Sugar addiction

Nothing wrong with chocolate. Work it into your daily calories.

Nothing wrong with diet coke or other diet soft drinks either (the full strength stuff is too sweet for me but if you like it, again, work it into your calories).

It's about moderation, not deprivation.

Gotta do Low Carb. Keep to under 100 grams/day! All be fine!!

I feel your pain because I am the same. I wish I could have a little chocolate but sadly, having even a little sugar has a very bad effect on me and I end up eating too much of it quickly. You might be fine having a little working it into your calories, I cut it out altogether and found that was better for me, whatever works.

Are you meeting your calorie and nutrient goals? When factoring the chocolate into your daily calorie goals, do you feel satisfied with the calories you have left for the rest of the day? Are you able to feel satisfied off one square of chocolate, or do you feel like you start to binge after that one square?

Personally, I found making my trouble foods a pain-in-the-butt to get to and having "healthier" alternatives visible to be beneficial. I might keep a box of chocolate in the very back of the pantry/fridge and have a ton of vegetable/fruit bags in front of it (do I really want to move all that stuff out of the fridge just to get a few pieces of chocolate?), or I might not keep any chocolate at all in the house (and have to go to the grocery store to get a box). Could you get a bag of those mini chocolate squares, freeze the entire bag, and only take a few pieces out each morning to defrost for that evening?

I'm going to be a big meanie by saying this, but it's ultimately up to you to control your "sugar addiction". We can't follow you everywhere and slap food out of your hands, but you can identify which foods are problems, assess whether you can portion control them (while meeting your calorie and nutrient goals), and decide whether the food is ultimately worth keeping in the house.

Liking chocolate a lot and lacking the willpower to resist it is NOT an addiction to sugar.

That said, you can have chocolate and still lose weight. Just count your calories and eat fewer than you burn.

natswagg wrote: »

I can't help myself from eating processed sugar! chocolate is my biggest weakness can anyone please give me some tips to control my bad habits?

First, do you actually crave "processed sugar"? Or do you enjoy eating certain sweet treats and sometimes feel out of control in that you eat them when planning not to or eat more than you intended? For most of us it is the latter.

I think for many of us it can actually help to lose the black and white thinking and not tell ourselves we need to not have any (and should stop liking these foods) -- I think that can contribute to a feeling of loss of control, as once we eat any we think "oh, well, I've ruined it, might as well go nuts and start again tomorrow." Also, this often goes along with trying to eat a very restrictive diet (either in food options or calories) and that can make temptation harder to resist.

Beyond that, I think people need to think about the circumstances when they crave or overeat these foods, the specific habits and associations involved. For me, I would eat mindlessly at work (often sweets, because those would be around, but not only), and that's because I'd developed a habit (in part to deal with stress, in part to wake myself up). I decided to change that habit and eat only at planned mealtimes. I made sure my meals were filling and tasty (plenty of protein and not "diet" food), and if I wanted to eat in-between I reminded myself that I'd be eating again soon enough and wasn't really hungry and sometimes forced myself to think about why I really wanted to eat (exercise also helps in getting the mind off it, if possible, or just going for a walk or doing something else). At first I also allowed myself to munch on low calorie foods (basically, raw vegetables) when I felt that urge to eat. Very quickly the urge to eat between meals went away.

At first I'd also cut out added sugar because I knew I was using it some for self-comfort and wanted to break that dysfunctional behavior and teach myself I didn't need it. I quickly realized that my pattern was really eating for comfort, less about the specific foods, and now try to avoid that (which is largely done by having a regular pattern of eating). I find I can include some sweets in my day (high quality chocolate or ice cream, often, sometimes I have cheese instead of something sweet) without feeling out of control. It's easiest to do this right after a meal when I'm not hungry, and I usually (not always) wait until after dinner, as that allows me to have something to look forward to and if I'm offered something at work I can decide if I want it or if I'd rather save the calories for my usual post-dinner option. I also found it helped to cultivate my innate sweets-snobbery -- I really don't care that much about the candy bars in the checkout aisle or packaged baked goods or most mass market cookies, so went with that and decided that if I am going to use my calories on something sweet, it is going to be something I consider amazing. This means I'll eat baked goods if they are homemade by someone who is good at it (and I'm lazy, so while I like my own baking I don't do it that much), and I'll save my calories for a smaller piece of really good chocolate. I won't usually be tempted by the sweets that people dump in the breakroom because they want others to eat them (although occasionally they will be worth it and I might choose to fit something in my calories).

I feel for you. I am in a similar boat - loved my sweet things.

I think there is really only three things you can do:

1. keeping indulging
2. Cut back and eat smaller amounts
3. Remove trigger foods from your life

I kept trying to moderate my sugar but realized that I just can't. I end up eating more of it. Not good. For me, I had to cut added sugars from my life and go low carb before my cravings went away. It took about a week but I can now comfortably skip any sweets... There is still a problem if I have just a bite or two though.

Good luck.