Beating sugar addiction

The only way to Beat it is to Yield to it..........Just like the quote in my signature.

Sugar addiction is no different than any other addiction, such as alcohol, caffeine, drugs, etc..........

To get ride of it, you have to stay away from it and remove it from your life.

Moderation is not going to Beat the addiction.

i'm a total sugar addict too, it's my biggest problem. You probably want to try and eat more G.I foods that release sugar slowly. That way your body doesn't tend to crave sugar as much -that's what i'm finding anyway. I'm trying just to eat dark chocolate too, as i find i don't want to scoff the whole bar. Good luck

I know how you feel! I've been eating the 100 cal packs but I know they still have more sugar then what should be allowed. I have been eating chocolate rice cakes and I just love them! They make you feel full and they give you that chocolate taste you want. You can see the mini chocolate chips on them. Only problem is you have to like rice cakes. They have a lot of great flavors!

There are lots of books on "sugar". I recommend "Sugar Shock" by Connie Bennet if you need motivation to quit.

Remove processed sugar from your diet and stick to low glycemic foods that release sugar into your bloodstream over a period of time -- instead of all at once.

Getting adequate protein and eating nutrient dense meals has helped me with cravings. Keep trying and remember that everybody is different.

It takes about 3 weeks to break an addiction (the craving might never go away). I have an intense sugar issue. I still fight it. If it is out of sight I'm fine. If it's there I almost can't help myself.

And what kind of exercises are you doing? You aren't that overweight. Do a lot of cardio - combined with a calorie restriction - and all it will do is slow down your metabolism and your body will fight to protect your fat reserves. So it will eat into your lean muscle mass and you will lose more of that thus slowing your metabolism.

Get started on some weight lifting (use cardio as a supplement). Use weights heavy enough to get in 12-15 reps to fail (lose form). This is for lean muscles. For size: 8-10 reps to fail.

There is one link in my signature: "Relatively light and trying to get leaner". It's a long, long post but has a wealth of info for leaner people trying to lose some body fat. Notice I didn't say lose weight. You will have to push aside the scale. All that is is a number. It doesn't tell you about your body composition. I hit my weight loss goal then started P90X (just the weight lifting part so far). My weight hasn't moved much but my body fat has dropped (on my belly finally!!) and my lean muscle mass has increased.

You can also find info at www.bodyrecomposition.com. There are all kinds of articles.

And I love this site (it's a smaller one):

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html (please ignore that he seems to be talking specifically to "no-carbers". This applies to all)

Working With Your Body - The Basic Strategy
By John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
All rights reserved and actively enforced.


The goal of this site is to help you to transform your physique by walking you step-by-step through everything you need to know about exercise physiology and nutrition. I know that a lot of you have “tried everything,” and because there are so many approaches that have failed you, there's a real risk that you'll quit again and again if you don't see results immediately, or if you don't fully understand why your fitness program should work. Worse, there may be some missing pieces in your program, which could lead to slow progress even though you're hard at work. My hope is that this information will help you to stay on track - to turn effort into results - and to reach your goal.

Want to change your physique? Start by realizing that whatever shape you're in right now is your body's way of adapting to the lifestyle you're living. It's your body's attempt to survive. So the strategy is simple. We're going to give your body a very specific “environment” – a particular mix of activities, nutrition, and recovery – and your body is going to adapt by becoming leaner, stronger, and healthier.

Every change you throw at your body triggers a response. The problem with many diet and exercise programs is that they can accidentally encourage your body to defend fat, shed muscle, increase appetite and even lower its metabolism. The key to fast results is to know exactly which actions will cause your body to adapt by becoming fitter.

Maybe you've tried before to get in shape. But for some reason, you didn't get the results you wanted. If you're like I used to be, you've repeated that cycle year after year to no avail. Maybe you've failed so many times that you think of yourself as a “special case.” You've started to believe your entire metabolism consists of a little turtle on a treadmill. You wonder whether you've got the fat gene. You're convinced that no matter how hard you diet, your cells can still be seen eating Twinkies when viewed under a microscope.

Look. You're not a special case. Even if you had the fat gene (common among Pima Indians but rare otherwise), you'd only be burning 50-60 calories a day less than anybody else. Even if you've been diagnosed with a metabolic difficulty such as diabetes or hypothyroidism, you can still be successful with proper medical support. Most probably, other approaches failed you either because they were missing important pieces, focused on the wrong things, or produced results so slowly that you just gave up. What you need most is good information. You're in the right place.
The law of unintended consequences

Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.
Setting the right goal

John Dewey once said that a problem well-stated is half-solved. If you want to reach your goal, you have to define it correctly. See, a lot of people say “I want to lose weight.” Well, if losing weight is your goal, go on a no-carb diet. You'll lose a lot of weight – some of it will be fat, a lot of it will be water, and a dangerous amount will be muscle tissue. You'll lose weight quickly, but you'll slow your metabolism and gain fat more quickly once you go off the diet. Trust me on this. I've been there, done that.

The problem is that you've set the wrong goal. If you want to look better, have more energy and enjoy better health, the goal is not simply to “lose weight.” The goal is to improve your fitness level and body composition. That means losing fat, improving your aerobic capacity, training your strength and defending your muscle tissue. You can't do that with a no-carb diet. You will do it using the approach you'll learn on this website. Trust me on this one too. I know what it's like to feel fat, tired and helplessly out of shape. The whole point of this site is to help others avoid that, by sharing lessons that I had to learn the hard way.
Ready to change?

Right this minute, your body is the way it is because it has adapted to the lifestyle you've thrown at it, in an attempt to survive. Ever seen the directory at the mall with the little red arrow that says “you are here”? Well, fitness is the same way. You are here. You can't start anywhere else. So be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Don't worry about how much there is to do. Change your self-talk from “My body is my enemy” to “My body is my partner.” Accept where you are right now as the starting point, and start moving.

Changing your body requires more than just “going on a diet” for a few weeks. If you want to change your body, you have to make some changes to your lifestyle (which requires some discipline, but isn't as hard as it sounds). If you create the right environment, your body will adapt to it by becoming leaner, stronger, and more energetic. You can do this.

GUM is my friend (LOL)! I keep gum with me at all times and everywhere I go. Like "Extra" gum. They come in all different flavors. When I get that sweet tooth coming on and I really want to reach for something sweet, I pop a stick of gum in my mouth and walk away. I'm a huge "sweets" person and love all things sweet. The gum has helped me so much. I keep some in my purse, in the car and in the house. "Extra" makes these dessert type gums and they come in Strawberry Shortcake, Mint 'n Chip, and Key Lime Pie. They are wonderful and taste like your eating the real thing. I've also gone to the sugar-free candies, chocolates, and pretty much everything elso sugar-free to help with the sweet-tooth.

Gum actually makes me crave it more. My body thinks it is going to be getting something but then nothing hits the tummy and the cravings kick in.

yeah snackajack type rice cakes are wicked - i used to think they taste like polystyrene but they're actually nice! the caramel ones are only 47 cals each, and taste sweet enough to stave off my craving for a 250 calorie kitkat or similar.

Bump for later

I had to get off the stuff cold turkey. But I don't regret that I did, because for me it was the only way.

I'm going to recommend checking out "The Belly Fat Cure". I've lost 24 lbs. using it as a starting point. I did not buy all of the whole food store products it suggested, just followed the advice within and bought food at my local grocery store. The key is to come up with foods that are healthy, that you also like to eat and make it as available as possible. You can expect to have the withdrawal symptoms you speak about, but after that, it really does get easier... or at least it did for me... and have read of the same for others. Took me a solid 3 days to get better control, then another 2 weeks or so to really feel a difference, but only 1 week to see weight loss. I switched out my milk, chocolates, yogurt, cereal, etc. for better, lower-sugar options. Best of luck!

I am a sugar addict too. The pull is especially strong when I am stressed. When I am stressed i more or less forget to eat, then when i remember the first thing i reach for is sugar, sugar, with a little sugar sprinkled on top.

I really had to wean my self off of it. starting w/ simple stuff like... making my coffee w half sugar half splenda..., using splenda in my oatmeal. Then when i was comfortable cutting sugar in the simple things, I took a deep breath and stopped cold turkey for about a month. I think the only sugar i had came from fruits, veggies, and my protein shakes.

After a while, i allowed myself a coke zero, and it was like ambrosia from heaven. i no longer notice a difference between regular and diet. More importantly, i can make it past the Panera's display case without any real temptation. Though, I still have to avoid Krispy Kreme when the Hot sign is on.

I'm a complete sugar addict. If I have one sweet thing, then it sets me off eating sugar for months at a time until I muster up the strength (surrender to a power greater than myself) to stop again.

I've recently been really struggling with sugar consumption, so as of tomorrow I'm a sugar-free zone and working out again.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.