Seriously Addicted to Sugar!

Nothing wrong with sugar unless you have a medical condition like diabetes. Weight management is all about calorie intake vs expenditure.

TheDJTC wrote: »

For a fortnight, I tried to drink as little sugar as possible by drinking sparkling water instead. I also exercised rather rigorously, walking a mile a day, doing squats, push-ups, etcetera. I lost somewhere between 20-30lbs I kinda forget.

Though I was closing in on 300lbs, so aunno if that's exactly the same situation.

In any case, if you're worried about getting diabetes like I was, try sparkling water instead of soda water... also exercise. Like I've only known a few people that really got in shape by just dieting.

I'm confused. Did the OP say anything about sugary drinks being his or her main issue? Does soda water have sugar in it? Isn't that the same as club soda? I have some in my bar and it has no sugar.

A calorie deficit is what leads to weight loss and there are a number of ways to achieve that. Exercise is certainly important for overall health and physical fitness and it can help contribute to the calorie deficit, but many people are able to successfully lose weight with no exercise whatsoever.

zyxst wrote: »

What foods are you overeating? I'm guessing it's sweets - basic "junk" foods - which are made to be tasty and not 100% sugar (usually half fat half carbs).

I have the same question/suspicion. There's often as much sugar in an apple as in a cookie (I've compared an average apple with a cookie recipe in my recipe box and the apple has more). The cookie tends to be more likely to cause me to want to eat a second cookie, but that's because of the mix of ingredients (including butter) and (same thing) taste, even though I love apples too. (The apple has fewer calories, of course.)

I read a good run-down of how people often come to think of their relationship to their favorite sweets as an addiction (why sugar only gets blamed, I dunno, maybe because they are referred to as "sweets" or sweet is the most distinctive flavor, but if you ask me to pick between a cookie and a spoonful of sugar, well, no contest, as eating a spoonful of sugar seems entirely unappealing, and I often will prefer a less sweet "sweet" to a sweeter one). None of this means I can't understand overeating sweets (or other foods).

Anyway, the run-down:

(1) Have an unorganized diet and no plan, think of dieting as "well, I'll just eat less," and repeatedly fail to do so or to have the "will-power" (really, it's a lack of a well-understood reason) to turn down offered tasty items or a suggested lunch with friends or dessert or whatever and then at the end of the day remember you'd intended to start eating less and feel bad. (Often you don't really know how much you ate vs. what you should eat, though and maybe visualize "eating less" as just eating diet food or tiny meals or some such.)

(2) Decide your problem is sweets (or some other tempting item you enjoy) and that you will cut it out. Do that for a while and then be presented with a situation where you don't. It's been a while and you know you are cheating and have to give them up again tomorrow so you totally go nuts and make the most of the bad day, since it's already a bad day and all.

(3) Afterwards feel bad about how much you ate. Decide that the fact that you overate so much and felt somewhat out of control when doing it means you are an addict. Vow off sweets for good this time.

(4) Repeat steps (2) and (3) but with increasing frustration, anger with yourself, shame, and conviction that clearly you must be a total addict and need to give up sweets for good. This feeling makes you have the "it's the last time, might as well enjoy it" thing even worse when you do end up giving in to temptation.

I think one point I'd make is that this is a pattern that people can easily get into, but the underlying factors -- I like sweets and find them tempting, I can get into a pattern where I overeat them (or feel out of control about them), and without a plan I cannot control my eating -- are all totally normal things that probably are true for a majority of people and have nothing to do with innate "addiction."

If you find it helpful to think of yourself as an addict I have no issue with that and won't argue -- I think the question is if so, what then? How is it useful? (Not saying there isn't an answer, but that these are questions to think about.) But the above is one reason I think that way of looking at things is not only probably not accurate but can be counterproductive.

Learning moderation for items you find difficult may take a while and it may be easier to stay away from some of them for a while (or it may not be), but I think the real issue tends to be fixing the lack of plan in (1), and focusing the whole plan on not eating certain foods is often not the answer.

walterm852 wrote: »

manther88 wrote: »

I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.

I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.

People who have never had addiction problems will never understand.

Actually, most of the time it's people who have addictions that scoff at sugar addiction (especially when the sugar = cocaine comparison crops up).

FTR, I have a drug addiction. The only way I stopped was to stop taking the drug. Can't really do that with sugar because you would starve to death.

Sued0nim wrote: »

Wow

Read up on the difference between physical addiction and behavioural eating "addiction"

You may learn something

I have been around the issue for 20+ years, and have done plenty of research. I also know you can research this to conclude opposite sides ... so its which research you choose to believe.

I dont think everyone processes everything the same way.

zyxst wrote: »

walterm852 wrote: »

manther88 wrote: »

I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.

I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.

People who have never had addiction problems will never understand.

Actually, most of the time it's people who have addictions that scoff at sugar addiction (especially when the sugar = cocaine comparison crops up).

FTR, I have a drug addiction. The only way I stopped was to stop taking the drug. Can't really do that with sugar because you would starve to death.

I know people scoff at it, and I described in my post, its not as scary as alcohol...for me.

I also know in my experience with addiction and addiction recovery, people use comparisons but it doesn't make the situation any better. "I was more of a drunk than you" or "Coke addiction is worse than alcohol addiction" so blah blah blah. Because cocaine addiction is "worse" doesnt make the original poster feel any better about what he is feeling and going through right now and his ability to stop.

Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.

walterm852 wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

walterm852 wrote: »

manther88 wrote: »

I've been addicted to sugar my whole life and I'm 28 years old now. I've tried giving it up many times in my life and just go back to it. Im 5'8.5 and have never weighed more than 210 lbs. I currently weigh 199 lbs and jump back and forth from 193 - 199.

I need advice on how to kick sugar to the curb for good!! I eat so much that I'm scared I'm eating myself to death! I need help but don't know where to go.

People who have never had addiction problems will never understand.

Actually, most of the time it's people who have addictions that scoff at sugar addiction (especially when the sugar = cocaine comparison crops up).

FTR, I have a drug addiction. The only way I stopped was to stop taking the drug. Can't really do that with sugar because you would starve to death.

I know people scoff at it, and I described in my post, its not as scary as alcohol...for me.

I also know in my experience with addiction and addiction recovery, people use comparisons but it doesn't make the situation any better. "I was more of a drunk than you" or "Coke addiction is worse than alcohol addiction" so blah blah blah. Because cocaine addiction is "worse" doesnt make the original poster feel any better about what he is feeling and going through right now and his ability to stop.

Cool that you mock me with your Gif, the 5k+ mega posters and experts on all issues have driven a lot of good people out of the community rooms.

Did you miss her mentioning that she's a drug addict and that's why she posted that gif?

Your understanding of the issue is limited because you're using rat studies, and they don't necessarily translate to humans. They only, when it comes to this sort of thing, call for further research.

In a recent meta-analysis of human studies, it was concluded that there's no evidence of physical addiction to sugar in humans.

This isn't to say the some people don't struggle with certain foods. And this seems to be the OP's case.

The problem with calling it an addiction to "sugar" is that sugar is present in foods like fruits, vegetables and dairy, and that if sugar were truly a substance of addiction, those foods would need to be avoided. That would not be healthy. Before you try to say those are different than processed sugar, think again. They are not. When your body breaks everything down and digests it all, sugar is sugar.

The solution for the OP is simple. OP has a problem with certain trigger foods. He has two options. Restrict the foods that cause issues. Go cold turkey. Don't buy them. There's really no way around it. Just don't eat them. If he wants them on occasion, buy them in single servings.

Or, he can try to learn to moderate by repeating something simple like "this food is not leaving the planet, if I only have 2 cookies, the rest will be there for me to have 2 more tomorrow."