Why can't I stop stuffing my face?

[iluvcake]

I know what I need to eat to be healthy. I exercise. I don't overeat at mealtimes and usually eat pretty healthily.

I very rarely eat takeaways. Very rarely drink.

BUT why oh why can I not stop eating chocolate, cakes, biscuits or anything sweet?They are becoming like a drug to me. I can eat a whole packet of biscuits or box of chocolates and have to hide the evidence. I've always been like this. Today I've had 12 mini jaffa cakes, a kellogs chocolate crispy square, two kit kats and a bar of chocolate as well as two slices of toast with jam.

I know when I start eating sweet things in the morning, it's only a matter of time before my blood sugar crashes and my body will crave more.

I'm doing WW at the moment but keep yo-yoing. I only have a stone to lose and no-one thinks I look overweight but I want to lose it. More than that, I want to break this sugar addiction. I feel like a crack addict. I always have to have biscuits or chocolate in the house, I get twitchy if I don't have any. I sometimes keep eating even when I feel sick. I'm worried I'll develop diabetes. I disgust myself.

Can anyone help?

I was going to start this thread tonight because i eat like a pig.. I am about 3 stone over weight and start a diet eveyday but never see it through. I do a lot of secret eating.
I wish i could just eat when i am hungry but i dont even know if i know what it feels like to be hungry because i just eat all the time - that is so shameful to admit

iluvcake you are my food twin. The similarities are remarkable. I had forgotten I used to sneak sweets as a child.(we were seldom allowed them) That makes me feel really sad.

I let my kids get sweets most days as I never want them to feel that desperate craving I used to feel

Since joining MN I've lost 1/2 stone - 3 more to go. For years I have eat for emotional reasons, and know exactly what you're talking about, but 3 things have helped me this time:

• the title of the Nothing Tastes as Good as being Thin thread, so true. I genuinly think diets don't work, but changing the way one views food does
• taking more interest in clothes. I've never been that interested in fashion because I've always been big. But when I recently reached size 20 found that there were practically no nice clothes around that were that size. So, having lost a bit of weight and being back to size 18, thought, well, perhaps I should carry on..

• I get a Graze box delivered at work. They have a site on the net, and deliver small boxes of healthy snack to your home/work. Part of me thinks 'well, it would be much chaeper to go to Holland and Barrett for this' but the other half of me finds having a 'treat' keeps me from the biscuits. They have a special offer at the moment which is 1st box free, 2nd for £1. (I'm not an employee.

Good luck

Sorry, lots of typos in previous posting, comes of typing in bed!

Well done Reptile, you're on your way. The hardest part is getting started isn't it? You are absolutely spot on about changing the way you look at food.

yesyouknowme(foodtwin)- DS didn't eat the choc chip bar I put in his packed lunch today as he said he didn't like it. After dinner last night, I normally offer him pudding and he usually has something like a yoghurt/ice cream or a chocolate dessert. He chose some cheese and crackers instead and then said "I haven't had any chocolate today". I felt really sorry for him but held firm and said "You don't really need choc every day, it's best just to eat it sometimes" and then I went on to talk about healthy eating. He didn't ask for any or complain. I'm going to try really hard to turn it around with him and cut down on the sugar.

Yesterday I went shopping and bought no biscuits or sweet things that I like. For dinner last night I had roasted veg and salmon and nothing else. I felt so much better last night, not bloated and huge like I usually do at bedtime. Breakfast I've had porridge with chopped strawberries/apricots/flaked almonds/flaxseed. I'm going to try and stay away from the carbs and for the first time in a long time, just cut out the sugar.

chocolatespider, I know what you mean about not recognising the hunger signals. I haven't thought about hunger for a long time. It just wasn't relevant if I was hungry, I ate because I wanted the cake/biscuit/chocolate, not because I was hungry.

The Paul McKenna book that I mentioned yesterday is helpful for teaching you about hunger. I have been listening to the CD but having looked at the book again, I'm not sure it's for me. He encourages you to eat whatever you want BUT you must stop when you start to feel full. I'm not sure that would be helpful for me as I don't know if I could trust myself to stop at this early stage. I've noticed there is a thread on the book though, so may take a look.

In the meantime, may go over and have a look at the "Nothing feels as good as slim feels" that Buda mentioned. Anyone else?

If nothing else, I've realised that I just can't do this alone. That's why MN is so great, the support for things like this. I was desperate when I posted the other day. I am feeling so much more positive now.

You'll have to change your name! No cake allowed!

You sound like you are doing well so far.

Riven, I KNOW! Just had cup of tea and two oatcakes with some slivers of cheese and carrot sticks. I did actually enjoy them but before I ate them, I was starting to obsess about cake. That's why I need the support on here...For all the talk of emotional eating, maybe I am just greedy-actually I KNOW I am.

I've just got to overcome it.

Buda, I am on very wobbly ground, could relapse at any time and it's only been about 18 hours! Am starting to get a headache and feel a bit shaky-I know I've got about three days of sugar withdrawal headaches ahead.

I need to keep posting. Will try and think of another name-don't want to get hounded off the slimming topic!!

If you get withdrawal headaches take painkillers and drink lots of water. Also try and get hold of chromium. It's a mineral supplement - available in Holland & Barrett I think - that is very good for helping with cravings.

I am exactly the same. And I second whoever it was that said sugar cravings are like a switch in your head. All those diets that say "you can have a little bit of what you fancy" are no good for me, because I can never have just one biscuit. It always has to be a whole pack.

At the moment I seem to have my switch set to off, but I know sooner or later it'll flick back, and it'll be secret trips to Tesco to buy myself huge treats, which I'll then eat in the car on the way home, so I don't have to share them with someone.

Iluvcake, you've got to get the stuff out of your house though, or you'll never win. Your DH can get his own, and your DS won't die without them. TBH there will be plenty of opportunities for him to have sweets outside the house, at parties, playdates etc.

Iluvcake well done. You've made a good start.
I joined slimming world yesterday so today is the first day of me trying to control what I eat.
The diet seems to suit me as there's no counting anything. I really don't have time to weigh and measure everything I eat.
I bought loads of bananas (and other fruit)as they seem to satisfy my sugar cravings.

Its bizarre as I never crave fruit but I've found that if I make myself eat it instead of that cake or biscuit, the craving for junk goes away.

I really need to do this.

That's great SLF. I quite liked slimming world.

I've also eaten loads of fruit in the last few days. I never normally eat it, usually opting for a biscuit so I'm being much healthier too!

I'm doing the trick of freezing grapes so they are like crunchy sweets!

I had my dinner at around 6ish. I'm really struggling now.
usually, I'd put the children to bed then sit down with a cuppa and cake/biscuits/choc or all of them
I can't do that now.

Evenings are hard aren't they? Have you tried fruit tea (bit of a lame suggestion, I know, lol) or those 40cal hot chocolate drinks?

I have joined Buda's thread "NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS BEING SLIM FEELS". There are a lot of helpful sugggestions on there.

I had a slip up today and had some biscuits. The hardest time for me just after the school run until DS's bedtime. I'm just not going to let it get to me though, I'm just going to keep going....

Have you managed to abstain?

Hi guys - you are doing well!

For those times that you KNOW you struggle factor in something that you can have. For instance I can get healthy maize tortilla chips here and I will often let myself have some of those with some salsa to pick at while watching tv.

Something my Dad does is a bowl of chopped fruit with some yoghurt.

I always need something after the school run too so I factor one of my allowed snacks in then with a cup of tea.

Have a couple of days of just eating porridge non-stop. DOn't try and restrict your intake at all. Make bowl after bowl of porridge with unsweetened soya milk or skimmed milk if you need to. That way your mouth is busy, you won't be hungry and you'll fix your blood sugar rollercoaster.

I haven't touched chocolate since August. It's easier than have a bit. Or trying to have a bit. i used to wander around thinking about chocolate all the time.!! the first 3 days are the hardest so I think you're right, it is a drug.

I abstained successfully yesterday. Yay!
I've had 2 bananas, a satsuma and an apple to deal with my sugar cravings today.
Its really hard but I'm damn well doing it!

Fruit tea is a great idea. I'd love the 40cal choclate drink but I hate the thought of artificial sweeteners. I've got some hot choc drink. I might try a weak version of it tonight. I'll get some fat free fruit yoghurt and grapes to munch on.

Well done SLF! That is brilliant. Keep going!! I'm going to post my weight loss on Buda's thread on Fri so that's at the back of my mind whenever I want to stuff my face!

I'm doing ok with staying away from the sugar. I had a small slip up last night with a choc chip cereal bar but that's nothing compared to what I used to eat.

I'm struggling today and finding it hard to stop thinking about chocolate and cake. I'm really craving something but going to try and just keep busy.

Slow cook lamb in the oven for dinner(yum!).

How are you doing Swimlittlefish?

I am sticking to it-exercising and cutting out the crap.

Feeling so much better and losing weight!

Hi, can I just say that I am exactly the same. If there are any biscuits/cake/chocolate in the house I will keep eating and eating them even when I feel sick. Somehow I can't rest until they're gone. I think there are psychological reasons for this that I won't go into just now.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that doing the Dukan diet is really working for me. No carbs except non - carby veg, no fruit and basically unlimited protein. When I feel a sweet craving coming on I have a drink (sometimes it is thirst I have realised) and then I get stuck into loads of protein - steak, a whole packet of precooked chicken. it kills the sweet craving dead; it is brilliant. The other thing I can suggest is sugar free gum or sweets. Eating carbs fuels your craving for carbs. You need to get right away from them and then it is a lot easier. Hope this is of some help.

I gave up sugar a while back as I think it was making me bloat and I felt fantastic. I stopped craving rubbish and lost weight. It's getting your head around it before you start that is the issue though (for me at least).