HELP! How can I kick my sugar addiction?

adayinaz
adayinaz Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a huge, huge sweet tooth / love of all things carby. Here's an example: before I started trying to lose weight, if I was home alone on the weekend I could easily have a couple doughnuts for breakfast, a sandwich (or two!) for lunch with cookies or chocolate or something for dessert, chips or chocolate as a snack later on, and a huge serving of pasta and garlic bread for dinner and still want dessert. In fact, that's not even the worst menu I can remember having eaten in a single day.

Obviously, I can see that diet is ridiculously unhealthy and, when combined with a sedentary lifestyle, made me look like I do today. The problem is, now I'm trying to eat healthier and I still crave the sugar. For example, last night for dinner I had a turkey sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on an English muffin. Not the best choice but certainly not the worst either, and it was enough food to fill me up. But since I didn't have dessert, I still felt hungry until I polished off a pint of ice cream and a half dozen double stuffed Oreos.

What's the best way for me to tackle this? I'm afraid that if I go cold turkey I will just drive myself crazy and end up binging on the sweets. Also, I've tried low carb diets and found them to be unsustainable and way out of my budget. But if I try to gradually cut back on the sugar, should I let myself increase my overall calories until the cravings go away in order to help me feel more satisfied? Does anybody have experience with how long it will take to kick the sugar addiction? Any ideas about what kinds of food I could eat that will taste sweet without being quite so deadly?

Thanks - I appreciate all the help I can get!
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Replies

  • fitphoenix22
    fitphoenix22 Posts: 37
    Everyone has different theories on this... Personally, I can't stick to a "diet" that completely deprives me of something for the rest of my life. It's just not realistic for me. Eating in moderation is important. So, I allow myself a dessert once a week. If you can't go all day without something sweet, try substituting healthier sweet options for the unhealthy desserts and junk.

    For instance, instead of cookies, try eating 1/2 cup diced strawberries topped with a small amount of cool whip. It still gives you some sweet satisfaction without overdoing it.

    Even if you cut out 1/2 of the carbs and crap you're putting into your body, it would make a huge difference in your life. I've found that keeping spearmint gum in my purse is helpful in warding off the sugar cravings. I pop in a piece when I want candy or chocolate and it almost always helps me to not make a poor choice. At the end of the day, you have to stop cheating on yourself.
  • misschoppo
    misschoppo Posts: 463 Member
    You are trying to change a habit which is going to be hard as you are accustomed to eating certain foods & its natural that you will miss them if trying to cut them out totally.

    1) if it isn't in the house you are much less likely to drive out to the store to buy it in the evening so if possible, just don't have these foods in your house in the first place, at least initially whilst you are starting out & that way you can't eat them. & If you do go out to by something make yourself walk there :smile:

    2) Try having a (relatively) low cal cup of hot chocolate. It takes a while to drink as it is hot & I find for me it will take care of a craving for something sweet.

    3) switch to frozen yogurt instead of ice cream

    4) maybe try some of the "health" bars as an alternative to biscuits or cookies. Nakd do amazing snack bars, I like the choc oranges ones and the chocolate ones. They are made of fruit & nuts just all mushed together into a bar (the texture is hard to describe but its good!) and they just have a little chocolate in there with it but they taste great & fix a chocolate craving for me.

    Ultimately, when you want to lose weight more than you want those foods, you will be in the right mind frame & maybe if you are still overeating a certain type of food even though you know its detrimental you your goals you are not quite there yet. It may take a while so try and make small changes to help yourself get there.
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
    There's no easy answer to this, but it might help you to start by cutting out processed foods rather than having a no-sugar rule. That way you're pretty much limiting yourself to either fruits, honey, or something delicious that you have to bake yourself (and if it isn't already baked, maybe you won't do it!)

    Sunflower seeds in the shell are a great snack. It takes so long to shell them that it takes forever to get through a bag. It's not doing much for your sweet tooth, but it keeps your hands out of the Oreo bag.

    There's also a lot of research out there that says that sugar substitutes make your sugar cravings stronger.
  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
    I don't know about sugar addiction, cos that's a serious thing, but I definitely had a major sweet tooth. The thing about addictions is that you can not just stop. The best how to stop is slowly. Decrease your sugar intake every week by less and less until eventually none. This is what I did for me. Detox my body and mind slowly. Otherwise it is super hard.

    For some reason eating processed foods makes me crave more sugar. And when I ate clean foods I don't so much. So that might be worth trying. Also fasting, doing Intermittent Fasting, helped for me. Not so much about weight loss but with sugar and food cravings. When I'm fasted I don't wanna ate so much and when i do ate I wanna ate even more. SO what I do is fast until late afternoon and then have my first meal. And then second meal like 4 hours after. And then go to sleep. I find this more easy to menage so that might also help for you.

    Also you might wanna consider that eating sweets might not be a food thing for you. But instead maybe a way how to relax, get ride of stress, boredom or other emotions, etc. In which case you need to find another way how to do it with similar effect. Like maybe playing video games or whatever works for you. This is what most addictions is based off, not physical but mental things. Even tiny sweet tooth might.

    Hope this helps. ^^
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    Sugar is a carb and there is no reliable documentation of sugar addiction in humans. Unless you have a medical condition, you can eat all types of foods and there is no reason to permanently eliminate items. If your goal is to lose weight, the only thing you need is a calorie deficit. Many times, people set unreasonable goals that do not teach them anything about making major behavior changes.

    Read this link and all of the links in it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?page=1#posts-16625920
  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
    It depends on you. Some people have an easier time cutting it out altogether rather than stopping at sensible portions. Others can't conceive of cutting everything out forever but can moderate.

    Is there a middle ground? I don't know. I tried weekly, then monthly cheat days, but they always turned into cheat weeks and cheat months, so there is no middle ground for me. Unfortunately.

    You have to figure this one out for yourself, whichever is easiest, that is the one you should go with.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Self Control.. And who buys all that stuff for you... stop buying it. Pint of Ice Cream and some Oreos.. 1000+ calories.
  • adayinaz
    adayinaz Posts: 20 Member
    Thanks for the ideas - this feels like such a long, uphill battle. (Which, of course, it is!). I don't really like gum (it usually hurts my teeth) but I do like mints, so I can try that. I also LOVE fruit (it's sweet!) so I like the strawberries/cool whip idea. The processed foods thing is an interesting idea and I suspect there's probably something to that.

    I'm trying hard to not make excuses this time around - I really just want to identify what my problems are and fix them, and one of the issues is this sugar/carb thing. Calling it an "addiction" is probably not technically correct (not in the way people are addicted to alcohol or drugs or even caffeine) but it is a very, very strong habit that does have emotional components. Thanks for all the support in tackling this!
  • wildflower408
    wildflower408 Posts: 16 Member
    bump
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    Sugar is a carb and there is no reliable documentation of sugar addiction in humans. Unless you have a medical condition, you can eat all types of foods and there is no reason to permanently eliminate items. If your goal is to lose weight, the only thing you need is a calorie deficit. Many times, people set unreasonable goals that do not teach them anything about making major behavior changes.

    Read this link and all of the links in it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?page=1#posts-16625920
    This.^ I do not track sugar. If I had to cut out foods I love, I would never be able to stick with it. Incorporate the foods you love into an eating plan with a reasonable and sustainable calorie deficit, get in some exercise, if you can, and ideally, start weight training. I've lost 126 lbs and I have ice cream everyday. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/925464-fitting-it-in-giggity
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,890 Member
    Ultimately, when you want to lose weight more than you want those foods, you will be in the right mind frame

    This. Also, you mentioned a low carb diet doesn't work with your budget, but oreos and ice cream etc. are extras and they definitely add up.
  • pianochick5254
    pianochick5254 Posts: 97
    I know that personally what helped me was eating fruit. It's sugary and it really does fill that gap where chocolate and candy used to be. I don't even think about sweet snacks anymore and fruit may be pretty carby but there are a reasonable amount of calories and fruit is packed with nutrition. Even just 2 pieces of fruit a day should help, it did for me.

    The reasoning I was given, which I'm not sure about the science behind it, was because your body craves sugar because that's the fuel it needs.

    good luck with whatever you do though :)
  • obmckenzie
    obmckenzie Posts: 75 Member
    My mom was the same way and so am I. We are both doing a LCHF diet (I just started where she's done 4 months). She went from been a junk food junkie like me to completely cutting it all out. Now she occasionally has something but has said that she just doesn't crave it anymore.

    Her trick? She basically 'detoxed' from it and went about 7 days on a very low carb thing. She said she was able to break the addiction and now doesn't crave it at all.

    She said it was hard but so worth it. I've just started my detox and holy crap is it hard. I want to eat BREAD SO BAD, but every time I think of that I drink water and right now I know that in a few days it'll be easier and that keeps me going.

    Good luck!
  • hosegirl
    hosegirl Posts: 157
    Sounds to me it is about the carbs you are eating. First thing I would do is have my sugar checked. Most pre diabetics and diabetic 2's have craving for carbs. They could be in the form of sweets or pasta, potatoes etc. Once that is done and the level is fins I would start substituting one sugar for a fruit or a glass of milk.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Sugar is a carb and there is no reliable documentation of sugar addiction in humans. Unless you have a medical condition, you can eat all types of foods and there is no reason to permanently eliminate items. If your goal is to lose weight, the only thing you need is a calorie deficit. Many times, people set unreasonable goals that do not teach them anything about making major behavior changes.

    Read this link and all of the links in it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?page=1#posts-16625920

    This. It isn't an addiction. And it's all about portion control.
  • pianochick5254
    pianochick5254 Posts: 97
    On a side note, you can find low calorie recipes for sweets. What I've done is made a soda cake (box of cake mix and 12 oz diet soda) and I made them into cupcakes and used fat-free whipped cream and strawberries for icing. Each cupcake if you used the whole container of topping for 24 cupcakes, came out to around 100 calories for each cake. And they tasted amazing. Instead of icecream you could freeze bananas and blend them. add whatever you want to them but it is really good too.
  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
    Self Control.. And who buys all that stuff for you... stop buying it. Pint of Ice Cream and some Oreos.. 1000+ calories.

    The pint of the good stuff alone is over 1000. I'm sorry to say I know this.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Don't buy it.

    Honestly, I was the same way. I had 2 ice cream cones a day, half a big tablet of chocolate, a box of chocolates and whatnot... What helped me was that frankly I made myself sick of food during the Holidays last year, so I was pretty motivated. I cut all sugar for 3 weeks except for protein shakes - I was using shakeology. I don't know if it made a difference or not - and plain Greek yogurt with strawberries. After that I was able to reintroduce sweets in moderation. I still have issues though, let's face it, so there are things I just won't keep in the house (like Godiva chocolates, as I still seem to have to eat them 3 at a time), but overall I'm doing ok.
  • valenbryce
    valenbryce Posts: 10 Member
    I have found that some naturally sweet teas can help satisfy my sweet tooth. David's teas have some really good ones (Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait or Birthday Cake are two of my favorites). I also find that it helps keep from snacking between meals or in the evenings.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    Back in 2009, I thought I was addicted to sugar too. I bought a couple of books and took an online class or two from a "guru" who promises to help people to a life of "sobriety" so to speak. I think it was a good stepping stone for me, but in working the steps, I never reached the part where I detoxed from sugar, because by getting steady with the rest of my eating, I found I was able to incorporate small desserts into my calorie budget twice a day and most of the time not crave more and more. Occasionally I will go overboard. Last week I ate doughnuts for lunch one day (seriously, like four or five!) and it didn't completely derail me.

    It's worth learning the skill of moderation, or you probably will not be successful in maintaining your weight anyway. Just be patient about decreasing the amount in your diet slowly, slowly, and you'll never have to feel deprived.

    (I also don't keep sweets in the house, apart from my chocolate vitatops, but they're portion-controlled and frozen, so that helps!)
  • laceyfowler
    laceyfowler Posts: 127 Member
    Fruit is a more sensible sugar-fix food :-) I've found that frozen grapes are delicious! They are very sweet and also give that cold satisfaction, similar to ice cream. Someone else mentioned frozen banana, which can also work well.

    If you do for some reason decide to have ice cream in your home, Please buy the little tiny individual serving size one instead of the pint... if you know that you'll eat the whole thing once you open it, then make the "whole thing" a much smaller thing :-)

    I'd really avoid keeping things like Oreos in your home at all... as others have pointed out, it's hard to impulse-eat something that's not there!

    I personally have found myself feeling much healthier, and having fewer cravings, as I've been eating more natural and less processed foods. I'm not 100% on this, but I've probably cut out about 90% of the processed foods I used to eat, and I do feel healthier both mentally and physically since doing so.

    Best of luck to you :-)
  • adayinaz
    adayinaz Posts: 20 Member
    I got hungry mid-morning and had a cup of tea (I don't add sugar or milk to tea) and it held me over to the point that I *just* noticed that it's 1:40 and I haven't eaten lunch yet!

    For the people who say "just don't buy it" - I know, I hear your point, but my husband gets them for himself and he can get away with eating that crap since he gets 1,000 more calories daily than me. I might just give him a cabinet to keep his snacks in (and a spot in the freezer) and just never look at that stuff. It'll help until he's eating it right in front of me.
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    Sugar is a carb and there is no reliable documentation of sugar addiction in humans. Unless you have a medical condition, you can eat all types of foods and there is no reason to permanently eliminate items. If your goal is to lose weight, the only thing you need is a calorie deficit. Many times, people set unreasonable goals that do not teach them anything about making major behavior changes.

    Read this link and all of the links in it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?page=1#posts-16625920

    +1
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    I got hungry mid-morning and had a cup of tea (I don't add sugar or milk to tea) and it held me over to the point that I *just* noticed that it's 1:40 and I haven't eaten lunch yet!

    For the people who say "just don't buy it" - I know, I hear your point, but my husband gets them for himself and he can get away with eating that crap since he gets 1,000 more calories daily than me. I might just give him a cabinet to keep his snacks in (and a spot in the freezer) and just never look at that stuff. It'll help until he's eating it right in front of me.

    If you're going to succeed at this then you need a change of mindset-there's always going to be other people around you eating different foods. Right now my kids are finishing off the last of the Christmas candy, 10 feet away from me. That means nothing to me. I have absolutely no emotion either way towards all that candy, because I've learned that I control food, it no longer controls me. Like other mentioned-learn portion sizes, eat the foods you enjoy in moderation and don't cut things out that you like (a pretty sure way to fail), and focus on the mental part of this whole thing-that's where failure or success actually happens.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Stop eating sugar.

    Like twixl said, food doesn't control you; YOU control it! It isn't an addiction in the physical sense at all. It's all in your head.


    I eat sugar daily, but I choose how much and what. I don't obsess over it.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    IMO, the only way you're going to be successful is to plan ahead and let yourself have those things you want.... just in smaller quantities. Plan your day around having some ice cream right before you go to bed, or whatever. It'll give you something to look forward to all day and will satisfy your craving at the end of the day.
  • brandnewsnickerpuss
    brandnewsnickerpuss Posts: 110 Member
    Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb and disagree with most of the other posters, here. Having previously been 350+ lbs and knowing what it's like to be totally obsessed with carbs, I will say that for me, the only thing that works is cutting out all refined sugars. I mean ALL. Complex carbs, yes, but simple sugars, nope. Here's why: for me, if I eat simple sugars, about 30 minutes later I want MORE sugar. It's an endless cycle and I can only step off the crazy train by abstaining. I'm even careful with fruit. (IE, I love bananas for a sugary reason.) Not to say that I am always able to abstain; but when I do, things are a lot easier for me and I'm not starving all the time. (Er, or FEELING like I'm starving, I should say.) It's great to say "just control yourself" but if your brain lights up for sugar the same way a heroin users' brains lights up, it's pretty hard to control that. (Overeaters Anonymous exists for a reason.) Not everyone will have this problem, but I think there are those of us that do. Just my point of view. :)

    Something that works for me to stop cravings is to have a piece of cheese or piece of chicken (I keep cooked chicken breast on hand in the fridge for my 4 p.m.-ish snack time.) If I can get some protein in, in seems to stop the cravings. Have you tried that?

    Oh, and for the record, when I'm abstaining (Read that: on track) I keep my place free of bread, bagels and crackers because these are trigger foods for me -- they trigger binges. I eat Atkins protein bars instead. For some reason, I can keep the little 100 cal ice-cream treats in the freezer and only eat them occasionally. I have no idea why that is.
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
    OP, you wrote "Also, I've tried low carb diets and found them to be unsustainable and way out of my budget."

    Really? That is not my case at all, in fact I noticed that I am saving money. Is it because you buy prepared food? What I do is buy ingredients and cook at home. Proteins can be inexpensive, like ground meats and usually some grocery store has some kind of meat on special (good time to stock up on specials and put in the freezer). Also, frozen vegetables are cheap too, and the freezing process keeps the nutrients locked in. I take the frozen veg, fry in olive oil or butter...very nutritious, very yummy, and low in sugar, and it fills you up.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    To me, increase fat intake by a lot surely "cured" my problem with suger/carb. now my fat intake is almost 50% of all my calories per day.
  • saradord
    saradord Posts: 129
    I agree cut out all refined sugars cold turkey!!! sugar makes your blodd thick and slows down your metabolism, that goes for gluten because gluten is sugar and your body doesn't use it for energy instead stores it as fat. its hard at first but the results are amazing , go through the kitchen and get rid of all processed sugary foods so you dont feel pressured to eat them

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