How to quit sugar?

irishdancer23
irishdancer23 Posts: 168 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I recently have become a total sugar addict: ice cream, Halloween candy, chocolate, pudding- pretty much anything I can find, I'll eat. I have experimented by trying to cut back on sugar, but this has just led to bingeing and even more sugar. therefore, i have made the decision to attempt to completely cut out most sugars from my diet. my goal is to stop eating all of the junky sugars, like chocolate, candy bars, cake, that stuff. i am planning on continuing to eat naturally occurring sugars, like those found in fruits and vegetables, and also occasionally yogurt and applesauce. does anyone have any suggestions or ways in which they think i could revise/improve this plan? also, does anyone who has done this before have any input? thanks so much!

Replies

  • moniquelessard
    moniquelessard Posts: 418
    Bump. I'm interested in any replies you get. I get massive headaches if I cut out sugar. I crave it and it's a daily battle to keep it to a minimum. :S
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
    Cold turkey. Only thing that works for me. If I try to limit it I find I still want it just as much, if not more. If I cut it out completely then my body craves it less every day. After the first couple days anyway.
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
    I wonder if you're eating enough carbs. If you're not - that may be where the sugar cravings are coming from. But I'm not a doctor so I really don't know. It is hard / near impossible to completely cut out added sugar though.
  • ApproachingDusk
    ApproachingDusk Posts: 70
    Start replacing it with fruit and dark chocolate?

    Look at what you're eating and see if there is a way to make it without it being high in calories/fat/sugar but still get the craving sated?
  • Kohadre
    Kohadre Posts: 316
    Cold turkey. Only thing that works for me. If I try to limit it I find I still want it just as much, if not more. If I cut it out completely then my body craves it less every day. After the first couple days anyway.

    This.

    Just stop eating it.
  • wannababyH
    wannababyH Posts: 106
    I tried cold turkey and it was very hard for me.

    I switched over to "sugar free" candies for diabetics. It's not cheap, so that helped me not want to buy it as much, and it's not as tasty so I slowly wanted it less and less.

    This might not work for anyone else, but it helped me.
  • sarah307
    sarah307 Posts: 1,363 Member
    bump

    i am trying to cut sugar too!!! i just made a post about this actually... everyone said go cold turkey ! idk if i can do that !!
  • MsMonny
    MsMonny Posts: 183
    You will get headaches if you go cold turkey, you will feel ill and you will feel tired .... BUT.... it is the only way to go. Read labels and research. I have done it and the only sugar I had was an apple or another piece of fruit. There is a guy at the gym that can tell if I have had a binge on sugar - my eyes are DEAD! He says I lose the sparkle in them, and he is right.

    It absolutely feels like crap to cut it out but the benefits really outweigh it tenfold. Maybe after a month or two of abstaining, you might be able to have a bit here and there, but I bet you that you will puke as it will be soooo sweet and icky!
  • javamonster
    javamonster Posts: 272 Member
    Cold turkey. Only thing that works for me. If I try to limit it I find I still want it just as much, if not more. If I cut it out completely then my body craves it less every day. After the first couple days anyway.

    This. You have to go cold turkey, and you have to be vigilant. That means reading the labels of EVERYTHING you buy and not purchasing anything containing sugar. I did it for six months, once upon a time.

    I'm not currently doing it, mind you! It obviously wasn't a lifestyle change I was able to manage. I'm just better able to control my consumption now. :tongue:
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
    Cold turkey!

    It will suck for a couple of weeks. After that, smooth sailing!

    For me it was soft drinks, especially Coke. For the first few days I would get spasms in my neck and shoulders.

    I still take in a lot of sugar but most of it is through fruits. (Although I cheat a little late at night with a glass of milk and a cookie or two)
  • judykritikos
    judykritikos Posts: 161
    At work, we have a Vitality program. Thru that program, we have a course called LivingLean. I get it free, but you can check it out on line. In a nutshell - we are emotionally tied to our "main munches". Mine is chocolate/candy. Typically people eat for emotional reasons - bored, lonely, angry, sad, depressed, you name it. Once you ID your 2 "MM", and they tie the emotions to them, and slowly change your mental "file folder" on WHY you want them...it's a complete reconditioning of the brain. I've not had ONE piece of chocolate or candy since 9/14 - my birthday present to myself. At work there are DOZENS of jars of candy on desks, and after 5 wks on this program, I'm able to say: Yes, I could eat that, and I CHOSE not to. I am living a Lean and Heathy life and I could chose to eat that tomorrow - but for right now, this minute, my choice is not to. I want and I deserve to lose my weight, be healthy and fit, and that is why I CHOSE not to eat it. I was geting anxious over the next 2 months - halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, cookies, candy galore....they address that, too. You live in the NOW. Your choice is made minute by minute. YOu can always change your mind - eat it, and live a lardy life. You start from square one. I worked hard to get to this spot, so when I want it - I look at it and say: Yes, I could eat it - but I chose not to. I want and deserve to be in my size 12's looking GREAT! and I walk on by it......hope some of that helps. J
  • psoshkin
    psoshkin Posts: 27 Member
    Just eat it if it occurs naturally in fruits. I was challenged by my nutrition guru friend to try to eliminate sugar for a week. That's all he said, I did that and I lost 4 pounds and I was way under my calories because I wasn't as hungry as I was when I was eating sugar. I still have my twice a week froyo, but that's basically it for added sugars, if I eliminated fruits and veggies that contain sugar, I would prob lose more but I don't want to do that! I love fruits and veggies like beets, pumpkin, bananas......he said, "try it for a week, you'll be doing the dance of joy" he was right!!!!!!

    Also, research what sugar does to your body, read dr. Amen books or maybe even google him or YouTube his videos. Bad Sugar is worse than crack and as addictive,

    Let us know what you decide!
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
    Cold turkey so you're not even thinking of it.. it worked for my added sodium, used to sit at the table and first thing touched was the salt shaker before even tasting the food to know if it was really needed or not. Stopped putting the shaker on the table and there are only a couple things that I even think need additional salt these days. If I MUST add salt its a coarse salt...
  • MsMonny
    MsMonny Posts: 183
    The more you eat sugar, the more you will crave it. That is why cold turkey works. Mind over matter.....believe in yourself, plan your attack and repeat "suck it up, princess' for it will be hard in the first week! Move around and don't sit moping about not being able to eat sugar. Distraction and planning is the key. Good Luck.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Any reason why you want to cut sugar out of your diet?
  • psoshkin
    psoshkin Posts: 27 Member
    http://m.youtube.com/?new_visual_design=1&rdm=7g9#/watch?v=ER8pi21hw9Y

    This should help!

    It really makes sense and it works for me!
  • moniquelessard
    moniquelessard Posts: 418
    http://m.youtube.com/?new_visual_design=1&rdm=7g9#/watch?v=ER8pi21hw9Y

    This should help!

    It really makes sense and it works for me!

    Thanks for posting, I was gonna have a look but for some reason the link isn't working... can you re-post? Thanks! :)
  • ChicagoJan
    ChicagoJan Posts: 9 Member
    Yes, I agree, cold turkey. Tell yourself that it is just for the next month, then you will re-evaluate. That is what finally worked for me. I read labels carefully and avoid anything with significant sugar. Eating sugar regularly just gives me terrible cravings for eating more, day after day. Very self-defeating. I still didn't lose any weight by just cutting out sugar, but I didn't have that painful fight with myself about eating or not eating it every day. What a relief!!! To be successful, you must learn to avoid daily sugar triggers. NEVER buy anything sugary in a place that you go regularly--your local convenience store, your nearby coffee shop and so on. I will eat sugar when eating out at a very fancy restaurant (maybe 1 or 2 times per year) or at a dinner party (less than once a month) or when on vacation, but still not every day even then. These are circumstances that don't present me with daily behavioral triggers at home to eat sugar. On rare occasions, I do slip up, but I don't let it build into a daily thing--I just see it as a one-time slip-up. The tricky thing is that researchers are now finding that when the brain is exhausted from whatever kind of effort, sugar is just the thing for replenishing those energy stores! In addition, sugar prompts dopamine release for many people--just like drug abuse does for other folks. So there's really some truth to the idea of being a "sugar addict!"
  • acworthpatrick1980
    acworthpatrick1980 Posts: 9
    Bump. I'm interested in any replies you get. I get massive headaches if I cut out sugar. I crave it and it's a daily battle to keep it to a minimum. :S

    I switched from regular to diet cola, and was able to overcome the sugar headaches by simply putting two spoonfuls in my oatmeal each morning, the slowly cutting it down to none added. It's keeps you from getting the symptoms and wanting to binge on fatty candies to get the sugar.

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