One year I gave up all sugar (except for what is naturally in fruits and veggies) and artificial sweeteners for lent. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done. I had awful withdrawal symptoms and unbearable cravings for the first two weeks, to the point where I dreamt every night about candy and chocolate shops. After the first two or three weeks, it started getting better. At the end, I didn't crave sugary foods any more. I didn't eat anything with sugar until after about a week after it was over. I had a very small brownie, and had a stomach ache the rest of the day. Unfortunately I kept eating sugar and didn't keep up my discipline, but during that time I lost 15lbs.

I think my best suggestion is to eat fresh fruit whenever you are craving something sweet. Yes, fruit is stil high in sugar, but it's not processed and has a lot of other good-for-you benefits. On top of that, it's usually not as sweet as cake or candy or artificial sweeteners, which helps your pallet to adjust to less sweet foods.

This is me and why I am back on mfp! I am still relatively a small woman..110 at 5' 5". But the crap I eat makes me feel sluggish, tired and just down right awful. I love Dunkin Donuts, Ice Coffee, Candy Bars..every day!

I will be 41 in late October and my eating habits in the last year have been the worst ever. I was 104 about a year and a half ago and much better shape. I would be called skinny fat..i guess that's the term and I stopped working out about 5 months ago due to surgery and never started back.

My weight seems to be depositing around my waist to what I call my fat roll..just looks awful and being at the beach the other day and for the first time embarrassed at the shape of my body. Not wanting to take my shorts off because of the fat roll. I literally an addicted to sugar. I am fighting the urge to go get my coffee and add my coconut liquid creamer i bought yesterday! UGGG!!:frown:

I've been a sugar addict since before I can remember. My mother never gave me sugar but one day my grandmother slipped me a bite of cake when I was less than a year old and that was it. Game over. Before MFP I ate half or over half my calories in sugar. If it wasn't in the house I would find substitutes like baking ingedients, plain white sugar, ANYTHING. it was aweful and after quiting volleyball I gained 15-20 lbs. I most likely ate 3000+ calories a day. I could eat the sweetest sweets and still want more. When people claimed that something was too sweet I thought something was wrong with THEM. This past few months on MFP have completely changed my eating habits. I still have insane binge days but they are coming less frequently. I've only lost about 7-10lbs but if you look at where I was headed and how I changed my lifestyle so radically its been the best change I've ever made.

And many of you are right about eating fruit instead.Definitely overcomes the cravings.

Word. I am totally addicted to sugar too. I am gluten intolerant, and eat a lot of fruit and granola bars...hard to find GF on-the-go snacks. Anyway, I go over my sugar every day! So I am being more creative with food. I've cut sugar out before for brief periods of time on other diet plans, it's like caffeine...really only takes a few days or a week to get rid of BAD cravings. You don't have to actually suffer for 2 or 3 whole weeks, just try to avoid temptations. So if we just get through a few weeks, it will be much easier! Best of luck to you...if you find a trick that helps, please post it!

SUGAR IS MY ADDICTION!!! I love sugar, sugar, and more sugar! LOL I have tried to keep it under control by eating sugar free candy and sugar free chocolates. I also eat carb smart fudge bars and carb smart vanilla ice cream which use artifical sweeteners. It does help my cravings but sometimes I still fall short and eat sugar but I don't eat as much as i used too!

My name is Ellen and I'm a sugar addict *hangs head*. LOL....I love sweets (as you can see from my diary). Until I can cut out the processed sugar, I will just work out more often.

I think you just have to find a balance. But eventually I want to tighten up my abs and I know that the treats will have to decrease significantly.

I'm also a sugar addict! Cookies, brownies, chocolate candy, you name it. I love to try out new baking recipes and sadly, I've had to give up a lot of my faves that are just super unhealthy. I've been trying to bake more naturally-sweetened treats, like fruit-based baked goods. I was on South Beach about a year and a half ago and I was able to cut out so much of processed sugar foods! But, now I've fallen back into the habit, hence why I'm back on MFP. I'm trying to eat more fruit and natural sweeteners like honey. Hoping that will curb my sugar addiction.

I was a total sugar addict. It got worse after being diagnosed with celiac's disease. After having to cut out gluten, wheat, and eventually all grains, I switched my focus to sugar and potatoes (which the body converts to sugar). And even though I cut out all breads, pastas, etc I ended up GAINING weight because of the sugar. I felt like crap, my skin looked like crap, and I was ruled by my next sugar "hit".

I ended up reading a book about sugar addiction and everything it was saying pointed directly to me and the way I acted and felt. So I made a decision then and there and I quit all sugar (even the fake stuff) cold turkey three months ago. The first week was awful!! I was soooo sick! Headaches, shakes, no energy, crabby... all signs of drug withdrawal. It was really crazy! I have a brother who suffers from drug abuse and I have watched him detox several times. And I realized that I was going through the same type of withdrawals as he did. That was a big wake up call for me. And it really cemented the fact that I didn't want to be ruled by sugar anymore.

I still get my sweet treats... I just do it by eating fruits. I will slice up an apple, toss it with some cinnamon and nutmeg and bake it with some coconut oil. After I take it out of the oven I top it with crushed walnuts. It is divine!! And NO added sugars! :-) I will also buy the darkest chocolate I can find (the darker the chocolate, the less sugar it has in it)... melt it and dip strawberries in it. Both of these desserts satisfy my sweet tooth and don't bring back the sugar addiction.

It's not an easy road, but it's been a worthwhile one. I have lost 12 pounds, have tons of energy, my skin looks awesome now, no more headaches, no more hypoglycemia... the list goes on and on.

I'm not trying to tell anyone to do what I did... just wanted to let you know my story and the benefits I derived by finally kicking the habit. :-)

Major sugar addiction here. That's why I keep my diary private

I feel ya sista!

I was a total sugar addict. It got worse after being diagnosed with celiac's disease. After having to cut out gluten, wheat, and eventually all grains, I switched my focus to sugar and potatoes (which the body converts to sugar). And even though I cut out all breads, pastas, etc I ended up GAINING weight because of the sugar. I felt like crap, my skin looked like crap, and I was ruled by my next sugar "hit".

I ended up reading a book about sugar addiction and everything it was saying pointed directly to me and the way I acted and felt. So I made a decision then and there and I quit all sugar (even the fake stuff) cold turkey three months ago. The first week was awful!! I was soooo sick! Headaches, shakes, no energy, crabby... all signs of drug withdrawal. It was really crazy! I have a brother who suffers from drug abuse and I have watched him detox several times. And I realized that I was going through the same type of withdrawals as he did. That was a big wake up call for me. And it really cemented the fact that I didn't want to be ruled by sugar anymore.

I still get my sweet treats... I just do it by eating fruits. I will slice up an apple, toss it with some cinnamon and nutmeg and bake it with some coconut oil. After I take it out of the oven I top it with crushed walnuts. It is divine!! And NO added sugars! :-) I will also buy the darkest chocolate I can find (the darker the chocolate, the less sugar it has in it)... melt it and dip strawberries in it. Both of these desserts satisfy my sweet tooth and don't bring back the sugar addiction.

It's not an easy road, but it's been a worthwhile one. I have lost 12 pounds, have tons of energy, my skin looks awesome now, no more headaches, no more hypoglycemia... the list goes on and on.

I'm not trying to tell anyone to do what I did... just wanted to let you know my story and the benefits I derived by finally kicking the habit. :-)

omg my skin was amazing when i cut out sugar and did atkins. I thought with the saturated fat I was eating, it would break out like crazy, but acne, all gone! Oh how I miss that. You would think it would be an incentive