Any fellow sugar addicts?

[GreyGirl]

Anyone else feel overcome sugar addiction? I have tried so many different ways (slimming world syns/ only allowing one a day/ trying to stop all together) and I'm at a loss. It's not all sugar, the main culprit is chocolate. At my worst, I can easily have 6 chocolate bars in a day.

I have PCOS so I know sugar is especially bad for me, but that makes me feel bad and so I eat more chocolate. I was 14 stone when I gave birth (I was 13st 9lbs when I got pregnant) and I've gotten down to 11st 8lbs at the moment. I've worked really hard over the last 9 months to lose that weight but I've stalled. My dd is 16months old and keeping me busy, I've lost motivation to exercise beyond walking the dog and I'm craving chocolate more than ever.
I'm scared I'll put back on all the weight I've lost and I'm scared of my future fertility as we're TTC our 2nd (we were ltttc with our DD)....

Please can anyone who's overcome an addiction to chocolate or been an emotional eater please give me any tips or a friendly kick up the bum! I don't want diabetes or infertility and I know I need help. I love chocolate but I hate it right now. I don't drink/smoke and this is my main vice with diet. Any tips/encouragement welcome - please don't make me feel worse, I feel terrible as it is about this and what I'm doing to myself

 

[jessthemess]

I am an emotional eater too. My thing is fast food. I swear I could eat fast food for days. It's so hard and sometimes I start to tell myself that I must not really want a baby if I can't skip fast food since it's what stands in the way. And it just makes me spiral. So I know exactly how you feel.


But the truth is discipline is grown, we didn't become emotional eaters overnight, and our discipline won't grow overnight either. What really helps me is to give my self short goals. And not think at all about the next goal. Really don't let your mind wander there. I say things like my goal is to not eat fast food at breakfast and then I focus my energy on completing that goal. And even though I may pack a lunch to be prepared I don't think about lunch when I'm focusing on breakfast.

Maybe tell yourself your goal is not to eat sweets until noon. And then when you get to noon set the next goal.

This really helped my mind learn to let go of the thinking about bad food. Which helped me focus on healthy food.

It seems like a lot of work for something that happens naturally for others but it's not too much, you can do it!

 

[mmMlm]

I am also a chocolate addict (cake, cookies, chocolate, etc).
Small goals really help: saying that you will go cold turkey is unrealistic. However cutting back by 1 bar per day for a month, then upping the goal, would be much easier!
The other thing is to try and make "healthier" choices - by this I mean switching to dark chocolate instead of milk or using less sugar when baking.
Basically, don't get overwhelmed, it sounds like you are already doing great! Just keep at it, and make small changes when you can, and you can still be healthy while including treats in your diet!

 

[Destiny08]

I dont have a sugar addiction but I have a coca cola addiction. What ive been telling myself is if I want coke, I need to drink a glass of water first, and more often than not I dont want to drink anything by the time I get to the coke. Maybe you could do something similar? If you want chocolate, eat like...a biscuit first (not perfect, but better!) And then maybe you wont need the chocolate so much?

My kick up the butt is probably coming tomorrow lol. Im in for a blood test to see if my blood sugar level is too high and possibly causing my recurrent oral thrush in which case I will HAVE to stop the coke drinking if I want to stay out of pain lol

good luck I know its tough!

 

[AuntieKate]

There is a new documentary lead by Katie Couric called 'Fed Up' and it's on the childhood obesity epidemic in the US. It speaks to the sugar addiction of youth today and it looks very interesting. I was especially intrigued when they showed an MRI of a brain on cocaine and another on sugar - and they were identical pictures. Guess I'm very visual like a lot of ppl!

That being said I was definitely addicted to sugar as well. I challenged myself to a completely raw diet for the month of April - sorta extreme but I feel great now! I definitely went through withdrawal symptoms for 3-4 days - which is sorta disturbing!! I've totally kicked my sugar cravings in the butt!! I found it was helpful to get the toxins out of my body and have a clean slate. I am definitely PMSing now and craving chocolate - least I know that's my hormones talking and not my body completely addicted to a 'cocaine' like substance!

Best of luck!

 

[Radkat]

Don't beat yourself up. I think what others have said is good advice, try to cut down, switch to healthier alternatives (seriously, dark chocolate is MUCH better than milk, and much more satisfying. Try 85%. You only need a little of that!)

As AuntieKate said, a sugar addiction is just like an addiction to drugs. Our brain tells us we NEED it and there is a physical addiction, not just psychological. So yes, it's hard, but it's possible to overcome. Try distraction, do/eat something else. I went through a phase where all I would have in the house/office was 85% chocolate and if I wanted something else, I had to go get it. It makes you think twice about going through the process.

For me, it's all about habit, so if I try to change my habits, like eat less sugar/chocolate, walk more, etc, after a few weeks, that's what feels normal. Good luck, sweetie! And know there are several of us in the same boat with you.