help I'm a sugar addict

[Motherofmonsters]

Hi Everyone,

I really need to cut down/out the sugar in my diet but I feel like I've got a literal addiction to it.

I'm always thinking about food and what I can have that's sweet/unhealthy.

As soon as I think I'll cut down the next thing I'm doing is getting McDonald's or eating a packet of jaffa cakes.

Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome it.

As I'm typing this now I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat tomorrow.

My skin is awful, I feel awful and I've put on weight. I really want to crack this but I fail before I start

Thank you

I am also a massive sugar addict but I've managed 5 weeks so far without refined sugar and feeling sooooo much better! Going cold turkey has worked for me as once you cut it out , after the first few days, the cravings lessen and you stop getting the horrible sugar spikes which make you ravenous for more sugar.. . I've got a few things I snack on when I want something sweet. Greek yoghurt with berries and some maple syrup, or a davina McCall tea loaf recipe which I make every week and have a slice with butter most evenings.

Me too OP! I am carb and sugar addicted. Currently sat eating a huge bag of marshmallows I don't actually want and this afternoon, polished off a family sized bar of chocolate. I feel completely awful and need to change!

Me too. I can’t have anything sweet.

Once I stopped eating any sweet food the cravings and want went away. Like a drug addict the spectre will always be there but it’s controlled once I don’t try to moderate.

I have to abstain completely.

I still eat all kinds of fruit and maple syrup and honey so I know I still have a sweet tooth but I’m able to resist sugary packaged treats like chocolate bars and biscuits far more now that I stock up on the healthier sweet stuff and usually. I’d like to reduce my natural sugar intake too but taking one step at a time. My focus is on reducing UPFs and refined sugar right now.

What has helped me is also just not buying chocolate, cakes, cookies and sweets. Once they’re in the house I am highly likely to binge on them.

I do bake and always reduce the sugar in the recipe but I’m trying to go cold Turkey on that for the next few weeks starting Monday.

Yes OP sugar is an addictive drug, in clinical trials rats were more addicted to sugar than they were to cocaine.

I read a brilliant book a few years ago called Crave - but I leant it to a friend and can't find it on amazon anymore.

I basically completely cut out sugar while reading that book.

It's all crept back in, and I'm now wanting to cut it out again. And as a general principle eat no ultra processed foods too.

I've just had a breakfast of porridge oats, 10% fat Greek yogurt, blueberries and flax seeds. With coffee and clotted cream.

DP is horrified at how much full fat dairy I always eat - as he doesn't like dairy at all. But I'm sure loading up on those fats help me avoid the cravings later.

General advice would be to cut out sugar- as it is addictive, if you have a little bit you'll start craving more. But if you have none your body is fine. Easier said than done!! And first things first I need to take my own advice

Cravings need cold turkey

And personally, when I make 'healthy cakes' I just go and eat the lot virtually so I say no to tea loafs and butter until you can really get the cravings under control.

Set yourself up, prepare a shopping list, chuck out everything that is unhelpful (no dont wait until its used up naturally, chuck it in the bin), do a whole weekends food prep, make your own ready meals, breakfasts the lot and just eat from that

Over a week or so, you should start to feel a lot more in control, dont worry about calories at this stage, its just getting those cravings down.

Yes just to add to the above poster, I also have porridge oats made with full fat milk. I make up a batch of 5 days and keep it in the fridge. I have nut butters with it or dried fruit (some sugar), but its sweet enough on its own due to the oats and the milk

I'm glad I'm not the only one, sounds like I do just need to cut it all out. It's such a big leap so it feels very daunting.

Having young kids doesn't help very much either.

Honestly OP I really think cutting out sugar and reducing the process carbs is the key to maintaining a healthy weight.

There are some podcasts that are worth listening too explaining how sugars cause blood sugar spikes and it's either the same or equivalent to a dopamine hit!

I really reduced my sugar intake and now I am having the odd treat and have to say treats taste super super sweet now.

I read Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken and it has utterly changed how I view food.

To start the journey, no need to cut out sweet intake, just replace it with healthy sweet like dates, maple syrup, sweet fruit (banana, watermelon…)

in a few weeks time your brain will naturally reject the jaffa cakes and opt to eat fruits instead because, as another poster rightfully stated, it will make the brain and body and your self esteem feel soooooo much better :)

It is really very easy, first you really have to want to make a change for the better and then you take it a day at a time.
For example, if you currently ate sweets stuff 3 times a day, replace 1 of those times with a healthy sweet like dates, or a walnut and date cake. The next day try to replace 2 times and so on.

You can do it, don’t think too much, good luck xx

Try and replace the sugar with good fats to reduce the cravings. Willpowders helped me have a look at the Facebook page FFS ( for fats sake) I'm still in the early days of my journey but have cut it out for 18 days now with no cravings at all. Don't get me wrong I still think it would be lovely to have an afternoon tea every now and then but it's not the same overwhelming urge that I would get and stop at nothing to eat sugar.

Oh how I wish that were true for carb addicts.

I will 100% overeat "healthy sweets" like dates, maple syrup, sweet fruit (banana, watermelon…)

My brain will then hound me to eat jaffa cakes or chocolate.

I have to completely abstain from anything sweet flavoured otherwise it wakes the beast. The only way is to not have anything at all. That is the hard part. Knowing that I cannot moderate, I can't have just one piece/slice and walk away.

The thing is when I am 100% compliant I rarely think about the food that used to torment me sitting in the cupboard. Otherwise it becomes exhausting trying to negotiate a bit of this or a bit of that which ultimately leads to complete failure to resist. It's so much "easier" to cut it all out. The first four days are the hardest.