I don't know how silly this will sound

[Class&Sass]

I am addicted to sugar. If there's any sort of candy to be had, soda to be drunk, or dessert around, I'm all over it. I feel physically sick if I can't have any of it.

I can ignore the flour, rice, chips, potatos, breads, etc. But I cannot hide from nor ignore sugar.

Help!

[doodles]

I'm not sure what strategies to suggest, but knowing you're addicted to sugar is half the battle. Hopefully someone will come along with some practical advice. Hang in there!

[MaryMary]

Class & Sass - I am a sugar addict too. Through trial and error, I have found that staying away from it is what works best for me. When I am reading ingredients, I make sure it is not in the first four ingredients. I have other trigger foods that I have to stay away from as well. Identifying my trigger foods was half the battle. I added a 12 step program to my recovery plan since I couldn't do it on my own.

[trishthedish]

i am a sweet lover too. i agree with mary that my biggest help was to cut out anything sweet tasting and the cravings have deminished. sounds overwhelming, but its actually very freeing.
tricia

[Spunky1113]

It doesn't sound silly! Sometimes this WOE can help with that. I am a sugar addict also, and I know how hard it can be!

[suthngal68]

I too have a sugar addiction or well what I thought was a sugar addiction. I basically have what my Dr. call "sugar intolerance" and just like a diabetic or any other disease a person might have my Dr. considers this to be one as well. Very high highs and low lows all due to sugar making you feel unstable, rapid weight gain, feand more. It is technical and would take a long post but it is all about how our bodies work/store/metabolize sugars. Good sugar (fruits/natural) and bad sugar. My Dr. told me to go back on a low carb/protein based diet and not to every try weight watchers or other just low fat programs. If you are a true "sugar intolerant" person there are medical reasons that you are "addicted". So give yourself a hug and know that it might just not be all your own doing. I have more info. on this if anybody wants to pm me.

Kellie

[CaroleKI61]

[MaryMary]

Kellie - I believe this is a physical allergy to certains foods. For me it is more than just a sugar intolerance. It is also a grain intolerance as well as intolerance to caffeine, chocolate, caffeine and aspartame. It became clear to me when I read the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous written back in the 1930's in the chapter entitled the Doctor's Opinion, the first key that an addict/alcoholic must accept is that we have a physical allergy that creates an uncontrollable craving to certain foods. Each of us has to identify our own individual trigger foods. I may be allergic to things that you are not. Once I accepted that this was the case with me, I realized it was something that I could work on in addition to healing the emotional and spiritual aspects of my life.

[loves2sing]

I'm a sugar addict, too, and I have similar problems with foods made with flour.

I have learned through decades of experience that, for me, it has to be very black-and-white... The only thing that works for me is to think of these foods as toxins which I need to avoid completely.

People who haven't got this disease will say, "Why not eat just one, just one little taste?"

I simply cannot do that.

Once I've had that first bite, I want more and more and more. It never ends. I still want more when I'm so full my tummy hurts.

And when I'm not following a plan of eating, I spend a great deal of time obsessing about what I will or won't eat. Every time I see food I'm tempted to eat. Every time I eat I berate myself afterwards. It's insane, and it never ends.

The good news is that I have found a solution that works for me. I follow the HOW-OA food plan, which includes avoiding sugar and flour foods completely. I enjoy 3 delicious meals each day, my body feels satisfied, and I never take that first bite that leads me into the quicksand of compulsion and obsession.

Three meals a day and freedom in between. It's wonderful.

And the 12 Steps provide useful support with this abstinence from compulsive eating, and with the rest of my life as well.

Underneath my addiction is this truth: I was never really hungry for the food. I was hungry to be living in the right relationship with God. The 12 Steps are a pathway to living in that right relationship, a pathway to freedom and happiness. I am very grateful to have found them.

[tinytiger]

I am a sugar addict too. I think I have been since I was in the second grade when I began hiding candy in my room to binge on.I can't have any sort of sweet in the house because I will eat the whole thing.I can't stop thinking about the sweets that are in the house until I have eaten them.I go to the grocery store and walk up and down the cookie,candy or ice cream aisle looking at all of the items and feeling almost high about buying something to eat.I will start eating in the car and just binge until I finish off my purchases.I can eat a whole box of twinkies in one sitting. I always polish off the whole box of ice cream. I am about 25 pounds overweight. I will eat any sort of cookie,candy,cake or sweet instead of "real" food. I just started Atkins induction. I don't know how I will make it.

[CaroleKI61]

[suthngal68]

I am so happy that you all have posted so that I know it isn't just me out there that simply must avoid these type foods. I believe that is why I failed at other plans like Weight Watchers. This is strictly just my experience and I am not bashing WW's. I just can't be told that I can have "3 cookies" or a small piece of pie or cake. I will eat the entire thing because I am compulsive with the type foods and like loves2sing said I have to keep them out of my diet completely. I know that so many people have jumped on the low-carb bandwagon as of late but for people like us it is a WOE forever not just to drop 10-15 pounds quickly. And there is nothing wrong with doing that I just think there is so much more to this WOE than most people realize.

[queenlene]

I too am a sugar addict with additional food intolerances. I discovered just how badly I was addicted to sugar when I had a "planned cheat" back in March. I drank a sugar laden sprite and had a small peice of cheesecake of the old-fshioned sugar variety on my DH's birthday....that small planned cheat lead to sugar cheats about twice a week for almost 6 weeks...I felt terribly guilty after each one, but the sugar high I got each time was terrific...for about 30 minutes...then I would crash big time. I actually felt as if I was sick with the flu for up to 6 hours after experiencing that high. It took me finally digging in with both heels and saying no to the compulsion to eat the stuff....probably about two weeks before the "urges" to cave in finally subsided. I knew then that I could not indulge in sugar at all....no sugar will have to be a way of life for me.
So do not think it's silly...see how many of us have this addiction?
Good luck, hang tough...you can do it!

Hugz,
Arlene

[suthngal68]

QueenLene - Oh I have the exact same problems when I have any type of "sugar" like your described. I do the same thing have a great "buzz" going for about 30-40 min. then I crash hard and have zero energy. I also get very sick feeling and it is just awful. I started back this WOE on May 25 and have been 100% cheat free. I have lost a little weight and my clothes are fitting better so I know I have lost inches. I just can't seem to get the scale to move!

[Storm at Sea]

It is not a bit silly. I was dignoised 30 years ago as Funtional Hypoglycimic. I soon relized that this was an old problem, at 10 years old I can remember praying that at church dinners I could be happy with one dessert, It never worked.

At this time all my siblings were thin, things were very short at our house. Our mother always divied the food equally. I was very heavy 148#s as a 3rd grader.

I did manage to get my weight off a couple of time, in the seventys, with a very high protein diet. I was always hungery, and every time I got or still get a little surgar in something, I battle all over again. Withdrawl is very much like that of alcohol with drawal.

Low Carb has helped me but people do hide surgar in lots of thing. Did you realize some pepole even believe meat is better with a little sugar added.

I'm not hungrey with this way of eating, but not made much head way. I have kept off over thrity pounds. Now for over three years.

I have to have a snack between meals in order to loose. Some time I forget and some times I'm away from home, and do not get my snacks in.

I do not post much any more as it is hard for me to read from the screen and when I copy its old news by the time I get back.
I do try to get in and read a little or copy to read every few days.

I was real happy to see this board. I'm glad you are all here.

Frances

[suthngal68]

I bought some low carb cookies last night.. they are individually packaged which is good for me. Otherwise I would have eaten the entire box. I have been cheat free since the day I started this WOE and also been in ketosis the entire time. This is the first time I have bought any frankenfood. I ate 2 cookies that were 2 net carbs each. I only had salad, grilled chicken and hamburger patty with cheese yesterday. I was right on plan. However when I got up this morning my keto stick barely registered and I am not at ALL happy about it. I stayed on program but I was wondering if any of you had experiences with some of these "lowcarb" type foods??

[kbgardengirl]

Originally posted by suthngal68
I bought some low carb cookies last night.. they are individually packaged which is good for me. Otherwise I would have eaten the entire box. I have been cheat free since the day I started this WOE and also been in ketosis the entire time. This is the first time I have bought any frankenfood. I ate 2 cookies that were 2 net carbs each. I only had salad, grilled chicken and hamburger patty with cheese yesterday. I was right on plan. However when I got up this morning my keto stick barely registered and I am not at ALL happy about it. I stayed on program but I was wondering if any of you had experiences with some of these "lowcarb" type foods??

For some people, the sugar alcohols in the frankenfoods/sugar free products causes a spike in blood sugars just as the real thing. If you can eat these products without digestive/gas problems then your body is probably going to react the same as real sugar. They can definitely throw you out of ketosis.

Read this to understand:

http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/products.htm

[suthngal68]

Kbgardengirl - Thanks for the link it was very informative!

[Jenn'sGonnaBeThin]

I feel like most of you have written my life story. I have been battling sugar problems my entire life. I can remember always being worried that I was going to get enough to eat, even as a very young child. I would hide food in my bedroom and eat when my family went to bed. There are days when I will continually eat sweets. I will eat until I feel like I am going to throw up. Then I wait a bit until I feel a bit better and eat more. I plan my binges and will make trips to the grocery store specifically for binge foods. I think about my next binge while I am in the middle of a binge. It is never enough, never.
I am tired of this. I am tired of always thinking about food. The only time I am not crazed thinking about food is when I am pregnant. I have 2 children and doubt I will have more. I always lose weight when I am pregnant only to gain it back as soon as I give birth. It makes me think I have some sort of hormonal imbalance. I know my sugar addiction doesn't help. I have been on and off the Atkins wagon for the last 3 weeks. The last fall occured after I consumed sugar alcohols. I know that to feel better I need to seriously plan my food and avoid processed carbs and sugar alcohols.
Sometimes I feel like I am having to give up my best friend (food). Anyone else feel like this?

[suthngal68]

Jenn - I know I have felt like that sometimes but what I do know is that I have a addiction much like a drug addict or a alcoholic. Yes, my addiction I believe is just as strong and devasting at times. I got very frustrated about a year ago right after I got married and decided I was going to do Weight Watchers and while WW is a great program it was not for me. It allowed me way to much freedom to have sugar/high carbs and I coudn't control myself. I know that by eating this way I will #1. feel better #2. look better #3. have confidence that I am doing the right program for my body and I suppose the list could go on and on. Just try to keep yourself in the "zone" and above all things just remember that none of us are perfect and if we were how boring that would be! I try to just do this day by day no more no less. If I mess up - so what? I get right back on program. Just remember there are so many people out there just like us and this is a place to find support and comfort when we need it.

[Lora]

Ladies, what are the symptoms of a sugar addict. I just had a moment to skim the posts and am not sure if you already discussed them. Please repost.

I've been having a time w/ depression, gorging on food, junk, etc.. Back in October when I started Atkins I was able to go off my meds. I hit a rough patch in March and have been having a horrible time concentrating, sleeping, w/ motivation, staying on task, eating properly etc..... I'm wondering how much my diet is playing in this. I have an appt tomorrow w/ my doc to see about new meds and an appt w/ a counselor next week to get my head straight. I wonder if I could have issues w/ sugar too. How do you check? My grandfather had diabieties (sp?), could I be sugar sensative? All tests to date hasn't showed my sugar to be high.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[MaryMary]

Lisa - Symptoms of a sugar addict might be different for each of us depending on how it hits our systems. But I would have mood swings, painful periods, overeating refined carbs and food in general. I knew for sure I was when I gave up all sugars & grians for 30 days to see how I felt. My head was clearer, thinking more organized, felt less bloated, lost some weight without trying and joints didn't hurt so much. On the times I have reintroduced sugar & grains back, I would start with one piece and within a week be up to 4-5 pieces and know I was out of control, the pain would return, desire to sleep all the time, so logically I had to ask myself what kind of life do I want to have. I choose a life of clarity and today I don't eat sugars or grains or sugar alcohols or alcohol one day at a time.

[Pcola Girl]

Being addicted to sugar does not sound silly.
I read once in a article that if the FDA knew how addictive sugar was that it would not even be sold on grocery store shelves but would require a prescription to get it.
I will see if I can find some info on this subject on the net and post it for you.

[GettingHealthy]

Okay it's been a long while since I checked into this site. Doing induction just is damn hard for me, as I , too am a sugar addict. It royally sucks too.... I'm really trying to break this cycle of addiction. For me it used to be drinking, smoking, popping pills- now it's food- and has been for quite a few years. I KNOW instinctively and intellectually that I need to get to the root of my main issues, fears, insecurities to overcome this but I haven't quite learned how- just yet.... sugar, flour, -processed foods really are evil though. Anyways I hope to conquer this- as well as see others here conquer their addictions too. Glad this thread is here

[kbeth]

Hey there!

You are no alone. All my life my family has called me a "sugarholic" or "candyholic." It was meant with affection...no one knowing back then how real it was.

I've been "clean" since Feb. 1st...and I feel SPECTACULAR. I am not pretending it's been easy...I have to eat lots of fat when the binging feeling starts, exercise or brush my teeth. Do something other than find sugar.

I have decided I MUST do this. It affects my mood, my energy, my thinking so drastically that I HAVE to keep this promise to myself.

I wish you the best of luck.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by kbeth

Hey there!

You are no alone. All my life my family has called me a "sugarholic" or "candyholic." It was meant with affection...no one knowing back then how real it was.

I've been "clean" since Feb. 1st...and I feel SPECTACULAR. I am not pretending it's been easy...I have to eat lots of fat when the binging feeling starts, exercise or brush my teeth. Do something other than find sugar.

I have decided I MUST do this. It affects my mood, my energy, my thinking so drastically that I HAVE to keep this promise to myself.

I wish you the best of luck.

I Love your easter egg belly -----