Breaking the sugar cycle?
Ninnoc06
Posts: 7 Member
Hi everyone, I’m new to MFP - I’m working on breaking the sugar cycle. I know that I feel better in general when I have less processed sugar. But the call to the candies and cookies is very loud! Does anyone have suggestions for breaking the sugar addiction?
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Replies
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I am trying to do the same thing. I recently gave up alcohol so i expected the sugar cravings to be fierce but wow this is bad.3
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I know it’s the same with sweets for me - the headaches are horrible!1
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Many times cravings for sweets is much more of a habit and a comforting ritual. For example, candy in the afternoon, dessert after dinner, etc. It's a habit that can be changed. Replace the sweet with something else you enjoy whether it be food related (flavored unsweetened tea) or a 10 minute break to take a quick walk or listen to a couple songs you really enjoy.6
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To be fair my next bike is deffinatly going to be carbon fibre because my sugar one broke super quick....7
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Many times cravings for sweets is much more of a habit and a comforting ritual. For example, candy in the afternoon, dessert after dinner, etc. It's a habit that can be changed. Replace the sweet with something else you enjoy whether it be food related (flavored unsweetened tea) or a 10 minute break to take a quick walk or listen to a couple songs you really enjoy.
I like this a lot - I love a good herbal tea or a good stretch. It’s hard at the office especially when they keep offering snacks but maybe a cup of tea or a quick walk outside will be enough?2 -
Salt, pink salt, when you crave sweets. It's just a little help to get you over the crave moment. After you've broken through the addiction you'll be ok without the extra salt.10
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-- Seriously, salt ? Can I have dill or sweet pickles?
Is any of it related to the fact I don't eat a lot of fat (added fat) and I'm a veggie/fruit + oats girl?
Ugh, I know...some of mine HAS to be the fact I'm not balancing out protein/fat/carbs.
I want to get through a day...but I fail by 2pm.
Trying again right now...no sugar from 3:30pm - bedtime.....
and then NO sugar tomorrow morning. WHy is this SO hard to do???
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It doesn't work for everyone, but making it a point to eat several servings of fruit daily helped to reduce my cravings for less nutrient-dense sweet foods like candy, cookies, cakes, etc. After a while, some low-nutrient sweets (like a lot of the routine grocery store types) started tasting way too simple, way too sweet, and not very enjoyable.
I never cut out all added sugar, or anything extreme like that. I still enjoy a good dessert now and then, but I don't routinely get the munchies and want that stuff like I used to.
This is far from universally effective, but I've seen other people here report the same thing: Could be worth a try.5 -
I'm the same as @AnnPT77 - when I eat more fruit I crave added sugars less. I needed to cut out most sugar when I was diagnosed with diabetes, and my experience was that after going cold turkey on oversweetened foods for about two weeks, they started tasting too sweet and I no longer wanted them as badly.
During that transitional period one unexpected thing that helped was changing my habits around food. For example I used to stop every day for a Coke Icee at a particular corner, so I changed my driving patterns so I didn't pass it on the way home. I still crave Baskin Robbins when I pass the place we used to get it on a hot summer afternoon. Just simple things like putting the cookies in another cabinet can help.2 -
Just ditch it. The only sugar I give myself is with my morning coffee and that's it. Your other food will taste better and you will feel better. It is an addiction. One time I went 2 months without eating anything remotely sweet. The first time i had jam I spit it out. Your body changes.10
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I have to treat sugar the way an alcoholic treats whiskey. I recently lasted 16 months with absolutely no candy, cookies, ice cream etc. not even ketchup. I lost 60 pounds and felt great. Then I made the big mistake of thinking I could have a few sweets around Christmas, and from the first piece of fudge I was off on a sugar binge and haven't been able to get back on the wagon (regaining 20 pounds.) I'll keep trying. I know it's a matter of cutting it out completely and suffering through the first week or so until I'm sugar-sober again.7
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Slowfaster wrote: »I have to treat sugar the way an alcoholic treats whiskey. I recently lasted 16 months with absolutely no candy, cookies, ice cream etc. not even ketchup. I lost 60 pounds and felt great. Then I made the big mistake of thinking I could have a few sweets around Christmas, and from the first piece of fudge I was off on a sugar binge and haven't been able to get back on the wagon (regaining 20 pounds.) I'll keep trying. I know it's a matter of cutting it out completely and suffering through the first week or so until I'm sugar-sober again.
Maybe it wasn't the sugar but the deprivation.11 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Salt, pink salt, when you crave sweets. It's just a little help to get you over the crave moment. After you've broken through the addiction you'll be ok without the extra salt.
What just eat salt ? Ive had the aame problem cookies is the worst for me and i dont know how to stop that craving it always gets me not everyday but at least once week and that is what leads me to my cheat meals if i would know how to control that sweet craving i would be able to accomplish much more3 -
I love sweets. I was raised in a family that had a little something for desert every night. I don’t fight my love of sugar. I probably have desert 4 times a week. I make small one person deserts so that I don’t over eat. My personal favorites are chocolate chip cookie dough for one (although I leave out the chocolate chips because I don’t need them), peanut butter cookie dough for one, brownie for one, and a 1/4 batch of crepes!3
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What works for me is looking in the mirror, then going upstairs and looking in my wardrobe at the clothes I want to look good in this summer. When you are addicted to sugar you cannot stop with just one, but want another and then another. For me it is easier not to eat anything with any sort of sugar in the ingredients.4
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Salt, pink salt, when you crave sweets. It's just a little help to get you over the crave moment. After you've broken through the addiction you'll be ok without the extra salt.
Pink salt is woo. If you believe those trace amounts of elements in there do anything then you should also believe that the radioctive elements in there are bad for you.5 -
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SufficientRichardVerve wrote: »Cold turkey detox. It literally is an addiction. I do keto cycles to break it and keep sweets out of my house.
It literally is NOT an addiction.
Cravings for sweets can often be difficult to manage but many find that the triggers are more habitual or behavioral. There is no physiological addiction because if there were, then it wouldn’t matter if the sugar came from cookies, candy, or carrots or bananas. The reaction in the body would be the same.
To the OP - consider if you think it’s possible for you to eat these foods in moderation, starting with restricting them in the house but maybe allowing for them on special occasions or once a week. Think if planning room in your day to allow 100-200 cals for a sweet treat is manageable or if not, then you may need to restrict more heavily.
Is it a particular food you crave (a certain cookie or candy) or is it just sweets in general? If it’s one thing that you have difficulty controlling (for me it’s M&Ms) then maybe keep that out of the house but allow yourself other treats.
Are there alternatives, sugar free desserts or fruits that satisfy you but don’t result in the same triggers to overeat?
Good luck. A lot of people do find they need to heavily restrict or cut out added sugars altogether in order to be successful. Others find that sets up patterns of binging and/or feelings of failure when they do succumb. I’m in the “all things in moderation” camp but I know that moderating certain foods can be really challenging for some folks. Still doesn’t make sugar addictive.6 -
bhurley100 wrote: »
I love this! So true!1 -
Eat 2-3 servings of fruit daily.
You'll probably come to find out it's not really sugar...at least not sugar alone. Most things like cookies, candies, etc have as many if not more calories coming from fat and the combination is highly palatable.
It's also not an addiction...if it were, it could easily be cured with a banana.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »It's also not an addiction...if it were, it could easily be cured with a banana.
Ever since I started my Dr. Oz 9 day banana fast, I'm totally addicted.
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I'm going to land firmly on the Fruit-is-your-friend side for this argument. Sugar as an addiction... probably not, habit... that is too mild to even scratch the surface! Whatever description you use, it is a da@! hard thing to give up, and anything healthy you can do to help you over the hump is a plus. I love crispy-sweet-tart apples. I keep a bag in the fridge at work and at home and this is my go-to when I have to have something sweet. It takes a little while to get through an apple and the time it takes to crunch through a whole one gives your brain time to register that you are fulfilling your need for a treat.
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OP here...so we started doing smoothies and I swear you can’t taste the veg at all. We found a healthy Orange Julius recipe that’s nice and orangey. Also I am noticing a huge difference in how I feel - I feel not sick when I don’t have sugar- which makes me think a lot of it is in my mind.1
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