I Think I'm Addicted to Sugar

I. Love. Sweets.
I will turn down a bag of potato chips for an Oreo cookie any day of the week! And oh how good those cookies are! Especially chocolate chip ones, with peanut butter on them, put together to make a sandwich, with a glass of chocolate milk to drink to all down. Yeah - no wonder I'm 5'3" and 242 pounds. Ugh.

I get it - not everyone who loves sweets is addicted to them. Here's why I think I am...

- I will hide sweets in the house and eat them when everyone else is in bed so they don't about it.
- I will buy extra cookies at the store so that I can binge on them before I get home and then throw the bag away in the trash before my husband sees them.
- I will eat until I am ready to puke, and then I will eat some more. Possible TMI but I need to share it...I once ate an entire bag of fudge filled chocolate chip cookies in about an hour, after binge eating all day long. I ended up getting sick from over eating and threw up all night long. IT was awful, but it obviously didn't deter me.
- All I think about is sweets, chocolate, cookies, etc.
- I want to eat them incessently and once I start it is very hard for me to stop
- I have a very hard time with moderation of sugar. If it's in the house - it's basically gone within a day. My husband has to buy sweets I don't like just so he can have some for himself. That's not fair to him.

So that's the bottom line of things.

I don't want to be addicted to sugar anymore. I hate it. I hate how it makes me feel. I want to rid myself of it. I just don't know how. Some say quit cold turkey and eliminate it from your life food good (much like an addict of any other substance would do). Some say force yourself to learn moderation, and work it into your calories but stop once you eat your caloric limit.

I don't know what to do - so I'm turning to you for advice. Do I:

- Quit cold turkey - never to eat sweets again
- Quit cold turkey and gradually reintroduce myself to sweets after a designated period of time
- Wean myself off of sweets and never eat them again
- Force myself to learn moderation and endure the temptations (BTW - I'm the one who brings all the junk in my house - hubby is innocent - half the time he doesn't even know its there)
- Do the obvious - just don't buy it and you'll be fine - why are you making such a big deal here?
- Do something else?

HELP!
«13

Replies

  • dmcnur
    dmcnur Posts: 157 Member
    Counselling may be needed to help address what caused you to start overeating and binging on sugary treats. I too was a binge eater but was not fussy about what I binged on, just about anything would do and I frequently ended up vomiting, after which I would go back to eating as I had made more room. For me it took a reality check from my doctor to address a lifetime of comfort binging. 11 months later I have lost 78 pounds and reversed my health from bad to good. No more insulin resistance, no more high blood pressure, as well as many other benefits. I went cold turkey with a ketogenic diet, which was recommended by my doctor. It was difficult at first as I would have killed for a bread roll or bowl of ice-cream, but after several uncomfortable weeks I can honestly say I no longer miss carbs and sugar. As well as changing my eating I addressed some issues from my past which had been triggers for my overeating. If you have a strong enough motivation, a good support network and the courage to face what may have caused your excess eating, you too may be able to change your life for the better.

    I wish you the very best for the future and hope that you find something to work for you.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,218 Member
    If you were told that you have ischemia due to your sugar addiction and your legs need to be amputated, would you keep eating it? Because smokers keep smoking regardless and continue even after they lose a limb and face a risk of losing another.

    I'm not saying your condition is not serious. It seems it is serious. I would try and get some CBT if it is available to you. If you're really determined, just try very hard whichever of your options appeals the most to you and seems the easiest. Or a combination of them. I would suggest starting with not buying them and not keeping them in the house and in view.

    I've quit very heavy smoking and I just tried one option after another, failing constantly, hating myself throughout, until one just worked and I made it to the other side.

    Get yourself busy. Find something to study, don't let yourself think of food because there just isn't anything important to think about.

    I hope you succeed.
  • _melysalopez_
    _melysalopez_ Posts: 7 Member
    Your on the right path. I admire your courage to share your story. Stay strong.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Thank you everyone for your kindness, insight and encouragement. I have learned a lot reading your replies and I will consult with my doctor. I'm also not going to do an all-or-nothing approach. I need to learn moderation and how to eat healthy. If I don't, then I'm dooming myself to repeat this cycle again and again.

    To be honest, I never thought I had a problem. I didn't think anything of it - but now that you've all forced me (in such a kind way) to examine myself and my habits I see that there's nothing normal about hiding food. There's nothing normal about eating until I feel sick and then eating more. I see that now. I don't want to admit it, but I do see it.

    I'm going to call the doctor in the morning and make an appointment. Thank you.

    :heart:
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    ps - re moderation vs abstainers, for some people one or the other works best. I have some trigger foods that I simply cannot moderate, and the best strategy for me is to not have them in the house.

    https://gretchenrubin.com/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

    ...For a long time, I kept trying this strategy of moderation–and failing. Then I read a line from Samuel Johnson, who said, when someone offered him wine: “Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.”

    Ah ha! Like Dr. Johnson, I’m an “abstainer.”

    I find it far easier to give something up altogether than to indulge moderately. When I admitted to myself that I was eating my favorite frozen yogurt treat very often—two and even three times a day—I gave it up cold turkey. That was far easier for me to do than to eat it twice a week. If I try to be moderate, I exhaust myself debating, “Today, tomorrow?” “Does this time ‘count’?” "Don't I deserve this?" etc. If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.

    There’s no right way or wrong way—it’s just a matter of knowing which strategy works better for you. If moderators try to abstain, they feel trapped and rebellious. If abstainers try to be moderate, they spend a lot of precious energy justifying why they should go ahead and indulge.

    Modifier vs. abstainer: thanks for reminding me of that. I figured out a while ago that, when it comes to sweets, I need to be an abstainer. It's a hard concept to grasp because a lot of "advice" out there now is all about "learning to modify" and to moderate and being mindful. Well, there are some foods that, no matter what, they unleash the beast in me. Ice cream is one of them. It's so hard though because I really don't want to write off certain foods FOREVER, but it's looking like that's what works for me. I can abstain and just do so well and feel well. Then I go to a birthday party and eat a designer cupcake and I CANNOT STOP. Depressing.

    I have not great advice here...just wanted to comment on this abstainer/moderator theory that I had forgotten about.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    CMNVA wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    ps - re moderation vs abstainers, for some people one or the other works best. I have some trigger foods that I simply cannot moderate, and the best strategy for me is to not have them in the house.

    https://gretchenrubin.com/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

    ...For a long time, I kept trying this strategy of moderation–and failing. Then I read a line from Samuel Johnson, who said, when someone offered him wine: “Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.”

    Ah ha! Like Dr. Johnson, I’m an “abstainer.”

    I find it far easier to give something up altogether than to indulge moderately. When I admitted to myself that I was eating my favorite frozen yogurt treat very often—two and even three times a day—I gave it up cold turkey. That was far easier for me to do than to eat it twice a week. If I try to be moderate, I exhaust myself debating, “Today, tomorrow?” “Does this time ‘count’?” "Don't I deserve this?" etc. If I never do something, it requires no self-control for me; if I do something sometimes, it requires enormous self-control.

    There’s no right way or wrong way—it’s just a matter of knowing which strategy works better for you. If moderators try to abstain, they feel trapped and rebellious. If abstainers try to be moderate, they spend a lot of precious energy justifying why they should go ahead and indulge.

    Modifier vs. abstainer: thanks for reminding me of that. I figured out a while ago that, when it comes to sweets, I need to be an abstainer. It's a hard concept to grasp because a lot of "advice" out there now is all about "learning to modify" and to moderate and being mindful. Well, there are some foods that, no matter what, they unleash the beast in me. Ice cream is one of them. It's so hard though because I really don't want to write off certain foods FOREVER, but it's looking like that's what works for me. I can abstain and just do so well and feel well. Then I go to a birthday party and eat a designer cupcake and I CANNOT STOP. Depressing.

    I have not great advice here...just wanted to comment on this abstainer/moderator theory that I had forgotten about.

    Ice cream is my biggest challenge!

    My brain refuses to think of 1 pint of Ben & Jerry's as less than 1 serving. While I have success moderating the small single serving sizes, I fight with my brain about the price per pound, and they do not come in my favorite flavors.

    I don't like Klondike bars as much, but my OH likes them, and I can moderate them well. Plus I keep them in the downstairs freezer.

    It may be best for you to continue to abstain, but those are some things you could try if you feel safe doing so (individual units, putting them someplace where you can't see them. When I just had the one freezer, I'd put trigger foods in an opaque bag in the back.)
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
    Interesting discussion on moderating vs abstaining. I'm usually a moderator, but in certain circumstances I'm an abstainer. Case in point: peanut butter at work. I used to keep a jar in my desk for snacky times, but eventually realized I'm no good at stopping with a reasonable amount. I replaced it with a bag of whole almonds, which I have no trouble moderating. But PB at home isn't an issue for me 🤷

    OP, I'm very happy to see your follow up post! May this be a turning point for you.