Sugar addiction - Page 3

[Magelet]

Originally Posted by JayGee 

Day 1 ~ FAIL

My body seems to be triggered to crave sugar at exactly 3:00pm.  Every day.  I lose the fight against it every day too.  Why is it that I can eat a delicious, healthy breakfast and a yummy salad with chicken and olive oil for lunch, but then plow through M&Ms, chocolate covered strawberries, and whatever else I was able to salvage from the kids' Valentine bags at 3:00pm????  Now I feel all bloated and crappy and on edge.  I must kick this.

You didn't fail Jaygee, you may have many false starts, but you aren't failing.  What strikes me is that a salad with chicken and olive oil is just not enough fat or protein (at least for me), when trying to kick a sugar craving.  Perhaps a salad that was mostly chicken, and then a chaser of cream, or bread with a LOT of butter ("toothmarks" worth), but in that first week in particular, you really have to amp up the fat and protein significantly.  And also, it's pretty much impossible to quit sugar with sugar in the house.

Originally Posted by Storm Bride 

I'm actually almost crying reading this thread. It's nice to see people talk about sugar addiction as something other than a big laugh (think a pp said that, too). I have major issues with this, rooted in some psychological stuff, but the physical side definitely kicks in, too. I buy bulk candy and then eat it all in the car, so that my kids don't know about it. In the past (has been while), while I haven't made frosting, I have blended butter and sugar, as in the early stages of cookie dough, and then eaten it straight out of the bowl. Lots of sugary things that I do make me wince to admit them (and I do have a couple of people irl that I've talked about this with - dh, my bff, and a mom from dd1's ballet...who astonished me when she very seriously said, "oh, yes - I've done that, too"). And, I'm obese, so I feel as though the sugar addiction is plastered out there for everyone to see...even if they all think butter is the problem. *sigh*

So - I have kicked it in the past (as others have done, I fall back into it over Halloween/Christmas/Valentines/Easter - we have too many junk food holidays in this culture!). I also made sure to eat a fair bit of fat - butter, coconut oil, nuts, and I also took a fish oil supplement since we don't eat much fatty fish (I love salmon, but it's expensive and dh doesn't like it, so i don't eat it that often). I've found cream to be a lifesaver, because I can often "trick" myself by indulging in a large splash of cream...just in a glass, sometimes! And, I also find that it helps if I eat a fair bit of plain yogurt, and take probiotics. I'm sure that's yeast-related, although I don't know the mechanism, but it does seem to help lessen the sugar cravings.

Lately, I'm so scatter-brained and overwhelmed that it's a good day if I remember to take one of each supplement (my fish oil recommends 3X a day, and the probiotic is a twice daily), and I'm eating too much sugar and too many refined carbs. And, now it's hot cross bun season! Ugh.

It also helps a little if I can make myself think of all the awful things sugar is doing to my body while I'm eating it. I've actually thrown away half a bag of candy by doing that. But, it's hard to maintain...and sometimes it backfires by making me feel even weaker and less in control, while I keep eating it!

Sugar sucks.

A splash of cream?  When I first started, I drank a small glass of cream most nights.  It tasted sweet, and satisfied my sweet tooth and fat tooth.  (and my emotional needs since as a teenager, fat was taboo, even though I craved it and so I let myself eat the fat I wanted).  yumm, cream.
 

Originally Posted by AFWife 

Starting tomorrow I'm doing this! I'm giving up refined sugar! I read somewhere today that your brain reacts to sugar like it does to heroin (something about the same hormones being released) Uh, really? That's insane! I can't have that going on in my body.

And to a PP that mentioned yeast: Yep, me too! I've always had a yeast imbalance. Those "yeast free" diets are too strict for me right now (I barely get 5min intervals to eat with a newborn and toddler) and I don't like nuts...which are apparently a huge part of the diet. I'm going with no processed sugar. Natural sweeteners are okay.

Question: What do you do about baking? Like breads and stuff that *need* sugar to make the yeast work? Does maple syrup and honey work the same way or do you go with sugar because it's not going to be "sweet" in the end?

For bread, we use either honey or palm sugar.  You can get unrefined palm sugar (at least here you can, probably online as well), which works pretty much just like white sugar. well, it works more like brown sugar, but I use it instead of white as well.  Some bread recipes I use honey instead though (like my challah), and lots of breads don't any sugar at all.  Yeast will work just fine with just flour.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Magelet 

A splash of cream?  When I first started, I drank a small glass of cream most nights.  It tasted sweet, and satisfied my sweet tooth and fat tooth.  (and my emotional needs since as a teenager, fat was taboo, even though I craved it and so I let myself eat the fat I wanted).  yumm, cream.
 

Large splash. Small glass. Fairly similar, I think. When I say a large splash of cream, I mean a large splash. :)

ETA: about baking. When I bake bread (which I haven't in forever!), I do a whole wheat and honey recipe. I can't remember how much honey is in it, but it's not a lot, and everyone in the family - every single person - loves it. I love it too much. :o

For a lot of other baking, I find that I can't eliminate sugar, but I can cut it back by quite a bit. I have a banana bread recipe that calls for 1 cup of sugar. The last time I made it, I used just under half a cup, and nobody complained. I've also found the same recipe in an older cook book...exactly the same, except that it calls for 1/2 cup of sugar, not a full cup. Grr...

[DoulaReese]

My DH has yeast issues - it was in his feet when I met him, and now it's in his head as little sores.  He's not interested in getting rid of it, though, he just uses the medicated shampoo the doc prescribes :(

I'm interested in the fructose malabsorption - I KNOW I have wacky reaction to sugar but it didn't show on an allergy test with the ND - I have all the symptoms associated with this however and responded well to treatment for leaky gut.

I'm also struggling to be sugar free - last weekend was BAD!!! The beginning of this week was HARD!!  BUT I've been cutting back... I've had green smoothies w/kale to clean out the garbage yesterday and the day before, and tonight I roasted a whole chicken and veggies with rice which always makes me feel more healthy.  Yesterday when I met with a gf for ice cream with the kids - I brought my Raspberry leaf tea and that helped A LOT - appreciating the reminder from an earlier post, that actually works.  Having something in my hands, that I could put in my mouth made it a lot easier to say no.  I like that tea and am used to drinking it from pregnancy and nursing babies and it makes me feel healthy.  The "hangover" was still present and that was helpful too.

LOVING this thread!  Suddenly I don't feel so alone =)

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by DoulaReese 

My DH has yeast issues - it was in his feet when I met him, and now it's in his head as little sores.  He's not interested in getting rid of it, though, he just uses the medicated shampoo the doc prescribes :(

I'm interested in the fructose malabsorption - I KNOW I have wacky reaction to sugar but it didn't show on an allergy test with the ND - I have all the symptoms associated with this however and responded well to treatment for leaky gut.

I'm also struggling to be sugar free - last weekend was BAD!!! The beginning of this week was HARD!!  BUT I've been cutting back... I've had green smoothies w/kale to clean out the garbage yesterday and the day before, and tonight I roasted a whole chicken and veggies with rice which always makes me feel more healthy.  Yesterday when I met with a gf for ice cream with the kids - I brought my Raspberry leaf tea and that helped A LOT - appreciating the reminder from an earlier post, that actually works.  Having something in my hands, that I could put in my mouth made it a lot easier to say no.  I like that tea and am used to drinking it from pregnancy and nursing babies and it makes me feel healthy.  The "hangover" was still present and that was helpful too.

LOVING this thread!  Suddenly I don't feel so alone =)

i had yeast issues too. now i have bacterial issues. i also have sores on my head. it started as dandruff and just keeps getting worse. it started getting better when i quit eating HFCS. then i gorged on those little fruit slices. now i have open sores.

with fructose malabsorption you cant eat brown rice. only white. and no wheat. esp whole. but some people do ok with white flour. the brown part has fructans in them. just start googling it. you will find lists of approved and not approved foods. ice cream is def not approved :(

the test is a breath test. you drink some fructose and blow into these little tubes. then they test them for hydrogen. if you are intolerant, then the fructose will not get abosrbed and will pass on the the large intestine where it will ferment and put off hydrogen. the hydrogen gets absorbed by your blood and exhaled out your lungs an hour later. any amount of hydrogen shows the intolerance.

i crave it so bad. i almost dont want to eat anything else. i have been eating lots of meat and potatoes. and i am still losing weight. i lost a total of 23 lbs.

[hildare]

doulareese & lionessmom: i had no idea that's what was going on with my scalp- i have those sores, too. 

thank you all for the info & encouragement.  i have to look up the malabsorption.. anyone have good resources on that to share?

i think i've had leaky gut b/c of the intolerance that my dd had while bf.  i'd be glad to find out if there's a real reason for my sugar insanity. 

i know it happens to other people this way, too, but i can quit the sugar and do fine for a while and have just one tiny bit and it creates an enormous snowball.  i can't taste a brownie without eating the pan. 

[AFWife]

So I've been refined sugar/flour free since Monday! Walking past donuts in the grocery store was like torture.

Do I feel different? Not really....

[wendyland]

I thought I had only been trying to kick sugar for 2 years.  I found an old journal and it was over 4 years ago that I did my first sugar free week.  I can't believe it's been that long.  I do think I'm better than I was then, but wow!  Well, I'm not going to give up.  I don't eat that much in one sitting(usually).  I can usually only tolerate small amounts or I get major sugar rush to my head and feel dizzy.  Even though sugar usually makes me feel like crap, I still want it.  It's like a really hot boyfriend that's a total jerk.  I hate him, but I'm so attracted.

[kdaisy]

Great job, Kas! 

As I wean myself this week, it is getting harder and harder.  I feel different...crabbier.

[quelindo]

Can I join? I so need to get off sugar. I have done it a few times before for months at a time & felt great. And I know it would be better for my 13-week old nursling. But I'm so tired & stressed that some days eating pieces of Green & Black's chocolate all day long (covertly, of course) seems like the only way to get through the day. If I can get over the hump of withdrawal I know I'd feel better.

Today is my 40th birthday & DH & DS5 are in the kitchen as I type this making my birthday cake. So I think I'll start on Monday. I'm also getting back on the weight-training wagon, & I've been very good about supplements lately. Maybe it's just taken me 40 years to get on track!

[Ldavis24]

Ok going Sugar free, cold turkey, with DH tomorrow. I'm terrified quite frankly. I love chocolate I am a sugar munching machine.

I am making our grocery list for the week and trying to think of as many snack type things that I can eat to fill me up so I won't crave sugar so bad. This is hard because I am not hugely into fruit of any kind. Pathetic I know, but I will work on one problem at a time.

I am heeding the advice about increasing protein intake dramatically as well as fat. I am thinking of getting lots of different types of nuts/seeds to help for snacking. 

When people go sugar free does that mean you are reading every label for every ounce of sugar in anything? I try to think whole foods and do from scratch but some things are just too much of a bother to do from scratch.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 

Ok going Sugar free, cold turkey, with DH tomorrow. I'm terrified quite frankly. I love chocolate I am a sugar munching machine.

It's not technically sugar free, but have you tried really dark chocolate? Once I got used to it, I started to prefer it to sweeter chocolate, and it only has like 1 gram of sugar per serving.

[quelindo]

Okay, I'm starting today, not on Monday. I have been eating too much sugar lately and feel like crap, so I might as well use that feeling to motivate me. I'm going grocery shopping today and will make sure we have plenty of healthy snacking foods. I am also trying to address my son's digestion issues (possibly constipation, lots of accidents) so I'm dealing with that at the same time.

I'm going to take it one day at a time and moniter how I feel, like a science experiment...

[sapphire_chan]

I finally broke a nasty sugar addiction by going a few days eating LOTS of fat and protein (like 6-8 eggs a day) having supersweet fruit on hand (dates) and not having sugar, sweeteners or grains.

I'd tried several times not to eat sugar and it was horrifically difficult and I ended up eating a TON (mostly crackers) to try to quiet the cravings. But when I did the above, it was soooo easy not to eat sugar. And in a couple of days, I was also only eating a few dates at a time and being satisfied.

Now, I can actually eat just 1 square of chocolate in a day and not constantly think about when to have another. And I can even eat a lot of sugar one day (e.g. at a party) and not feel compelled to have it the next day.

(Mind you, I really need to stop eating a lot of sugar on any day because it makes me soooo irritable and like I want to claw my skin off if anything (like my own arm hairs) touches it. I get similar, but milder, results from breads and such. Sorry to wander off, it's just been so interesting to observe the differences between before and now.)

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by babydanielsmom 

I so understand KDaisy about being able to eat an entire batch of brownies. Oh, and sometimes when we have really good chocolate in the house it's like all I can think of ...until I'm mindlessly eating it all !! So I'm curious... when you guys say eating more healthy fat instead of sugar helped with your addiction...did it make you gain weight? I'm already over weight and I don't want to add on more by eating more fats to curb the sugar addiction, kwim

Here's a thought experiment for you:

1000 calories is about 13 chocolate chip cookies. You'd feel pretty bad eating that at one sitting, but probably could do it without any real difficulty, heck you could even have a few glasses of milk with them and have no problem getting them down.

1000 calories is also about 1/2 a cup of fat. Go on, just TRY to drink that much oil. (But you probably could eat an entire stick of butter if you rolled it in sugar.)

The reason people end up taking in a lot more calories when they add fat is because sugars (and grains for some of us, fruits for others) act to keep us craving more and more food even when we should be satisfied.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by DoulaReese 

So just curious - does anyone else run into yeast issues?  Lately when I have a sugar binge I can feel my eyeballs, skin and other stuff start to itch very soon 

OMG yes. And nursing dd burns. (and if she wants to twiddle? EeeeeeeaaaauuuugghghhhghghhhH!!!!)

I just wish the feeling would start to develop while I'm eating the sugar. Instead I'm like "nom nom nom candies!" and then 3-4 hours later, I get hit with the fact that having a lot of sugar is A Very Bad Idea (/AAMilne style).

I know that one piece of chocolate or something isn't a problem, but it'd be nice if I could have a couple of pieces, start to feel a twinge of the nerves issues, and know that it's time to put the candy down and walk away.

(Yet another sign that my sugar addiction is gone, before setting it down and not having any more wouldn't have been a real option. Heck, I've even spit out candy (even chocolate!) because the flavor wasn't good enough to even be worth continuing to chew.)

[Ldavis24]

thank you for posting this. I haven't ever really looked at it that way. As someone who can eat an entire box of cookies with a couple of glasses of milk the idea of eating a stick of butter is disturbing but something I could probably physically do. When I was little I used to eat butter, just butter, me and my cousins sitting at my grandmother's house sneaking butter out of the fridge for each other.

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Here's a thought experiment for you:

1000 calories is about 13 chocolate chip cookies. You'd feel pretty bad eating that at one sitting, but probably could do it without any real difficulty, heck you could even have a few glasses of milk with them and have no problem getting them down.

1000 calories is also about 1/2 a cup of fat. Go on, just TRY to drink that much oil. (But you probably could eat an entire stick of butter if you rolled it in sugar.)

The reason people end up taking in a lot more calories when they add fat is because sugars (and grains for some of us, fruits for others) act to keep us craving more and more food even when we should be satisfied.

[Miasmamma]

I am so glad that I found this thread! I've started Weight Watchers, but I knew that I had to get the sugar under control. I'm like some of you, I need to go cold turkey! I've already bought Stevia for my tea rather than the Splenda I was using. But I am seriously addicted to sugar. I make brownies and cookies just to eat the dough. I don't want my kids growing up watching that and thinking that it's okay. My biggest problem is getting my parents and in-laws on board with it. I need for my kids to stop with the sugar as much I need to for myself. They just more of it than I realize some days.

Has anyone substituted honey for the sugar in cookies? My DH packs his lunch everyday and I make cookies for him about once a week. Those I don't have a problem with at all. I don't really like them once they're cooked! :) I already use honey in my bread, so that's a done deal.

Thanks again the OP who started this thread! I was feeling pretty alone, but not anymore!

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by Miasmamma 

I am so glad that I found this thread! I've started Weight Watchers, but I knew that I had to get the sugar under control. I'm like some of you, I need to go cold turkey! I've already bought Stevia for my tea rather than the Splenda I was using. But I am seriously addicted to sugar. I make brownies and cookies just to eat the dough. I don't want my kids growing up watching that and thinking that it's okay. My biggest problem is getting my parents and in-laws on board with it. I need for my kids to stop with the sugar as much I need to for myself. They just more of it than I realize some days.

Has anyone substituted honey for the sugar in cookies? My DH packs his lunch everyday and I make cookies for him about once a week. Those I don't have a problem with at all. I don't really like them once they're cooked! :) I already use honey in my bread, so that's a done deal.

Thanks again the OP who started this thread! I was feeling pretty alone, but not anymore!

I have a recipe for these things called "honey bars" that I'll dig out and share. The original calls for a cup of sugar (AND some honey) but I only had 1/2 a cup one day and used more honey and they turned out fine...I'll find it for you guys this evening.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 

thank you for posting this. I haven't ever really looked at it that way. As someone who can eat an entire box of cookies with a couple of glasses of milk the idea of eating a stick of butter is disturbing but something I could probably physically do. When I was little I used to eat butter, just butter, me and my cousins sitting at my grandmother's house sneaking butter out of the fridge for each other.

 

Okay, that I've never done. Now, cream cheese, otoh.....

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by hildare 

doulareese & lionessmom: i had no idea that's what was going on with my scalp- i have those sores, too. 

thank you all for the info & encouragement.  i have to look up the malabsorption.. anyone have good resources on that to share?

i think i've had leaky gut b/c of the intolerance that my dd had while bf.  i'd be glad to find out if there's a real reason for my sugar insanity. 

i know it happens to other people this way, too, but i can quit the sugar and do fine for a while and have just one tiny bit and it creates an enormous snowball.  i can't taste a brownie without eating the pan. 

 i just figured out my sores on my head were due to the sugar. i had been HFCS free for a week or two then binges when i got the diagnosis. then later that night and the  next day i itched and had sores. it was awful.

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 

Ok going Sugar free, cold turkey, with DH tomorrow. I'm terrified quite frankly. I love chocolate I am a sugar munching machine.

I am making our grocery list for the week and trying to think of as many snack type things that I can eat to fill me up so I won't crave sugar so bad. This is hard because I am not hugely into fruit of any kind. Pathetic I know, but I will work on one problem at a time.

I am heeding the advice about increasing protein intake dramatically as well as fat. I am thinking of getting lots of different types of nuts/seeds to help for snacking. 

When people go sugar free does that mean you are reading every label for every ounce of sugar in anything? I try to think whole foods and do from scratch but some things are just too much of a bother to do from scratch.

as a fructose intolerant person, i do have to read every label to look for all kinds of things that arent even called sugar. but i am working up to that.

 

Originally Posted by Storm Bride 

It's not technically sugar free, but have you tried really dark chocolate? Once I got used to it, I started to prefer it to sweeter chocolate, and it only has like 1 gram of sugar per serving.

 the darker chocolate causes me heartburn and i get sick. :( i cant have cocoa or anything with it in it. major upsets. the cravings were so bad the other day i ate 6 m&m's. the last of the valentines candy. my stomach was so mad at me. the chocolate, the milk, the sugar, the artififcial colors. sigh.

if you are frucotse intolerant you cant have honey. it is the largest source of fructose under HFCS. :( they list table sugar as better for you than honey.