks mentioned above, especially the Emerald almonds (which also come in a cinnamon/hint of brown sugar dusting), at your desk so that you substitute those whenever you are tempted.

There are also Quest Bars, which are essentially clean protein bars made of fruit, whey and nuts, that help fulfill my sweet cravings. My two faves are cookie dough and apple pie..SO GOOD!

Lifelong sugar freak here. I would eat just about any candy or chocolate I could get my hands on for years, going back to early childhood. Unfortunately sugar can create some pretty nasty cravings and I found that it usually ended up being the saboteur of many diet attempts. In fact, when I first joined MFP last November and started logging, I kept falling back into the same old habits of sweet-eating after meals and wine/beer 2-3 nights a week.

Very soon after I started taking a Magnesium supplement in January, I realized my cravings for sugar (and, incidentally, alcohol) dropped dramatically. I was curious and did some research and found that there is some science that shows a relationship between Magnesium deficiency and cravings.

Mg has lots of great health benefits (and is regarded as safe for most people) besides this. It's a natural calming agent for all your organs, so it helps with sleep, cramps, blood pressure, nerves, constipation...the list goes on and on. I have personally seen all these benefits, and more. I honestly think if I had not started taking Mg I wouldn't have been able to accomplish the changes to my diet that I have (and have never even come close to doing in the past). I still drink alcohol but no longer crave it for stress, and I also have less stress to boot! I eat foods with sugar but I no longer crave candy and sweets the way I used to.

Sure, going cold turkey and kicking sugar to the curb are great in theory, but it is so much easier to make a change if you have science on your side.

I don't sell anything and receive no benefit from this, other than hopefully helping someone discover a really useful mineral that not a lot of people know about. I can only speak to the product I use (which I chose based on online ratings). It's called Natural Calm and can be found on amazon or at your local health food/vitamin store. It is simply powdered Mg Citrate that you dissolve in water and consume before bedtime. There are no other ingredients in the product (except the flavored versions) and like I said it's very safe to take at the recommended dose. The benefit to this format is that it's quickly absorbed by the body and provides immediate benefit. It doesn't make you sleepy or foggy, but instead helps your mind relax so that you're not laying awake with racing thoughts that keep you from sleeping.

I'm happy to share more about my experience if anyone is interested, but just wanted to share an alternative in case you may have some of the other issues I mentioned above in addition to the cravings

I have an answer but you're not going to like it.

Cold turkey. Like any addict, you need to say no to your trigger. Get rid of all added sugar. For the first 4-5 days you'll feel like you have a mild case of the flu, with a rip roaring headache. Then something magic happens -- you'll feel so much better, your cravings will stop and you'll be so proud of yourself.

I know because I'm a sugar addict and while I've done cold turkey several times, I go back to my drug again and again. And I hate it.

If forever sounds like too much of a commitment, commit to 30 days. When you start to crave sugar, have some mint tea or go for a walk. Good luck!

^^^^ This. Also confirmed life long sugar addict. I began the process of detoxing myself over 6 years ago, too. Good, clean food. It is the only way. It wreaks havoc on your body from the inside out, destroying the integrity of your blood vessels, your collagen, your organs and everything. You may not notice it today, or tomorrow or next year or ten years from now (you look very young to me), but trust the experts it WILL take a serious toll on your body and opens the door to many serious autoimmune diseases. If you aren't "fat", good for you, but that is only one indicator of the detriment of sugar. Keep finding ways to succeed, instead of excuses for staying addicted. It's socially acceptable to indulge in this drug and the stores are lined with sugar filled goodies. Even plain old refined grains without sugar convert to sugar as if it WERE ordinary sugar. If you have Neflix watch "HUNGRY FOR CHANGE". It is a very motivating documentary...... unless you prefer to moan about how addicted you are. If it were an easy habit to break, everyone of us would stop coming back to our drug of choice.

I am a sugar addict too. Ciao Bella Greek Froyo! It's low in calories, 0 fat and has calcium and protein!

Unfortunately, sweets (especially chocolate) can stimulate the same response in the brain as heroin in some people. I am one of those people I had to completely remove any form of refined sugar from my diet. I make treats at home using honey and maple syrup instead of sugar. I have learned that I cannot have it in my home. An amazing thing happened once I was rid of sugar. I didn't need it anymore! I am free! I can now enjoy an occasional treat when I am out without triggering the need for more! It took about 4 months of being completely sugar free before I even attempted to try to have any when out. I feel way better and the treats actually taste WAY better when they really are a treat and not an everyday thing.

This is one of those things that's been taken way out of context. Sure, eating sugar releases dopamine, as does taking heroin. So does EVERYTHING ELSE you eat (exercise does also.) Dopamine is your brain's way of saying "this is good." It conditions humans to keep doing something, as a survival technique. It's not that "sugar has the same response as heroin," it's "illicit drugs have the same response as food." Drugs co-opt normal metabolic pathways, food doesn't copy drug responses.

I have a hazardous sweet tooth as well... I usually satisfy it with fruit and dark chocolate, although I let myself have a treat on special occasions.

The key is to add other exciting flavors. For example, add cinnamon to your oatmeal instead of brown sugar. I recently cut out artificial sweetener in my coffee, but I usually give it some excitement with vanilla almond milk (unsweetened) and flavor-accented espresso capsules.

I've found that when the sweet treats become more rare, I'm actually excited for them and appreciate it more. Also, I can allocate those sugar calories to calories from nutritional food.

You might also want to try baking healthier versions of your favorite sweets and bringing them into the office to share. This way you won't be tempted to eat too many, you'll have a sweet treat at the office, and you won't be doing your body as much harm.

when you eat foods high in sugar and fat it releases seritonin and dopamine in your system, so you get that feel good feeling (the same as with drugs) that's why food is so addicting. The problem is that it takes two weeks to stop these cravings, while it only takes 2 days for drugs. The answer is to take all the food out of your house, start planning ahead what you're going to eat for the week. Start adding other activities into your life that give off the same kind of feeling, such as hobbies or other foods you enjoy.

It takes more than 2 days for most drugs, too.

Start using sugar substitutes like Splenda (4 calories / packet). Start eating naturally sweet stuff like fruit and sweet potatoes. If you do these things you can taper down your white sugar and processed carbohydrate intake.

I am also a sugar addict but I almost never eat the junk because the substitutes are pleasing enough.

I eat lots of fruit. A year ago when I began healthy living I cut out sweets and was actually ill for a week, headache etc. best thing I ever did, don't miss them.