How can I heal my sugar addiction?

[Realms of Wonder]

Anyone free of sugar for more than 6 months? 
 

My diet is much cleaner than it used to be. I don’t eat gluten or dairy, and besides sometimes eating deserts, I don’t eat any processed food, and absolutely no junk food at all, even though I cook 95% of my meals, I find it SO hard to give up sugar.

 

I will go a few days, to a few weeks without it (other than fruit) and then binge.

 

today was one of those days, my mindset was so low, and in caved, it doesn’t help that I work in a kitchen for my day job, surrounded by delicious, terrible food for 40-50 hours a week. I know that’s an excuse. It’s my choice what I put into my body, no one is forcing me. But I don’t know what to do. I know there’s a solution to this, people have done it.

 

I can literally feel it hurt my body, but after I taste it, part of me doesn’t care, it just wants more and more… and more.

how would you approach healing this? 
 

P.S. feel free to call me out if this comes across as self-victimizing or not taking responsibility.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Realms of Wonder

[puporing]

Firstly, be more gentle on yourself..

See if you can stay as conscious as you can when you consume it. How were you feeling at the time? What does it give you? Is there something else I am potentially avoiding through this substance?

I'm not perfect on this at all either fyi but I notice it's usually when I feel not at my best or at my potential, experiencing some kind of emotional pain/heartbreak, loneliness, or an excuse for avoiding more difficult work. When you're more conscious of the subtle psychological aspects that can be the door to changing the ways in which we deal with it. 

Also, I don't think it's bad to enjoy things in life. Ultimately it wasn't guilt or negative talk that made me reduce them, it was being hyper aware when I am doing it and shifting my focus on what I really wanted to be doing/being.

[Realms of Wonder]

49 minutes ago, puporing said:

Firstly, be more gentle on yourself..

See if you can stay as conscious as you can when you consume it. How were you feeling at the time? What does it give you? Is there something else I am potentially avoiding through this substance?

I'm not perfect on this at all either fyi but I notice it's usually when I feel not at my best or at my potential, experiencing some kind of emotional pain/heartbreak, loneliness, or an excuse for avoiding more difficult work. When you're more conscious of the subtle psychological aspects that can be the door to changing the ways in which we deal with it. 

Also, I don't think it's bad to enjoy things in life. Ultimately it wasn't guilt or negative talk that made me reduce them, it was being hyper aware when I am doing it and shifting my focus on what I really wanted to be doing/being.

Still learning to love myself through these moments.

 

I was feeling frustrated, with my body, which has been struggling the past few days, I was/am in physical pain. Also disappointed in how my mind was looking at it so negative, also feeling the backlash from the inner work and consistent action I have been doing/taking. 

Also, I was at work and didn't want to just "walk off" because then I would no longer have a job, so I chose to stay in the "suck."

 

I was definitely using it to avoid facing the pain in my body, and my mental frustration, I could feel the tension in my body, I was trying to cover it with the pleasure of the sweets.

 

I know there is a solution, thanks for your perspective  

[lizz_luna]

What type of sugar are you talking about? Do you eat chocolates, ice cream etc?

What worked really good for me is to start baking my own desserts and started using fruits like dates or bananas as sweeteners. I used to add maple syrup at the beginning to make them taste better lol, but eventually you reduce your tolerance to sweets and you can stop lowering it more and more. I personally think is a gradual process haha and can be super frustrating at times. Be mindful when you binge and identify what is your though-process before binging, do you feel anxious and sugar helps you soothe that, or do you want to control something? 

Think that this is a life-long change so there is no quick way just keep pushing through! 

[Michael569]

There is nothing to heal because there is nothing wrong with you. Being a human means you are hardwired to crave calorically dense food. All of us are hardwired this way which is why caloric fools are so tempting to us. It is like a monk punishing himself for having sexual thoughts, you can't remove biology from your existence. 

From what you say it seems like 90% of the time you are on top of your diet and then if you slide those 10% who cares. It won't kill you, it won't harm your progress. Have a cake once a week and be ok with it. Allow yourself to have a treat every now and then. Your brain will receive a signal that it is not evil to eat these foods otherwise you are just punishing yourself for something you have no control over and then being miserable. 

As long as you eat well most of the time, you can pretty much eat anything those 10% of the time time and it won't make you sick or unhealthy in any way. It's just about finding that healthy balance in things. 

 

[Realms of Wonder]

4 hours ago, lizz_luna said:

What type of sugar are you talking about? Do you eat chocolates, ice cream etc?

What worked really good for me is to start baking my own desserts and started using fruits like dates or bananas as sweeteners. I used to add maple syrup at the beginning to make them taste better lol, but eventually you reduce your tolerance to sweets and you can stop lowering it more and more. I personally think is a gradual process haha and can be super frustrating at times. Be mindful when you binge and identify what is your though-process before binging, do you feel anxious and sugar helps you soothe that, or do you want to control something? 

Think that this is a life-long change so there is no quick way just keep pushing through! 

In this case it was cake and ice-cream.... And a cookie lol.

 

Thanks for reminding me it can be a developmental and long process, that's a great idea of making your own, where you can regulate what kind of sweetener and how much is in it.

 

in this case (and it tends to be most of the cases) I was avoiding physical sensations in my body, and mental tension and frustration. my thought process was "if I am already suffering so much, eating this will make me feel better even if just for now."

[Realms of Wonder]

5 hours ago, Michael569 said:

There is nothing to heal because there is nothing wrong with you. Being a human means you are hardwired to crave calorically dense food. All of us are hardwired this way which is why caloric fools are so tempting to us. It is like a monk punishing himself for having sexual thoughts, you can't remove biology from your existence. 

Wait a minute... So you're saying... It's normal to crave sugar/calorically dense foods? oh my   In all seriousness though, thank you, I can lose touch with that, getting mired in who I "want" to be or "should" be, and forget to be honest with where I am on my journey.

 

5 hours ago, Michael569 said:

From what you say it seems like 90% of the time you are on top of your diet and then if you slide those 10% who cares. It won't kill you, it won't harm your progress. Have a cake once a week and be ok with it. Allow yourself to have a treat every now and then. Your brain will receive a signal that it is not evil to eat these foods otherwise you are just punishing yourself for something you have no control over and then being miserable. 

As long as you eat well most of the time, you can pretty much eat anything those 10% of the time time and it won't make you sick or unhealthy in any way. It's just about finding that healthy balance in things. 

 

That is accurate. The ideal, (over the course of my life) is to eliminate it entirely. But thank you for this perspective, I sometimes fall into the "all or nothing" crowd, which is pretty toxic at times. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Realms of Wonder

[puporing]

13 hours ago, Realms of Wonder said:

Still learning to love myself through these moments.

 

I was feeling frustrated, with my body, which has been struggling the past few days, I was/am in physical pain. Also disappointed in how my mind was looking at it so negative, also feeling the backlash from the inner work and consistent action I have been doing/taking. 

Also, I was at work and didn't want to just "walk off" because then I would no longer have a job, so I chose to stay in the "suck."

 

I was definitely using it to avoid facing the pain in my body, and my mental frustration, I could feel the tension in my body, I was trying to cover it with the pleasure of the sweets.

 

I know there is a solution, thanks for your perspective  

Yeah that all makes sense. You're pretty aware already! I hope you can find a way to a better/more compatible situation. I know what it's like not being at my potential at most jobs. Try to think outside the box. Business loans also an option most people don't think to go down the road of just fyi ?.

[Razard86]

3 hours ago, Realms of Wonder said:

Wait a minute... So you're saying... It's normal to crave sugar/calorically dense foods? oh my   In all seriousness though, thank you, I can lose touch with that, getting mired in who I "want" to be or "should" be, and forget to be honest with where I am on my journey.

 

That is accurate. The ideal, (over the course of my life) is to eliminate it entirely. But thank you for this perspective, I sometimes fall into the "all or nothing" crowd, which is pretty toxic at times. 

There was a woman who died who ate soul food everyday and smoked a pack of cigarettes a week. She lived to be over 100 years old. Something to think about.....

Example: This isn't the same woman but here is an example. https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/this-122-year-old-smoked-until-117-and-ate-2-pounds-of-chocolate-a-week-befe21e696f0

Another Example: https://allthatsinteresting.com/jeanne-calment

The truth is your beliefs determine your health...not what you eat.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Razard86

[Preety_India]

Eat sugar moderately. 

 

[UDT]

On 07/04/2022 at 8:06 AM, Realms of Wonder said:

I can literally feel it hurt my body, but after I taste it, part of me doesn’t care, it just wants more and more… and more.

how would you approach healing this? 

Sugar + fat = evolutionary desireable food, so no wonder.

 

My guess is youre eating to little calories for your expenditure, thus naturally you want to eat carbs but you have demonized sugar because mainstream nutrition went from demonnizing fat to demonizing sugar (both are not true)

 

So how about you give yourself healthy sugar snacks throughout the day instead of working against what your body clearly wants?
 

Bring some eggs, fruits, carrots, and lemon honey water to work and just chill with that self torture, youre harming yourself believing doing the right thing

[Realms of Wonder]

17 hours ago, UDT said:

Sugar + fat = evolutionary desireable food, so no wonder.

 

My guess is youre eating to little calories for your expenditure, thus naturally you want to eat carbs but you have demonized sugar because mainstream nutrition went from demonnizing fat to demonizing sugar (both are not true)

 

So how about you give yourself healthy sugar snacks throughout the day instead of working against what your body clearly wants?
 

Bring some eggs, fruits, carrots, and lemon honey water to work and just chill with that self torture, youre harming yourself believing doing the right thing

Thanks for this perspective, you're absolutely right, I have been restricting calories to get leaner, instead of building in some healthy sweet snacks, I would resist it until it burst and I would binge. 

 

Good ideas, thank you.

[CultivateLove]

@Wonder @UDT

I struggled a lot with dropping processed sugar / candies for a while, turns out we fell into the same trap of just trying to cut it out and not filling it with healthy alternatives. I just started eating more fruit and learned to make some delicious, natural sweet treats for when I want a little something extra. 

[pritishah]

Sugar is a highly addictive drug, so you need to detox from it. A sugar detox can help you reconnect your mind and break an addiction.

You don't have to be a sugar addict to need a sugar detox. A sugar detox will benefit you if you find that you are consuming too many refined sugars and need a break. It's best to have a strategy to quit sugar. If you have a plan, you won't feel overwhelmed or confused, especially once sugar detox symptoms begin! (1)

There are 3 types of sugar substitutes:

Artificial sweeteners — such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose — have no kilojoules. They are used widely by the food industry in products labelled ‘diet’ or ‘no sugar’. (However people with the rare genetic condition phenylketonuria can't have aspartame since it contains an amino acid their body can't break down, called phenylalanine.)
Nutritive sweeteners — such as fructose, isomalt, mannitol, xylitol, sorbitol and polydextrose — are not kilojoule-free. They either have the same (or less) energy than sugar.
Natural intense sweeteners — such as stevia and monk-fruit extract — are kilojoule-free and generally made from plants. Because they are much sweeter than sugar, only small amounts may be needed. (2)