Please help with my sugar addiction!!

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Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    superhippiechik wrote: »
    BrandyGanus wrote: »
    pinggolfer96 wrote: »
    I'm confused, are you trying to defeat the addiction or feed it with a sweet/ low cal alternatives?

    Yeah, I'm confused... Do you want to reduce your sugar intake or do you want healthier sweets?
    Both. I figure if I have healthier alternatives I won't go for the chocolate bar.

    Sometimes if you really want chocolate nothing else will satisfy. So you might want to try smaller quantities of really good quality chocolate, so it seems more special and more of a treat.

    What really worked for me was not snacking -- if I don't snack I'm not tempted to eat snacky stuff during the day (I still often have something sweet after dinner in reasonable amount). But, if you do want to snack things with more protein are often more filling -- try a yogurt with fruit, maybe.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    superhippiechik wrote: »
    faeriesue1 wrote: »
    Why the negativity surrounding sugar? God I love sugar!!! 2 sugars in my tea, a teaspoon with my cereal, at least 2 "fun size" bars or chocolate a day. What's wrong with that?
    Diabetes runs in my family. I was just hoping to get some healthier recipes; maybe make a few new friends who can relate to how I'm feeling.
    I'm skinny fat, and would love to be toned and fit. My snacking (chocolate, cookies, cake, ding dongs) is negating my healthy diet,(Veggies, nuts, beans, lean meats, hard cheese) and I was looking for some new ideas.

    I don't have many recipes since I'm not a baker, but I tend to just try to work in a single portion of a food. I aim to fill up on whole nutritious foods, and have something small that fits in my calories. I usually go with a single serving of ice cream or some good quality chocolate.

    I find that going for high quality with a lot of flavor makes the single serving enough. Especially since I eat enough throughout the day so that I'm not really hungry by the time I get to my treat; the small portion is satiating.

    If willpower is a problem, maybe try buying single serve options and not keeping whole packages of things around. Another option is keeping things in the freezer (especially useful for caramel filled chocolates since the caramel usually has to soften so you don't break your teeth) and pull out only a single serving.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    superhippiechik wrote: »
    BrandyGanus wrote: »
    pinggolfer96 wrote: »
    I'm confused, are you trying to defeat the addiction or feed it with a sweet/ low cal alternatives?

    Yeah, I'm confused... Do you want to reduce your sugar intake or do you want healthier sweets?
    Both. I figure if I have healthier alternatives I won't go for the chocolate bar.

    Sometimes if you really want chocolate nothing else will satisfy. So you might want to try smaller quantities of really good quality chocolate, so it seems more special and more of a treat.

    What really worked for me was not snacking -- if I don't snack I'm not tempted to eat snacky stuff during the day (I still often have something sweet after dinner in reasonable amount). But, if you do want to snack things with more protein are often more filling -- try a yogurt with fruit, maybe.

    This is a really great point, lemurcat12! If I'm not snacking to begin with, I don't tend to reach for sweets, but if I'm in the habit of mindlessly snacking, eventually I'll end up with a handful of m&ms in my hand!
  • superhippiechik
    superhippiechik Posts: 1,044 Member
    ccmission11 wrote: »
    Any cake mix , for example betty crocker and 1 cup pumpkin, mix and bake with just that and you have 100 cal/muffin/ cupcake. Butter pecan is pretty good as well as chocolate the pumpkin makes it moist.
    I will try that!
  • superhippiechik
    superhippiechik Posts: 1,044 Member
    Thanks everyone! I do strength training 3 times a week but I'm technically still 20 pounds overweight. When I look at my diet I see that the sugars are in there more than the vegetables, and I eat a lot of veggies. I'm still learning, though! Practice makes progress.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Oh, and another thing that helped me was prelogging my day so that I can adjust what I want to eat based on how my macros look for the overall day (although I don't track sugar directly; just carbs and fiber).
  • pvju
    pvju Posts: 115 Member
    This is the best: banana ice cream.

    Recipe: put frozen banana chunks into a food-processor.
    There will be stopping and starting and repositioning of the banana pieces. It seems like it's going nowhere, but be patient. If you like you can add a bit of almond milk or whatever kind of milk you like. You can also add chocolate chips if you like. Eventually it turns into the consistency of creamy old-fashioned ice cream and tastes exactly the same - it's a miracle. Even my kids love it - they have no clue it's healthy!

    I haven't done this in anything but a food-processor - it's too much work for the average blender though I'd imagine a higher end blender might work too.
  • mommazach
    mommazach Posts: 384 Member
    One of my quickest "cheats" is Frozen Greek yogurt. Protein added snack with about 80 calories. Make sure you stir it around frequently and it's wonderful. If you don't stir it, it will get ice crystals in it. I also like sugar free fudgcicles. 10 calories. It helps me on my sweet tooth. BTW.. Good for you for reaching out for healthy snack ideas.
  • delightful5
    delightful5 Posts: 2 Member
    I am glad someone clarified sugar in moderation. I have lesson ed my sugar intake. That keeps me motivated as I decrease my sugar intake.
  • delightful5
    delightful5 Posts: 2 Member
    superhippiechik wrote: »
    ccmission11 wrote: »
    Any cake mix , for example betty crocker and 1 cup pumpkin, mix and bake with just that and you have 100 cal/muffin/ cupcake. Butter pecan is pretty good as well as chocolate the pumpkin makes it moist.
    I will try that!

    Me too.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    delightful5 wrote: »
    superhippiechik wrote: »
    ccmission11 wrote: »
    Any cake mix , for example betty crocker and 1 cup pumpkin, mix and bake with just that and you have 100 cal/muffin/ cupcake. Butter pecan is pretty good as well as chocolate the pumpkin makes it moist.
    I will try that!

    Me too.

    These "muffins" have the texture of small sponges. I like carrot cake mix, 15 oz. pumpkin, 1/2 cup water, 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Much more like a cake.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited February 2016
    superhippiechik wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I do strength training 3 times a week but I'm technically still 20 pounds overweight. When I look at my diet I see that the sugars are in there more than the vegetables, and I eat a lot of veggies. I'm still learning, though! Practice makes progress.

    On the off chance you don't realize - MFP tracks both added and natural sugars under the same 'sugar' heading. Veggies have a good bit of sugar, as do fruits (more than veg), grains, etc. It's not unlikely that the natural sugars are the majority contribution.
  • CasualObserver
    CasualObserver Posts: 561 Member
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    mangrothian wrote: »
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2235907/

    Congratulations, you've demonstrated doped up rats may exhibit similar signs as addiction to sugar when they are offered the choice of sugary water or nothing.

    See the nutrition debate forum to discuss the concept of "sugar addiction" in humans (hint: it doesn't exist).

    To the OP: I find that if I allow myself a small "treat" daily (a couple Oreos or a serving of good ice cream) of a food commonly thought to contain a lot of sugar (although most of them contain an equal amount of, if not more fat) I don't have cravings where I need to binge eat a lot of excess sugar calories.

    I didn't demonstrate anything, just posted an article I thought might be worth checking into due to it's description of addiction and the subsequent breakdown of the stages thereof, no need to be so condescending.

    It's a weakly designed article that is posted time and time again in the forums, and I'm quite sure many regular posters in the forum are sick of seeing it used as evidence for a popular term that to date hasn't been scientifically proven. In the end, the study has horrible design flaws that gives the researchers the result they want to see:

    1 - the rats are starved before the experiment. If you were starved for a period of time to induce hunger, and had a chocolate biscuit and a carrot put in front of you, which would the majority of people eat first?

    2 - The rats aren't deprived of water during the fast. If they were deprived of food and water, then given the two options of water or straight sugar (not sugar water), if it was an addiction the sugar would always be eaten first, no matter how thirsty they were.

    3 - If you learn you're going to be starved on a regular basis (just like the rats were), and the sugar water is the first thing you're given after each starvation period is over, of course you're going to be conditioned to always take it first over other options. The controls in the trial are horrible.

    So as not to take the thread further off topic, I suggest anyone wanting to discuss the nature of sugar addiction head on down to the nutritional debate section of the forum. That's what it's there for.

    OP, if you like sweet things a lot, knock yourself out and have something sweet, rather than a substitute to try and 'trick' yourself. If you've lost the weight and are maintaining successfully, unless you're diabetic I don't see why you should have to find alternatives.

    Thanks for pointing out the Nutritional debate section. If Juggernaut1974 would have just pointed that out to me instead of being rude, I would have waltzed on over there and checked it out. That being said, I'm disappointed I didn't leave enough room for more than one chocolate mint tonight. I have cut down, but not eliminated, my sugar "addiction."

    Actually, he did point out the Nutrition Debate section: See the nutrition debate forum to discuss the concept of "sugar addiction" in humans (hint: it doesn't exist).
  • superhippiechik
    superhippiechik Posts: 1,044 Member
    Those are great ideas!! That banana ice cream sounds delicious, and I ALWAYS forget that frozen yogurt is awesome. B)
    Thanks y'all!

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