Help I'm addicted to sugar
 

I cant stop eating sugar. It's like crack. I may need rehab. For example, I went over my grandma's house and she had cookies. I ate like 5 of them. Sometimes I wake up out of my sleep and eat chips. I don't know what to do. How can I stop this habit? Help

Eat bacon :)

Sometimes when I start eating very low-carb again, after a hiatus I have dreams of almost eating carbs in my sleep, usually in a cafeteria. The cravings do go away -- if you can get past the first few days or weeks in some cases.

Are you asking up hungry when you eat the chips? Maybe you aren't eating enough during the day.
I would suggest keeping plenty of easy, healthy stuff you enjoy around. For example, if you want a snack have a tray of egg/cheese/veg and sausage or bacon "muffins" to grab. Keeping precut vegetables to have with a dip you like, cheese, salami, olives, etc....overtime, the cravings do stop. In the meantime, keep plenty of ready to go stuff to grab.

Hi. It's good that you recognize where you are - you're addicted. The next step is to really internalize that there isn't "just one" cookie or "just a handful" of chips and start to talk yourself out of that very first bite. It's tough, but it gets easier the longer you say 'no', stay LC, and gain some momentum.

Here's how I deal with it:
- Nothing particularly tempting to me is allowed in the house. DH is very supportive and any junk, he'll hide in his desk or whatever. He gets the green light for anything containing gluten because it's completely off my radar.
- I learned to be organized, and like Robin suggested, I always keep lots of 'legal' foods on hand. I shop ahead of getting low, and I make sure I take some time on a Sunday to prep for the coming week.
- I taught myself to cook and I really do enjoy it. It doesn't have to be time consuming. I work different shifts, and believe me, lots of nights (or entire weeks) I can't deal with much more than nuking some veggies and throwing a hunk of meat on the clamshell grill, but I make sure those easy options are always there.
- I have cocoa powder, almond flour, and other ingredients on hand to make LC single-serving treats. This is like insurance. I rarely make them... but knowing they're there is really helpful to me.
- In the beginning, if you're struggling, let yourself binge on LC foods if you have to. You need to break the physiological carb addiction. Let the ketosis start to set in. Then, you can start to work on whatever emotional components there are.

Best of luck; keep us posted. Consider starting a journal here. :thup:

"Spanish Olives" are low-carb and one of my goto 'cravings' snacks at nite :)

try replacing the chip bag with a bag of pork rinds.

Same here , it takes time to get over the worst of the sugar demon. Try always having low carb food on hand. I keep sf jello cups in the fridge for the late night snacking

Have lots of low-carb things on hand, ready-to-eat.

If you like cold hamburgers, or roast beef, or salmon patties.

Hard-boiled eggs w/ butter or mayo.

Meat, cheese, fat, repeat. Some LC vegs, of you like.

----

The line I drew in the sand, for myself, had to do with realizing that I am the only one who can take care of myself, and I am worth taking care of.

We don't have control of very many things in life.

But, we do have control over what we eat.

It really did take drawing a line in the sand, and not looking back, for me.

I wish you happy control. :)

There are books now on Sugar addiction, plans to Sugar Detox, etc. The 21 Day Sugar Detox is one, The I Quit Sugar Plan another ...our library has both of these.

The Diet Doctor website also has a course/expert guide to sugar addiction https://www.dietdoctor.com/expert-guide-sugar-addiction
and many supporting articles and videos. https://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=Sugar+addiction

Would you respond well to negative reinforcement as a way to change habits? Read the book "Sugar Crush" and that will scare away any thoughts of cookies :lol:

The non-sweet foods suggested above work best for me, but when I get an urge for cookies that won't go away (now rare, but I still get it every couple of months), I mix some melted butter, almond flour, truvia, vanilla & salt (proportions based on an almond shortbread recipe but halving the sugar-equivalent) that add up to 5-10g carbs. Usually I just eat the "dough" and call it a meal.

Sometimes an urge is related to the texture desired, not the specific food that pops to mind.
Often an urge for chips is an urge for crunch or salt. I roast a chicken or backs/legs and enjoy the crisp, salted skin.
Mashed cauliflower with butter & salt whizzed until smooth can cure urges for soft, smooth comfort.
A steak satisfies the desire for chewiness that fish or ground meat won't give you.

To add to what Diedra said, Kristie Sullivan whose new Keto book was published yesterday had that same cookie craving after two weeks strict LC. She talks and writes about the Peanut Butter Hero Cookies helping her stay on the plan and eventually lose over 100 pounds. https://youtu.be/xsrV_I2aU7k


The first part of her book, Day by Day for a month (180 pages) ...how you work through Hunger, sugar cravings, is very good. This is way more than a cookbook:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=470795