To have gone insane for sugar today...and ask for your help

[Jewels234]

Can I prelude this AIBU by telling you that at 5 ft 5 and 9.5 stone I am a healthy size 10. I am a vegetarian with a veg heavy diet, and work out around 5 times a week, a mixture of long distance running and HIIT. I did a half marathon at the weekend, and was in the gym still on Monday.

However. I am ridiculously addicted to sugar. Today alone I ate a Mars bar, a dairy milk, 3 bakery sized cookies, a mini bag of haribo, a waffle, and a bowl of ice cream with fudge sauce. This isn't a normal day, but it has made me realize how absolute bat shit crazy I go for sugar. Almost to the point that I don't care about other food...I just want sugar. I'm not hungry, but still can't stop.

This is totally U isn't it? I need to just get it all out of my diet and go cold turkey. Anyone else get like this?

Yes, I do have withdrawal symptoms when I stop eating sugar. :)

Like what? "I want some" is not a withdrawal syndrome.

I get shaky, light headed, headaches. Sometimes slightly flu like, like when you're going to become ill but aren't there yet, where it just feels like your skin hurts?

I have celiac disease though and process food differently due to my damaged intestines. Sugar and I don't get along, but I love it. Definitely have a few rough days every time I give it up, though.

Yes I used to get shaky and light headed when I hadn't eaten sugar for a couple of hours. It was really unpleasant. I didn't realise it was sugar that caused it until I stopped eating it though.

"get shaky and light headed when I hadn't eaten sugar for a couple of hours"

We all get shaky & light-headed when blood sugar drops under a certain level. It is not a withdrawal syndrome and does not mean that you are addicted. It just means that you haven't been eating for some time.

Eat regularly in small amounts and you will not get these symptoms.

Not me, Cote. I was still eating a lot of small, evenly spaced meals. Just no sugar. It doesn't really make a difference; I'm in for a few rough days and that's that.

I don't mean in any way that it's close to the horror of drug withdrawal, but it is withdrawal nonetheless.

Cheerful - I don't know anything about celiac disease so not sure how your experience relates to the rest of us.

I find it's like all addictions, the more we have, the more we crave. If someone buys me chocolate I can't stop eating it and the craving goes on until the spots appear which stops me in my tracks. I still need sweetness after a meal so I concoct various cakes, puddings with no actual sugar. I use lots of dried fruit in some cakes with marmalade, ground almonds, coconut , lemon cakes made with lemon curd etc. I often use apple instead of butter, mashed bananas etc. I know it's still sugar but I have got to abhor placing actual sugar into the bowl. Self disallusion I know.

You can get some varieties of Haribo in vegetarian versions now, the giant strawberries, sea shapes and some twirly stick things.

"I still need sweetness after a meal so I concoct various cakes, puddings with no actual sugar."

Why not have a fruit after your meals?

Apologies for the veggie reference. Should have said I don't eat meat. I try not to have non veggie sweets....but sometimes it's all that's in the house if I've eaten all other forms of sugar :)

I'm going to try and go no sugar for October. Think it will do me good.

Well, given that carbohydrates are sugar and you are vegetarian...

Where do you plan to get your calories from, if you won't eat fruit (yep, it's sugar), carbohydrates (= sugar), and meat/fish/chicken? Assuming that you intend to continue training at your usual level, that is.

*so I concoct various cakes, puddings with no actual sugar. I use lots of dried fruit in some cakes with marmalade+

There is shit loads of sugar in marmalade. And dried fruit is basically concentrated sugar loveliness.

Britta if there are two substances pretty much guaranteed to worsen anxiety and depression they are sugar and caffeine...it really would be a good idea to get off them, hard as it will be. It sounds as if some counselling would also be useful to get to the underlying 'self destruction' and 'lack of willpower', there's usually much more to it than willpower

So all I can eat is vegetables and cheese...Urgh it's so depressing but I am absolutely incapable of moderation with chocolate etc.

Haribo have bones in them. You are not a vegetarian!

agree with several posters. I have the same sugar issues only i'm 11 stone, and put on 3 stone in 3 years. Now I manage about 1-2 hours of almost daily exercise, eat relatively healthy but crave sugar.

I think it's because of a high metabolic rate, when i fall short of energy it all goes sideways. Also, I come from different part of the world renowned for athletics. Most people are built slim, eat very little meat (almost vegetarian) and over 60% of diet is complex/less refined carbs and lots of natural/less refined sugar. When I stick to "home" diet, which is minimally processed food, breakfast early morning, and lots of carbs, natural/good sugar the pounds slide off. Sadly, this is very difficult here, that's my excuse.

Gourmet/freshly made pastries, cookies, sweets, chocolate, ice cream e.t.c either homemade or from delicatessen/bakery/gourmet shops are a big help . I find they have more flavors, better ingredients, better taste, less preservatives so I afford eat a lot less. Maybe this could help for few days in your cycle when sugar craving is highest.

I don't know what ur diet/schedule is but when younger I was very active and when in training I needed to eat every 3-4 hrs to maintain energy levels, and often did carbo load for several days before a marathon/session to avoid a crash the next few days. BF plus exercising can raise metabolic rates very high especially short term which may affect sugar craving.

I'm doing low carb (again - lost 3 stone on it a few years ago but didn't keep it off as the sugar and carb cravings got me after a few months)

I find that the Lidl dark choc (70%) with orange peel satisfies a craving (2 squares are enough where I would have had 3 Moro bars before!)

The other evening I wanted a dessert so I whipped some cream with about 2 tsp of Splenda (yes I know it's artificial sweetener but I only eat it once a week now), a few drops of vanilla essence, and topped it with toasted almonds. That was a sweet snack for 2 evenings in a row - a small ramekin was enough.

However, to get to the stage where the above satisfied the cravings, I had to cut out processed sugar (and fruit) and starchy carbs completely for a few weeks. I had a headache for a day after about 3 days, luckily I was on a day off and just went to bed!

Sleep I gave up caffeine about a year ago, and I have found for the last two weeks, since I've reduced sugar significantly, my mood has been much better than usual. Anecdotal evidence of what you're saying re depression and anxiety, but interesting, hmmm...

agree with Cote sugar may be the red herring. I do not want to speculate on calories needed by someone in OP positions, but it may just be calorie shortfall at certain times.
i would not advocate cutting out sugar at all, there is good sugar and bad sugar just like bad carbs and good carbs.
Also people running or training at certain level will just need more carbs, no way around this.

I gave up sugar (as well as most bread, and all pasta) and I ate a ton of meat and veg. I exercised a fair amount, too. My skin cleared up, I lost 9 lbs, and my fingernails started growing really strong and fast. It was great. Then I fell off the wagon and it's really hard to get back on.

I try to take it one meal/food decision at a time. I have already had cookies today but that doesn't mean I can't make a better choice with the next thing I eat.

When I truly give up sugar, I stop craving it so much. It's the roller coaster of highs and crashes that is so hard to get off.

I know many people are very strict about cutting out all sugar but most will fall off that particular wagon at some point. We are built to crave sweet things, the sense of deprivation when you go the whole hog and eliminate fruit and all other natural sugar makes it difficult to sustain. Our bodies are built to process the sugar in whole fruit, what sends them a little haywire is the high concentration in processed food and juices (unwrapped from the fruit if you like). For me, allowing fruit and small quantities of honey, dark chocolate, cinnamon, also mainly unprocessed carbs (no one needs mounds of pasta, no matter how active they are ) is a sustainable approach whereby you can satisfy the need for sweetness without playing havoc with blood sugar and hormones.

Do you think a diet restricted to vegetables and cheese is healthy for anyone, Jewels?

It really isn't. Not for anyone and especially not for someone running half-marathons and training 5 times a week.

At least eat some eggs, but I don't know how long you can eat several eggs every day before getting sick of them.

Try as I might, I just don't understand people who deny themselves entire food groups in the name of health. The mind boggles

I saw a neutritionalist a little while ago.
I have cravings for carbs at that time of day.
When I told him what I liked he told me to have full fat greek yogurt with berries or some halloumi and olives as an afternoon snack.
He did tell me that only berries are OK.
Worth a try?

Do you think a diet restricted to vegetables and cheese is healthy for anyone, Jewels?

If all you have is a field and a goat, then it is probably fine.

As long as the vegetables include lots of pulses, then I'm sure the person will be fine.

After reading the above. I am going shopping this morning armed with this info and presenting a whole new strong mental attitude to the temptations and dangers of those shopping aisles. Going to shake my head at the cake making aisle. All the time keeping an image of myself as this new, super fit, blemish free individual. Yesterday, I made a plum pie with no added sugar covered with a thin layer of pastry made with 2 ounces of butter and 4 ounces of flour and one egg. I do eat fresh fruit every day but for some reason it tends to make me feel "empty" without a bite of cheese. We have oats for breakfast (no sugar or anything sweet). We don't tend to eat again, with the exception of maybe a banana at lunch time, until we have our main meal at around 4. 30 . Oats are pretty sustaining and we are busy (retired of course) so don't get hungry until then. We eat more fruit in the evening. It's just those puddings and the cakes, plus the wine I often have to break up the monotony of preparing all those vegetables we eat. This week home made tomato soup, last week courgette and leek, runner beans galore etc etc. Go on, tell me I am doing wrong. I need to be put on the right path. All criticism accepted.