Quit the booze, quit the fags, why oh why can't I quit the sugar??

[TinyGlassOwl]

Anyone else find giving up / cutting down on sugary crap incredibly difficult? I gave up drinking almost a year go with no real issues, gave up smoking a long time ago as soon as I got pregnant and have never touched a cigarette since... but can I stop eating bloody chocolate??

I really, really want to stop. My diet is fundamentally good (lots of cooking from scratch, lots of veg, limited red meat or processed stuff, love salad etc) but I just supplement with biscuits and chocolate and cake from about 3pm onwards until I go to bed . My blood sugar is all over the place and more than once recently I've found myself standing at the kitchen sink mindlessly stuffing biscuits to try and stop the shaky feeling. Not good.

I know people will say just don't have it in the house but DH and ds both buy it anyway even if I don't. And then it's there, beckoning to me in the evening...'mmmm, what about a lovely Wispa with that cup of tea....maybe a couple more biscuits...mmmm, yummy, go on, it won't hurt...' and then before I know I'm surrounded by wrappers.

Help! Has anyone got any fail-safe tips particularly for staving off the evening cravings?

I eat too much sugar I think. But I don't tend to wasn't it after tea time for some reason.

Could you switch to other sugary things with more nutritional value than chocolate? I know "sugar is sugar", but I definitely find I'm full after dried fruit type things whereas chocolate I could eat till I feel a bit bleurgh . Even fruit cake is more filling. Not saying it's diet food, but just to help you stop the constant grazing maybe.

Want it*

You are physiologically addicted to the sugar and the high it gives you, just like any other addiction. You've got to break it, that's really all there is to it. When you crave chocolate/biscuits, have a cup of herbal tea or water, have some veg sticks, a small wedge of cheese, whatever, so long as it isn't loaded with sugar. You'll have a rough several days, but you will get through it. You just have to break the cycle.

I was much the same but found that after I'd cold turkeyed it for two or three days my sugar cravings all but disappeared. I might have something at the weekend, usually some chocolate, but that's it. And I was someone who would hoover up any old sugary crap in the past.

Did I write this?

Sobbing at the thought of veg sticks and water as a replacement for a Double Decker tbh

Ugh why is everything nice so wrong??

I feel you OP, I've been addicted to many substances (incl heroin!) and sugar is the one I haven't been able to kick (yet).

The only thing that works for me is just not having it in the house - if it's there I'll demolish the lot in one sitting.

@GeidiPrimes

I feel you OP, I've been addicted to many substances (incl heroin!) and sugar is the one I haven't been able to kick (yet).

The only thing that works for me is just not having it in the house - if it's there I'll demolish the lot in one sitting.

Funny you should say that - my ex went into rehab for drugs and booze...and ended up scarfing huge bags of Haribo every day instead. It's a thing apparently. My cravings definitely got worse once I gave up alcohol.

• sorry, posted too soon, often mindless evening eating is displacement activity. I've just ordered some fidget toys to see if they help.

Maybe it's because you have already given up smoking and alcohol? You need a vice! Just cut down a bit, don't deprive yourself of everything or you risk crashing and burning.

Go cold turkey on a low carb high fat diet. Keep it up for a few weeks and the cravings will fall.

Replace the sugar high with exercise. Get a bike, start jogging, or go on long hikes.

That said I could murder a large bar of chocolate and cannot keep biscuits or sweets in the house.

OP, I'm going to join you and try and kick the habit too. I probably won't give up wine, but we'll done to you doing that and also smoking.

I used to smoke, years and years ago, and found quitting quite easy. I've also gone long periods including pregnancies obviously, without booze. I've never seriously considered giving up sugar though. Will be interested to see how it goes!

Well done*

I hate you autocorrect

@16purplecolour16

Did I write this?

I think it was me?

Not drinking doesn't bother me at all.
Gave up the cigs without a second thought.

Sugar is by far the worst and I hate it. I just can't seem to stop. Definitely need to try cold turkey.

I have to concur that there’s a tough first few days to a week and then it gets much easier.

Also I tried to do mental associations with the foods that made me think they were unappetising. Sort of self hypnotism I suppose but just saying to myself “you don’t want that, you’ll feel sick afterwards, it’s full of garbage, have a nice herbal tea instead” or whatever you can think of.

I got loads of herbal and fruit teas in different flavours and I’ve weaned myself onto those. I’m probably addicted to them but they’re good for me so it’s all good. I basically never don’t have a mug of tea on the go. Makes a real difference for me - I feel fuller, don’t eat because of boredom and just don’t get that craving feeling.

I still allow myself treats for “special” occasions - the finale episode of a series I’m watching, birthdays (obv), celebrating things. But I don’t have them in the house as a matter of course. Luckily DH eats treats that I’m not a fan of - he likes peanutty things which I hate.

Replace the sugar high with exercise. Get a bike, start jogging, or go on long hikes

No, I'm not going to do that.

My cravings definitely got worse once I gave up alcohol

Ah they do, don't they! The body craves sugar after giving up alcohol, which then segues nicely into sugar/carb addiction.

Addictions are bastards, because they're always looking for a new thing to latch onto.

How about starting by shortening the sugar window? So instead of 3-11pm try to do 4-10pm, then 5-9pm, then just after dinner for an hour etc?

Not having any at all is easier for me though, I must admit. I don’t buy it anymore. I bought a twirl at a petrol station yesterday for the first time in MONTHS and made actual sex noises all the way home eating it 😂

@ItsALovelyDayToday I think the mental associations might work - it helped a lot for giving up booze and cigarettes. Although they have much more well-defined downsides (hangovers / beer fear / stinking of fags) which probably makes it easier.

Oh god, Twirls. Actual sex noises are standard with those babies.

Know that if you can get through it, you really do stop craving it, not like fags (which having given up 12 years ago I still feel could ambush me round a corner some day).

Try stopping eating after, say 6pm or 7 if easier. I have done this (and don't eat til 11 in the morning but maybe you don't fancy that) and it made the sugar cravings much easier to handle because I wasn't swapping sugar out for something else I just wasn't eating - feels much more controllable.

Ooooh I might have one of those new orange Twirls as this weekend’s treat.

I did this but it crept back in over lockdwon.

My technique was to fill the fridge with treats that are not sugary or carby - so lovely cheeses, dips, pate etc. All very fatty and not great for me but I let myself eat any of it I fancied when I fancied sugar and it was enough to get me over the sugar withdrawal and then I cut back on them to reasonable levels.

I really struggled until I found a low carb / sugar replacement. I make these little fat ball thingys, that have next to no sugar, but taste sweet when I am really craving a treat. pin.it/1ntP2rD I have lost two stone since Christmas and really got rid of my sugar addiction after many many years of trying.

@TinyGlassOwl

Replace the sugar high with exercise. Get a bike, start jogging, or go on long hikes

No, I'm not going to do that.

This properly made me laugh

I've only managed to periodically kick the habit when going cold turkey, and that's usually been achieved by accident, like I might have dinner later and then busy myself with a phone call/tidying/whatever, and then it's bedtime and I've forgotten that I wanted a Mars Bar.

I'm trying to cut down again now as I've got a condition that keeps flaring up and sugar 100% makes it worse. It's literally poison. Delicious, sweet poison.