i dont know where else to turn... i am so lost when it comes to dieting now... i lost close to 30lbs at one time and now it takes me 5 months to lose 9lbs... i am addicted to sugar, badly... i also crave fast food like a drug addict needs their next hit... i dont know how to combat these problems... just eating fruits doesnt quell the craving for sugar... when i get depressed i always turn to fast food... see i am a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, so in sense that is my drug or drink... i was so stressed out over my weight that i quit and last week including this week has been filled with fast food almost every day and half gallons of ice cream... im about to just give up... can anyone help me????

I am in the same predicament, the binge/diet cycle.
At the moment I'm focusing on eating a stable, healthy amount of food, of the right types. From there, I can slowly cut calories and increase my activity.

I really struggled with similar cravings for fast food and sweets before I lost weight. What worked for me was to stop eating them cold turkey. It's not the most popular approach but if you really feel like your eating is out of control it might help.

Best wishes in tackling this; it's not easy!

yes its how I did it. I stopped sugar, including fruit. Went very low on the carbs. And cravings got much better.

Carbie I recently read someplace a doctor saying the way to get rid of sugar/carb cravings is to treat for Candida. She seems to think the 2 are linked. I do not know. Nor do I remember where I read it. I do know I have had candida. As have most of my friends. The little yeast things relentlessly scream "feed me". Because without the sugars they die. So they scream loudly. This doctor could be seeing things from only her perspective of diagnosing and treating Candida. idk. There may be addicts who clearly do not have candida. I fall into both categories. Addictive personality and someone who has had Candida. Give me a loaf of bread, a bag if chips and some chocolate. Within hours I will have consumed it all.

Stopping all sugary foods including fruit, chips etc was SO hard at first. But the results I got were great. I tried it once with a nutritionist but almost bit her head off. Then I worked with a naturopath that got me going in the right direction. The naturopath moved away. And my cravings are back....full on. Tormenting me each day. I would love to find someone to help me get back on track. Sugar/carb free. ( except for healthy carbs). I hope something I wrote might help a bit. If not, just know you are not alone

Exercise helps me a lot! I put in a lot of work and it makes me feel like binging is not even worth it. I am becoming more toned and it really does improve my mood and curve my food addiction. Hope you find the right solution for you

Sugary and starchy foods for some people (people who CRAVE them who are usually carb-sensitive) raises your blood sugar quickly and dramatically, causing your body to overproduce insulin to try to get it under control. That then causes your blood sugar to drop rapidly and your body sends out strong signals (hunger cues/cravings) that you need to raise your blood sugar quickly because it's too low, and it causes you to crave the foods that do that: sugary and starchy foods! It's a vicious cycle! If you eat those foods, you will shortly crave them again, and if you crave them, you'll eat them! The only way to break that cycle is to not eat those foods, including fruit at first while you are trying to get your carb cravings under control. Stick to meat, fish, eggs, non-starchy veggies, legumes, nuts and seeds (if you aren't allergic) in moderation, and dairy in moderation. Avoid sugar, potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, cereal, grains (like corn), and fruit (until you have it under control). And drink plenty of water! I start each day by eating 2 eggs, 2-3 slices of bacon/ham/sausage), NO toast or other bread, and about 1-2 cups of plain Greek yogurt (doctored up with strawberry-watermelon Mio water flavoring, because I don't like plain yogurt), and I drink water (again with some flavor of Mio, because i don't like plain water), and I am so full for most the day. In fact, many days I have to make myself eat lunch. Without sugar/starches to cause my body to crave more sugar/starches, I don't feel the compulsion to eat sugary or fast foods! The emotional side of it is a little more difficult. If you turn to those foods for comfort (and I do too), that really does take willpower, BUT without the cravings, it's easier to find that willpower. Listen, you can do this! You just have to understand what is going on in your body and make up your mind to change it! There is an answer that works! I wish you the best!

Hello Carbie, and I have to say - MAD congrats and respect for quitting drugs and alcohol! You must be one tough cookie to manage that! My only experiences with addiction are nicotine and sugar, and boy have even those kicked my a**. Especially the nicotine. I can't even begin to imagine what strength and determination it takes to do what you have.

But yeah I feel for you, I used to be totally hooked on sugar too. It's pretty terrible. I could easily gorge a whole carton of Ben&Jerry's + a 200 gram chocolate bar in a day. On several days a week. Not only did I gain a lot of weight, but it got expensive, and I don't have much money!

What has helped me is to first stop cold turkey, and after a month or so I have been eating sweet things in moderation about every 2 weeks. 2 weeks is good for me, I don't get addicted that way. I also don't buy those things to my home, but have them in a café (a piece of cake and some coffee, preferably while chatting with a friend), or sweets and such when visiting a friend or at a party or a potluck, things like that. It seems to work well for me. Perhaps there could be a similar balance found for you too? My brother has stopped eating sweet sugary things all together, as he has been addicted too. That works for him. For me that would be too depressing, it's easier to know that I will have something sweet OK, just, not right now!

I have to admit though that what really kickstarted the cold-turkey-thing for me was a change of medications from ssri to snri. The difference was huge. Cipralex gave me INSANE sugar cravings, and apparently I'm not the only one. A healthy diet and not letting myself go hungry help too. My cravings for sugar are always worst when I am hungry. Just telling myself when the cravings come: "I will first eat a balanced meal, let's think about the chocolate after that" has helped in many situations. But the true sugar cravings, the worst ones... I can't trick them that way. It's like my brain is screaming for sugar and it has to get it no matter what - if not today, tomorrow, but it won't go away. I still get it sometimes, and that's when I come here to strenghten my commitment. I think it might be linked to having eaten poorly for a while and then suddenly BOOM - my brain decides that it can't go on without sugar. Sometimes I stumble. It's ok, I'll pick myself up. After all, what is life but a long, interesting stumble down a hill towards the grave. Sorry about that, it sounded gloomier than I meant!

Just hang in there! You're still young and you have been to worse battles already. Just hang around and I'm sure in time you will find something that works for you. There is no hurry. It's not worth being too stressed over. There's so many of us here who have found good ways to manage these things. I'm sure you will too.

I totally agree with the cold turkey approach to sugar. Not gonna lie, it's **** the first few days-week, but once you hit a certain point, it's almost like a huge fog lifts and the cravings are GONE. And you can go indefinitely like that basically.You've successfully beat your addiction to drugs and alcohol, so clearly you're a tough person. You can do this!

Carbie,

I can so relate to the Alcohol and sugar addition being connected.

I stopped drinking 23 years ago and still struggle with the sugar addition.

Other people I know who have quite drinking do turn to sugar.

I would go to the doctor and tell her since quitting drinking I crave sugary things more. Something I never did when drinking. She just ignored that.

I kept telling people there has to be some kind of connection. No one wanted to listen to me. But this was 20 years ago. Now it seems people are making the connection.

What I have done is to stop eating anything white, bread, rice, pasta etc. I can eat fruits though without craving more sugar.

It is so good to see that other people binge the way I do. I was always so ashamed of myself that I couldn't control my eating.

I really feel that not having these white products are the way for me to go.

Once I have that first bite it is all down hill from there.

One side benefit for me is when I avoid white products I don't feel so out of control with cravings for sugar.

Whatever works for you is the best way to go. What may work for someone else may not work for you.

LG

I have never thought of putting something like Mio into plain greek yogurt! What a great idea Jacqui, thanks for sharing it.

It's good to see so many others who have also gone cold turkey!

Carbie, it must take some real guts to kick a alcohol and drug addiction. If you can beat that, you can beat sugar addiction!

I am the same, in the sense that I crave sugar all the time. All of my friends are people that would naturally eat a salad for lunch and feel satisfied, whereas I was never like that. I needed the chocolate!

I've found that hypnosis has worked for me. In the sessions, I was told to imagine myself enjoying eating fruit and vegetables and feeling full from the healthy food i had eaten. The next day, I didn't even think about chocolate!! Now, I have a much healthier relationship with sugar, because I can eat a small piece if I want it, and not feel the cravings to finish the whole bar like I used to.

I hope you find the answer you are looking for. You can do this, don't give up!

Carbie, you were first addicted to alcohol and drugs, now to sugar and fast food. I think you know by now that the only way to beat an addiction is to find a new addiction, but this time you have to make it a healthy one. Make healthy food and exercise your new addiction in a way that you try to find as much information about it as possible. Fill your head with it, live it, breath it. You will calm down, nobody wants you to have an eating disorder next but for now make it your mission, your focus.

Focus more on your health, not so much on weight loss. If you focus on health, the weight loss will follow. Take a look at Primal Blueprint, see if it works for you (it has worked for me), if it's not your thing find something else. It's your body, you have to find out what works for YOU.

Hi Carbie,

What has helped me was saying, "There will be soda and junk food tomorrow." Or, "Sugar and junk food aren't going anywhere." Or, "You will have sugar and junk food again." And then after the diet plan I've been doing, I would indulge, knowing there would be a new plan tomorrow! LOL!

Treat sugar and carbs the same way you quit drugs and alcohol. Either cold turkey, or cutting back little by little. If you have a successful day, then have the junk food. Then if you have two successful days, then have junk food. Then make it to three. "Reward". Four, etc.

Find an iPhone game you like. Anytime you would reach for junk food (Lunch, snack, after dinner) play that game!! Replace harmful habits with harmless habits. Ones you truly enjoy.

Good Luck!!

Hi Carbie,

Good job on kicking the drugs and alcohol, that is tough. It sounds like now you are working on kicking another difficult addiction...sugar. It pretty much comes hands down to sugar and the carbs that turn into sugar (including most fruits). Most successful kickstart diets have a sugar elimination phase for good reason. If you don't purge your body of the sugars it just craves all the bad stuff that much stronger.

I recommend identifying a elimination sugar phase type of diet initially so you can have a list or food recommendations to go by. You don't have to go on a "diet" per say, just use the Phase 1 parts to kick the sugar habit if you dislike the structured diet ideas. Pick a bunch of meats you love, or find some easy recipes that you like and just set your mind that you will go without sugar for two weeks and then reconsider whether you need it. The first week sucks, and if you have underlying Candida be prepared for some nasty headaches, irritability, muscle aches, and fatigue. But it won't last, and then your body doesn't need sugar anymore. At this point you can make better non-craving driven food choices and be more successful.

Personally I have given up sugar for over 2 months, I don't even eat fruit, and no carbs except some veggies and 2-3 tablespoons of oat bran in recipes daily. I love Stevia though and use it in my coffee/tea/and some faux dessert recipes. I recommend finding a healthy "sweet" substitute such as this to help get you by.

I am not addicted to sugar so much as I'm addicted to any kind of processed food, fast food, and junk food. Of course that kind of food is always high in sugar and bad carbs. I totally agree with Jacqui about the endless cycle ofof high low blood sugar levels. Cold turkey is the only thing that works for me, just completely cut out the junk. Also I follow a low carb diet as well, good carbs distributed evenly through the day to prevent the blood sugar swings. For me this means 3 meals with snacks in between all. Good luck!