I’m addicted to sugar and need help.

[Watdaheck]

I feel a little silly writing here about sugar addiction when so many have much more serious addictions but I don’t know where to turn.

I've been addicted as long as I can remember, as a child sweets were used to pacify me and as an adult I continued to use them to pacify myself as I have very low self esteem and confidence. It wasn’t so bad when I worked as I was busy and couldn’t get hold of them continuously or was just too busy at work.

i took early retirement 5 years ago at 55 and it’s dawned on me that I’m just eating more and more sweets and chocolate. I’m at home most of the day and rarely eat before lunchtime. But after lunch, when I’ve finished my housework, I give myself the afternoon to chill, watch tv, play with and walk the dog, drink coffee, read magazines and eat chocolate and sweets, it’s almost like a reward.

i would estimate I eat around 1000 calories a day in chocolate and sweets. I’m educated and intelligent but I just can’t cut down without getting cravings….and then giving in. Every night I tell myself I will do better the next day and I have ended up in this perpetual cycle.

I would pay a lot of money for someone to cure me of this. I watched 100’s of videos on YouTube about it and even tried hypnosis but nothing has worked. I’m reasonably ‘healthy’ for my age (albeit 2 stone overweight) but no serious medical problems but I fear I am storing them up for the future.

Can anyone give advise, guidance or help? Thank you.

They never go IF you return to your old habits.

You crave sweet things because your taste buds are overtuned to processed sugar and refined carbohydrates. If you change your eating habits to cut out sugar and UPFs, the cravings do subside.

We are told it’s unhealthy or unhelpful to ‘ban’ certain foods but there are some things I know I can’t eat in moderation. I couldn’t smoke cigarettes in moderation - you’re a smoker or you’re not. You need food to live but not all foods, so I tend to avoid what I know is a problem. Crisps are off my menu now - for life, I could binge packets at a time - and bingeing has always been my #1 problem.

Eating sugar just makes you hungry and constantly drives cravings. You can’t keep these at bay but be really sparing as to how much you eat - and unfortunately yes, this does require eternal vigilance.

@SunnieShine I am living breathing testament that the cravings 100% disappear as long as you avoid anything sweet.

Its the only way.

Agree with everyone else about going cold turkey, the first week is tough but I found the cravings definitely got better. I try to do a low carb/ keto diet as I’ve a long term health condition and the diet makes a difference but even a taste of sugar leaves me wanting more and I’m back to square one and eating all the treats in sight.
I’m also home all the time and I definitely comfort eat and eat out of boredom so I understand that.
The things that help me are for the first week or two of trying to get back on track, I ask my family if we can not buy the things that tempt me just for that week til the cravings subside.

The big one for me is finding alternatives that feel like treats and I enjoy. I can’t have popcorn as I have to avoid grains but if you can make a big batch from fresh and don’t add sugar that might help.
Berries and nuts are my friend, I’ve made myself get used to dark chocolate and built up from Lindt 70% to 85/90. I melt a couple of squares and dip raspberries in and that’s my go to treat.
I miss cake so will sometimes bake sugar free/ keto muffins and freeze them so I’ve always for a treat if everyone else is eating cake. Loads of recipes online.
And Greek yogurt with berries is another good one.

It's so hard giving up sugar OP, it feels impossible at times. What works for me is not buying anything sweet in the first place, if it's at home I will eventually eat it. Also cold Turkey and then not even having a tiny bit. We are all different and for me, a small amount always gradually becomes a bigger amount. I find it easier to just not have any and after a while I don't miss it. I have tried both ways and for me it's all or nothing so no sugar it is. I also find anything with sweetener increases my cravings in the longer run.

Once I am sugar free then I have fruit or a small but if dark chocolate only. I don't even miss chocolate after a while.

Quitting sugar is so bloody hard.

This book is absolutely brilliant.
https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ioz6UbE7iE4xURcs5seum?si=qlfI1OfaR9aQBnld5Mhrfw

It’s definitely an addiction. I gave up sugar for 3 years, the first half of that included all sugar added into foods, so no sweet sauces or condiments and very little to no fruit. It was the best thing I ever did. I’ve never felt so healthy and energetic. I read the sweet poison by David Gillespie which was fascinating in showing what sugar does to the body, how most of us are addicted and how to quit. I highly recommend it before you start thinking about quitting. Once you get through the withdrawal period you’re on the home straight. It’s amazing, no cravings at all and you can look at a table full of cakes and sweets and have no desire to eat them. Honestly the best thing I ever did, pregnancy put an end to it sadly but I definitely want to do it again. Couldn’t recommend it more

Does anyone want to start tapering down their sugar intake now, with the plan to quit altogether? Or should i start a new thread for this?

My plan is to start with eliminating the obvious sugars (chocolate, sweets, etc) and once i have done that for a few weeks, I'll move onto things like condiments that have sugars in them etc. I'm happy to start a new thread if anyone would like, or we can use this one?

Think about using mounjaro. It has been a game changer for me and many others.

@Watdaheck
What is your BMI?
Mounjaro has given me a extreme sensitivity/ aversion to sweet. Days can go by without me eating anything in with added sugar. I still eat fruit, but have to dilute fruit juice at the same ratio you would for cordial. Frankly it is AMAZING!
My appetite is also suppressed by the Mounjaro but I've been able to stay at a really low dose because the sugar aversion is magic and the weight is coming off easily.

My BMI was 39.something when I started trying to get my life back on track after a very stressful 5 years. As you can imagine my eating habits were terrible and included lots of chocolate and deserts and pastries and biscuits.

Like you I thought I was never going to be able to give it up.

(Not taking weight loss drugs by the way).

My weight is down to 15st 5 now so a loss of about 3 stones since April this year. I still have another 3 to lose to get to the top of my correct bmi category.

The two things that helped me were-

porridge with honey and banana which is very sweet and almost tastes like a desert. At the start I was having pecan nuts as well as I was starving. Then I cut out the nuts, then the honey and now it's just porridge and banana although I am eating massive portions and I think I'll have to cut it back soon. If i am really struggling one day or if I have run out of bananas I will have porridge and honey and that feels like a treat.

The other thing that helps is switching to lindt 90% chocolate which of course at first I found not sweet at all but I could eat it accompanied by a glass of semi skimmed milk. So two squares plus milk after each meal. Then I started to cut this back so one square plus small milk and so on. I now have 1 square per day usually and a small milk but I have seen me having a bad day and eating 2 or 3 squares. The chocolate of course has become sweeter as my taste buds have adjusted.

Other days I was having a coffee with square of Lindt chocolate.

Now as winter approaches I'm having milky coffee in morning and if required chocolate after lunch 1 square plus small milk.

The rest of what I eat is chicken, fish, venison, ostrich, prawns, oatcakes, vegetables, fruit ie healthy stuff. I try to eat very little UPF's now as they are addictive too.

The urge to binge on junk food has for the most part gone although I do still have days when I think longingly of a giant tub of icecream, a tube of pringles and a huge bar of fruit and nut which I used to eat. This has got less now but does still happen occassionally and I just have to use my tactics above till it passes.

Now I actually look forward to my porridge everyday which I have in the evening like a treat. I eat the Flahavans porridge which seems to be the creamiest and sweetest whilst still being healthy.

I wish you luck. Sugar addiction is absolutely real.

I have just started using Noom. You have to enter what you eat each day into the app and then it divides everything you ate into green, orange or red on a graph and you can see where you are doing well or going wrong!

Hope it’s not too late to add to this thread.

in January 2025 I came across something called the Quit Sugar Summit. Listened to a lot of the presentations, and was convinced that sugar addiction is real, and that I have it. I started trying to quit…. I would manage a few days, a few weeks, once a couple of months. But always went back to it. And I noticed that when I was off sugar, I would substitute crisps or similar, or peanut butter (from the jar, with a spoon).

The difference for me came in August when I joined Overeaters Anonymous. Although they have no specific food plan, many members identify a list of “alcoholic foods” and abstain completely from them. That’s what I’ve been doing, and it works for me. Well, what makes the difference for me is working the Twelve Steps, although I recognise not everyone wants to go there.

I’ve also found a podcast called Food Junkies, which is highly informative.

So three things for people to look into, if you feel so inclined - Quit Sugar Summit, Overeaters Anonymous and the Food Junkies podcast.

I just had a quick look at overeaters anonymous, but it doesn’t give any information about what it is/how it works without paying for it. It all has a bit of a weird feeling to it.

@Bookaholic73 did you start that other support thread? If there is one, I would like to join.
Like others on here I quit alcohol and replaced it with sugar(and junk food). I can’t get free and I’ve been trying to kick this habit for YEARS.
I did go to OA a few years ago but it wasn’t for me. I’ve read Alan Carr. I can’t remove sugar from my house because of my partner and family. They always have it in—and I always end up eating it. (As an aside—I have very little [easily ignored] compulsion to drink if there is alcohol in my home, which there often is). Keto is not a realistic option for me as I don’t eat meat.
This lunchtime(after my actual meal) I have eaten cakes, crisps and two bars of chocolate. I feel sick. I’m so fed up of feeling this way, but the drive to do it, even though I am painfully aware of the consequences, is so strong. I know so much about addiction and how
to beat it because I stopped the alcohol,
and read countless books to help me stay stopped, but replacing one addiction with another is pointless. I need to work hard on myself, get into why I’m constantly chasing a hit of some kind. Honestly I’m struggling. If it isn’t the sugar, it’s the phone. If it isn’t the phone, it’s something else. I’ll do whatever I can to get my dopamine.
Periodically I do well, especially if I get regular exercise going, but I always slip back. It’s so, so tiresome.
I have to change.

@PuzzledObserver i will look up the summit and podcast. Thank you 🙏

Overeaters Anonymous is a Twelve Step program, based on that of Alcoholics Anonymous. By working through the Twelve Steps, members build a connection with a power greater than themselves which enables them to abstain from their addictive foods and compulsive eating behaviour. I understand what you mean about it feeling weird, I felt the same at first.

If you want to find out what it is and how it works, the best way is to either talk to a member, or attend a meeting. The vast majority of meetings these days are on Zoom. There is no charge to belong to OA or attend meetings, “we are self-su-porting through our own contributions”. Which basically means you donate, usually via PayPal, if you want to. And no-one will know whether you have or not or ever ask you about it.

There are books and pamphlets you can buy, although certain of them can be found for free online, or some meetings will send you a book for free if you’re new.

So in summary: you absolutely can find out what OA is and how it works, without paying a penny. Feel free to DM me, I’m happy to tell you more. And although it feels weird, the bottom line is that it works for a lot of people when nothing else has.

I read the Emotional Eating one and wow, so far, so good! Would love to hear your progress

@TheWater I get what you mean about replacing one addiction with another, When I first tried to give up sugar I was replacing it with things like crisps and peanuts, or peanut butter. Eventually (at the point when I joined OA) I decided I had to put all those foods on my red list along with sugar - and there they still are.

it is very easy, though, for me to find other things to provide that “hit”. Recently it has been playing games on my iPad. A few days ago I deleted them all…. again. In fact, the reason I’m back on mumsnet again is that my fingers were itching with no games to play. So after this reply, I’m going to step away from the iPad and pick up a book.

You mentioned getting into why you need a hit of some kind….. and based on what I’ve heard in that Food Junkies podcast, it’s because you have a susceptibility to addiction which was triggered at some point in your drinking career. The reward centres of the brain get rewired, dopamine receptors are downregulated, and you need the “hit” to even feel vaguely normal. And if you shut off your preferred method of getting it, the brain will look for another.

The good news is that the brain is neuroplastic and can recover, at least partly, in time. In order for that to happen, you need to stop giving it the hits. Either cold turkey, or by shifting to things which don’t give as strong a hot, reducing frequency etc.

Is your BMI over 30? If so then you would qualify for Mounjaro privately. That has taken away my chocolate cravings completely. But, you may have to think of it as a long term solution and not a quick fix. I’ve lost 6 stone and now on maintenance

Agree OA looks a bit cult-like from looking it up, what do you have to do? Is it like therapy? Is there ‘homework’? @PuzzledObserver

What do you have to do… absolutely nothing, unless you want to. It is a fellowship of people suffering from the same problem and supporting one another to recover, no-one is in charge.

Members generally attend meetings, usually over Zoom, which mostly take one of two forms - either a speaker meeting or a literature study. The first means someone telling their story of how they have overcome compulsive eating by following the program. The second means reading from either the Alcoholics Anonymous book or one of the OA pieces of literature. People are then invited to share, ie.talk about what the literature means to them, or about their life and how their recovery is going. Some people go to loads of meetings, others hardly ever go, some dip in and out as it suits them.

Then you work the Twelve Steps, usually with the help of a sponsor (someone who has been there before you). The Steps are the same as Alcoholics Anonymous, except that you say food instead of alcohol. The Steps involve honesty, admitting your powerlessness over food and need for outside help, considering what harm you have done to others and trying to put it right. Some people get right on with working the Steps, others faff around for ages before they get round to it, if they ever do. It’s quite common for people to try OA and decide it’s not for them. Some of them come back later, maybe many years later.

OA has no specific food plan or diet, though most people have some sort of plan of eating which they follow.

Members are encouraged to have contact with other members over the phone (although we mostly use WhatsApp), which helps to keep your head in the game. Journaling and meditation are encouraged.

But again - absolutely all of this is up to the individual how much they engage in.

Is there homework…. Well, kind of, because working the Steps involves work, and it requires a lot of self-reflection, so I guess it’s a bit like therapy in that sense. But there is no timetable, and nobody telling you off if you haven’t moved forward.

You can look up the Twelve Steps online, but to save you the trouble, I’ll put them here.

1. We admitted we were powerless over food—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs

I said you don’t have to do anything unless you want to, and that’s true. But it’s also true that the people who get the most recovery from compulsive eating are the ones who put the most effort into working the Twelve Steps.

I have this issue. I looked at OA but it was too weird for me. I am planning to get a glucose meter -Zoe? Perhaps? which might make me accountable.

also intermittent fasting helps as it’s just a hard NO to anything and resets your levels.

I have applied a little of my CBT exercises to my eating and it does help but it’s hard work.

I hear you though. I’m so addicted.

Sorry but that sounds a very strange method! Definitely not for me, thanks.

@Gingercar that’s absolutely fine. I hope you find an approach which helps you.

Making and drinking my own kefir absolutely kills my sugar cravings. I have to force myself to drink it before eating sugar, but as soon as I do the desire for sugar totally disappears.