Sugar Addiction - Thoughts

[Lessara]

I am so addicted to sugar.
But I found it easier to resist the pull sugar has by eliminating my sweet tooth, which means no sweetners artificial or real.
I found even artificial sweetneers make me want more sweetners.
I just want to break that need in half!
Anyone else have similar results or addictions?

[fiona]

I am, hopefully, an EX carb-addict. It doesn't take long to trigger it off though it is getting a lot better.

You are right about the sweeteners acting as triggers too. I find it helps to get back to induction for a few days.

How's your new job going Kassy?

Take care,

[squidgy]

I'm probably not really qualified to speak on this, because I haven't started my diet yet, so I'm probably not quite as conscious of the ridiculous amounts of sugar that get put into ready meals and junk food as I ought to be.

Having said that, I don't always like very sugary stuff anyway. I've always preferred diet cola drinks to standard ones because they just taste better. Tesco's own brand chicken tikka masala just tastes like sugary tomato sauce to me, with a few lumps of chicken thrown in for good measure. Bear in mind that I still feel like I need my bread right now.

[blueheron]

Yes, I understand your addiction to sugar. My problem is addiction to bread.

It is virtually impossible for me to eat bread without triggering the addiction craving cycle.

The only way to do it really is cold turkey. You are lucky to know how sugar and sweeteners affect you. The one thing about switching to a locarb lifestyle for me is that I have learned so much about my body's signals... I have learned how to tell the difference between being hungry and being craving... hunger is much more subtle and much less urgent for me, I've found, for example. Knowing that what I am feeling isa craving seemed to empower me to resist it with more determination.

Good luck!

Richard

[blueheron]

I have read somewhere that the average American consumes 135 pounds of sugar each year! When I found that out I thought for sure, I was way below that... why as a family we only bought at most three bags of sugar each year... then I went on Atkins... and had to read the ingredient labels to avoid anything with sugar in it... I found there were only two things I could buy at the grocery store.... meat and paper towels... LOL...

Now, at the local 7-11's you can buy an Ultimate Big Gulp... 96oz of sugared soda... if there are 10 teaspoons of sugar in a 10 ounce can of soda... then this gargantuan terrorist attack on our insulin factory, would have 96 teaspoons of sugar... that's about one cup of sugar... yuck!

[Lessara]

Sugar or sweetness of any kind only makes me want more.
I never feel.. full or a sense of "enough". I heard this being described by a friend who is an alcoholic. He said that if he has one drink its like, "Oh yah that's the ticket... hmm I want another, what's another since I've already had one... hmm.... how about another..."
Its kinda scary to realize that carbs have the same pull.

To make things for fustrating for me, is that if you have low income or the unexpected happens. There is little low carb options for these cases.

Lets face it our world is in fast forward so there sometimes just isn't any time to plan. Especally for us, unorganized people.
Thanks for sharing by the way. :)

[Melsa]

Wow, reading this thread today has been really interesting. I too am HUGELY addicted to sugar and have been for ages. I tried Atkins over the summer (I am in Australia and in the middle of winter) and did really well. In February I fell in love and started eating and drinking much more than usual, the diet went right out the window. I have now put on 6 kilos (I have no idea what that is in pounds) and am desperately trying to motivate myself to get back to LC'ing.

My biggest downfalls are sugar and Diet Coke (DC). I drink 2 litres of water a day but can easily have 6 cans of DC as well. On top of that, not a day goes by when I don't have something sweet. Unfortunately unlike my friends who seem to have will-power to stop after 2 or 3 lollies, I feel the need to eat the whole packet. I only stop because the pack is empty, otherwise I would keep going. It doesn't matter if I am full or not, if they are there I will eat them. Sometimes I do it so sub-consciously that I don’t realize I have eaten so much until the packet is empty.

Today I am taking a big step (recommended to me by a friend) and going to see a hypnotist to help me stick to the Atkins diet and stay away from sugar. I hope that by doing these things in conjunction, I am giving myself my best chance. Has any one else had successes using a hypnotist? I fell embarrassed going to this extreme but I know how much happier I will be when I lose the weight and need to use all the tools in the kit that I can find.

Wish me luck....

[lilwannabe]

I am a huge sugar addict as well...I could sit and eat a whole pan of nanamio bars...and not even blink an eye....just the smell of it...I have to do a lot of cooking at my work and like night before last...I had to make a salad dressing...it was cooked on the stove...and I could actually smell the sugar in it...my brain was saying...come on, you can lick the spoon...no one will know...Oh...I don't think I will ever be over it...so I too must just stay away...from the A/S too.

Melsa...6kilos=6 times 2.2=13.2 lbs. I tried the hypnosis...it didn't work for me...but we are all different...maybe it will help you! :daze: :D

[Melsa]

Yech, the idea of losing 6 something sounds easier than losing 13 something, oh dear...... Maybe when i start losing I will start thinking in pounds as THEN the difference will sound positive (funny how you play tricks with your mind isn't it).

Well I will try hypnosis and see what happens. I have already eaten a baby Mars Bar since I wrote my post only 2 hours ago. I totally have no self-control.

I spoke with some friends at lunch time and we have agreed to try and walk 3 days a week at lunch time. Every little piece of exercise helps.

I also went and bought a cute top and some cord pants at lunch time and saw all of the adorable little outfits that are coming out for Spring, I want to be able to wear them!!!!!

Don't you just love the fact that you're in Canada and I in Australia and yet we all share the same problem and can give each other advice :wave:

[lilwannabe]

That is one of the perks to the computer age huh...get to make friends all over the world.

I was thinking about the hypnosis thing...I know that when I went...she did a lot of positive self talking to me. I was thinking I might try again. I didn't really get it when I went that one time. I was thinking..."What the hell lady...I don't want to hear what a beautiful, wonderful, acceptable person I am...I want you to tell me to stop eating...I think I get it now...negative self talk leads to sabbotage. So I think I will try it again.

Anyhow...how did it go...was it what you expected?

[squidgy]

For what it's worth, I think my attitude has totally changed since I last posted in this thread. I think I was deluding myself a bit - it's a bit like the alcoholic who feels bad about drinking but still does it anyway. I feel a lot more positive about things now, but the monster is still there.

[April17]

I think that everybody has a little bit of a addiction to sugar. Most people don't know how much they like it until it is gone. For me, it literally is a fight within myself whenever I am around something sweet or breaded. I have to do everything in my power not to grab it and shove it in my mouth. This battle usually ends only when I gain about a pound or two a day. I am so short (5ft 2in) and I weigh 143! It really looks bad on my frame and I am so self-concious, that I make plans around how much I way. If I gained a pound or two, I won't go on a date until I have lost it or until I have been "strict" for a few days. Its really bad. Why does America, along with other countries that have weight problems, eat so much unhealthy stuff? You would think in our day and time, all the things we know about health and what things do to us, that we wouldn't make each other obese by serving super sizes of anything fast food. I am trying again to lose weight and this time, I think I am ready to stick with it.

April

[Kristine]

Interesting thread. I think there's a whole range of "severity" of sugar addiction. As we can see on these forums, there are people who can't even tolerate artificial sweeteners without going nuts. Others, like me, can handle it. I put Heinz ketchup on my eggs. I can have a few saltine crackers with my soup. As long as we're not talking about a box of Oreos or something like that...

I also think it's possible for your symptoms to change over time. There was a time where nothing was too rich for me - heck, I'd eat cake frosting right out of the container. Not anymore. Once you start tackling the addiction, you also start to lose your tolerance. (At least I have...)

[vmaxjohn]

I know my tastebuds have adapted. If I sip from my wife's mountain dew, my tongue wants to jump out of my head! It's SALTY! I can actually taste the soda water in it now, as opposed gulping it down before.

I've had little trouble leaving bread behind, but when I do inbibe I pay for it!

The first time I went on the Atkins plan, I was losing a pound and a half a day, things were going great! I got from 204 down to 172, felt excelent too. I decided to eat the roll that came with my steak at dinner...the next day I weighed in 2 pounds heavier! I'll put my thumb in the eye of any doctor who claims low fat is good!

How can a single roll add up to 2 pounds?! It's all chemical, and a roll evidently weighs as much as a hiking boot!

I've come to the conclusion, that any food found in a 711 is evil, sugar is the poor man's cocain, and flour is equivelant of smack.


I'll admit this, when I'm having a bad day, it just snowballs. I explain my cravings with thoughts like, "I've already blown my diet today...", or, "I'll just eat some cardboard and take in a bunch of fiber to counteract this batch of cookies".

I know addicts of all natures have thoughts like these in common, but I also know folks who beat their addictions. I seem to win battles, but it's a Mexican Stand-Off on the war front. ;)