Why can't I stop eating sugary and rubbish foods ?

[mumat39]

I really don't want to but the more I try to not, the more I crave it.

I had bad hayfever last night and had to give and take an antihistamine that has made me feel really sleepy and lethargic all day. Instead of doing whatever you're supposed to do i have had too many very sugary coffees, chocs, crisps etc.

If I don't have them in the house I go out and buy the bloody things.

I need to lose weight and start to eat better but I seem to have something not wired quite correctly or I'm on some sort of self destruct.

I have an underactive thyroid and am on anti depressants for stress but the medication doesn't seem to help me feel like I don't need my comfort foods.

What is wrong with me? I want to cry but at the same time I also want something sweet again.

I have read books, watched videos about the harm sugar and white carbs can do and although I KNOW I still do this to myself. I need to lose weight too but just don't seem to have it in me to eat well or look after myself. I think maybe I'm just a lazy so and so but I really do want to stop but don't know how to.

I go to bed determined that tomorrow I WILL STOP and usually by 11am I've fallen off the f'iing wagon.

Can anyone shed any light on WTF is wrong with me? Please? :(

Many Thanks in advance.

Sugary and rubbish foods are addictive. The more you have the more the body craves.
Don't think of it as a diet but as a way of changing your eating habits for life.
Your medical conditions can't help. Why not discuss it with your GP?

I have times in my life where I have gone into self destruct, for me sometimes it's the cycle that the pot of gold at the end of a diet the new slim wonderful you is in reality the same person, same life but just thinner. Looking back at them times I was probably in depression and it was more than food addiction but sabotage as I don't deserve to be thin and for me a form of self harm. Go back to your gp and speak again.

I'm like that. The only things I find that help is firstly, write everything down that you eat.

Often sugary food is eaten mindlessly and when you write it down and face up to it you realise how bad it is. Have you seen 'the men who made us fat'? It might be on bbc iplayer but it really opens your eyes to how bad sugar is and how the sugar industry pretty much invented a snacking culture and got people hooked on sugar.

Secondly, when you do really crave some sugary crap, tell yourself you can eat it after you have a piece of fruit and big glass of water. Mostly, you won't want it as the fruit has satisfied the sugar craving and the water has rehydrated you.

As for whats wrong with you, you could just be a sugar addict and need to break the addiction.

I don't know about sugar addiction specifically but I have read that it is quite easy to become addicted to crisps (I suppose they do contain a lot of sugar). I seem to remember with crisps that they have a different ingredient (not just sugar) which can create addiction. Maybe cut one thing out rigorously , say crisps. They are enormously fattening and just never eat them. Don't eat them for a week, for a month, for three months. If you can get off them, try giving up the next thing and so on.

I suppose coffee, you could drink white with no sugar once you get used to it. Reduce the sugar intake and then cut it out completely when you have coffee. Coffee is a bad drug anyway and will contribute to making you feel very tired which might be leading you to consume a lot of sugar to compensate.

I'd suggest reading the Paul McKenna book (I can make you thin). It's not a diet, it's about changing the way you think about food.

One of the key ideas is that you can eat whatever you want, but only mindfully and only until you are full. It sounds crazy but it does actually work -- after a couple weeks, you find that you are satisfied with just a small amount of 'rubbish' food, and you may lose the taste for it completely. Once you take away the 'forbidden' element, you need smaller amounts to be satisfying.

Another thing is that it helps to ask yourself before eating anything even put a note on your fridge Am I really hungry, or am I just trying to change the way I feel? For example if you eat because you are tired, stop and think if there are other things you can do first -- take some vitamins or guarana, catnap for 5 minutes, go for a walk outside.

Also, often when we think we're hungry, we're actually just thirsty, so try drinking a glass of water before snacking.

I do believe sugar can be addictive -- the McKenna book is sort of like a CBT approach to that addiction, trying to change your mental habits about food. It's worked really well for me, it's worth checking out.

A lot of processed foods have corn syrup in them. If you google 'fructose corn syrup' you can see the problems on lots of different sites.

I know the Paul McKenna book works for a lot of people but I think if you truely have a sugar addiction then it doesn't, it certainly didn't for me. I would compare a true sugar addiction to being addicted to alcohol or drugs and interestingly many people who kick alcohol go on to be addicted to sugar.

Scientifically sugar is a powerful pain killer and will actually give relief from physical pain, it is also very effective for emotional pain.

Many people just 'like' sweet things, but some people have a body chemistry that means you crave them and they have a devastating effect on you.

I would read Potatoes Not Prozac, which is amazing and totally changed me for the better, it is a long programme and not a quick fix, but it is so worth it. There is also free on-line support.

I'm like this too, all I did yesterday was eat sweet rubbish because I was feeling down. Since I gave up smoking and drinking its got worse. And I would still eat whatever after tons of fruit and pints of water if I was that way out!
Cold turkey on junk food has worked for me before but obv I've always fallen off the wagon thus far, I just try and take it one day at a time.

Cold turkey is setting yourself up to fail, initially you will feel great then you will crash and burn.

Desmaisons calls it the 'drama detox' you feel terrible on the sugar, you give it up, you have a horrific detox, you get though it, you feel amazing!, You crash and burn, you feel terrible again.

The programme is SO much better and it works.

I read the book and because I am bloody minded, I thought, oh it all makes sense, but I can just give it up now Took about three drama detoxes before I realised I couldn't and did it properly.

You are addicted to sugar. It's not your fault - it's hidden in so many things.

Why not join us on BIWI's Bootcamp Thread. It's a Lo Carb way of eating and a very effective way to shed the pounds and kick the sugar addiction.

It took me 3 to 4 days to kick it and I experienced headaches, cold sweats, mood swings etc but I got through it and you can too.

Since starting Lo carbing, I no longer crave sweet things. I can make a cake for my family and not be tempted by any of it (not even to lick the spoon) and can go out for a meal and not be even remotely tempted by sugar. The only time I came close was when my DH added Balsamic and Port to our casserole (both very carby/sugary) and after the meal (despite feeling very full) I felt that I 'needed' something else. That's what sugar does - it makes you just want more sugar and you have probably spent years thinking you were still hungry when in fact you were just craving sugar.

Join us over on Bootcamp - it's not the Atkins Diet.

If you don't, I will let them know about this thread and they will all come here and brainwash gang up on you

didn't realise sugar could be such a problem. Does this extend to fruit as well since it has a lot of sugar, doesn't it?

Yes, fruit is banned in the Bootcamp WOE (way of eating) although you can gradually introduce berries at a later date. Was a killer for me initially as I gorged on fruit but once you realise that there are as many carbs in a medium sized banana as there is in a Magnum Icecream ...

Prepare yourself for a shock though in Bootcamp as it will change many of your previous notions with regards to dieting. You won't need to count calories and if you even dare to eat anything labelled as 'low fat' you'll get your ass whooped back into shape by BIWI

Why not join us? We don't bite (we are far too full up on our cooked English breakfasts this time of day to do that )

gnash
I eat loads of fruit

Yes, because you are attempting to satisfy a sugar craving - not only that - but you probably feeling virtuous while you are at it.

After your initial Bootcamp you can introduce berries and have them with bloody great big dollops of cream and STILL loose weight

I do, I feel very virtuous when I do it.

I saw the bootcamp thread but it doesn't actually explain what you are all doing, you are well on the way by the looks of it. What is your thread based around, do you have a link to whatever theory lies behind it?

New people are joining all the time Zen, I am on my third week (and loving it). Come and join us and say hi and people will show you the link with the rules (list of allowed foods) and hold your hand as you go through the initial Cold Turkey Phase.

I have been addicted to sugar my whole life (I am 40 now) and can't quite believe that I managed to kick it to be honest with you. But I did and I can honestly say that it has been the easiest thing I have ever done. I have lost 8 pounds already in 2.5 weeks by eating the most delicious foods (I am trying not to evangelise here!)

you're doing very well Betty losing that much weight so quickly and you are selling the thread well too. I will have a look at it tomorrow

Wow. Thanks everyone.

Right,
I have read the paul mckenna book, the atkins book, the primal blueprint book and also bought the cook book, the GAPS diet and I have recently started reading Potatoes not Prozac, and watched 'the men that made us fat' on the BBC.

I am an intelligent person and I KNOW SUGAR IS BAD but I still do it to myself and I definitely feel like I am on self destruct. I have 2 young kids and am 43 and would like to sort this so that I'm a healthy mum. I can talk about the benefits of not eating sugar but just can't put it into p

I have also read the start of the bootcamp thread. Unfortunately my eldest (4.5 year old) has multiple food allergies and since she was born I've got into a habit of just snacking on 'crap'. Part of the problem is that we don't have certain foods in the house like eggs, nuts and seeds. Part of the other problem is that I can't actually eat meat all the time. The thought of a meaty breakfast is just a bit too much for me. An occasional fry up is lovely but that hardly ever happens.

I also have a dairy intolerance and cannot really have too much milk or cream. I still eat milk chocolate and have butter (again DD has an allergy to rapeseed which is in a few margerines) so I can manage small amounts.

WIth my DC I am always thinking about food for them. We can't eat out and there aren't many convenience options so I tend to cook for them all the time. So by the time it comes to me, I really just can't be bothered to think any more, or I can't seem to be able to do this. Even the thought of preparing a salad is too much. As I write this I realise I sound totally pathetic. And I am!

I was told by someone on another thread that Anti depressants and lo carbing doens't really work very well. Is that true?

Also, if I can't have eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes (peas, peanuts, chick peas, kidney beans, lentils, soya, mung beans due to another of DD's allergies) and don't really want to eat meat all the time, is it possible to low carb?

I buy the books and read them and start with good intentions but always fall at the first hurdle when I get confused about what to eat and then promptly fall of that bloody wagon AGAIN!!!

I really do think lo carbing would be the way to go for me but I just don't know if I can do this with the Anti depressants and also what I would eat. I also did post another thread asking BIWI the question about not beaing able to include so many of what seem like the core foods in the diet but the last time I checked I don't think she had relied so will check that now.

I will continue with the potatoes not prozac book and will finish that as I do find these sorts of books fascinating.

I really appreciate all of your supportive words and advice. If it is sugar addiction then I suppose that gives me an excuse.

Thanks again

practice not p

You sound very down on yourself. Sugar addiction is not an excuse it is a reason. You have that knowledge and eventually you will act on it. Your post reads so sad and as though you are already working very hard.

If you eat something sweet you are not a failure, you have not fallen off a wagon, you've just eaten something sweet. When you add guilt and emotionally charge every bit of food you eat, you risk any 'bad' choices leading to a snowball of bad choices as your beating yourself up and think - I've 'ruined' it now so I may as well have more.
It's hard but if you try to take the emotion out of eating, it becomes easier. So you had 10 custard creams? That's not a good choice, but you know that and maybe tomorrow you'll manage on 8 ( I have something of a custaard cream addiction)

In three months I've lost nearly two stone. And not a day goes by that I eat all the so called right things. But I'm aware now of what I eat, and I don't associate food with love or comfort or guilt. Small steps.

Yes think are you really hungry?

Imagine sweet food covered in worms/slugs/spider.

Dose washing up liquid on to ny left overs that you might eat.

pregnantpause, thanks for your kind words. I really didn't mean to sound down on myself, but maybe I am. :(

holyfishnets, I'll try the visualising the worms/slugs and spiders. oh my!

You might have a candida imbalance in your gut which is causing the cravings. Its very common and very easy to rectify. Google 'Zoe Harcombe All About You' and you should get a magazine article which explains it (I'd link it but on my phone). Candida, which can also be thrush, feeds on sugary foods hence the craving. She recommends a 5 day de-tox (you feel shit day 3/4 but amazing on day 5) and it cracks you cravings. It is amazing. No potatoes or mushrooms, no wheat, no fruit. Plenty of live natural yogurt, protein and veg.

It's not too different from the lo-carb boot camp, which is also great.

Oh yes I'd forgotten about Zoe Harcombe. Phase 1 really works but I didn't lose weight on phase 2. I suggest you stick to phase 1 for a couple of weeks.

Its very easy and is basically no sugar at all, no dairy except plain live yoghurt (unlimited), one carb meal a day (porridge, brown rice)
Unlimited veg except potatoes and mushrooms.

I did porridge made with water for breakfast (I think you can have a lot about 70g or something) and then no carbs for the rest of the day.

I can't do no carb diets and I felt great on this and kicked sugar cravings.

I used this for meal inspiration and lost 7lbs in a week.

www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/dieting/the-five-day-bikini-blitz-diet-408723

theharcombediet.com/
www.livestrong.com/article/367245-the-harcombe-diet-food-list/