I just need to vent. I have for some time thought that I probably have a sugar addiction. If I have sugar every 2 weeks, tops, I feel ok. Once a week, I'll get slight cravings but can manage ok. But last week I think I had too much and right now the cravings are terrible - I've had another, decidedly legitimate addiction and right now I can say this is exactly how it felt. The heavy heartbeats, slight nausea, hollow feeling in my chest. Christ it's actually pretty terrible.

I won't have any though - not right now. I'll do some knitting, some stretching, perhaps go on a walk, I'll totally ignore the things I should be doing, it'll be ok. I have a goal to reach, won't spoil that one now.

Ok that's it, phew, I feel a bit relieved getting that off my chest.

Sugar addiction is totally real and it's so hard to kick. It's a socially acceptable - and I would even go so far as to say forced - addiction. This time of year is really hard with all the candies, cakes, chocolates and seasonal junk forced on us at every turn. You have my sympathies and support!

I've had to give up sugar entirely, but I was staying at my mom's this week and my stepdad made onion soup with sugar (eh?). I ate it to be polite and it really messed up my digestion the next day. Sugar is bad news.

I can't eat those treats in moderation. I would have to eat the whole cake or box or bag. And then I still wouldn't be satisfied!

I struggle with this too... And on top of the holidays, December is my birthday month. I've been struggling this week and trying to get focused again. I need to find a balance *sigh* why are sweet things so tempting? Sometimes the pull towards them makes me feel crazy

New here/first time commenting - wanted to say I can relate to your want of sugar. By way of relating: I did well for two weeks until I went out for dinner with friends this past Friday. We had a preset menu that included desserts for sharing. I had a few small bites, that was it, but when I got home I binged on cookies; the next day I ate two bags of sweets and today I ate chocolate cereal, chocolate bars, whatever I could get my hands on really. I feel terrible about it...and my mouth hurts from all the sugar.

Anyway, as far as I know I'm the only one in my social circle with this problem. I'm not overweight now although I have been several times in the past. Some people I know now have never seen me overweight. When I've mentioned my issue with food/sugar, I get the impression people think it's on the level of "I would rather kill myself than eat peas" - an exaggeration or something. So here I am on this forum.

I mentioned to my husband that I may cut out sugar altogether and he reacted like it was a crazy idea. He's very supportive but not eating sugar is like Crazy Talk I guess. He says, "What you need to learn is moderation." And I'm wondering, what if I can't learn that? What if my brain is not wired for it? Is that possible? And that aside, why eat sugar?

I don't know if you went for a walk or knitted or were able to take your mind off sugar. I hope something worked for you.

I think my two-day bender is over now. I'm tempted to take laxatives to try to flush out some of what I've done. But I'm going to try not doing that - a bad habit. Tomorrow I return to my weekday routine that includes the gym. If I didn't binge, I'd look and feel much better. The self-loathing is marginally worse than the extra weight that I know is so very much my fault and that emotional cycle plays its part in all this too, unfortunately. Guess there's only three things for me to do now: take responsibility, forgive myself, and try to do better.

Thanks for reading my big (and unplanned) thought dump.

M.

MewMew - I think I am a bit like you. If I have a bit I want to binge, and then I am ashamed so i hide the evidence (not sure who from, myself probably)
It's hard to cut out when there appears to be sugar hiding everywhere, not just in the obvious places like sweets and chocolate.

It really helped me to look at my sugar addiction as a true, real addiction. I wouldn't offer "just one" drink to an alcoholic or encourage a meth addict to partake "in moderation".

Sugar addiction is everywhere, and is socially acceptable. As soon as people find out that I don't eat any sugar, ever, I can practically see their defences go up and they trot out the same excuses for their own behaviours, as if I'm sitting in judgement for their choices. I'm not - in fact, sometimes I feel a bit jealous that other people CAN have one slice of cake without going on a sugar binge for the rest of the week! (like, how is that even possible? I do not get it.)

So the "in moderation" crowd probably don't understand where I'm coming from, either. That's okay. The good thing is that they aren't in control of my eating habits!

Volatis, you're right, sugar hides in other places too. Cereals, jarred sauces, and in some packaged meats... I try to eat whole foods when I can and when I'm not eating sweets. What about you? Do you eat a lot of packaged foods?

Raisin5Cookies, how long have you identified as someone addicted to sugar? Are you handling it well right now?

I ask because I'm 40 and just now considering it. I'm not eager to let people know that I may see it as an actual addiction and that I'm not eating it for the reason you wrote about - it makes people uneasy and they automatically defend their own choices. I've been defensive about my food choices at one time or another, I'm sure. Lots of social issues around food; it can be a challenge to handle with care and compassion on either side I think unless we get really tuned into it.

M.

I understand your feelings, and I totally agree it is a tricky topic. Most of us don't want to face our issues, whatever they may be, and when someone is standing as a mirror to reflect that exact issue in our lives, it can be very uncomfortable.

The first time I really recognised my sugar addiction was a problem and tried to quit was about six years ago. I tried and failed to stop eating it many times over the years, but never lasted longer than 3 months or so. I've now been off sugar since June, so still not for the long haul yet, but I feel entirely different this time. I'm not white-knuckling my way through feelings of temptation or cravings, they are just gone. I can smell chocolate, for example, and appreciate that it smells appealing, but not want to eat it myself. If I ever do have a craving, which is rare, it is very faint and passes quickly.

The game changer for me has been meditation - I practice it daily and have been able to "de-program" my brain from previous habits and addictive behaviour. I will never go back to the way I lived before; I was in shackles and couldn't cope with my life without certain foods. It was getting worse and worse, my weight crept up and up, my health was going downhill. I am free now.

I too struggled very hard to limit sugars once I kept going. I find the longer you are off them and committed to how good it feels, the easier it is. My office had all my usual favorite cookies and chocolates today, but I was able to walk right by and not eat any.

I have found recipes with no sugar pure low fat cacao powder curb my chocolate need, I also enjoy the Walden Farms sugar free chocolate sauce. I haven't had any processed sugar/sweets/cookies/baked anything/or fruits since July. Yes fruits are healthy sugar, but I will eat the whole container in one sitting.

Raisin5Cookies - thanks for your reply. I would have replied sooner but didn't get a notification in my email so I came poking around.

You're on a good run with being sugar-free. It's nice to know others are succeeding and that there may well be a stage past white-knuckling. I'm looking forward to that ;-)

You brought up meditation. I just got into it but often end up falling asleep! I do have some guided meditations specifically for health and lifestyle. Did you use any particular meditations or did you go it alone?

M.

I am training to be a Kundalini Yoga and Meditation teacher, so I use specific Kundalini meditations. They are mantra meditations, so I speak words in a language called Gurmukhi and there are often movements that go with the mantra, so it keeps me awake for sure! You have to focus on quite a lot to do a meditation correctly - spine straight, hand position, mantra pronunciation, timings, etc. This is a great article on a specific meditation I do daily, called Kirtan Kriya: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dharma...b_3625181.html

The scientific studies on the benefits of meditation are becoming more and more mainstream/common, which is exciting to read about. Like any new skill, practice and dedication are required for mastery, but you can do Kirtan Kriya for as little as 7 minutes a day and see significant changes within about a month. I can't stress enough how wonderful meditation and yoga have been for my life.

Hello, I am so glad I found this thread. I, too, binge on sugar and it is really affecting my health. Last night, I had one chocolate covered pretzels left over from a party. The whole day I'd tried so very hard to be good to my body....once the pretzel entered my bloodstream....forget it. Five more, then four coconut macaroons followed. I feel so ashamed and the scale is a full pound up. so sad about not being able to stop this behavior.

This thread made me cry! Not just out of sympathy for others with sugar issues, but just because it's nice to feel less alone.

A few days ago, on another forum where I log my calories, I mentioned how hard it was for me right now with all the cookies and fudge around. I got such a beat down, you wouldn't believe it! I was told I needed to eat those things in moderation and learn to portion out the fudge to a few pieces a day, otherwise I was letting food dominate my life and not learning willpower, yada, yada.

Well, I'm sorry. What I can't moderate, I must eliminate, and for me that's sugar. I've gone without any sweets for two months now and unless something almost forces me to eat it, I'm fine and barely think about it, but a situation like the one above where I had to share a desert, would have set me on a binge for sure.

Why should we learn to moderate sugar? It's not a natural food at all, it requires almost as much processing from the source as cocaine or heroin and it has zero nutritional value. We all lived without it for thousands of years.

I'm not going to tell anyone I'm addicted to sugar anymore, though, because it raises too much defensiveness and anger. I'm just going to say, "No thank you," and if they must ask why, I'll tell them chocolate or cookies or whatever gives me heartburn. Which it does. Sort of.

Oh boy...refined sugar is a MONSTER! Yes, I can totally sympathize with you about sugar addiction. I grew up as the kid that asked for only 1 thing as a birthday present---a crisco-laden sweet buttercream cake from the bakery!

But as far as I've come with changing my food life, breaking that refined addiction has been the hardest. It's been said it's similar to cocaine in the way it affects the brain.

The nerd in me is determined to kick out the dependency for good, so I've been testing/tracking different things to help me do through withdrawl. Here's what's been helping:

1. Upping my fat intake-I eat (or drink) some form of ghee, coconut oil, olive oil and avocados with almost all my meals. Keeps me satiated.

2. Started taking l-glutamine--I've read from a few sources that it helps with cravings(it has so far at 2 weeks in).

3. Eating the darkest dark chocolate I can stand: I can go up to 85% on a good day, but normally 72% works to. Higher cocoa = less sugar

4. Tracking my menstrual cycle let's me know when the "crazy" is coming from hormonal changes. Then I can prepare for that dopamine dip.

I tried to eat some milk chocolate chips yesterday and spit them out because they tasted TOO sweet! LOL.

Just know you are not alone, it truly is an "accepted" addiction many suffer from, but it can be changed for the better. I'm not fully there yet, but I know taste buds can be "re-wired" along with the brain. Good luck and lots of hugs to you!!!