Beating Sugar addiction and lifelong eating disorder.

[Dina82]

After 23 years of bulimia and binge eating I have concluded that I cannot stop emotional eating.

It's too ingrained in me and I say this having had many sessions with a psychologist but it has not helped. Yes, I recognise any negative emotion, regardless of how minute causes me to feel hungry and eat sweet foods which results in binging and occasionally purging.

I have for the last 20+ years tried, self help books ( I've lost count how many) , psychologists ( approx 2 times in this duration, ( several eating programmes that I can never stick too.

Last year I gargled with bleach just to physically make myself unable to eat or binge. It didn't do anything.

I only ever binge on sweet foods so is it unreasonable of me to make a decision never to eat cake/ sweets: desserts again as this is what is exasperating the emotional eating.

I have tried it in the past but only lasted 12 days. What other option do I have? I often think of how I will take this with my to the grave.

I come across as confident, articulate, and strong but I'm a complete train wreck. Sometimes I just wish to die as I literally have exhausted all options.

I tried Prozac last year and it helped briefly with the intensity of the binges but after 3 months I was binging again.

Marcie my school lunchbox consisted of 2 packs of crisps. One for break and second for lunch. No sandwich or any other food. Oh and a carton of juice. I packed lunch myself from an early age. Sweets/ Fizzy drinks were always available and not restricted.

Weird, I've got PCOS too.

It makes us fat. I have been trying to convince myself that's what's at the root of my weight - but, the GP doesn't seem to agree.

I want to ask her for metformin, but, really, I need to eat better and move more first.

Agree about premenstrual. I crave sugar, that's how I know I'm due on!

Did well today. Had a couple of oranges, but, I'm not going to restrict fruit.

This was me.

Diagnosed with eating disorders. Had therapy for years at really good clinics.

But was still bingeing and then starving myself, getting heavier and heavier, and feeling like a failure, diets never worked as I always ended up bingeing.

Then I was introduced to the Harcombe Diet, it was written by a GP who was fed up of sending off her patients to Weight Watchers and Slimming World and knowing those diets are packed with processed foods with loads of sugar in them instead of fat.

I read the book and started that day. The first five days are the hardest I have ever done. That's because I was addicted to sugar. And what you have to know is that the human body does not distinguish between a sweet carb (sugary stuff) and a savoury carb (potatoes, white rice, white pasta, bread etc). The body releases insulin in both cases and you get a sugar high and then it crashes, and you crave something with quick release carbs in it again, and again, and again, it never stops.

So if like me your diet consists heavily of potatoes, bread, pasta, chocolate etc, then it is highly likely you're addicted to sugar / carbs. It doesn't matter whether sweet or savoury. You're addicted and you have a physical craving for them and so you give in, it's not willpower that is dictating you, it's a sugar addiction.

I am converted, I have now been doing the Harcombe Diet for nine months, and I have lost five stone. I eat salads with full fat dressing, lots of full fat cheese, lots of curries without rice, chicken dishes and pork and fish dishes without any carbs. It works. The sugar addiction is beaten. If I ever go back to eating that stuff it comes back with a vengeance.

There will be people saying that full fat is unhealthy. It's not, we have been brainwashed. Full fat is healthy as long as you don't combine it with sugar and carbs.

There will be people saying I am talking nonsense. I say that after twenty years of low fat dieting I was heavier than ever, a size 26uk, miserable, and my fat percentage was high.

After nine months of high fat / low carb / no sugar eating I am five stone lighter, five dress sizes smaller, my mobility has improved dramatically, I can awake and get up in the mornings properly, my fat percentage has dropped by ten per cent, i have fewer energy slumps, no need anymore for afternoon naps, I am more patient with the kids, I am buying clothes in a size 14 and 16, I am still losing weight, and I enjoy what I eat and do not feel deprived. My doctors are all delighted and want me to continue.

This for me, after twenty years of low fat dieting, has all been a revelation and I am delighted. Two stone more to go and I will be a normal BMI and a size 12.

I seriously recommend that you and anyone reading this unhealthy drop low fat dieting which has led to a sugar addiction, and read the Harcombe Diet instead. It has been life changing.

Five stones? In less than a year?

Wow. That's amazing.

I know!

What a fantastic thread. So much good advice and suggestions. My therapist says over eating or binge eating should be seen as an addiction like any other - you are often filling a hole in your life with food. He went through the statements for addiction and I couldn’t believe how relevant they all were.
I think the way some of you have broken this down, has been really helpful.

Fluff that's fantastic that you are feeling healthier following the Harcombe diet.

However I wouldn't want to restrict carbs long term as I couldn't maintain this way of eating for life.

I assume your body would go into ketosis for stage 1 of the Harcombe programme. It doesn't seem sustainable long term and I don't feel potatoes are the enemy.

People seem to forget different cultures consume white rice, noodles, potatoes etc . It's a staple in their diet. They are not an obese nation.

I do enjoy fruit/ veg and healthy foods and rarely eat deep fried food and takeaways. My only issue seems to be sweets and desserts. That the only one bonus with my binge eating disorder.

OP I'm afraid I would disagree with every single one of your comments, sorry.

Fruit is full of sugar too, I only eat ones lower in sugar now eg berries. I used to think just like you do, and I know it's the usual way of thinking as we've been brainwashed into thinking carbs are ok.

They're not. You eating carbs is perpetuating the issue I'm afraid and making you crave obvious sugars like sweets and sweet foods. If I eat bread or potatoes now then shortly afterwards I crave biscuits, chocolate and sweets. It is all linked.

I would highly recommend that you and anyone else reading this gets hold of a copy of the Harcombe Diet. It is written by a GP and given that I was in your position and am now not in your position, I would say over and over that it works. It works. It works!

I have a huge sugar problem, probably eat 1000-1500 calories a day of chocolate/sweets. History of bulimia. I read Sweet Poison a couple of years ago & gave up sugar for 6 months. I felt fantastic, didn't crave sugar after the first week. I had much more energy, really wanted to excercise, less anxiety & lost a load of weight. But I slipped back & although I've tried i haven't managed to get past that rough first week. I'm worried about my teeth, future health problems, diabetes but keep putting it off.
This thread has given me a push, I need to do this because I know if I can get through the 'withdrawal' it will be SO worth it.

fluff I'm thinking this is where I'm going wrong, trying to give up the sugar but filling the hole with carbs which continues to drive the problem. Just ordered myself a copy of the Harcombe diet. I'm sort of excited to get started, but scared of that whole 'once I stop i won't be able to eat chocolate again' even though I know if I stick to it i won't even want the damn chocolate!!

@chicken2015 can I just please ask, why did you choose to give up fruit sugar, and not other sugars, like sucrose?

Have you ever tried supplementing with chromium? Or gymnema? Chromium stops you from craving carbs. And if you ingest gymnema before eating anything sweet, it will leave it tasting vile. Gymnema is used a lot in Ayurvedic medicine, and chromium has been the subject of several studies as helping lower A1C in diabetic or prediabetic individuals.

He went through the statements for addiction and I couldn’t believe how relevant they all were.

I watched a programmes about rehab for drug addicts.

A lot of the time we tell ourselves I need to take responsibility and I have free will to try again... normally tomorrow!

In the programme it said to accept your powerless, so the opposite. Instead of thinking you are in control and failing, change the situation around you. Ie. Shop online if you come out the shop with sweets. For drug addicts they were advised to change so much but for ed sufferers we are told to fit in.

Another thing was that once you take away the substance, life isn't always better as you see the void clearer and then the hard work begins.

@snowpo Just ordered myself a copy of the Harcombe Diet

I am delighted to hear this, you've done this sort of eating before so you know it works. Yes the first five days is really really tough but after that it became the easiest diet I have ever done.

This diet means that it is better for you to have a few squares of dark choc than it is to have a sandwich, so you can have choc, but as you so rightly point out, once you're thru the first five days, you genuinely arent bothered by it. I remember reading that when I first read about the diet and scoffed at the very idea, but it is so true.

There are a couple of good Facebook groups full of helpful peeps who have seen the light and will talk you thru it. Good luck!

@Dina82 Please accept my apologies. I didn't realise I was offending, I didn't mean to, and certainly didn't realise how bad your situation is. I hope you will find the best solution.

Interestingly I had an umm..... interesting family growing up. Lots of conflict and poor role models in terms of eating sweets, cakes and dealing with emotions.

I have done strict low carb, lots of exercise in the past and felt loads better for it, still struggled to lose weight with that. I then fell off the low carb band wagon when life got tough and struggle to get back on it. It is hard to stick to indefinitely. You realise the effects of carbs in a diet like that- when I did allow myself sugary stuff once I was driving back home and was so tired and lethargic after I could barely keep my eyes open.

It takes time, effort and organisation to stick to. Really hard if you are on holiday or really busy.

I've also forgotten to mention that sleep deprivation has made it so much harder to resist cravings. Teamed with less time/energy to exercise once kids appear. I'm loosing the battle at the moment!!

@rumidumi OA is an organisation who primarily operate through meetings - they have a website here: www.oagb.org.uk/. As far as I'm aware it's loosely based on the 12 steps like Alcoholics Anonymous.

It's not only meetings, you can get a sponsor and have phonecalls and join whatsapp meets I think but I think you'd need to attend some meetings to get started.

@TheWiseWomansFear
I have give up all fuctose so includes sucrose , sucrose is made of 50% fuctose and 50% glucose.

Hi OP. I also have a 20+ years' history with bulimia and various other issues. Like you, self-help books (including Brain Over Binge) and specific programs to try to solve the issue once and for all just hasn't worked. However, I'm now in a place where I long periods of not binging, and relapses tend to be short-lived. I also don't despair and hate myself (at least as much) when they happen.

I think for me the key has been that I gave up trying to fix things for good. I think, for me, there just won't be a way to permanently make it go away. (I've taken the same approach on weight loss, too.) I focus on things a day at a time, or a meal at a time, with the aim of having more of the good days. There's also an element of radical acceptance in this, I suppose: relapses will happen to me, and that doesn't make me a failure as a person, and it also doesn't mean all my good days are undone.

Wishing you the very best!

Great thread. I'd really like some tips and thoughts on how to handle the Christmas season. There will be sweets everywhere and I'll be hosting events and baking...

Champagne - I'm going to follow Gone's wise words:
" I focus on things a day at a time, or a meal at a time, with the aim of having more of the good days. There's also an element of radical acceptance in this, I suppose: relapses will happen to me, and that doesn't make me a failure as a person, and it also doesn't mean all my good days are undone. "

I'll have an indulgence at Christmas meal with family. The rest of the time, no. I'm done with that.

My usual is hoovering up leftovers, sneaking food, hiding food, constant nibbling. Every year I put on at least half a stone - there's no need and I don't enjoy it.

Quite ridiculous. This year I'm going to enjoy the day, but, not be a total glutton. I don't need to be ridiculous any more.

This is my fourth day of not bingeing on shite. Or anything. it'll never last, but, so far, so good

This is my fourth day of not bingeing on shite.
Good job!
My abstinence app says it's 1 day 23 hours in my case. I'm going to try OA too. Struggling alone with this hasn't worked very well in the past.

Dina82How are you doing today?

Hi. I've been super busy with my demanding toddler so haven't posted much.
It's really tough. I realise how I crave sugar much more in the evening when home life is stressful. Tantrums galore!!! Today is particularly hard and I tried to convince myself a little won't hurt but have managed to stay sugar free.

I don't want to give up as I have exhausted all other options in the 20+ years.

So today is day 4 and I still crave chocolate. I know one bar or 2 wouldn't be enough, I would need to eat and eat to satisfy an urge ... basically binge. So I'm trying not to go there

chewing gum? Any good?

Great thread Dina and thank you for starting it. It's amazing just what a hold sugar has on you - I'm the same, rarely crave savoury foods other than sweet cheese.

I've been recently diagnosed with coeliac disease and at first I thought that might have been the answer to my cake and biscuit craving. Nope! I'm eating even more because I've taken up home baking and I eat my efforts myself (not confident enough to inflict it on anyone else). So 2 big slices of hm gingerbread or 2 muffins for breakfast.

I have zero advice I'm afraid but I'm following your thread because there's some amazing advice from others and I'm rooting for you to do well!