Sugar addiction
 

I am not sure if I am in the right place but from the few posts I have read, I believe that I am. I have done many diets in the past but have never found the one that works for me. I am currently just counting calories, but even that is not really helping. I ahve never tried sugar busters or a diet based on the glycemic index but i am certainly intrigued. i have come to a conclusion in the last couple of days that i am addicted to sugar much like an alcoholic is addicted to beer. when i have a very tough day i switch from diet coke to regular coke. after a traumatic event (a relative dying) i eat a cake (yes the whole thing) and of the course the next day i feel like i have a hangover. i am not sure if sugar busters is the right plan for me but i know that unlike some other foods, sugar is not a necessity for survival and that i must eliminate it from my diet. i just don't know how. i mean, i know how to eliminate the obvious sources but it's alll those sneaky hiding places that i am worried about. sugar in one form or another is everywhere!!!!
any hints, tips or advice will be greatly appreciated. i am tired of feeling hungover all the time. i have chronic headaches and muscle aches i can't sleep but i feel tired all day. i just don't feel healthy.

I know how you feel!!
 

I seriously know exactly how you feel. I'm 20 years old and I got the lapband in Sept or 06. I started at 252 lbs, I am now 174. I should have been completed with my journey oh... about a year and a half ago! I'm just so fed up with dieting and not eating what I wanted. I'm sick of that same hung over feeling. I paid out of pocket for my surgery and here I am shoving my face full of cupcakes. Or I'd buy ice cream and literally eat the whole half gallon with in 24 hours. I joined myfooddiary.com It's a little annoying to get used to and in the beginning will be overwhelming because it's a huge reality check. Because of that website I am now back on track. Now when I go to the grocery store I'll hear myself go "Oh, I'll just buy that then I can have it twice a week, I'll be ok." I just walk away. I will not buy it. So for my sugar cravings for where I want to scream if I don't get my way- I'll have a bite of an orange or some sweet fruit. I know it sounds like weird like "Psh, yeah right!" but I tried it and it's working for me so far. After that initial craving (that takes forever to get through!) you'll be level headed again and proud of yourself for making a healthier choice. I just read in my Self magazine that listening to your iPod when you get a craving will help reset your brain so you forget about it. I haven't tried it yet, but I will. I know this was long, but I hope it helped. I just read what you wrote and said "OMG! That's me!" :)



<3 Royce

Definitely sounds like one of the low GI/GL plans would be right for you . . . I don't think I'll ever completely get over my sweet tooth and I can still have an occasional meltdown with ice cream, but it is definitely easier to say :no: than it used to be.

This diet, because I'm addicted to sugar as well, can be incorporated into the cal counting as well, right?

My dog is named Starbuck......
 

Hi everyone. I'm new here. Sort of. This is about my third time around and I'm going to do it this time.

My sugar issues are huge. From eating a whole thing of icecream at night, several nights a week to two to three candy bars a day. I"ve gained 40 lbs in two years.

My favorite place is starbucks. Hence, I named my poor dog Starbuck. He really does look like a Starbuck, though.

So..here I am again. It's such a tough addiction to battle. Not that other addictions are any easier. I just don't have any other addictions.

I have found that exercise helps me with my addiction to sugar. Two years ago I had to quit my membership at the gym and stop with my personal trainer. I gained the weight after that. During the time I was working out so much my sugar iintake wasl almost 0.

So I'm back to the gym, but no trainer. I can't afford him this time around.
But I can do it on my own. I just have to get there.

Kelly:carrot:

Oh, I have to say, I'm glad that I stumbled into this set of message boards, because I no longer feel alone.

I have been there with you all. Cake/donuts were my major issues. I could eat those solid throughout a whole day. I used to get a sick hungover feeling the next day, but then I would just get really tired the same day that I ate them.

Once I cut refined sugar (doing sugar busters), I noticed a leap in my energy within the first 2 days. Also, the more I workout, the more I feel that I don't want to give in when I have a passing thought to have something bad. I definitely don't have the urgent sugar cravings that I used to have.

I used to have the same fatigue from eating sugar. Now, I barely ever eat it and my energy is so much higher. Also, this is weird, but I don't really get tartar anymore! My teeth always feel clean between brushings. Weird, huh?

Not weird at all . . . those little plague bugs thrive on sugar . . . so do the little yeast-infection critters.

I picked up the SugarBusters book 7 1/2 years ago and with a combination of counting calories and eating foods within the guidelines of SugarBusters (and a lot of exercise), I lost 60 pounds which I've kept off for 7 years by doing the same thing. It was the only way of eating that has worked for me.

Yes, I also still have very occasional ice cream melt downs, but know I know how much better I feel without the sugar and processed food.

Mel

I didn't realize I was completely addicted until I cut way back as part of my lifestyle change. I had no idea what it was like to feel...normal.

All my life, I have been the person unable to eat a single cookie. As soon as I eat one cookie, I want to stuff another cookie in my mouth, I want to eat another cookie while I'm still chewing the first cookie. When I finish a cookie, I always think "gee, I wish I had another cookie." And I always ate the first cookie and the second, third...pretty much however many cookies I could get away with (I hated eating in front of people, but if I had a package of Oreos in the house - watch out!).

When I stopped eating so much processed, sugary junk (and white flour stuff like crackers, pretzels, etc) I quit craving it. I could walk past a cookie and be able to say no (which meant saying not to cookie 2 and cookie 3 and cookie 4 etc).

It can definitely be a part of calorie counting - I concentrated on eating whole foods and limiting processed foods. I still ate fruit (fruit never triggered my cravings like processed sugar does) which helped to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Works great - Im also down 70 lbs and have kept it off for nearly 4 years. I did cold turkey quit and severely reduce a lot of food I used to eat - it might sound weird, but I don't miss those foods at all. I can handle small portions in controlled situations (like splitting a dessert in a restaurant or a single scoop of ice cream from an ice cream parlour), but I keep my house a junk free zone and try to stay away from packages I can keep going back to.

I always thought I wouldn't be able to live without those foods - that it would be a prison, a fate worse than death to live a life mainly without cookies, scones, candy and muffins. But, I feel free. I don't suffer from compulsions, binges, I don't feel guilty or weak.

I would love to be one of the 2 Oreo moderation types, but I have accepted that I am not. I am okay with that - I'll just be over here eating my huge wonderful plum.

Thank you Glory87 for giving me encouragement to become sugar-free. How you've described your struggles sounds just like mine. I've never been able to moderate the amount of candy/cookies/ice-cream I eat. A room-mate I once had and I were watching TV one day and eating Oreos. Well, I had about 5 and thought of offering her one (generous of me ;) ) and she told me "No thanks, I have one." Yes, the same one she started on about 15 minutes ago. Jeesh!

After eating another half-bag of Halloween candy yesterday, I realized that I need to quit sugar cold-turkey -- and today is day one (and a successful one,too).

I'm happy to hear you've done it and feel much better and I know I can do the same.

Although not following sugarbusters, I'm following a 1200 calorie diet, eating healthy foods, eating 3 small meals and 3 small snacks daily, and going to WW for the big weigh-in once a week.

I've learned that eating 6 times a day helps my blood sugar stay level and I feel normal.

Thanks for the encouragement.

This has been wonderful to read everyones post....I am an addict....sugar is my drug and I always feel like I am looking for my next fix. I watch Interventions on Monday nights and it is my story, just substitute the drug for sugar!!! Thank you all for being so honest!!!

I am definitely carbohydrate addicted. High sugar and high starch foods just drive me bonkers. They trigger cravings for more and more and more, to where I can still feel ravenously hungry even though my stomache is hurting from eating too much.

I'm also insulin resistant and have fibromyalgia. While there's no fibromyalgia diet, it's very common for a low GI or lower carb diet to noticeably improve fibro symptoms. More than half of the people in my fibro support group find that carbs are a problem for them. For me, it's dramatic. When I avoid sugars and high starch foods, I feel a lot better. The difference is so dramatic that this past week I've beein doing great sticking to my food plan, and I started feeling really good. Hubby brought me home a "treat" of Maui Onion Kettle Chips. I ate only a couple servings and today I feel like I have a hangover - just from 300 calories of chips.

For me, it's often not the obvious sugar traps that get me. It's not dessert as much as the hidden (and not so hidden) sugars in the savory sweet combinations . Meats in barbecue sauce, sweet and sour, teriyaki, general tso's chicken... I never realized that "meal food" can have more sugar in it than your average dessert. Or that "healthy" chips and crackers can have just as much starch and sugar as the obviously junky ones.