Sugar addiction - going cold turkey anyone want to join me?!

[vix206]

I am terrible, I have no self control when it comes to sugary and stodgy foods. It is spiralling out of control now and I feel deprived if I don't have something sweet several times a day; cake, chocolate, sweets etc.

I'm not very overweight but I am carrying a few extra pounds, my DS is 21 months old and I am still BFing twice a day but this will stop before he is 2 and I know I can't rely on breastfeeding weight loss for much longer!

I need to put a stop to it, I've asked my husband for help and I've decided to go cold turkey on all the sugary foods I've been eating. I just wondered if anyone else wanted to join me, or has any tips? I've done this before so I expect I'll feel like cr*p for a few days but I know I'll feel better by the middle of next week!

Hi everyone. I came on over the weekend and so usually I'd be eating my own weight in stodge. I have no idea why but I've found it really easy. Sorry don't mean to sound at all smug or unhelpful. In the past when I've tried this it's been hard but this time has been amazing. I've been jogging for the first time because I just feel so much healthier and more energetic.

Just try and stick at it and remember that even small changes will make a difference. I've not had chocolate for over 2 weeks and no cake for 10 days and I really don't want any now. To the point where I'm easily saying 'no thank you' when people offer it to me. I'm finding I am craving sweet fruit instead, yesterday when driving home all I could think about was the oranges I had at home!! Seriously, if I can do this anyone can because I was an absolute chocoholic and never refused a bit of cake!!

Wow, well done vix! I've fallen off the wagon big style....hence my absence from here - the shame! I'm finding pregnancy too good an excuse to gorge - not helped by "lovely" people who shove cakes/biscuits/sweets/chocolates at me, exclaiming "you're eating for two!" I've never had much willpower at the best of times.

Over the jubilee weekend I've been on a sugar marathon - my Dad brought some amazing chocolates and we had friends over who all brought sweet treats. Today I feel absolutely abysmal. I'm finding it really difficult to substitute sweet treats for healthier snacks, as I'm hungry a lot and sweet stuff is easier to grab out of the cupboard. The chocolates in the cupboard are calling my name - I've been eating them systematically and very quickly, thinking that once they're gone they're gone (to my arse and thighs ) but I need to pull myself together and chuck them away or something. I've been known to dig stuff out of the bin before though [desperate pig emoticon]

Feeling shattered and low today - coming down from epic sugar high probably!

How are all you sweeties doing today?
I have had a so-so day. Yesterday was pretty good, limited coffee and teas but what I did have was unsweetened. Little bits of dark chocolate over the weekend, a biscuit, no desserts or sweets though.
We had some vouchers to spend and yesterday bought a coffee machine (recognising a theme here?), but I am determined to keep taking it without sugar and limit my intake.
Truth be told, I'm still totally obsessing about the 'quick fix' energy that sugar gives me, and as a Mum to two kids aged 2 and 4, I constantly need that quick fix. Howeve,r I am trying to think to myself, am I really hungry, or angry or lonely or tired? This week its been mostly the last 3 as I battled possibly the worst Period I've ever had.
Am on a training course for work tomorrow so won't have the opportunity to pick like I normally do. Am really determined to knock this on the head once and for all and get these spare tyres off my middle!

Well done diamond sounds like you're doing well.

dame I have the same problem you have. Giving up sugar whilst pregnant is hard

I'm not doing too badly, after my shocking start. Managed to avoid most thing sugary, though I'm still struggling with fizzy drinks. Haven't had chocolate, cake or other crap for a few days though. I have been craving it like mad today though.

Well done diamonds and kirrin!! I'm still here, strangely craving biscuits today but not caving in. I threw all the sweet stuff out of the cupboards over the weekend anyway, so no real choice!!

My friends are annoyed by my health kick they want me to eat cake with them.

Ps there's no way I could do this if I was pregnant. I have a 21 month old who still bf's twice a day and that's hard enough!!

Absolute nightmare day. Sweet hot drinks, ALL DAY LONG, chocolate bars, cheap and nasty teacakes from Aldi (plural)..more chocolate.
Majorly bad. Basically a plate of potatoes for dinner.
Awful awful awful.

Tomorrow is another day I suppose.

Diamonds you should see the amount of chocolate i've polished off in the last few days. Today has been particularly awful because I've woken up tired and headachey, and DS is pushing every boundary in existence. I've worked my way through a tray of thorntons chocolatey caramelly things. I can't stop!! It's like the harder I try to step away from the sugar, the more I eat!

Read this www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us-fat?CMP=twt_gu

That article is very interesting carabos, and very sobering. It's difficult to get my head around just how massive our obesity crisis is. (excuse the pun)
It's so true that the more processed food you eat, the more sugar you crave. I've been doing slimming world for a couple of weeks - mainly to support my husband, who is obese- and I've been eating only fresh food prepared from scratch. At first I craved sugar, but actually, after the first few days my sugar cravings have virtually disappeared. This is me, who has had at least a cake and a chocolate bar every single day since I left home. It's nothing to do with sw in particular (which I've now stopped cos it's shit being weighed every week). I've added back in just the foods I feel I need, like nuts and avocado, and I've lost an inch off my waist, need less sleep and feel much better emotionally. So my conclusion is: Eat fresh food as much as you possibly can because aside from the health benefits, it works wonders to kill off sugar cravings. I know it will have been said before, but to me it is a revelation, having battled with sugar cravings all my life.

Wow, that article makes really interesting reading.

Right, I've actually eaten all the chocolate in the house That's it, no more sugary crap for me until the weekend (I need to take it in small chunks or I get a bit scared!)

Madmomma, this is exactly what I have found. I read that article yesterday too, the tv show on Thursday should be good to watch.

Ugh. I have a sickness bug. So not eating ANYTHING today!!

Oh no vix hope you're feeling better

After my week of sugar madness, I am doing much better. No rubbishy snacks, having a yoghurt after supper (full fat), and the occasional drink of high juice squash - no artificial sweeteners. Oh and my usual tonic at bedtime for muscle cramps. But am very pleased with myself

Hello! Am on Day 2 of low-carb/no sugar/paleo diet and feeling lethargic and headachey and hungry. I'm bf 3 month old DD and picked this diet because you can eat all you like - ie, no calorie restrictions. How long until I feel better? 3 or 4 days, you say?

I'm finding it tough still. Some cravings I can handle but other times I just can't let it go until I've had some cake or whatever. I'm trying to look at how my weekly sugar intake is reducing overall though, then I don't lose heart. Well done damefor getting back on the wagon.

Am back too...putting in the effort..went for a run at the weekend so am going to return to that as when i did it every week results were swift!
Hope all you guys are soldiering onwards..... at work today so will report in later with my "biscuit score".

Hello everyone

Can I join in please?

I've been sort of following this thread with interest and have decided today is the day that I WILL NOT EAT CHOCOLATES,SWEETS,SUGARY COFFEE,BISCUITS AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS OBVIOUSLY LADEN WITH SUGAR.

oops - hit post too quickly.

I haven't managed to keep up with the thread as much as I'd like but I've started to read Potatoes Not Prozac so am really really really going to try and cut out all the crap.

Since having my first child (i have 2) 4.8 years ago, I have eaten way too many sugary foods. I am the laziest person I know but found that I didn't have time to eat properly and so would scoff biscuits and chocolate to keep me going.

I'm now 2 stone overweight and although I need to lose the weight this is more about gaining some control back over the food I eat. I could quite easily go and eat a whole packet of biscuits now and then maybe another but am going to try and resist. I have SUCH a sweet tooth it's unbelievable.

I'll try and catch up with this thread over the next few days but just wanted to join and to say thanks to Vix206 for this thread.

Hello mumat39 thanks for joining in and best of luck! Keep us posted

I went for my first jog yesterday since being poorly last week, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared! Still can't believe I've stayed off chocolate for 4 weeks now, never thought I'd be able to but really haven't wanted any :)

Wow vix that is inspirational!!!! Well done you.

My biskwit score at work was....four. When I arrived home desperately tired at ten p.m. i crammed four more in from kids supplies. oh well.

On.the upside i wore a pedometer for my 8.5 hour shift as an experiment. I did around 6500 steps just while working. Am on 12 hour day tomorrow so will look at that too.

Thanks Vix

I think I'm really really rubbish at this. I fell off a bit yesterday and had a few chocolate crispy cakes

I have for a long long time now lived on sweet things and more recently biscuits so I found it a bit difficult knowing what to eat. So in the morning I had a few slices of Gluten free bread and then an apple at about 4.30 and then just had to have something else and found some choc cornflake cripy things I'd made in the fridge and couldn't help myself. Or at least I couldn't stop myself.

My DD has many food allergies so we don't have things like eggs, nuts, seeds in the house, so I really struggle to know what to eat.

Any suggestions please? I'm starting again today. The good thing is that I didn't eat a packet and a half of biscuits yesterday which is really good for me.

I'm sure I sound really rubbish, but I am so completely like a deer in headlights about what I could eat. I'm dairy intolerant too which means snacks like cheese and yogurt don't really agree with me.

Many Thanks in advance

All I can suggest is how I've managed to do it and that is buying all my favourite fruits (mostly berries) and every time I want something sweet I make sure I eat fruit. I threw out all the 'bad' stuff so I couldn't be tempted. There wasn't much luckily.

I also plan ahead more so, just like for DS who is 22 months, if I'm going to be out for the day I take snacks with me to stop me from needing to buy something and being tempted with the wrong things.

Aside from that I've just been telling myself that processed food isn't really food at all. I'm quite good at that, I've been veggie since 2001 and did the same mental shift with meat and fish. And similar mindset to giving up smoking 7 years back too.

Not sure if any of that helps, we are all so different. I just find if I tell myself 'I cant have that' then I fail because that makes me feel deprived. Instead I decide 'I do not want this' which means I am in control and have made a decision. Feels much stronger that way!

Hi,
Can I join in?
I am seriously addicted to sugary stuff, but I don't think it's very good for me, I'm constantly bloated and have IBS. I need to cut out sugar and possibly carbs. I suffer with constipation so have to watch what I eat all the time. Also I could do with losing a stone.

Please help me keep motivated! :O