Overcoming food addiction, help please!!

I am not a sugar addict, but the more I tell myself that I will not eat something the more I want it and eventually eat it. I have tried to change by keeping my mind and hands busy. I have started eating small apples and nuts. I also try to talk to another person once a day and my vice is coffee. So if I do good I have a cup with Splenda and a little cream. Maybe you can exchange what you like for something healthy. I have 3 kids and they are all in school and now I have no structure so I eat. I would love to be a friend and I will post on your wall daily, because then I will have a reason to log in every day. If this is not what you are looking for I understand and I will continue to find someone.
Good luck

hello fellow sugar buddie..i too have "thing" for sugar. i just recently had to deal with my issue with food, mainly sugar. i have never been over weight, except when I gained 35-40 during all three of my pregnancies, so i never thought i had an issue with food. my parents and grandparents have major sweet tooth's so i grew up with ice cream and cookies as desserts at least 4-5 days a week as a child/teenager. i just saw it as normal. but i realized that the sugar was preventing me from reaching my weight goal and found out that diabetes run in my family. so i have trained myself to say no. i do not buy chocolate to bring into my house. i will only eat it out as a treat. my kids snacks are mostly fruits, crackers, animal/butter cookies and pretzels, so they don't even ask for the "good" stuff.
i have found that if I don;t buy it i won't eat it. plan your sweet day and only buy enough for that day, involve your family, this will keep you accountable and teach them moderation.

Just don't buy the types of foods that trigger your unhealthy cravings.
And sever all connections with people, places and events that make available these foods.

Replace old friends with new, like-minded people, and have an arsenal of coping tools to replace the crutch of binge eating.
I punch a heavy bag - lol
And you can find something more suited to your own personality if raging against a punching bag won't do it - :bigsmile:

It's not complicated, but change is hard, and breaking that draw to old habits is like losing an old friend.

You can get through this; keep punching!

All Is Possible!

Food addiction usually has an emotional root... We love the taste and sure the dense carbohydrates even give us the feel-good rush by releasing serotonin. However, we know that eating too much isn't good for us, so if we are sabotaging ourselves, it's usually an emotional issue. I lost over a hundred pounds, but I had to seriously focus on what was going on in my head. Here's how I conquered my addiction to food (please note I consider myself in remission).

1) Desire to change. I don't mean that to be silly, but sometimes we think we want to change, but we still want to hold onto our unhealthy relationship with food.

2) Be willing to face fears and painful memories and deal with them in an adult-like manner.

3) Have trust in yourself that you are strong enough to face any and all pain that comes your way from this point forward, and be sure you have support.

4) Be willing to forgive others, even those who don't deserve forgiveness (including yourself if need be).

5) View the past for what it is... memories only... and be willing to detach yourself and stop carrying around those painful memories.

6) Discover what you love about yourself already. And focus on those things when you feel like your confidence is being threatened.

7) Be aware of the value of time, who with and how you spend yours.

8) Be prepared to face people and situations head-on. When you are hurt, in any way, take note. Think about it, decide what you would do and or say if this situation happens again.

9) Meditate.

10) Be prepared. Make sure you plan your food before the day starts. Have what you need on hand. Decide first thing in the morning if you are going to stick to that plan or not.


Hopefully you will find these steps as helpful as I have. It's important that we stop hyper-focusing on our relationship with food instead of what makes us feel good.

I struggled with food addiction and binging. I would binge on sugar, chocolate mostly, and simple carbs. I'm not sure what exactly finally broke it for me. I took a good look in the mirror, that was a good start. I found an exercise program that I enjoyed and actually looked forward to, sounds like you have that already.
But the biggest thing I think I did was switch how I was eating. When I started eating tons of veggies and fruit I felt more satisfied all day and didn't have cravings anymore. It's my TOM so I've had a few cravings, but I keep them healthy, like homemade chickpea brownies, can't feel bad about eating that. Sometimes after eating a meal if I'm wanting something sweet I chew a piece of Extra Mint Chocolate Chip flavored gum.
Good luck, I feel for you! I know how overwhelming the cravings for sweets can be and it sucks! I hope you find your way to break it soon.

I too have struggles with food addiction and still do. One thing I learned about 2 years ago was that white carbs and starches make you crave sugar. To help with my severe chocolate addiction I quit buying anything with high frutose corn syrup and stopped eating potatoes, corn, and anything with enriched bleached flour. It made a HUGE difference. I used to wake up thinking about chocolate or ice cream and now I don't. I also learned that pineapple makes you crave sugar. Every once in awhile I have a little bit of potatoes and a little bit of pineapple but I am very careful with it.

I completely understand your addiction. I am the same way with sweets. Anytime I watch someone eat a piece of cake or ice cream. I have got to have it! Once someone brought in a strawberry cream pie to work. I loved it so much that I went out and bought an entire pie. Can you guess who ate it? :mad: During the summer months, when me and hubby are out running errands, I frequently beg him to stop at Dairy Queens to get my ice cream fix.

One of my biggest problem is I feel the craving to eat sweets after every meal. This is absolutely horrible and detrimental to my health. I've packed on the pounds over the years.

Recently I've discovered that drinking tea helps with my sweet craving. I usually have a cup of unsweetened hot white/green tea after meal. It significantly helps with my craving. I'm not sure if it works for anyone else, but it's worth a try to replace something unhealthy with something healthy.