SUGAR

maplegirlst wrote: »

@haileycram
Oh pumpkin! Been there, still am. You are in good company. Have your heard that sugar is more addictive than Cocaine? I'm not really sure if it's true but I don't care.... sugar addiction is tough!

My advice is to start small. Eat normally for a few days or a week and record everything you eat in myfitnesspal. Then look at home many carbs you average in a day. Then reduce it by 20% (or some other arbitrary number). When I did this I started at 300 carbs/day. Now I'm down to about 100.

If you want to try something more hardcore, this book was pretty good:
http://www.amazon.com/The-21-Day-Sugar-Detox-Naturally/dp/1936608111

I managed the full 21 days once and was really proud of myself. The problem was I went back to my old ways once it was done.

Anyway, keep posting here and keep logging your food.

Please don't spread misinformation. Just like psulemon said, Sugar is not more addictive than cocaine.. spreading ignorance is counterproductive.

Additionally, there is no need for a detox. So long as you have functioning organs, your body will naturally cleanse itself. Detoxes are pointless and a waste of time and money.

I wouldn't recommend reducing ANYTHING by an "arbitrary number". Furthermore, carbs are not the enemy. Really...unless OP has a medical condition that would necessitate the removal of carbs or any other specific type of food for that matter, removing or reducing carbs isn't necessary.

ETA: Clarification that OP should follow a balanced diet and get the appropriate amount of macro and micro-nutrients for her....not trying to say that she should CaRb LoAd 4 LyFe.

OP - don't overcomplicate things. As many other have recommended, reducing your amount of added sugars from cookies, ice cream, etc. and replacing it with other more nutritionally-dense foods should be a simple enough fix. Fruits, veggies, protein, and good fats should really be all you need combined with continuing to weigh, and log/ track your food and find something that will work long term.

I doubt that weaning works. Just quit. Only eat sweets when someone offers it to you. This is my basic strategy. It works.

I just remembered two more things that help me. When I have a craving I first drink water to see if the craving goes away. If it doesn't and I'm home then I brush my teeth. Sweets don't sound good after that.

The problem with giving concise advise is that the reasons why people feel out of control with sugar vary so greatly. You really need more details from OP as to what her specific struggles are. That said, here was my issue and what worked for me:

Issue: I was overeating sugary things because they were available at my office all the time and I would snack on them when procrastinating or stressed or down or I needed a pick-me-up. I needed a pick-me-up more often than I should have because (a) I never got enough sleep, and (b) I started my day poorly by eating a plain white bagel. I also sometimes would buy something decadent (a baked good or a pint of ice cream) if I had a bad day, although ordering Indian food was more commonly my thing for that rather than sweets.

Solution (so far): I wanted to break my habit of eating all day and using sweets for emotional purposes, so I cut out sweets (I actually did a dramatic "cut out all grains and dairy and legumes" paleo thing too that I don't recommend). I wanted to eat at my usual times throughout the day for a few days--shockingly, no longer--and I simply replaced it with raw vegetables until out of the habit. I was really motivated and eating really well--lots of protein and vegetables, good sized meals (although low cal), so this probably helped.

After about 3 weeks I added back in the grains and legumes (grains in pretty small amounts at first because I don't really care about grains so found cutting them a good way to cut calories) and started introducing some sweets in small amounts as they fit in my calories. What I discovered:

(a) For me the big change was breaking the snacking habit and trying to avoid emotional eating. If I didn't let myself snack all day but ate only planned meals and didn't use food for emotional purposes, I felt pretty in control.

(b) Eating something sweet as essentially part of a larger meal -- a little ice cream or chocolate as dessert immediately after a full meal -- was easy to do in moderation, especially if I decided in advance that I'd have only what fit in my calories but that I could do it every day if I wanted, so there was no sense of "this is the last time so I better go crazy!"

(c) Some foods were easier than others. Chocolate (good quality) and ice cream are easy for me. Baked goods are harder, since my mind plays the "it's going to go bad if you don't eat it!" game. But I only really like homemade baked goods, so I don't bake them except for a special occasion. I eat them at a friend's house for a special occasion sometimes, though (like my monthly book club).

(d) This seems obvious, but taking a serving and eating that rather than eating from a larger amount and expecting myself to intuit when to stop makes a HUGE difference. So often people seem to think they are weird for not being able to stop easily when eating out of a pint of ice cream or bag of something, but of course you can't.

(e) Simply being choosy and realizing that I have limited calories and should first think about my nutritional needs and then use the extras made me not want to waste them on sub-par sweets. The sweets I eat now are going to be good ones.