[RoyalAthena]

Ok here goes. I have been gone for a looooong time. I have been resisting the SBD but I know it is what i need. I have to give up sugar. I keep thinking that I can control myself BUT I cannot. Get this, I have been known to eat about 8 tootie roll pops (the suckers) a night. I only eat two meals a day..lunch and dinner (to allow the calories for candy and sweets). I eat healthy meals BUT after each I eat candy. I SERIOUSLY want to give up sugar because I want to stop worshipping food and get away from the menatality that I cannot do without the sugar. Honestly, I know I can do this program with success and in the long run I will be happier, healthier and feel a sense of freedom BUT I dread the thought I doing without sugar and carbs.. It is bittersweet. Will I ever be able to eat a piece of cake and then be satisfied and NOT have to have candy also. I can eat a piece of German chocolate cake and then candy afterwards (with a salty snack in between to mix it up a bit). I want to do this so that candy/sugar does not rule me. A year from now, I want to be able to go to a birthday party, eat a piece of cake and not have to have more suagr afterwards or for that matter make a cake..taste it to make sure I am making it well but then later not even have the desire to have any. Will any of this ever be possible??? I have got to do this but now at this very moment I realize just how much of a psychological issue this is for me. I'm nervous thinking about it!


I'm stating program tomorrow. I am going to start back to checking in daily..I need you guys; I need the support!

***i'm tired please forgive me for not using spell check

[Ruthxxx]

back. I notice you have tried South Beach 6 times. Have you figured out what gets you off track? Posting in the Phase I thread will help.

By the way, that stuff - the food PORN - is not "good food" as you say in your title. The good carbs in Phase I - legumes and dairy - should help you with the sugar cravings.

[CyndiM]

Hi again Ann Sounds like you know exactly what your issue is and what you need to do. Now it's just the doing. If that were easy we would all have been thin years ago. For now just get through the first two weeks. Have you made it through a clean Phase 1 before? Did it help your cravings?

Truth is you may never be able to eat a piece of cake without needing to detox after. I'm one of those people. I think I can manage something, and I do for awhile. Then it's off the rails and back to Phase 1. Some people never have that problem and are able to balance off plan items once in awhile.

For now just stay focused on getting healthier. The first step is a clean Phase 1 which will be really crucial for you. After that we will help you slowly transition to Phase 2. Then it's just a day at a time forward. Being healthier, having more energy, thinking about what you eat are great motivators. Amanda, maintainer extraordinaire, has a great post in this thread, http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175107 If you really follow this program it will change your relationship with food in a way your current plan isn't. It won't always be easy but it won't be easy to drown mindlessly in sugar anymore either because you will know the impact it has on you. Eating huge amounts of sugar is hard on your body and your emotional well being. You're just choosing a different challenge

[cottagebythesea]

Welcome back, Ann!
One of the things that will ensure your success this time around is to rid yourself of the idea that sugar (cake & candy) are "good" foods. Think about what they are doing to you and how they sabotage your weight loss efforts. They are poison and dangerous stuff! I know I can't handle sugar, I react to it like a drug and just crave more and more. It's very hard to give it up, but I've reconsiled myself to the fact that I simply can't eat it if I want to lose weight.
I agree with Ruth and Cyndi, that you must do a completely clean Phase 1 to totally rid yourself of your cravings. The first few days will be hard, but after your cravings have subsided you'll be home free, as long as you remember to stay away from anything with sugar in it. Look for something you can substitute when you think you have to have something sweet, such as a NSA fudgesicle, and SF jello and pudding. I found that SF gum really helps me fight any temptations.
Good luck, and don't hesitate to come here for help and motivation to stay strong. We're all in this together and struggling, just like you. You can do it!

[Lexxiss]

Hi Ann

Nice to meet you! I've only been hanging here for 8 weeks, but I post every day and keep in very close touch.

It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do. You have lost so much weight. Me, too, and I don't ever want to start over at my HW again. Before I got OP on May 5, I had already gained 20# back. Now I am 5# away from my lowest weight which was last fall.

I have lots of questions about myself as well. I'm not anywhere near ready to deal with those questions, but what I am finding is that if I stay OP every day, I am able to get a day healthier by staying out of my "addiction". The answers will come.

Best wishes! I look forward to your posts!

[beachgal]

Ann, I really, really think you should read this article: http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazi...200701_alcohol I just read it, and I think it might help you think differently about "giving up 'good' stuff forever." I thought of it because the author says that she wants to drink a couple of glasses of wine at a party and stop at that--it sounds like your desire to just have a piece of cake and stop.

Anyways, to continue with the Oprah theme I seem to have started, here's "What I know for sure" from several years of SBD (after a lifetime of being hooked on sugar, bread, and desserts):

• Even though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone, I spent several years eating anything and everything I wanted after years of unsuccessful dieting. What happened? I gained nearly 100 lbs and tons of health problems, and I was miserable. What I know for sure: sugary food might make me happy in the moment, but it causes exponential misery later.
  
• I binged on everything I knew I would miss for two weeks before starting SBD. I realize that's not for everyone, but what it did for me was that I had a very clear memory of what eating those things tasted and felt like, and how they made me feel afterward. When I craved them after starting SBD, I'd stop and remember the way they tasted and how I felt eating them, then I'd remember how awful my body felt when I crashed afterwards. What I know for sure: remembering the taste of my favorite sugary/starchy foods has all of the joy and none of the resulting pain of actually eating them.
  
• I've gone off plan a couple times over the last few years, usually when I'm overseas. Though I have certainly enjoyed the food I ate on those trips, I didn't enjoy the awful way I felt physically and emotionally. By the end of each trip (usually a week), I was desperate to get home and get back on to Phase 1, though I often binged on the foods I knew I couldn't have. Food is powerful and it's hard to resist its siren call. What I know for sure: The way eating those foods makes me feel isn't worth the pleasure of eating them. Period.
  
• When I have indulged in off-plan food, it never tastes the way I thought. What I know for sure: the sugary/starchy food of my dreams NEVER tastes as good as I think it will, nor is it ever worth the awful feeling afterwards or the side effects of weight gain and health loss.
  
• When I started SBD, I approached it with a mentality I borrowed from Overeaters Anonymous: "I can eat whatever I want. But I'm choosing not to eat ____ today because I prefer not to feel sick and have to do Phase 1 again." What I know for sure: taking it "one day at a time" is much easier than saying, "You can never have that again." You can make the choice to not have it today and leave it open as a possibility for the future.

From what you've written, it seems that you want to cut down on how much candy you eat while continuing to eat it everyday. But it doesn't seem like the things you've tried to make that happen are working. I know it would never be possible for me. If you've come to the realization that you simply can't have the life you want and eat sugar/candy everyday, you'll have to make a choice about which is more important to you.

When it comes down to it, you have to make the choice. But I've personally found that the experience of giving up sugar was much less catostrophic than I thought it would be. Believe me, I thought it would kill me! But it was such a non-event in the end...and one of the best parts is that, as you may remember, Phase 1 takes away those cravings and makes it possible for you to believe in a future where you can be without tootsie roll pops and still be happy. And we're here for you either way.

[Chelby29]

Laurie, I always love what you have to say.

[RoyalAthena]

Thanks everyone for the responses!! I need this reality check.

Ruthxxx - Food porn?? I love it !! LOL. Yes, I have doen this going on 6 times. I dont have any true triggers. I know exactly what works and how to have aclean Phase 1. I trigger myself. I get stressed and say "just forget it for today." then today turns into a week..then month. I need to be steadfast and make a true lifestyle change.

CyndiM - I am going to have to learn to live without cake...and enjoy the benefits. I feel most attrative, happy and etc when I am under 200 (just a short term goal).

Cottagebytheresa - Thanks! I am going to give this a true full effort! Oh, and I am chewinf Dentyne (sugar free) Cinnamon gum. My fav! It does help

Lexxiss - Thanks I needed to hear that. Sometimes, I get discouraged because I have to lose some weight that I had ALREADY lost. I have to sometime put it into perspective, take it with a grain of salt and push on. I am going to give this a serious effort.

Beachgal- Thank you thank you. Yes, eating whatever I wanted got me to this point. I KNOW I feel better physically and mentally when I eat well ( the SBD way). I hav eto readjust my thinking. Cake/candy isnt worth it. I am in a funk and I have got to get out! Thanks.

I am on Day One: So far so good! Back to work I go! I will check in later. Thanks everyone!! *hugs and kisses*

[beachgal]

Glad to hear that you're giving it a go, Athena! Lots of to help you on your way!

Okay, on the trigger thing--even if you don't have a specific trigger, it sounds like the general trigger for you is "feeling stressed." What is it that makes you feel stressed? How can you make it less stressful? Can your family/friends help you with it? Share it with us here and we'd be glad to help you with suggestions on ways to deal with it so that you don't get stressed. Then you'll have no reason to need to "forget it for a day."

[RoyalAthena]

Beachgal,
It is mostly work stress. I have alot of life changes coming. Work, school, financial and socailly. After not have a boyfriend for 10 years, I finally met someone. Well, he is not "the one". When we started dating, I went off the bandwagon. I KNEW he wasnt the one when I gained 14 pounds in a 2 month period. I was eating, pushing down the feelings that I was in the relationship with the wrong person. After the break up (he wont let go and is lightly stalking me)...still I am stressed BUT I realize that I cannot let someone else own my happiness. Lesson learned. I'm back on track. Get rid of the man AND the sugar; both things which are equally bad for me!

I'm on day 6!! Yeah!! Thanks for the supprt!

[SunshineCA]

Welcome back! Congrats on making it to another day on the SBD!!!

"Lightly stalking"???? Ummm, no! You need to stop this loser dead in his tracks! I've been stalked a few times in my past and it's not a good thing! Nip it in the bud before it becomes something bigger than what it is!!

Coming to this site will definitely keep you accountable. I look forward to your success stories!

[Ruthxxx]

I think we've answered the concerns about food.