Has anyone kicked a sugar ‘addiction’

[SweetTooth25]

Posting here for traffic. I’ve always loved sweets since I was a kid. I’m mid 30’s and still eat them loads and have a terrible sweet tooth.

Ive finished work and bought a 4 pack of donuts - I ate 3 straight away and just can’t help myself.

I am relatively healthy in terms of other food, go to gym regularly etc but I really want to try and reduce the amount of sugar I have through junk.

Has anyone been in a similar position and got any advice on what worked for you?

I want to kick my lifelong sugar addiction and got the Allen Carr book from the library. Haven't finished it yet but the gist is helping you to understand why you're addicted (we all are, from before we can talk because sugar is a 'treat') and overcome the brainwashing. It's worth a look as it doesn't blame individuals or advocate dieting etc.
It's hard though. Sweets have always represented a treat in my life.

Watching for helpful answers.

Yes, by sticking to "zoe" using the app religiously, aiming for over 75s at least 5/7 days, time restricted eating.
Even though I don't follow/log so strictly now, my cravings and binges are far far fewer, simply because I don't have that urge. Crazy.

I went cold turkey on all sweets, chocolate, cakes and pudding pots etc. It worked better for me than cutting back and, due to working around sweet stuff/near shops, I was having several sweet things everyday. If I was actually hungry I ate something else like savoury crackers or fruit (yes, still sugar, but I wasn’t going “zero sugar”). Once I got past the 4th or 5th day I actually just stopped craving or thinking about having junk… and happily went several months simply not sweet-snacking! Unfortunately the moment I did have some chocolate it just spiralled back, but I now know how to go about it.

I’ve tried the cutting down approach but may have to go to more extremes. Agreed fruit is a good substitute but I find only berries really satisfy it for me and they aren’t cheap.

I’m the same, I adore raspberries more than nearly any other fruit but can’t afford to eat them everyday. Most of my sweet snacking was simply out of habit of having them, or a craving for the junk/sugary stuff (I’m a chocolate bar fiend!) rather than actually being hungry, I found. Whatever you try out, I wish you the best with it - it’s so difficult but it’s doable!

Only thing that has ever worked for me is Mounjaro - still like sweet stuff but nowhere near as much.

mind you I a was morbidly obese and type 2 diabetic

I'm reaching the conclusion I need to just go cold turkey. I'm addicted.

I've done it several times - relapse in periods of high stress, but about to do it again. The only way for me is to avoid all sweets, chocolate, cakes, and biscuits. After about 3 days, I don't want them,despite there being huge temptation in my house. If I try to eat in moderation, it's a steep and slippery slope. I don't drink sugary dinks anyway,so that's not a problem.

Yes, I committed to a month-long keto / very low carb diet (17 grams per day) and used a tracking app to log everything I ate. For the first week it was tough, and I craved bread and Haribo, but the process of seeing everything logged in aggregate was really useful, and it helped that I had a specific goal (looking awesome in a bikini.) Then after the first ten days or so, the sugar cravings just disappeared and I found that even if candy was around, I wasn’t at all tempted by it. And once the full month had ended and I tried sweet stuff, it didn’t have the same appeal: years on, I can now take it or leave it. I can have a dessert if I really feel like one if I’m eating out, and take two chocolates from the Celebrations selection box, but I’ve never gone back to buying what were my previous weaknesses - family size bags of aforementioned Haribo, and Biscoff spread to eat straight from the jar!

I find it easier when low carbing. I feel like the option of sugar means I start and then want more! Also I think being low carb massively reduces cravings. I have the odd square of v dark chocolate or a few berries with Greek yoghurt and vanilla protein powder or raspberries and cream if I want a pudding. Every few weeks I join dd and dp in a roast with a couple of potatoes then a pudding. I honestly don't crave sugar other than "oh some choc would be nice... nevermind..." every now and then.

I agree you need to stop completely. After a few days/a week you stop craving it.

I eat fruit, but have no desire for cakes, biscuits etc. When I've had odd bits of birthday cake I no longer really enjoy it.

Super high protein breakfast and lunch helps me enormously

What do you usually have? I often have granola which isn’t ideal for sugar, but it’s so convenient.

Egg in whatever form
or Greek yoghurt and berries? Frozen berries are much cheaper than fresh and don’t go off. You can add nuts and seeds to it, too for texture, protein and to add variety to your diet

I went cold turkey on sugar and upf 2 years ago and have maintained it easily. I eat fruit but only after meals. I often pair it with a 80% dark chocolate (bitter foods stop cravings and work well at the end of a meal) or with a nut butter (fat reduces the glucose spike from the sugar in fruit).

Keeping your blood sugar stable really helps stop cravings. Eat lots of protein, healthy fats and fibre to keep you full.

I recently have! I'm in my forties, palate of a five year old - could happily eat chocolate for breakfast, never thought I'd be able to change it. I already ate a high protein diet (which helps you feel full/reduces sugar crashes) but that wasn't enough.

I happened to have a week where I was travelling a lot and relying on cold food or takeaways, conscious of eating junk I ate a lot more fruit, ie with every meal. It has completely switched off my chocolate/biscuit craving.

I think the difference to before is I would try and tell myself not to buy it in, that when I'm craving a slab of galaxy, I should make myself eat a banana instead. That would do nothing for me, I'd eat the banana and then trek to the shop to buy the galaxy. The key for me has been eating the fruit before i feel hungry. I assume it's the sweetness but also the fibre that means I no longer get cravings. Genuinely, I now get cravings for pineapple.

The other week my boyfriend had some maltesers, I ate a few and found the tasted bland. Then I felt a bit sick. I have NEVER felt sick from eating chocolate, I used to think it was one of those things people said to make themselves look good. I've got chocolate bars sat in the cupboard from before my trip and they don't interest me at all.

I’m caught in an awful cycle where I do well to lower my sugar intake but then when it’s time of the month, I have no control it’s like I physically cannot function and get anything done unless I go high carb/sugar for a few days so it just undos all the good and so it goes on..😕

I went cold turkey in 1995 and have never picked it up again since. I was like an alcoholic but with refined sugar and carbs.

For me only complete abstinence worked.

Getting abstinent was hell - the emotional and physical cravings were awful and I had many attempts before somehow i managed it. I did still sometimes binge on fruit though for a while.

I'm 3 weeks into a v low carb diet.

I'm fucking sick of eggs to be honest !

I've got to the stage where i'm mostly living on nuts and cheese and a bit of greek yogurt. Evening meals are fried halloumi strips on salad leaves or fried steak strips on salad leaves or a prawn cocktail on - yes, salad leaves. Hot drink is coffee with no sugar and a slug of double cream (yes that's low sugar, milk isn't)

I'm not hungry but am still getting sugar cravings. To apease these i'm sucking the occasional boiled sweet.

I'm drinking pints of water a day.

The weight is falling off.
I've got lots of energy.

The sugar cravings come and go. Depends what i see on the telly or what everyone else is having. (family eating as normal) So far i haven't given in ...

I sympathise.
I'm period free now (yay) but back a few years ago when i did the low carb before i had the same 3 week doing ok, one week not doing ok thing going on.

I still lost weight. I accepted it and just ploughed on. They say as long as you're doing the right thing most of the time you're doing well. And 3 out of 4 weeks is most of the time

I think you are actually me, I could have written this word for word. Totally agree about going cold turkey, for me it's so much easier than allowing yourself a bit of chocolate because then it's always a bit more, then a bit more. Whereas the cold turkey approach meant my brain would actually not consider sweet stuff as a choice.

I still allow myself fruit, the odd squeeze of honey on porridge, a couple of gin and tonics or a cocktail (I barely drink except on special occasions and the sugar in those doesn't cause me to go into a slippery slope descent into gorging on sugary food). This approach has worked wonders for me because at one point I think my diet was genuinely 80% chocolate and biscuits. My face dramatically slimmed down and looked less puffy and manly, although it took a couple of months to really take effect. I did have a bit of a relapse over Easter and already see the effects of that on my face and body so I've gone cold turkey again.

Yes, and I used to be the WORST. Abstinence is the only way. And then it does kind of disappear off your radar.