Addicted to Sugar

lhdingman
lhdingman Posts: 6 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Retired senior exerciser. Want to lose 20 pounds and increase leg, hip, and arm muscles. I need to avoid sugar or I graze all day. Need someone to motivate which keeps me motivated. Linda

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Sugar addiction is not really a thing. But yeah, I'm guilty of liking the taste of sugar too much myself.

    I've done the elimination thing in the past.......helpful for the time that I am dieting. But that's just the first step. For me step 2 (maintaining a weight loss) is harder. I need to manage my sugar consumption forever. So, all things in moderation for me. I allow myself a sugary snack every day, but postpone it until later in the day if it still fits within my calories.
  • nwelzen
    nwelzen Posts: 6 Member
    I am finding I feel much better, and have less cravings when I avoid sugar. I am a yoyo dieter who has tried calorie counting and had repeated success. However, this time I am having better luck by getting off the sugar roller coaster altogether. I eat what I planned and feel satisfied. I assume my blood sugar levels are stable or something, because I am so much more able to control myself around things that used to tempt me.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    nwelzen wrote: »
    I am finding I feel much better, and have less cravings when I avoid sugar. I am a yoyo dieter who has tried calorie counting and had repeated success. However, this time I am having better luck by getting off the sugar roller coaster altogether. I eat what I planned and feel satisfied. I assume my blood sugar levels are stable or something, because I am so much more able to control myself around things that used to tempt me.

    That's great if you plan to eliminate added sugar forever. I know that won't be the case for me though. Good luck.
  • lhdingman
    lhdingman Posts: 6 Member
    Sugar is an addiction for me. There is a lot of scare talk about white refined sugar lately. I can live without that. But, carbohydrates are also sugars. I’ve never been compelled to eat fats or protein, but I do crave carbohydrates daily-chips, pretzels, pizza, chocolate candy.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Liking, compulsion and bad habits, yes. Addiction, no. If you're giving up sugar, you're not eating fruit, vegetables, dairy. Sweets foods taste great, but the insane cravings come from demonizing and fearmongering on the one hand, and too easy access on the other hand. I have treated my overeating with planned, regular, delicious meals, better shopping routines, and lots and lots of relearning, patience, discussions and experimentation.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited January 2018
    lhdingman wrote: »
    Sugar is an addiction for me. There is a lot of scare talk about white refined sugar lately. I can live without that. But, carbohydrates are also sugars. I’ve never been compelled to eat fats or protein, but I do crave carbohydrates daily-chips, pretzels, pizza, chocolate candy.

    Do you trust the source of this "scary" information?

    Pizza is high fat, with spicy protein....and it happens to have some carbs. My strategy here is not never having pizza again. Instead I choose 1 meat, thin crust, and lots of veggies. Pizza is served with a side salad so (calorie dense) pizza is not the entire meal. Better yet, I can make my own pizza with turkey pepperoni.

    Chocolate and chips are also high fat items. For many people carbs AND fat is a delicious combination. Ghiradelli dark chocolate squares (individually wrapped) give me more chocolate flavor with less sugar. Chips I can do without. But I don't do big bags of popcorn (anymore) because I will mindlessly eat. That's BEHAVIOR I need to stop. A 100 calorie microwave bag of popcorn gives me plenty of salty crunchy fiber.
  • lbecket1
    lbecket1 Posts: 5 Member
    My biggest step was too cut out coke I was drinking about 2 litres a day and it has been 20 days so far.
    I’ve also dropped all the chocolate I was eating and general rubbish and trying calorie counting
  • lhdingman
    lhdingman Posts: 6 Member
    Just by filling out these charts I realize I’ve been eating too little at meals. The result is grazing pretzels, cookies and chocolate all day. Eating more protein and veggies at meals is too filling to continue eating. There is hope.

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