Crushing Sugar Addiction

You know what the most frustrating thing about these threads is? It's all based on each individual's opinion. There is conflicting evidence out there - some people take available evidence and form an opinion that sugar is NOT addictive. Some people take available evidence and form an opinion that sugar IS addictive. Others might be on the fence having not found sufficient evidence to form a conclusion.

There's no need to tell people that their opinion or belief is wrong on a subject like this..... Sure, tell them that you believe that they are wrong and your own opinion is supported by your own researched facts. That's someone's opinion and they're entitled to it after the burden of proof has been met in their mind. This is an ongoing area of research which means that even the experts haven't reached a consensus. So it's laughable to think that a forum has answered this question in its entirety. Just because the overwhelming majority on this particular board has formed a consensus on this particular topic doesn't mean that every single one of these threads should be a crusade to evangelize the myth of sugar addiction.

Sure, there are a bunch of people on here who may be quite intelligent and have done a lot of research on the subject but I'm sorry, none of you are true experts in the field or medical professionals. You're all just random people on a forum.

Dette1 wrote: »

Does anyone else out there want to destroy their addiction to sugar? I have started my journey and I am looking for tips and connections from those who have succeeded in ending their addiction and those who are working through it like myself. I find there is an emotional, psychological, physical need to have sugar and my path to end it has been rough though I am only into it a few days. I would like to say I am in this for weight loss but really it is all I can do to go day to day and eliminate sugar meal by meal.

Logging everything, the good, the bad and the ugly has helped me curb overeating foods with high sugar content. Definitely not something that is cured overnight. I suspect I will have to log forever to keep it under control.

What has NOT helped is not being able to discuss this subject in these forums or being ridiculed for wanting to discuss it.

I'm sorry so many people got tangled up in whether or not sugar is physically addictive, I agree with kshama, it feels like what addictions sound like. Would dependency be a better word? According to WebMD caffeine isn't addictive but you can become dependent. But, IGNORING that discussion entirely because that wasn't your question. I have had luck in reducing cravings for sweets by using kshama & kmictchall's ideas of restricting high sugar foods a bit at a time. I also significantly reduced simple and processed carbs like potatoes, corn, non-whole grains, etc. and replaced them with broccoli, cauliflower, and whole grains. By replacing them I was able to nearly eliminate them fairly quickly. I have also been working to increase water consumption to a half ounce per pound of body weight per day. This is in addition to any other liquid I may consume. I feel like that also helps and it has the added benefit of getting me up from my desk during the day (going to the restroom) and I feel like my joints don't hurt as much when I'm well hydrated. It took a couple of weeks with the restrictions but I found that I had much less trouble avoiding m&ms and other sweets. As kmitchall noted, I fell off the wagon over the last few weeks and am now having the cravings again. But I'm back at it and am confidant I will be able to reduce the cravings again. I'm trying not to "eliminate" any food because I love sweets, pasta, cheese, etc., etc., and past experience has shown that I can loose weight by eliminating these foods but I can't sustain that long term. But by tracking with MyFitnessPal I can control portions and choose when I want to indulge, and usually do it in small bits, so that I don't have side effects. I've lost 90 pounds this year and have added 15 pounds of muscle and significantly improved my metabolism by going to the gym. So I have proven to myself that whether sugar is addictive or not I can control cravings for it and make good choices and progress.

Dette1 wrote: »

Does anyone else out there want to destroy their addiction to sugar? I have started my journey and I am looking for tips and connections from those who have succeeded in ending their addiction and those who are working through it like myself. I find there is an emotional, psychological, physical need to have sugar and my path to end it has been rough though I am only into it a few days. I would like to say I am in this for weight loss but really it is all I can do to go day to day and eliminate sugar meal by meal.

This is my story and my advice. I had a really well thought out answer that didn't load because the discussion was briefly closed due to the mods needing to intervene. The gist of it: When I started MFP I thought I was addicted to sugar as well. Now I have to laugh at myself because I finally realized, after a year, this was not true. I was in the habit of buying sugary drinks and food, I wanted them because that's what I was used to eating. I wasted so much time within that year trying to restrict myself, only to lose a couple pounds and put it back on when I binged. I dabbled in moderation during this time but never fully implemented it.


Now I am half way into my 2nd year at MFP, I started to fully moderate instead of restrict. Moderation is not a shortcut that most people are looking for- you will learn A LOT about yourself that you would rather have hidden, you will be emotional, you will have very bad days and even weeks, you will want to give up...but don't, it gets easier. Lost twice as much weight in a couple months than I did with a year of restricting. I didn't gain the ability to moderate food overnight, it took me almost 1 and a half emotional years to get it right. I still have a bad days, but I'm no longer chained to food how I was when I started MFP. You are right when you say you have to take it one meal, one day, at a time.

MsJulesRenee wrote: »

This is my story and my advice. I had a really well thought out answer that didn't load because the discussion was briefly closed due to the mods needing to intervene. The gist of it: When I started MFP I thought I was addicted to sugar as well. Now I have to laugh at myself because I finally realized, after a year, this was not true. I was in the habit of buying sugary drinks and food, I wanted them because that's what I was used to eating. I wasted so much time within that year trying to restrict myself, only to lose a couple pounds and put it back on when I binged. I dabbled in moderation during this time but never fully implemented it.


Now I am half way into my 2nd year at MFP, I started to fully moderate instead of restrict. Moderation is not a shortcut that most people are looking for- you will learn A LOT about yourself that you would rather have hidden, you will be emotional, you will have very bad days and even weeks, you will want to give up...but don't, it gets easier. Lost twice as much weight in a couple months than I did with a year of restricting. I didn't gain the ability to moderate food overnight, it took me almost 1 and a half emotional years to get it right. I still have a bad days, but I'm no longer chained to food how I was when I started MFP. You are right when you say you have to take it one meal, one day, at a time.

This is fabulously stated.

LikeSeeds4Souls_ wrote: »

MsJulesRenee wrote: »

Dette1 wrote: »

Does anyone else out there want to destroy their addiction to sugar? I have started my journey and I am looking for tips and connections from those who have succeeded in ending their addiction and those who are working through it like myself. I find there is an emotional, psychological, physical need to have sugar and my path to end it has been rough though I am only into it a few days. I would like to say I am in this for weight loss but really it is all I can do to go day to day and eliminate sugar meal by meal.

This is my story and my advice. I had a really well thought out answer that didn't load because the discussion was briefly closed due to the mods needing to intervene. The gist of it: When I started MFP I thought I was addicted to sugar as well. Now I have to laugh at myself because I finally realized, after a year, this was not true. I was in the habit of buying sugary drinks and food, I wanted them because that's what I was used to eating. I wasted so much time within that year trying to restrict myself, only to lose a couple pounds and put it back on when I binged. I dabbled in moderation during this time but never fully implemented it.


Now I am half way into my 2nd year at MFP, I started to fully moderate instead of restrict. Moderation is not a shortcut that most people are looking for- you will learn A LOT about yourself that you would rather have hidden, you will be emotional, you will have very bad days and even weeks, you will want to give up...but don't, it gets easier. Lost twice as much weight in a couple months than I did with a year of restricting. I didn't gain the ability to moderate food overnight, it took me almost 1 and a half emotional years to get it right. I still have a bad days, but I'm no longer chained to food how I was when I started MFP. You are right when you say you have to take it one meal, one day, at a time.

This is absolutely true. Moderation is key as well as trusting your own body to tell you when it's hungry and when it's had enough food. I believe only a small minority of people who go on diets and achieve their goals actually keep it off, the rest of the dieters will gain the weight back and some simply because of this restriction mentality that dieting promotes. Nutrition is not a fixed state of affairs it's constantly changing bad weeks, great weeks ect. I'll be interested to know who honestly things they can count every calorie they eat from now till their elderly years and maintain a happy life.

There are some foods, like peanut butter, that I have been able to moderate, pretty much effortlessly. With foods like Oreos, M&Ms, Girl Scout Cookies, etc, I'm better off just not having them in the house. I also did poorly at moderating all the treats I received for Christmas, and after a few days of this, gave the remainder to my brother. Unfortunately, I got more treats yesterday. Ay yi yi yi.

kshama2001 wrote: »

LikeSeeds4Souls_ wrote: »

MsJulesRenee wrote: »

Dette1 wrote: »

Does anyone else out there want to destroy their addiction to sugar? I have started my journey and I am looking for tips and connections from those who have succeeded in ending their addiction and those who are working through it like myself. I find there is an emotional, psychological, physical need to have sugar and my path to end it has been rough though I am only into it a few days. I would like to say I am in this for weight loss but really it is all I can do to go day to day and eliminate sugar meal by meal.

This is my story and my advice. I had a really well thought out answer that didn't load because the discussion was briefly closed due to the mods needing to intervene. The gist of it: When I started MFP I thought I was addicted to sugar as well. Now I have to laugh at myself because I finally realized, after a year, this was not true. I was in the habit of buying sugary drinks and food, I wanted them because that's what I was used to eating. I wasted so much time within that year trying to restrict myself, only to lose a couple pounds and put it back on when I binged. I dabbled in moderation during this time but never fully implemented it.


Now I am half way into my 2nd year at MFP, I started to fully moderate instead of restrict. Moderation is not a shortcut that most people are looking for- you will learn A LOT about yourself that you would rather have hidden, you will be emotional, you will have very bad days and even weeks, you will want to give up...but don't, it gets easier. Lost twice as much weight in a couple months than I did with a year of restricting. I didn't gain the ability to moderate food overnight, it took me almost 1 and a half emotional years to get it right. I still have a bad days, but I'm no longer chained to food how I was when I started MFP. You are right when you say you have to take it one meal, one day, at a time.

This is absolutely true. Moderation is key as well as trusting your own body to tell you when it's hungry and when it's had enough food. I believe only a small minority of people who go on diets and achieve their goals actually keep it off, the rest of the dieters will gain the weight back and some simply because of this restriction mentality that dieting promotes. Nutrition is not a fixed state of affairs it's constantly changing bad weeks, great weeks ect. I'll be interested to know who honestly things they can count every calorie they eat from now till their elderly years and maintain a happy life.

There are some foods, like peanut butter, that I have been able to moderate, pretty much effortlessly. With foods like Oreos, M&Ms, Girl Scout Cookies, etc, I'm better off just not having them in the house. I also did poorly at moderating all the treats I received for Christmas, and after a few days of this, gave the remainder to my brother. Unfortunately, I got more treats yesterday. Ay yi yi yi.

I also had that predicament in terms of cakes and biscuits. I was unable to moderate those foods too until I started asking myself 2 questions before I ate the whole packet. Why am I eating this & Does this hurt or harm my body. It was a tough process but that helped massively.

MsJulesRenee wrote: »

Dette1 wrote: »

Does anyone else out there want to destroy their addiction to sugar? I have started my journey and I am looking for tips and connections from those who have succeeded in ending their addiction and those who are working through it like myself. I find there is an emotional, psychological, physical need to have sugar and my path to end it has been rough though I am only into it a few days. I would like to say I am in this for weight loss but really it is all I can do to go day to day and eliminate sugar meal by meal.

This is my story and my advice. I had a really well thought out answer that didn't load because the discussion was briefly closed due to the mods needing to intervene. The gist of it: When I started MFP I thought I was addicted to sugar as well. Now I have to laugh at myself because I finally realized, after a year, this was not true. I was in the habit of buying sugary drinks and food, I wanted them because that's what I was used to eating. I wasted so much time within that year trying to restrict myself, only to lose a couple pounds and put it back on when I binged. I dabbled in moderation during this time but never fully implemented it.


Now I am half way into my 2nd year at MFP, I started to fully moderate instead of restrict. Moderation is not a shortcut that most people are looking for- you will learn A LOT about yourself that you would rather have hidden, you will be emotional, you will have very bad days and even weeks, you will want to give up...but don't, it gets easier. Lost twice as much weight in a couple months than I did with a year of restricting. I didn't gain the ability to moderate food overnight, it took me almost 1 and a half emotional years to get it right. I still have a bad days, but I'm no longer chained to food how I was when I started MFP. You are right when you say you have to take it one meal, one day, at a time.

Kudos to you!

I just want to underscore the importance of the hard work one often needs to do in order to be able to deal with their behavioral issues with food.

The first step in being able to do that is to understand that the issues you're having with food are behavioral though. And that is why I find this endless back and forth on addiction so incredibly frustrating. Anyone who thinks they're supporting someone else by saying, "Yes, you poor thing, sugar/fat/bread/whatever is just so addictive" is doing nothing helpful in the long run. Believing in foods as addictive substances (a notion that science does not support), and -- more to the point -- treating individual foods like addictive substances is simply putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.

The underlying behavioral issues will still be there, festering, waiting to manifest and cause issues.

We all have had our reasons for over eating. It does not matter WHAT we overate. What matters is finding out why we overate and addressing that within ourselves. It is only when we are truly ready to accept that the reasons lie within and we're ready to do that hard, hard inner work that we are really on the road to overcoming our issues with food.

Dette1 wrote: »

Does anyone else out there want to destroy their addiction to sugar? I have started my journey and I am looking for tips and connections from those who have succeeded in ending their addiction and those who are working through it like myself. I find there is an emotional, psychological, physical need to have sugar and my path to end it has been rough though I am only into it a few days. I would like to say I am in this for weight loss but really it is all I can do to go day to day and eliminate sugar meal by meal.

I can't see your food diary.
Are you tracking sugar?
It's really not hard to break the drive to eat it. You can break this in three days. If you track it, and keep it at 15g/day or less, and also track your carb intake, keeping it at 79g/day. Try it!