How did you successfully treat yourself sugar addiction?

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I'm actually addicted to sugar. I don't go a day without it. What do I do? I need something more that just will power as that's not working. I've only just come to the conclusion that it's an actual addiction and that I need to treat it as that rather than treating it as just an unhealthy diet.

It feels like a compulsion that I'm not in control of.

I'm wondering about hypnotherapy. Has anyone tried that?

Can anyone recommend something that actually worked? I don't want to get type 2 diabetes and I am definitely heading that way.

Thank you

I had to start with one thing at a time

I used to have 3 sugars in my coffee and tea and coke and sweets and syrup on my porridge

I think write down what you have and start cutting it down slowly. If you go cold turkey, you are likely to fail.

I started with the tea and coffee and then the coke and then the sweets! I still get cravings today, particularly pre period

Cold turkey here.

Hypnotherapy worked for me in the short term (3 months or so). It was an instant fix but wore off. Slimpod was a longer term, completely successful solution but you have to be patient, it took months to take effect and you have to put the work in.

Also, my sugar binges were closely connected to alcohol intake so moderating drinking has been helpful.

Good luck.

For me: lots of reading and regularly listening to podcasts about nutrition (10 years later still do); set myself a whole 30 challenge (really difficult to do but eye opening) and really really work on triggering your own disgust mechanism (Alan Carr’s books). I kicked my Diet Coke and sweetener habit at the same time. The biggest change for me has been improved sleep and mental health neither of which were motivating factors when I started. Also if you have a wearable look at what happens to your night time resting heart rate. When I slip up (did last night) I eat a lot less (6squares of Cadbury daim bar) I feel it immediately and have no trouble self correcting. Good luck x

Cold turkey here with the occasional chocolate protein pudding or chocolate protein bar - the protein balances out the chocolate I think.

Someone I know went to overeaters anonymous and has had amazing success, totally sugar free for many years. She just accepted it was an addiction like any other and cutting it out was the only way. She eats lots of other things and her weight stabilised and most importantly her mental health improved so much. Obviously it’s not only sugar addiction that OA helps (you cut out food based on your personal situation) but that was her biggest issue.

eta an alternative less intensive option that I do is to buy soft dates, split open and fill with peanut butter and freeze then dip the top in a little melted dark chocolate. Dates have some weird thing that they are really sweet but don’t raise blood sugar - to do with the fibre in them they think. I don’t like dates but eaten in this way straight from the freezer they taste like frozen snickers, really fudgey and amazing. 2-3 of them help my sugar cravings.

Cold turkey also worked for me. You need to have a selection of other snacks and treats in place to make the transition, for example fruit, sweet tasting sugar-free chewing gum, nuts, seeds, maybe little bits of protein products for example cubes of cheese, crisps , chip sticks potato sticks , tiny little sausages, and then gradually cut those down to the bare minimum until you are not snacking - unless you are happy snacking on those kind of things.

@Paq I think I could do it after the initial 3 months. Was the hypnotherapost you used a sugar addiction specialist or just a general one?

@RaspberryBeretxx I wonder if prunes does the same thing. I have prunes in my all bran every morning morning, as otherwise I get constipated.

I'm only about a stone overweight but it's all in my tummy, which I know is the most unhealthy place to have it.

But I want to tackle this less so about my weight and more about my health in general.

@Gawjus I can't do cold turkey. Plus I've got kids who always expect pudding.

@ZedDead I have sweetener in my coffee. I don't drink fizzy drinks. It's mainly chocolate after my lunch that's the problem. I have one small chocolate and intend to have one and honestly believe I am just going to have one and then I'll have a whole packet.

If I didn't have children I'd just not have the choca in my house but I don't want them not to have it due to me.

So pre period do you allow yourself sugar since you know you'll crave it more or do you stick to it despite it?

Taper down for a week or so and then cold turkey. Personally I need a support network also. Your children can still have it, just not you. No other addiction would you be expected to have a little. I wouldn't be opting for any processed substitutes either as it keeps the drip of sugar in the body and the blood sugars and cravings will still be an issue. Of course the brain cravings are still there sometimes but over time you can learn to deal with those.

It is not will power and it is not your fault. I'm glad no one has hopped on to unhelpfully tell you to have some discipline. Food is being designed in labs to make us want more. I find 3 square meals with plenty of good food a great basis. No snacks. I told my children I don't feel good when I eat those things and I feel much better without it so don't worry at all and enjoy your X. They don't mind at all.

https://www.tarabrach.com/eating-addiction/?cn-reloaded=1 This is very powerful. Worth listening to a few times. I am a year and a half in. I've had some blips but I know what makes me feel better and it's abstinence.

I'm a remedial hypnotist and work with people who want to change their eating habits. @lucytoharris is correct, there's no possibility of a physical addiction to sugar (or biscuits/chocolate/cake etc - nor is there to cigarettes, but that's another thread!).

I decided to knock my own biscuit and milk chocolate habit earlier in the year; since the 12th March I've had precisely 4 squares of chocolate and 6 biscuits!! 😁

Cold turkey and low carb diet. It’s anymore only thing that works for me. After first 7-10 days I don’t crave sugar and snack much less. I can happily offer other people pudding, chocolate, cake and biscuits etc but not want any myself which is totally incredible as I have a huge sweet tooth. It is very freeing. Plus my diet is so much more focused on veg and protein. I wish I could find balance, but I’ve never managed it.

I think some people are though. Brain scans have shown that sugar lights up the same areas of the brain as cocaine

I've gone cold turkey from sugar for months at a time over the years, but it always creeps back in again; family birthdays are a big stumbling block, it feels like an insult to say no to a slice of cake! And then I slide back into gorging on it again.

What's been helping me over the past 8 weeks is Mounjaro injections. One of the ways it works is to even out blood sugars, so I'm not getting the extreme spikes and dips anymore. This has instantly stopped me feeling like I needed the quick 'pick me up' of an afternoon biscuit(s) or craving bread even.

Earlier this year I was eating refined carbs at every meal, to the exclusion of other food groups. Filling up on toast for breakfast, then getting hungry again mid-morning so had a 'cheeky' doughnut, leftover pasta for lunch, jacket potatoes for dinner, that sort of thing.

With Mounjaro I've not had the urge to overeat in general, but also I am not craving carbs at all. I've eaten a pudding here and there, but one small serving is enough, and I don't tend to eat more servings later in the week. We've been doing a lot of seasonal baking these past few weeks to use up blackberries from the overgrown patch of our garden, and I'm often forgetting that the treats even exist.

I've managed this before with an epic and unsustainable amount of willpower, but now I'm not expending tonnes of mental energy to avoid the treats, I simply don't want them.

I know Mounjaro isn't the answer for everyone, but I've really benefitted from using it (as instructed by the prescriber).

same here.
I stopped eating sugar and I eat a very low carb diet.

To be fair there is a difference between a physical addiction (heroin and alcohol) and a mental addiction (sugar and tobacco) - both feel horrible but only the former requires medical intervention.

Following with interest

That is great you are doing so well.

But really your overall description is lowered blood sugars led to less cravings and therefore you craved it less. OP can try that for herself by lowering blood sugars through eating. No snacks really helps.

For those of us who feel compelled to eat sugar in vast quantities, whil being v disciplined and capable in life in general, it's not helpful for people to say it doesn't exist etc. Sugar and especially the newer UP products that are really not food at all but made for repeated overconsumption does a number on the brain and the neural pathways. It can be an emotional and psychological crutch. You have to work hard to unpack that at times. Best of luck OP.

The physical cravings are real, caused by blood sugars and habit!