Sugar cravings: how do you get your mind off strong cravings for junk food?

If you decide to ban something that you enjoy you tend to crave it more. Learn to incorporate the foods you love, in moderation, into your daily or weekly food plan.

I, too, had a terrible sugar addiction. Cold turkey didn't work for me. I found it heightened my cravings because of the awareness and I would binge for days following. We're all different and I'm not here to criticize anyone or be criticized. Here are some things that helped me...

While I'm not diabetic, I often find that diabetic dessert recipes have helped me get through some difficult sugar cravings. While they are not reduced calorie specifically, they are reduced sugar. Sometimes it is just getting through that craving (even if it is going from full sugar to reduced sugar) that can help you to progress. You can research for ways to also reduce the caloric amount (substituting with apple sauce, etc...), and I'm sure there are other posts to search for that.

I also found that exercising and eating a balanced meal before grocery shopping prevented me from buying sugar-filled items. I found I specifically sought after more protein-filled, heartier and healthier options. If I were to buy something with sugar, I would focus on something that perhaps came with other benefits like Fiber One and Special K brands. If I don't buy the item, I won't have the item. If I have the craving, I have the Fiber One or Special K items I can turn too.

If you can, try to use sugar as a reward. When I first started my journey, I would allow myself a cupcake after I worked out. It was pure bliss. As I progressed in my journey, my body naturally began to change. Now, after lifting weights, my reward is a strawberry, vanilla ice cream or chocolate milkshake flavored protein shake. I don't want a cupcake, I want my protein shake!

Lastly, because I truly feel that sugar addiction isn't recognized or talked about enough... If I had a bad day, I recognized it and started over the next day. I would develop a plan and start over. I don't think anyone on MFP will claim to be perfect. The important thing is to continue to push yourself to do better and be better. Just because you have a bad day, please don't beat yourself up about it. Keep going forward.

cgcrutch wrote: »

Quitting sugar cold turkey will end cravings permanently. BUT it feels like withdrawal, takes a few weeks to get thru it, and totally SUX when u love food. I'm an emotional eater, but I've convinced myself that the foods I love are doingmmore harm than good. And I'll try them AFTER I've kicked the addiction and see how it's not as good as I think. I know some people who have done this, hope it works for me too!

@cgcrutch trying to save my life Oct 2014 I quit all sugar and all forms of grains cold turkey. It was a hellish two weeks for me and my family based on what they tell me.

After the first 2 weeks my cravings just started to fade fast so in just 30 days my joint and muscle pain of 40 years being in the 7-8 pain level range dropped to 2-3. Loading up on carbs would put me back into a tail spin.

Now nearly 3 years later my health markers and general health is better than 20-30 years ago and I have hope of continuing to be able to walk and talk for many years to come.

While my physical carb carvings faded quickly my memory of their taste was very strong for 6 months are longer. Now that my left brain clearly understands my carb abuse was leading to my premature death I clearly understand to keep my carbs just under 50 grams most days just makes for a much happier life in my case.

I had stopped all Rx Meds in Aug 2004 due to their side effect of making me fall so the drastic change from High Carb Low Fat to Low Carb High Fat is working out well in my case.

It seems sugar cravings can be produced by the overgrowth of bad microbes in our gut. When they started dying off from the lack of sugar and the impact of the heavy use of coconut oil it was not a fun time the first month but because the my pain started dropping like a rock I knew my new way of eating was correct for my body.

Starting in Aug 2014 I tried to taper off of sugar and failed for two months. Facing starting Enbrel injections the first of Nov 2014 and the fear of their side effects drove me to leave high carb cold turkey the first of Oct 2014. The doctors were in shock that I passed on the Enbrel injections for pain management.

After three years of living in a state of Nutritional Ketosis 95% of the time I just wish I had done it 40 years earlier and prevented the physical deformities to my body. A driving force was our two kids that were 16 in 2014. They both are HLA-B27 positive which gives them a 20% chance of developing Ankylosing Spondylitis as well. Now they know how to try Nutritional Ketosis to prevent joint damage should it become an issue in their lives. [post edited by MFP mods]

Best of success to each. The earlier one starts thinking about how to best eat the better. Keep in mind we are not to copy the way another may successfully eat for better health but work to learn the Best way to eat for Our own body.