Sugar addiction - Page 7

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by AFWife 

Maybe DH needs an elimination diet. His scalp can get so bad that his skin peels off. His younger brother (horrible horrible SAD diet) has it the worst. It gets yellow and scaly

at this point after evreything i have been reading, i am suggesting it to everybody. all i can eat right now is meat, white potatoes, and white rice with some approved veggies like broccoli. lots of olive oil and i purposefully eat the fat and the chicken skin. the more fat and oil i eat the better my skin gets. my skin used to peel all the way down to my nose but it retreated back up into the scalp. i am going to start taking cod liver oil as well. mine starting as yellow greasy crud and progressed to thick yellow skin interspersed with white flakes. ewww. it is embarrassing. :(   but it seems to be getting better now.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by LionessMom 

at this point after evreything i have been reading, i am suggesting it to everybody. all i can eat right now is meat, white potatoes, and white rice with some approved veggies like broccoli. lots of olive oil and i purposefully eat the fat and the chicken skin. the more fat and oil i eat the better my skin gets. my skin used to peel all the way down to my nose but it retreated back up into the scalp. i am going to start taking cod liver oil as well. mine starting as yellow greasy crud and progressed to thick yellow skin interspersed with white flakes. ewww. it is embarrassing. :(   but it seems to be getting better now.

That is exactly what happens to BIL!!!

[akmeg]

I'm on day 9!!!  It's been a rough week, I won't lie, and I thought the worst days would be 1-4 but even yesterday was hard.  I was just soooooo tired and moody and irritable.  It doesn't help that two days after quitting sugar I started my period, but that's life.  :) 

Anyways, today I feel great and I'm so proud of myself for making it this far.  I find I'm not thinking about sugar and what yummy treats I could make, instead I'm branching out and thinking about different flavors, like interesting veggie dips I could try for a snack.  Last night I was watching a favorite show and I had that snacky feeling, so I had a bowl of frozen blueberries topped with heavy whipping cream!  YUM!  The cream forms a frozen shell around the blueberries and it takes a long time to eat and is sooooooo delicious!  I highly recommend it! 

[WinterPrego]

Originally Posted by AFWife 

So, I've been 3 weeks without sugar, right? My mom stopped by and brought homemade banana bread. I didn't think about it and had a few slices (it was GOOD). I realized, all too late, that is was made with white sugar.....Is it a coincidence that my scalp started itching that night and the next day? Like, to the point that I scratched until it bled?

Wow! Seriously? I have the most insane itchy, flaky, scalp - and have had it for years. But I've also always consumed a TON of sugar throughout my life. I wonder if there is a connection? I have used every treatment under the sun and moon, and literally, NOTHING works! Hmmm....time to conduct my own experiment!
 

[WinterPrego]

Originally Posted by akmeg  so I had a bowl of frozen blueberries topped with heavy whipping cream!  YUM!  The cream forms a frozen shell around the blueberries and it takes a long time to eat and is sooooooo delicious!  I highly recommend it!

I LOVE this snack! my family started doing this last year, and it is simply heavenly! But we would mix a bit of honey and stevia into a bowl of cream, and stick it in the freezer for about 20 min to get the cream REALLY cold, and then put it on the blueberries. So good! We've used peaches, and strawberries also, but my personal favorite are the blueberries.

[crystalball00]

Does anyone have/know of a good book to help with stopping the sugar? I am so tired of being addicted and a bad influence to my dd3.  I find out out I am a celiac so I stop eating gluten but I know sugar is bad for me but keep eating it anyway!  And greetings to my fellow frosting-out-of-tub-eaters.  My husband has to hide it on me but then I find it anyway!

[Sandyandhaley]

I have found that if I can avoid it for a whole week, eating plenty of protein and healthy fat, then I don't seem to miss it as much and it is much easier.  I used to be very good about it until the afternoon, but I was not eating enough fat.  Now around 2 or 3 (an hour before I used to feel I needed sugar) I'll eat an entire avocado or a handful of nuts and drink a few glasses of water.  I seem to make if fine until dinner time this way and after dinner I brush my teeth and don't have an issue.  I think there is definitely a chemical addiction!  The same goes for if I have too much sugar for more than one day, the addiction comes back.  Knowing this, I don't indulge or atleast not overindulge knowing the work it will take to get me back to feeling good.

[tinuvi]

Hi ~ this is mostly about yeast - sorry if I repeat what's already been said (not much time to read the whole thread). I've been addicted to sugar from a very young age and have also had candida overgrowth since at least high school. They're linked, of course. It's been wretched in many ways and becoming a mother is what's motivated me to address the candida. I've tried to several times before, but this time it's working (!!!) because I worked into the diet slowly with the help of a therapist/nutritionist/friend, who I've been meeting weekly or so with. I don't think you can overestimate the emotion-food connection if you're a sugar addict, and I've needed to cry with her and with other support people a *lot*, as well as spend time with my inner little girl who's scared and wants sugar in order to feel better.

I've also found that working up to a way of eating that doesn't include *any* sweeteners (except for stevia) is the only way to kick yeast/sugar addiction for me. Yeast eats all sugars, not just the one labeled "sugar". I have a ton of yeast overgrowth, and anything starchy at all sends me into major mood swings/fatigue/etc. I look forward to again being able to eat sweet potatoes, maybe some cheese...although I think gluten is probably gone for good. Again, I could *not* be doing this without some really good support people.

My treat these days is coconut milk (Native Forest brand from BPA-free cans) mixed with vanilla glycerin extract and stevia. Throw in a good handful of chia seeds, stir up, put in the fridge for 15 minutes, and you have pudding! Once I finally let go of all non-stevia sweeteners and starches I was *amazed* by how good other food started to taste, vegetables in particular.

I agree with what many have already said - good fats are vital in this process! I eat a lot of ghee, coconut oil, fatty grassfed beef, etc. I feel satiated, energetic and good with those fats. Without them, and without starches, I think I'd be dead. :-)

In the past I have gotten some relief from sugar addiction at Overeaters Anonymous. The 12-step paradigm is not where I'm at right now, but it is nonetheless awesome and helps many, many people be free of sugar/food addiction.

Blessings to all!

[DoulaReese]

I heard this program about diet and ADHD (of which I was diagnosed as a kid) on NPR - thought you all might find it interesting!  http://www.npr.org/2011/03/12/134456594/study-diet-may-help-adhd-kids-more-than-drugs

[Annie Mac]

Someone here mentioned whipped cream and frozen blueberries. I've been doing the same with full fat greek yogurt. Not only blueberries, but other frozen fruit and also applesauce. I normally wouldn't buy 11% yogurt (!), but I tell myself it's for the LO -- and then I eat it all :) Anyway, it does help with the cravings. On the downside, totally fell off the wagon yesterday and ate half a package of chocolate chips. I'm also trying to lose weight, so here's an interesting aside: I weighed myself this morning and I lost two pounds! I know those chocolate chips don't translate into pounds overnight, although it feels like they should, and the fact is that since I stopped eating sugar for the 5 days (or whatever it was) previously, that probably accounted for the weight loss. Anyway, it was good. If I had gained two pounds I think I would have felt even more discouraged and kept on eating the sugar but it was a good motivating factor. Another motivating factor is the fact that my thrush that I'm trying to get rid of has flared up this morning (ouchy boobs). Coincidence? No. 

You ladies are inspiring. I mostly lurk here but it helps me with my own sugar demons.

[akmeg]

I'm loving all of the encouragement and inspiration here! 

I'm happy to say I've almost made it through the weekend with no sugar!  Yesterday I made yummy grainfree peanut butter banana pancakes for breakfast, fried in coconut oil and topped with homemade plum butter from last fall.  The plum butter does have minimal amounts of sugar, but it's so tart and spicy, and I didn't have too much.  And this morning I was kind of craving a yummy waffle breakfast with maple syrup, but I knew that would probably start my day off with too many grains and carbs.  So instead we had a blueberry yogurt smoothy with bacon and eggs.  Still delicious and not nearly the carb-fest!

I don't know about you all, but weekends are the hardest for me.  I just feel like they should include some kind of dessert, and really, maybe they should and that's fine.  I just need to get some reasonable dessert recipes to fall  back on when I'm feeling the need to bake and make goodies for the family.  My go-to treats are always homemade brownies.  This recipe from Elana's Pantry is divine (I usually half the recipe and sub honey for the agave), and I was tempted to make them yesterday, but I think I might need a couple more brownie-free weekends before I can handle having brownies in the house.  (You know, without eating them all!) 

[wendyland]

Originally Posted by crystalball00 

Does anyone have/know of a good book to help with stopping the sugar? I am so tired of being addicted and a bad influence to my dd3.  I find out out I am a celiac so I stop eating gluten but I know sugar is bad for me but keep eating it anyway!  And greetings to my fellow frosting-out-of-tub-eaters.  My husband has to hide it on me but then I find it anyway!

I'm not sure if anyone has already mentioned this one, but this is my favorite.  I've read just about every book about stopping sugar.  I think you can get her ebook through this link.  It used to be free, but she might charge now.  I'm not sure. 

http://www.firstourselves.org/2010/im-addicted-to-sugar-what-do-i-do-first/

[wendyland]

I also love frozen blue berries and full fat greek yogurt, especially when I'm trying to sugar detox.  I like a little stevia and cinnamon in it. 

I ate way too many rice krispie treats this weekend.  I'm ready to start weaning from sugar this week.

[DoulaReese]

SOOOO Instead of busting into the chocolate chips or the TJ's chocolate bar in the freezer... I made Gluten Free muffins with fresh squeezed orange juice, butter and a tiny bit of honey and maple syrup.  YUM!  It was still probably a no-no but better than chocolate I figured.  Also, this helped...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Another video, this one is much longer (over an hour), but it's a lecture by an MD who specializes in obesity and other issues. He breaks down the sugar problem in great detail, explaining why sugar, not fat is the obesity culprit and that it's just BAD!  And why.  He explains the history and politics of sugar, showing how we went from a society that had very little sugar to one that has sugar in EVERYTHING! He explains how it works in the body to keep us coming for more.  Fully worth the time, as it's helping me feel validated in this no-sugar world (that feels a bit lonely sometimes - but not so lonely here!) as well as motivated to say NO!

[SandraMort]

I don't get it.  I see people talking about how sugar (or carbs in general) are responsible for obesity in this country.  I won't say I'm on an atkins-low carbless diet but I don't eat much and I don't eat sugar every day, even unrefined or natural sugars.  I can drop it from my diet without losing sleep at all... but I'm still size 22/24.

Sandra
 

Another video, this one is much longer (over an hour), but it's a lecture by an MD who specializes in obesity and other issues. He breaks down the sugar problem in great detail, explaining why sugar, not fat is the obesity culprit and that it's just BAD!  And why.  He explains the history and politics of sugar, showing how we went from a society that had very little sugar to one that has sugar in EVERYTHING! He explains how it works in the body to keep us coming for more.  Fully worth the time, as it's helping me feel validated in this no-sugar world (that feels a bit lonely sometimes - but not so lonely here!) as well as motivated to say NO!

[JayGee]

Last night I made the mistake of trying some strawberry greek yogurt (sweetened with evap. cane) and the cravings today are ROUGH!  I feel like baking.  Cookies.  And eating them before they even hit the oven.  But I won't.  I swear.

I've also been having fruit with plain greek yogurt and a handful of raw oats on top for a yummy snack.  Delicious and seriously filling.

[cooltubnoac]

Sandramort-

You really need to watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM 

Robert Lustig MD is a pediatric endocrinologist who does a very nice job explaining the problem with fructose - which is in table sugar, honey, fruit, etc.

He also explains why fiber is such an important component of our diets - one most of us in the USA are low on.

People definately argue the issue but really, is there any harm in limiting sugar and pushing fruits and veggies? He also has really great suggestions at the end of the video to treat obesity.

It's worth your time.

Anyone else who needs motivation to get rid of sugar (including honey but not maple syrup) should watch this. You won't think it is a wasted 90 minutes.

[sarmis35]

Wow. I am so glad to have found this thread. I have a really horrible sugar addiction and I am so very tired of it. Nice to see all the support on this thread although I haven't read every page yet. I believe that I have massive candida overgrowth and have had it for years and years. I just want to change but like some others on here said (at least on the first page) I cannot make it past day four and I always end up eating WAY more sugar after I try to kick it. I am hoping to use some of the advice here and try again and hopefully do it this time. My kids need a better example and I need my health and energy. 

[AFWife]

So, after 3 weeks without sugar we went on vacation...and I decided to go ahead and eat sugar again. Well, now I'm fighting the first case of thrush I've ever had. Yeah, like you needed another example of sugar = yeast.

[akmeg]

Originally Posted by AFWife 

So, after 3 weeks without sugar we went on vacation...and I decided to go ahead and eat sugar again. Well, now I'm fighting the first case of thrush I've ever had. Yeah, like you needed another example of sugar = yeast.

So sorry about your thrush!  That is the worst!  Uggghhhh, I hate sugar! 

But I'm totally a slave to it sometimes.  It's really too bad that just giving in a bit while on vacation can have such a negative effect, but it really does.  This week I decided to have some ice cream and some honey sweetened gf brownies, but boy have I snowballed all week because of it!  I've had milkshakes and muffins and brownies and sweetened yogurt.  Not good.  I feel totally out of control again, not like I was last week when I was on top of my sugar cravings and not giving in.  This week I've totally given in.  And even while typing this, I feel like I want to keep eating it and making more goodies and treats for the weekend.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to make it a whole month without giving in.....that's kind of a depressing thought.