The best option I've found is Phase 1 of Southbeach. You can easily do the detox without following the plan. Basically, you eat no grains or fruits for the first two weeks and no more foods with refined sugars or high fructose corn syrup. Please be aware, depending on how much sugar you've been eating, this detox phase can get a bit tough. Sometimes, it feels like a light case of the flu....weakness, headaches, sometimes queasy. I don't say this to scare you, but just to make you aware. If you add a cup of beans or lentils each day and drink some milk, this will help with the symptoms. My symptoms only last for 2-3 days. Afterward, I feel like a million bucks! So much energy, no depression, no headaches!
Last edited by GirlyGirlSebas; 06-14-2010 at 12:09 PM.
A lot of people get rid of their cravings by going cold turkey. It's a trial and error thing for each person, so you may have to experiment a bit to see what works best for you.
I gave it up while I was losing weight and put back in a sweet treat once or twice a week once I was well into maintenance. Now that summer is here I've switched over to fruit that's in season. Frozen grapes or cherries make a great treat without processed sugar.
The above suggestions are very good, and when it comes down to it the way to beat sugar cravings is to quit cold-turkey, and stick to that rule as if your life depended on it. (Which, honestly, it does. If you keep on allowing yourself to exist under the constant influence of sugar, it will be nearly impossible to lose weight, feel emotionally/physically better, and improve your health.)
When I quit sugar in 2008, I decided just to try it for 30 days. Go off the stuff for 30 days, see what happens...if I didn't like the results I could get right back on.
Well, within a week my cravings were subsiding. Within two weeks I was feeling markedly better. In the first month I lost something like 11 pounds.
At that point, why would I have wanted to get re-addicted, gain my weight back, and feel like crap again? I wouldn't. So I didn't.
Give it 30 days and see what happens. What have you got to lose?
Me, if there was a sugary treat anywhere to be found I could not keep my mind off it and constantly craved.
Now, my craving thermostat is set at ZERO. People leave candy in my break room almost every day at work and I usually don't even notice it's there.
I didn't try the South Beach method, but early on I cut all sugar and limited my fruit servings to one daily, and not a very sweet treat like berries or banana but something mild like an apple, and I eliminated all grains except for one slice of whole wheat bread with no sweeteners added, that included, for me, rice and pasta.
I have been able to incorporate a lot of that stuff back in-- I don't worry much about fruit anymore, I eat sweetened yogurt, and sometimes small servings of rice and pasta.
I did not feel the flu-like symptoms but it definitely took some getting used to...
But living a life free from cravings has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Yesterday somebody shoved a bag of candy in my face and said "want one?" and I said no without even thinking about it.... then she set it on the counter next to me and I FORGOT IT WAS THERE.
Yesterday somebody shoved a bag of candy in my face and said "want one?" and I said no without even thinking about it.... then she set it on the counter next to me and I FORGOT IT WAS THERE.
For me, that is a miracle.
It really is a miracle, isn't it? I was the same thing with sugary stuff, candy, cake, cookies, baked goods...I thought about them constantly and if there were any within my radius I was thinking about how to sneak MORE of them. "Will my coworkers notice me taking another piece?" "Will my husband comment if I grab another bag of mini-chocolates?" And so on.
But now, when I walk into the break room and there's leftover cake from the amazing French bakery down the block...or there's chocolate truffles someone brought in...or leftovers from a lunch meeting someone's had...my thought is merely along the lines of, "Oh that's interesting. I guess it was someone's birthday," or "Huh, I wonder what that big meeting was about."
I just do not care about that sugary stuff any more at all, and it IS a miracle.
Now, this is not to say that I no longer have any food cravings at all. To be honest, when I'm eating at a calorie deficit (as I am at the moment), then I think about food a lot and do definitely crave it. However, my cravings are now for strawberries, a sweet potato, a hearty breakfast of eggs and veggies, or a soothing cup of sugar-free hot cocoa at the end of the day.
I agree with the idea of quit cold-turkey, but I would add a caveat: don't go too low on your healthy calories while you do it. When I am hungry, I daydream about sweets, and I think I am craving sweets specifically, but really I just want food. I think it's much better to go cold turkey on sweets (including processed grains!) while on a light to moderate calorie restriction, and then gradually reduce your healthy calories.
For me, I still have the mental battle. Two years ago, I went off sugar and lost 35 pounds. I maintained that loss for two years, then I fell off the wagon with sugar and gained all of the weight back. I've realized that sugar will always be a major temptation to me. I could eat a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts in one sitting....today. And, I know that they would make me sick as a dog, but I'd still do it. I could also drink a regular Pepsi right now and love every single sip! Even knowing how badly sugar makes me feel, I'd still eat and drink it. For me, the taste and the "comfort" feelings seem to outweigh my control. My only option is to keep those things out of my home and only allow myself an occasional treat. I'll go to the ice cream shoppe for a cone, I'll go to a restaurant for a yummy desert, etc, etc.
I am so addicted to sugar it's incredible! I get cravings for anything sweet all day long.
Earlier I got rid of all the junk and walked the bag to the corner garbage can in the street. I now have nothing sweet and I feel nervous!
You'll make it! Hang tough. Don't let yourself get hungry. Eat some protein if you start to feel a little drained. Also, find some non-eating compatible hobbies or habits. Take a bubble bath, work out, do your nails.
Cold turkey. It's the only way. You MUST get through it and not cave - no matter what. If you give in, you just have to start the cycle all over again. Push yourself. Work past the discomfort. Remember, it's okay to tell yourself no. You don't have to have something just because you want it. This will pass, but again, you just have to work through it. Keep busy. Knit, sew, read, write, computer, clean, move, dance, sleep, drink hot tea, cold water, run in circles, whatever - just don't give in. No matter what. ALLOW your wants and desires for the sweets to vanish. and they will - provided you don't give in. You've got the ability to do this. You are more than capable of it.
ALLOW your wants and desires for the sweets to vanish. and they will - provided you don't give in. You've got the ability to do this. You are more than capable of it.
Yes!! but don't underestimate how painful it is in the beginning to ride it out-- just remember that there is a different kind of life on the other side.
I remember just sitting there with that "want something/need something" feeling.
I had to teach myself just to ride it out... In the past, when weight loss attempts failed, I also tried to substitute something-- like a portion-controlled treat, or a sugar-free treat that mimicked the candy I was craving...
But this time, I just gave myself nothing and waited it out....
It really didn't take that long before I just stopped getting hit by the craving at all...
AMAZING. Use all of Robin's strategies. She is a wise woman.
I just altered my food. I now use splenda or sweet n low. Use frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. I stay away from cakes, pies etc. I eat fresh fruit. Frozen grapes, sugar free popcicles
Thanks for all the advise! I have grapes and cherries in the freezer but of course all I want is my creme cookie! Don't have any, so I am hanging tough.
How do I beat the sugar craving?
