Sugar Addiction

I

iwillbeslim84

Full Member
Hi

After years of battling with my weight and doing various diets, counselling and a binge eating disorder group i am still 8-9 stone over weight :(

I think i have come to the conclusion that maybe i am addicted to sugar. Not a day passes that i don't look for the next 'fix'.

I don't think i realised this until today where i was constanly thinking chocolate to the point i actually went to the shops just to buy it (this has happened many times before!). I am slowly becoming more aware of what passes my lips and i seem to be noticing a pattern such as at 4pm at work i will always get a coffee/soft drink and a bar of chocolate no matter what.

I am just wondering whether anyone else has experienced this and what they did to overcome it?
 
I would really recommend South Beach, though you will find the first couple of weeks really tough. It forces you to stabilise your blood sugar and it will therefore reduce any cravings. The book has a really good explanation on why having an unstable blood sugar produces these cravings, particularly in people who are overweight. If you are in this cycle, then doing lots of green days on slimming world may not be helping you to beat the cravings (though it does work for lots of people, of course).

It sounds like your 4 o'clock at work thing is habit, not craving, which you could break in a couple of weeks. Could you try taking in a healthier snack to have at around that time?
 
iwillbeslim84 said:
Hi

After years of battling with my weight and doing various diets, counselling and a binge eating disorder group i am still 8-9 stone over weight :(

I think i have come to the conclusion that maybe i am addicted to sugar. Not a day passes that i don't look for the next 'fix'.

I don't think i realised this until today where i was constanly thinking chocolate to the point i actually went to the shops just to buy it (this has happened many times before!). I am slowly becoming more aware of what passes my lips and i seem to be noticing a pattern such as at 4pm at work i will always get a coffee/soft drink and a bar of chocolate no matter what.

I am just wondering whether anyone else has experienced this and what they did to overcome it?
Click to expand...

Hiya
Just wanted to say hi and I know where you are coming from!
Dont think it is addiction to sugar; you say you have gone to eating disorder groups, etc, counselling...so there is some sort of emotional thing going on! I say this, cause I am like this too,but unfortunately I havent had any counselling as there is none available!! I just have to try and rely on self help and the forum.
Where are you based? There is a new group in Derby that is all related to eating disorders and they do a fab job, just too far for me to get to! It is called First Steps...maybe have a look at their website.

Hang in there and dont give up on yourself.....you are at least recognising there is a problem and from your tone are at that point of sheer frustration and as though no one understands...but there are lots on here that will understand and stand behind you willing you to get that positiveness that you will need to get to the next stage.

Take care!!!!
 
You may consider the Harcombe Diet. It was not effective for me as I am a full time vegetarian with vegan leanings and her start up plan requires meat, fish and fowl.
However it will probably help you with your sugar cravings as quite low in carbs to start, then after day 6 she lets you have some.

Also the amino acid glutamine is quite helpful for sugar cravings, it is widely available here in the States, not sure about England, worth a shot though.

I am in recovery myself from 27 years of my ED ( BED ).
Good luck to you.
 
Sugar is an addiction, when you're constantly having it you're on a permanent high, so if you take a break you get a low, which is when you crave it; it's probably partly habit too.

I was just really strict with myself for about a week or two and cut most of the sugar out of my diet, and after that it becomes easier. Now if I have anything really sugary I'm bouncing off of the walls.

Hope you find a solution that works for you!
Best wishes.
 
I am addicted to sugar too. I crave sugary foods. I started taking chromium supplement which stabilises your blood sugars and it is helping. I lost 9lb so far in 2 weeks!
 
Thanks for all your help. I think i am still trying to sort my head out which is really hard and as i am getting married next year there seems to be an extra pressure to be slim which is frustrating.

I think i just need to start writing down a food diary and see where the issues are.

Scotmist - i keep trying to add you as a friend but it isn't adding you :(
 
Sticking to a low GI diet iss good. Stick to the food within the low GI bracket (55 and under). (This consists of most fruit and vegetables except starchy ones, pulse vegetables, low fat meat and poultry, quorn, herbs and spices, some non-sugary condiments like worcheshire sauce, passata etc). Stick with this initially. If all goes well, then you may be able to introduce medium GI foods back into your diet but introduce them one at a time to avoid a relapse.

Cut all whites out of your diet-white sugar, white bread, white pasta, white grains. Porridge oats are fine.

Also sugar is written on the pack in many different forms. Read the label. Any chemical ending in -ose is sugar e.g. glucose, fructose, dextrose. High fructose corn syrup is deadly too.

Fill up with water-dense foods, like soup, watery vegetables eg tomatoes, cucumbers and have less starchy vegetables like potatoes. Have less dry food as we tend to eat more of them and they tend to contain more calories than water-dense foods. Drink 2 litres of water a day as this will make you feel fuller. Herbal tea is good for this too. Bulk your meals out with vegetables instead of carbohydrates.

I would also avoid monsodium glutimate (E623) which is added to a lot of Chinese food, and convenience foods like Pringles. It's a chemical used to thicken foods that actually increases your appetite.

If you cook all your food from scratch, you can avoid a lot of hidden sugars contained in jars of sauces like Uncle Bens and in ready meals. Weight Watchers and Slimming World do healthy recipes without sugar.

I think going on Red Days/Original Days on Slimming World could help you as it forces you to cut down on your carbohydrate intake but you still get to have a limited amount which you measure per day. Alternatively the Weight Watchers No Count/Core programme would do the trick. (I posted a thread on it as I'm doing it at the moment and wanted to see who else was!)
 
For years I had a sugar addiction. Diets never worked for me. However cutting it out 100% was good - but only for short periods. I always went back to the evil white stuff! However at least these proved to me I had the power to control it rather than the other way round.

I am now winning with the help of hypnotherapy and a lot of bahavioural changes. One thing you could try is a 30 day trial I found on steve pavlina's site (google steve pavlina 30 day trials) or his stair stepping technique.

I always made my addiction into some sort of self important thing (look at me I have an addiction) which Im not proud of but once I admitted it to the world I could leave it behind.
 
I know a lot of people who have a sugar addiction and yes I'm one of them.. Like iwillbeslim I have also gone out just to buy chocolate. Somedays I'll prove to myself I don't need it but the moment I have any thing sugary I alo start bouncing off the walls..

The only way is to break the cycle and keep it broken..Easier said than done!!
 
i had a sugar addiction before cd, cause of withdrawing from it i beat it.
also i have a book call the sugar addict which is good read it may help you.
 
Thanks for that..Who wrote it??
 
nikki waterman i had a flix though and realise even though i don't feel addicted now it might do me good to reread it so i don't fall into same trap when i stop cd.
 
Yeah I'm a sugar addict too. I am trying to cut out my problem foods one at a time, last mon was cheese, this week icecream. feels better than trying to quit everything at once!
 
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