Addicted to sugar, how to wean myself off?

I've found that when I eat sugar I crave it even more. Right now I am trying to back to clean eating also. i worked hard to lose weight and have gained 10lbs back. Easy to gain and hard to lose. One thing that helps is to eat natural sweet things such as dried figs (high in fiber and not too high in calories) or fresh fruit. It really does help. I don't crave sweets as much when I eat naturally sweet things. I also am addicted to fats. Butter is a big culprit (I work in a bagel store and the softened butter is hard to resist). Today I added fresh avocado to my salad but i did eat a few cookies. I didn't allow that to be my green light to throw my eating plan away and "start tomorrow" which I usually do. I guess that's progress. I am back to logging my food which is a huge eye opener.
Good luck to you. Remember you're not alone.

The less you eat it the less you will crave it. For the sake of weight loss, I'd suggest cutting sugary foods from your diet for a period of time, until you feel like you can plan a treat into your meal plan and stay within your calorie goals.

I've had to do this with potato chips. I can't seem to eat a few and put down the bag, so we've stopped buying chips at all for now.

I was with you until the dropping coffee/caffeine post - I need my pot of coffee to jump start my day :happy:

Another thing to keep in mind is that carbs convert to sugars - so if you are cutting back on sugar and don't cut carbs back, it converts to sugar in your body anyway

It took me a really long time to realize that as a type 2 diabetic who wasn't getting any control over her blood sugars... I scratched my head a lot until I took a diabetes education class because I basically didn't eat any additional sugary sweet things... except the carbs which then made my blood sugars shoot all over the place

I have recently gone cold turkey myself on all sugars. Except in one cup of tea a day there are no cakes, breads or dairy, sweets, pastrys & I found the first week was fine the second week I had a mild sore head, nothing that a pill would not fix & now honestly I dont miss it.
I have lost 7 kgs & feel so much better for doing it. It is now a way of life for me. I'm with everyone else that says go cold turkey. Track your foods & keep active & you will loose weight & the cravings will go too - good luck

Me too. Its either feast or famine. I know I can't control myself so I just say no!

I unfortunately crossed the line into the world of diabetes when I went for my physical in Feb. I have cut my carbs way back but refuse to completely deny myself all the things I really like - I know those are the things that got me here, however in approximately 6 weeks since day one I've dropped about 14 lbs and A1C is down. All I have done so far is cut carbs and use myfitnesspal to keep me in check daily. Portion control is helping without having completely deny ALL the things I like including a little sugar.

I have only skimmed through the responses, but I have always had a tendency toward (somewhat extreme) sugar addiction (at least in my own mind), so I'll offer my experience. Keep in mind, of course, that what is right for one person certainly might not be right for another...

So... I have tried going cold turkey, but some times, for me, that backfires because if I ever do give in it's like I failed and then I go crazy and want more sugar than one should eat in a week let alone a day... Worse, though, I get awful headaches, and I really do think they could be from sugar withdrawal.

This time I decided to be more gentle on my body and try for a smooth transition. I weaned myself from it slowly, and I've lost 22 pounds so far. I log EVERYTHING and check the nutritional information throughout the day, being careful to stay at or below the recommended daily sugar intake. What I have found is that if I eat healthy throughout the day there is actually almost always room for one or two SMALL sweets. I don't get nearly as many headaches as I used to either. I have always tended toward hypoglycemia though (was supposed to get tested years ago... long story... never did... still suspect it), and some times I feel like I need that sugar to wake up my body. I have found that keeping a small sweet around that I can easily eat one or two of really helps me. I know all day that I can look forward to a small treat, and when I do have it, that's it. Yes, sugar makes me crave more sugar, but if I have a hot drink with it (I drink black tea or decaf coffee with only a 1/2 serving of cream) that helps. All this said, I avoid sugary drinks like the plague... Water, black tea, and decaf coffee as described, are it for me, aside from a rare glass of wine or something similar. Water also helps get the sugary taste off my tongue. I really think it does help.

I also do the 2 Tablespoons of coffee cream.. my coffee does not taste good without it.. I do use the sugar free kind because in 2011 I had something called Candida.. where I had to avoid sugar at all cost.. but I agree with you ..got to have the creamer.. to enjoy my coffee.. its worth those calories.. which the sugar free I think says 30 calories.. When u exercise I noticed this site increases your calories.. Im allowed 1570 but today it gave me 2100...a bonus.. but with everything I ate I still have 500 something left over..may drink some Dark chocolate almond milk before bed.. yummy!

I was REALLY bad with it. Dipping my strawberries in sugar, eating the kid's treats like Gushers or candies. I STOPPED Cold Turkey But yes I still get the sweet craving and I satisfy it by drinking Coconut Milk it's very sweet and yummy or reaching for a delicious sweet Key Lime Pie Greek yogurt packed full of protein. Give it a shot! You will feel like you're cheating on your healthy eating but you're not. Also dark chocolate atleast 70% cocoa has healthy benefits

Agree with the others: remove the trigger food! I still have some sugar. My flavored creamer in the morning and my 2 pieces of Dove dark chocolate after dinner. It took a couple weeks but the cravings stopped. For me, giving up the sugar was harder than giving up cigarettes.

ndj1979, I've restricted my carbs to 90g a day, mostly veggies, some fruit (usually berries), a little dark chocolate, flavored creamer and a slice of bread or a corn tortilla once or twice a week, and a couple 5 oz yogurts with stevia.

No soda, juice, chocolate milk, cookies, cake, candies, doughnuts, muffins, pizza, bagels, rice, pasta or potatoes.

I splurged last weekend and had a buckwheat pancake made with fresh sliced apples and walnuts with cinnamon-maple butter. So tasty!

I went cold turkey on chocolate and didn't eat any for 40 days ( I read some article that that's how long it took to break cravings !) and I went from eating several bars a day to being able to take it or leave it, more often leaving it!

good luck x

ps I was a nightmare to live with for the first two weeks apparently!!1