Beat the rush - sweet support for sugar slaves!

[washnomore]

A few of us have realised we've got big problems with sugar addiction so we decided to make a support thread.

A few links to get us started:

What Wikipedia has to say

NHS information on the binge-eating cycle

American Heart Association's webpage on carbohydrate cravings

My name's washnomore and I'm a carb addict. Pleased to meet you :)

hester are you me?
marking my place on this thread. really need to deal with this.

Livingadream, that's such a useful thought about accepting the importance of cake. It was always forbidden when I was a child (empty calories, evil white flour and sugar etc etc), whereas peanut butter just seems boring and healthy to me. Fuel not food. I don't want bought cake, or cake made with margarine or nasty chocolate, but properly made by me with ingredients I like it feels like a gift to me and my family precisely because it's redundant. I make dinner every night thinking about nutritional balance and cost and clearing up, but the cakes are made out of respect for pleasure. And that does seem important.

Concordia, it's nice to know I don't walk the street of shame alone

Willa, I'm also ex-anorexic, which makes it all extra-complicated. I know how to lose weight, fast, but I'm really scared of going there and TERRIFIED of being hungry. I spent so many years being starving hungry that I really can't bear the thought of even risking getting hungry. But of course a healthy, natural attitude to eating does NOT include daily eating-just-in-case-you-might-get-a-bit-peckish-and-find-there's-no-food-available-for-20-minutes.

And caffeine and chocolate is so AVAILABLE for those moments. Easiest thing in the world to pop into a shop and grab some. The same, sadly, can't be said for brown rice and vegetables.

I'm doing very well with my giving up sugar (and my migraines decreasing as a result) - am convinced I am genuinely hypoglycaemic.

the only annoying thing is that I am putting on weight in the process of doing so. I think not having as much sugar is slowing down my metabolism as I am definitely not consuming any more calories and I'm doing more exercise!

willa you are so right - respect for pleasure! I think we all need something which is purely for enjoyment. I make myself 2 lattes a day, every single day unless I'm having them out and I think this is my indulgence and it makes me feel good. That amount of milk might not be great and my midrift bulge MIGHT be smaller without them but as long as I eat healthily, not craving/gorging on sugar I think I am OK having them.

My problem is I just don't feel full on small portions of carbs. I feel I am missing something. SO far I'm doing OK after my main meal which is 6pm because I know I'm having a bowl of natural yoghurt and seeds at 8ish, but I wonder how long this will last. I'm sure I'll start slipping back into bigger portions of carbs and then have sugar cravings that I have NO willpower to resist.

Well I'm not doing brilliantly. Made a pot of delicious yellow pea and ham soup for lunch then followed up with pancakes. BUT I'm back on wholemeal bread instead of white and feeling less cravey so hopefully that's a start.

It came to me this morning that about 3 months ago the doctor's receptionist stopped me to tell me how great I was looking after having DD. This binge phase has undone all of that. :(

Love the yogurt and seeds as an evening snack, going to try that.

Wow just found this thread! PLease can i join?? Its only just gone half 1 and i need a sleep cos i had a bit of a binge this morning ( sausage n cheese butty, nutrigrain, melon, flapjack and chocolate bar oh and crisps!) all within about an hour bout 10-11.30.

I have always had a great metabolism and although eat rubbish am not that overweight BMI 25.5. But all i think about is food try not to eat rubbish but then crave it give in and then just feel fat abd guilty. Im always tired and poorly.

No idea where to start anyone??
I work 3 days in week 5 hour shifts where i dont get a break so struggle on these days and binge at night.

I am failing dismally this week after having a load of stress dumped on my on Monday and very little sleep.

Actually I was thinking I should plan it carefully, rather than just deciding on Sunday night to start on Sunday morning, so that I have the right food in the cupboards and the wrong food out of the house!

I also need to buy some decent walking shoes, so I can start walking along with the healthy eating.

I was also thinking of asking the GP to do a diabetes and cholesterol check so that I have proof of how much damage I have been doing to myself. I have been having some odd symptoms recently that I need to discuss with him anyway and I'm kind of expecting him to want to do a couple of blood tests anyway.

Have just eaten half a family sized pack of giant choc buttons.

Have managed three weeks today without chocolate!

What are nice are those swedish rolls (hard baked things) that come in wholemeal, and a couple of those with peanut butter fill a gap.

good tip scaryteacher ,thanks
When I can be together enough to stick it I've also found eating more protein and adding a calcium and magnesium supplement to my diet a big help in beating sugar cravings .

Mummc2 - your shift pattern sounds hard- can you take in healthy snacks so as soon as you finish a shift you have something ready prepared to eat which is filling?

Moose - the lack of sleep is a killer for me to! Whenever I've had a broken night I feel so weakwilled and I feel I genuinely NEED chocolate or biscuits to perk me up. Oatcakes and peanut butter do not appeal much when I'm in that state, nor does fruit!

It's a good idea though to only buy good food and what helps me is to plan the weeks meals each weekend so I can see where my protein is coming from and what my plan is for the simple carbs replacement.

Count me in.

Always craving sugary junk food and if there's any chocolate in the house, I can't leave it alone. I agree about lack of sleep being a factor, definitely is for me.

I find if I don't have carbs, I get incredibly shaky (and get a migraine). So I had chicken soup for lunch but had wholemeal bread with it and then a few hours later had a piece of rye loaf thing. I need to get into seeds - i quite like seeds and I suspect I'd get on quite well with them!

The problem I have is I can't go too long without something and I suspect the somethings I've used to replace the sweets end up being more calorific (hence putting on weight!).

i've never liked chocolates but give me a pack of jelly tots/wine gums/chewits any day

Been rubbish today. Did well till 4 then had 4 biscuits! Then we had takeaway for tea. I am sooooo tired today. Broken nights really don't help.

I need more healthy snack ideas as I feel really hungry when I am bf.

I've found this thread late so can't read all of it now but just wanted to point out this - web community for recovering sugar addicts.

I bought the original book years ago, came across it when I was struggling with repeated bouts of PND/general depression. It's very American in tone, but the basic premise is good I think, and it helped me give up sugar completely for several years.

Unfortunately I fell off the wagon about 3 years ago during a particularly stressful period, and gained 2 stones, of which I've lost one, but finally accepted just last week that I need to stop dicking around trying to 'diet' and just follow this system again.

It's worth a try, gives you loads of energy and a lighter mood, plus stabilises weight, and you can even lose weight without that panicky, 'what if I get hungry?' feeling.

The book is called Potatoes Not Prozac.

Neeps, healthy snacks: always include protein - I find a few brasil nuts and one or two dried apricots filling and sustaining. Or apple slices dipped in peanut butter. If you just have a carb snack it won't sustain you and continues the blood sugar spike/dip cycle.

Wow, WWWY, that's really interesting - I've just scanned the website and it's uncannily like what I've experienced.

Ordered the book from eBay - loads on there for muchos cheapness - so I'll have a read and let you know how it goes. Can I ask please, did you follow it religiously, weighing out protein etc?

Whatswrongwithyou, is it possible to follow the book if you are vegetarian? I've heard positive things about that book before, but I find many of the programmes that are designed to reduce sugar/carb addiction tend to overlook vegetarians.

I also assume, going by the title that its not low carb - do you lose weight on the programme or is it purely about overcoming the sugar addiction?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just desperate to find something that I can realistically stick to and will actually work.

I tend to choose brazil nuts for my snack when I'm being good. When I'm walking I take a bag of about 5-6 nuts out with me and stop half way to eat them and have a drink of water - I swear that's what gives me the stamina to work up to five miles a day in just over a week. Just wish my flipping ankle would hurry up and heal so I can get out there again.

washnomore, afair the book doesn't recommend religious weighing of food - it does give a formula for the amount of protein you 'should' eat but the basic idea, which I found easy to follow, is to have an amount equivalent to the size of your own fist (yes honestly) at each meal.

moosemama no it's not low carb - the emphasis is on getting a decent amount of protein along with brown carbs plus greens. You can lose weight by reducing your carb intake slightly, but the main focus is overcoming the addiction. Tbh, it's hard to gain weight if you follow it correctly - it's the classic three square meals a day with no snacks scenario.
Oh, and vegetarians are definitely covered, but, as always, somewhat limited.

Ask anything, but I must go to bed now so might be a bit slow to respond .

Sounds like protein is the way forward then. Yesterday I had porridge for breakfast, oatcakes and an apple as a snack, a salad with 2 eggs and cottage cheese for lunch, yogurt, blueberries and grapes as a snack, I had some almonds at some point but can't remember when.

After that I ate crap. So how can I get more protein in? I don't eat meat. Don't want to eat eggs more than once a day.

Whatswrongwithyou - that book looks interesting. On the website it says you should eat a potato before bed. What is that all about?

Yes it does say that - I must confess I've fallen out of the habit, which is maybe one of the reasons I fell off the bandwagon.

Hazy memory tells me it's to do with setting your brain up to increase seratonin levels the next day, similar to what some ADs do. I'm not the best at retaining scientific information (nor spotting what might be cod-medicine), but I followed the advice anyway and it did make a difference.

You find, over time, that you eat less carbs with your evening meal because you know the spud treat is coming up. Plus it avoids the sugar drop in the morning, where you're climbing the walls to eat and snapping at everyone until after breakfast. You can have a drink of water and a shower, get the packed lunches ready first. It also helps you to last until lunchtime without snacking, because you've eaten breakfast later.

Beans on toast would be a good veggie breakfast, maybe with cheese on top.
I'm quite fond of toast with peanut butter - but you have to load it on to get enough protein. And I sometimes have muesli which I make myself and add extra chopped nuts to, or eat some brazil nuts afterwards to bulk it out.

Cottage cheese could be your friend! Veggie sausages obviously.

So glad to meet you all - so many people doing and admitting to what I do - a complete chocolate fiend. Sometimes I think I could give up all food except chocolate. What really resonated was the comment above about it not even being a treat any more because I've eaten so much.

Right. New start. :)

I think I will pop to Tesco today and get some nuts and seeds and peanut butter. Forgot about beans too!

The only reason I haven't had chocolate the last few days is because it isn't in the house. If it was here I would eat it. Maybe I should get into dark chocolate, that's not meant to be so bad. I still want chocolate buttons though.

Have ordered Potatoes Not Prozaz, it looks really interesting.

I have also been anorexic, there seems to be a few of us.

I start each day with such good intentions and find it all falls apart about 3-4pm when I think I'll just have 1 biscuit and no more and before I know it I am binging for England.