I'm a sugar addict! help me!

[lomolover]

I have a weak constituion. I'm not proud of it. I snack on so much sugar and everything its unbelievable and I've made myself an addict. Not just any normal sugar junky who needs their snickers bar once a day, no I'd say I eat on average 3 to 4 candybars a day, about 1.5 icecream cones, etc. Its like morphine to me. Yeah, I'm sick. But you know at the time it all seems so appealing and I feel like I'm helpless to have my choices of what I eat anyway and I don't want to go to the trouble to change. I feel like I've tried so many times that it's useless and I should just give up and get fat anyway.
I'm a little pudgy, but not overweight. I do no exercise. Not at all. I don't even go outside. I'm the palest person I know.
Anyways, I feel the effects of diabetes.
And I'm ready to get off it. But the thing is- all of my meals are packed with sugar! And whenever I eat non-sugary foods, I rather not eat.
I love the No S diet in theory the way that a government official may love reading Plato's Republic. I think it's idealistic and beautiful but I could never accomplish it. i wish I could take it all at once, but I need steps. Has anyone here taken the No S diet in a series of steps? How?
Anyway, I need to get off the sugar. Completely stop my addiciton, including simple carbs. So could you please tell me how to? Do you have any idea how long that would take. What the course of least possible damage is? Has anyone here had a sugar addiction. Because I have no idea. Should I stop eating anything with sugar, maybe all the breads too, or just limit my sugar, or just stop eating all together(hopefully not)? 2 days? 1 week? forever?

HELP.

I'm 16. I'm in high school.

[Thalia]

Hm. Maybe you could try, just as an experiment, having two N-days a week? Two days in a row every week for a few weeks, to see how it feels. And as you succeed, add days until you only have sweets on the weekend?

I'm not a big sugar person (I just tend to eat too much!), but any of these might help:

• Increase your fruit intake. It's a great natural sweet.
  
  Pack a lunch the night before. That gives you COMPLETE control over what you eat, you're not dependent on the cafeteria or whatever.
  
  Start taking walks -- you'll feel better about your body, and sometimes it's easier to DO something than to NOT do something -- exercising isn't deprivation, it's an empowering thing to go do instead of sitting in the house wishing you had a candybar.
  
  Are you buying all the junkfood with your own money? Every day you don't buy anything, put the money you would have spent aside and save it for something you want.
  
  When you do eat sweets, can you try to choose something less processed and junky? Sweetened yogurt with fruit on the bottom instead of ice-cream, fig newtons instead of candybars. I mean, those are still very sweet and not the healthiest choices you could possibly make in a perfect world, but they have fiber or protein and some actual food content instead of concentrated sugar and fat, and they might help you learn to enjoy something more than just highly processed sugar. They are also more filling, so might help you stop eating.
  
  Try one new non-sweet food a week. Make it a project. Or one meal a day that includes nothing sweet -- if you're hungry enough when you sit down, you will eventually want to eat it and will start you on the road to eating food instead of sugar.

I would not try, in your shoes, completely eliminating simple carbs right now. That sounds like a recipe for failure. Just cutting down and then eliminating the ice cream and candybars is hard enough -- start with that. You do not need to meet a beautiful ideal -- just do well enough.

[WinstonWolf]

Or the even simpler step of just slowly cutting down on what you eat.

If you normally have 3 candy bars a day... next week, limit yourself to no more than 2 a day.

The week after that, 1 a day.

The week after that, 1 every couple days.

Eventually, slowly, you'll get to "regular NoS" level. It's not a race. You can take as much time as you need.

Have you had a doctor give you a diagnosis of diabetes? If so... do what THEY say. If not... you may want to get a medical opinion.

If you already have full-blown diabetes, you may NOT have the luxury of doing it slowly. If you're only "pre-diabetic", though, you probably do.

Disclaimer: NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL!

[Thalia]

Oh, I read the "diabetic" part as being worried about developing diabetes. If you actually have it, you need to follow a doctor's orders!

[kccc]

There are two ways to go with cutting sugar. One is the "cut down" approach recommended already.

The other is the "cold turkey for a limited time" approach, which I used to do regularly with regard to sugar until No-S made life better for me. It usually took me 2-3 days to get the sugar out of my system. (It helped if I exercised.)

Which way to go depends on your own nature - whatever you think you'll be most successful with.

Do note that No-S doesn't say "no sugar." It says no "sweets." Less draconian. I put sugar in my coffee, but don't drink the fancy coffee drinks with whipped cream on top, that kind of thing. So, if you cut the OBVIOUS sweets, you'll be making good progress. (Same disclaimer as the others - if you're under medical care, or should be, disregard this advice and listen to your doctor.)

I did phase in part of No-S.... my personal weakness was snacking. So first I cut down all but one snack, that I thought critical. Then I limited what I could have. Then I started asking myself "do I want this?" Over time, I gave it up.

Some other strategies...
- Find non-sugar things that taste good to you. You might find strong flavors satisfy your taste buds. Use your meals to experiment with taste combinations so that you can find other things that appeal.
- Find things that appeal to your senses OTHER than taste. Candles that smell good, music, start painting, whatever. (A hobby that uses your hands is helpful for breaking the snack habit.)

Biggest advice... be gentle with yourself, and applaud every success. You didn't develop the habits you have overnight, and you won't change them overnight. But you CAN change them. Your choices in the moment will add up over time.

Best, best wishes. You have a whole lifetime ahead of you, and you are very smart to see that you need to make changes now to make your life better.

[lomolover]

Make all the right choices in the moment. Why didn't I ever think of that?
I think I'll try to do two N days a week, and I'll really try to not carry extra money with me to school. How about two sugary things a day, except N days? Then the next week I could try one sugary thing a day. Then the next week maybe attempt at keeping 3 meals and one sugary thing a day. Or something like that. I suppose I can adjust it as needed. I need to be more flexible when planning these things out as I tend to give up because I want to be so rigidly adherent to them.


You all have such sensible answers and are so encouraging.
And no, I'm not diabetic. But I get to feeling dizzy if I overdose on sugar, which is often. That seems like a big warning sign.

[kccc]

I need to be more flexible when planning these things out as I tend to give up because I want to be so rigidly adherent to them.

That is an important piece of self-knowledge. I consider myself a "recovering perfectionist," and I will tell you from experience that all-or-nothing thinking is extremely counter-productive.

So yes, be flexible, and recognize that it takes repeated effort to change entrenched habits. There are studies that show that smokers who successfully quit had tried unsuccessfully several times before they made it. Same is true for weight loss.

Some ideas that may help...

... You can have a failure without BEING a failure (thanks to Reinhardt for that one.)
... It's not how many times you fall off the wagon, it's how fast you get back on.
... Setbacks are normal. Just persist anyway.

Rooting for you, lomolover!

[florafloraflora]

I, too, used to have a big-time sweet tooth (I used to love Snickers, Twix, and all the rest, and now I can barely eat those: they taste like pure granulated sugar to me). I had good luck going cold turkey (it took me a few tries to kick my sugar habit entirely, because I'd allow myself sweets on weekends, but eventually it worked). The first two days, I found, were the hardest. While you're giving up sugar, I would recommend going easy on yourself for the content of your meals. It doesn't have to be all Snickers bars or all Brussels sprouts, with no in-between. If you find that you have to indulge in savory foods like grilled-cheese sandwiches or steak or burritos or whatever to keep yourself off the sweets, so be it. You might want to eat more than usual at meals, too, to make sure that hunger isn't responsible for your sweet cravings. After the first couple of days (or couple of weeks), when your sugar cravings are more manageable, you can work on bringing in healthier foods at meals.

If you're taking money to school to spend on sweets, you might have some luck putting it into a piggy bank instead, either in the morning before school or else in the evening, with whatever amount you can bring home.

[reinhard]

lomolover,

I'd be careful about using the word "addiction." It sort of suggests that the situation is hopeless. I would guess that "really bad habit" is at least as accurate a term for your current condition, and a lot more useful: because not only can habits change, but you can use the power of habit for something positive. You don't just get a twinkle of hope by thinking in terms of habit, you get a useful tool.

Since your bad habits are obviously very, very strong right now, and your willpower very weak, you're going to have to be modest and targeted in how you approach using what little willpower you have to reform these habits. I don't know exactly what the best tack for you to take is (some good ones have been suggested here already) but I would keep these principles in mind:

1. Don't demand much of yourself at this point. But really do the little you demand. In other words, set yourself up for success. This will build your willpower up to the point where it's strong enough that you can raise the bar a little. Examples: try doing just one single N-day, to prove to yourself that you can. Then reassess. Or try doing just one 1/3 of an N-day, with the rule you feel is easiest to comply with (say, no seconds). Then build up gradually from there. The downside to this strategy is that it takes a lot of patience, it will be a long time before you see results. The upside is that you minimize the risk of discouragement from failures of will, which seems like the most pressing issue right now.

2. Don't turn little screw ups into evidence that you are a total failure. You will have screw ups. That's guaranteed. Everyone does. The important thing is to get right back up and try again.

3. Beware self revenge. This isn't about punishing yourself. It's about deeply, truly rewarding yourself. Trust me, if you can pull No-s off, even if it takes you many months to get the habit down, even if it always remains a partial implementation of no-s, you will enjoy food -- especially sweets - far more than you do now that they are destroying and humiliating you.

Best of luck, and keep us posted,

Reinhard

[ClickBeetle]

I think sugar cravings may be a signal of some nutrient deficiency. Make sure you are taking a good multivitamin and increase the amount of legumes (beans) and produce in your diet. Eat plenty of fiber to slow down sugar absorption. Those lows and highs that are caused by sugar just lead to eating more sugar. These are some things that helped me break my sugar habits.

[fkwan]

I believe sugar is a physiological addiction, just as strong as alcohol or cocaine.

I also believe based on 40 years of observing my own that reducing (S days) will not solve the problem.

So far (about a week) the only thing that seems to work is to reinforce a habit of using a "good" carbohydrate in a limited amount instead of the sugar item, period. I am using fruit, one item per meal as a reward, and using N days to eat carbs that produce a similar serotonin high in the brain (beans!!!!!!).

I don't believe that "S days" are possible until one has lost the weight for good, and even then I'm skeptical, but I wouldn't even dream of trying until I've reached my goal.

Keeping my fingers crossed,

f

[blueskighs]

being a recovering twelve stepper I am familiar with the mental setup of "sugar addiction" I have been slave to this concept for over twenty years ...

until last Monday

I really BELIEVED I could not control my sugar intake ...

I'd be careful about using the word "addiction." It sort of suggests that the situation is hopeless. I would guess that "really bad habit" is at least as accurate a term for your current condition, and a lot more useful: because not only can habits change, but you can use the power of habit for something positive. You don't just get a twinkle of hope by thinking in terms of habit, you get a useful tool.

I guess I really fell in with the concept of "really bad habit" in Reinhard's book ... I thought about it and realize that is true I have a really bad habit of eating sugar and then not stopping ...

Beware self revenge. This isn't about punishing yourself. It's about deeply, truly rewarding yourself.

I think this is the key ... it is about truly rewarding yourself and somehow I am still not sure how the switch was flipped but last weekend my S days were truly pleasurable. I was easily able to stick with only and enjoy my "proactive" treats.

Then Monday I went back to N days. I really have my fingers crossed. I have been a huge sugar binger and beleive I was brainwashed by OA to beleive that I cannot handle sugar just like an alcoholic can't handle alcohol.

I am really grateful to Reinhard to be liberated from this burden of using excess food and sugar to humiliate myself!

Blueskighs[/quote]

[funfuture]

It might also help to eat some protein at every meal. I can't put my hand on the research but I know that there has been some done in the last few years that has shown that eating protein flicks a switch in your brain that tells you when you have had enough. Carbohydrates on the other hand, don't. They can leave you craving more soon after you've eaten because they don't flick that satiety switch. The implication was that the key to not being so sugar driven, is to include more protein in the diet. I know that this works for me and helps me to stick with NoS. The protein doesn't have to be meat, it could be nuts, legumes, eggs, dairy, fish, etc...

[stevecooper]

Best of luck, and keep talking about it here. Send a quick note saying something like "I ate three meals and one candy bar. I'm on track" or something like it.

will you keep us posted?

[FarmerHal]

Do you have diabetes? Or are you starting to get insulin resistance (which I have under control on noS)?

Hang in there. I believe you can break this bad habit by gradually cutting back on the amount of sweets each day, gradually, until eventually you keep your sweet treats for teh weekend.

I loved sweets myself. I ate them twice a day, and in large portions- enough servings for 3 people, typically! I'ts a hard habit to break, because your Pancreas is accustomed to spilling out insulin all day long in very large amounts, because of the habit of eating sweets all day long. So it is automatically sending out insulin all the time.

Once you cut back, and reset your body/pancreas, it won't spill out as much insulin and you won't feel that insane craving for sweets (it is VERY convincing that you MUST have teh sugar NOW).

This is a very short explaination of the pancreas, you might google it to learn precisely how it works.

You are very young yet. A walk outside, a bike ride, will also lower your insulin levels and help your pancreas. Try to set new habits. After school instead of sitting down with a snack, do your homework, and head outsid3e to walk the dog or something. Stay away from the kitchen until it is mealtime.

Try to "balance" your meals as much as possible so your body is nourished. Carbs (rice, potato, oatmeal, noodles, etc), Veggies, Fruits, protein (meat/legumes, cheese, etc). Nourish your body so it has the nutrients available to it, to help lessen cravings.

And mostly I want to say, hang in there, keep posting, asking questions! I only wish that I had found noS at 16 rather than 30!

ETA: I also wanted to add that now the ordinary sweets I used to love (twix, ice cream, oreos) are just NOT appealing to me at all. They're too junky and sortof tasteless to me! I adore making up fresh, homemade decidant desserts instead. My sweet tooth is satisfied much faster.

[3aday]

Ummm. I was addicted to drugs.
I am not ashamed to admit that because my past no longer defines me.
And, I consumed huge, humiliating amounts of sugar for years.
They are not the same.
I'm sorry.

Getting off sugar is a lot of easier than getting off drugs. I can tell you that.
The withdrawal and the psychological torment do not compare.

You will not die if you reduce your sugar consumption.
Your body will not convulse in sheer pain and agony even if you stopped sugar cold turkey. However, I won't deny that you won't feel discomfort. It's unpleasant. It's hard and you may feel like you are going to die, but you won't. No one ever died from not eating something sweet. Plus, No S doesn't require you to stop sugar cold turkey or at all.

Put sugar in your coffee. Eat a good amount of protein at every meal. Incorporate some of the borderline foods if you have to, but do it at meal times. Your body will adjust and you will require less over time.

Please, trust me on this.
You can do this.
Also, if you convince yourself that you are a sugar "addict" then you are going to really, believe you are one, and your mind can really play tricks on what is real and what isn't.

I used to drink half coffee, half sugar all morning long. I drank Mountain Dew all day long and all night. I couldn't walk by the kitchen without having juice. I ate chocolate from morning until night. On top of that, I binged. Boxes of donut's. Sugar wafers. I had health problems and I continued to eat this way...I finally believed in myself and told myself I could stop. If I can do this, you can. Believe you can and you will.

You are in my thoughts and I know without a doubt you will overcome this.

[blueskighs]

3aday,

I really appreciate your post a lot.

I feel like you are really speaking the truth.

I used to go to OA and everyone would say getting off sugar is worse than getting off drugs, but I think your distinction was very elegant.

Blueskighs

[Mavilu]

Sheesh, 3aday, i'm sorry you had to go through all that.

[3aday]

Please don't be sorry! My life is great! I'm married. I have a job I enjoy. My parents are still alive. I have good friends and great faith! I don't regret one thing about what I had to go through. And you know, when things are far enough behind you, you tend to "forget" how bad it was!

I only wrote that post to show that sugar "addiction" is not the same as drug addiction.
Yes, I was addicted to drugs and my withdrawal was insane, but the experience I wrote about almost dying while getting off the drugs was my friend's experience.
She was a wonderful person and nurse who became addicted to pharmaceutical drugs and then worse. Her addiction began because she couldn't sleep after work and it just went crazy from there.
She was was in a treatment center during her withdrawal and had to be hospitalized twice during her withdrawal.
Anyway, she went through hell and back. Convulsions, dehydration, vomiting for what seemed like weeks. I can still here her crying telling me about it. That was the last time I talked to her. My best friend from childhood.
After a couple of weeks of being sober, she went back for more drugs.
She got arrested. She lost her job, her nursing license, her career, her life. Her husband left her and she went to prison and she was in her late 20's at the time.....

Based on knowing firsthand the power of drugs and the power of sugar. I just don't think that sugar and drug addiction is the same. Or if even there is "sugar" addiction.

12 step programs are great. But, if you sit around a room with other people who talk about their sugar addiction and their "experiences" and your "experiences" are similar to theirs, you are going think you are a sugar addict.

I loved blueskighs post. She wrote she felt she had a sugar addiction until last Monday! What a great example of a perfect mental shift!

Reinhard's approach is sustainable for life and it's all about being proactive.

You really can do this!
It is possible but you have to believe.
Take a big step and have faith in yourself that you can do this!

[blueskighs]

She wrote she felt she had a sugar addiction until last Monday! What a great example of a perfect mental shift!

3aday,

you said it just right. That is what happened.
The crazy thing is this is such a big deal for me ... I really feel liberated ... new life ... reborn as it were ...
so unexpected ... but boy am I TRULY grateful,

Blueskighs

[amygarcia150]

Hello everyone, I just got woman's world magazine and it has the no S diet and I never heard about it before.
I snack too much, I am not big on sugar, I eat too much all day. I won't stop eating. I finish one thing to eat another. so I do need this diet.
I am so tired of counting Carbo and calories, and fiber. Ohhh I am tired and nothing seems to work. I am 5’5, I am 186.6 lbs. I am too heavy on my knees; therefore' My doctor won't let me walk so just to try to burn some calories, I left weight Not every day of course. And I do my stationary bike three times a week, or at least that is my goal. So I am just not sure what to eat, can I have a sandwich? Soup and some bread (whole wheat of course) what do you guys eat to lose weight? I really need your help. I will go to the library try to get the book.
Oh, you guys seem very honest and I loved your discussion. You speak from the heart, I love that about you. Thank you and God bless.
Amy [/color]
[/color][/list]

[blueskighs]

amygarcia,

welcome! I am new too! we are so glad to have you here.

There is a daily check in part of the forum for the No S Diet.

If you click on Everyday Systems Fourm Index on Top RIght it is the section on NO S diet below General Discussion. A lot of people write what the eat there .... you might want to check to see if you can get ideas there.

I tend to eat yogurt soy sausage scrambled eggs fruit and nuts on N days. A lot of people eat oatmeal with stuff added.

I eat nice size salads ... one bowl with things like tofu, avocado, and olives with veggies, AMy's frozen rice bowls, steamed veggies, lentil soup, homemade indian curries with brown rice, ummmm.... stuff like that for lunch and dinner ... but the "diet" is really flexible and people eat a lot of different stuff.

WHen you eat three meals a day and no snacks the meals I and many others find that they tend to be more pleasurable and satisfying when they are "real" food but that can encompass quite a variety! YAY!

Blueskighs

[tokyogirl79]

Wow, I'm glad to see that there are other sugar addicts such as myself! I thought I was just a "pig", but it's nice to see that there are others who feel a physical addiction to sugar. I'm trying to get onto this diet, but I'm finding that I have to wean myself off of sugar. I'm getting better at it & this week I'm going to try going "cold turkey" from sugar.

Can anyone suggest meals that would keep me from snacking or reaching for something sugary?

[fkwan]

3aday,

I'm sorry your friend had to go through such a thing and I'm glad you reminded me that there are much worse experiences in the world. I'm glad I was a doctor's sister-in-law and a good little girl who read medical journals for fun so that I never considered smoking. "Drugs" didn't do a thing for me; I once ate about three hash brownies in one go and only got numbness and tingling in my feet and alcohol just made me vomit. Why consider heroin when there was Sara Lee cheesecake in three fruit flavors? (I do not mean to be flip.) Coke and speed -- I was a major depressive; I preferred sleep to being awake all hours.

Food was the best and most reliable "drug" for me and although I would never want to go through a drug withdrawal hell, being a slave to something for almost forty years is no small potatoes, if you will forgive the metaphor.

f

[lmt2pt]

Lomolover- you don't mention your family, friends or any kind of support system in your posts. I think back to being your age and remember my family and friends were part of the problem. Well meaning, but part of the problem. Now I look at my husband and he is part of the solution. Where does your family fit in? Are they supportive, willing to do whatever it takes to help you get healthy? Are they hands off, leaving you on your own to find the strength to pull yourself out of this sugar loaded hole? Are they destructive, tempting you, belittling your efforts, pushing you toward the comfortable and away from your goals?

At 16 you don't have the benefit of doing the grocery shoping (to prevent temptations from entering your enviroment), choosing whom you dine with, or even what kind of help you seek out (ie: doctors). To put it simply, you don't control your enviroment and that makes things far more difficult. That does not mean it is in any way hopeless. Start with the suggestions already given. These guys are great for advice. But without knowing more about your homelife it limits our ability to give you more suggestions.

Amy and tokyogirl- What makes No S work is what makes it simple. Don't worry about specific food (except sweets of course) on N days. If you want to get more specific, make them balanced meals with produce, protein and carbohydrates. That will be filling and nourishing. Beyond that, eat what you like during your meals. Don't set yourself up for difficulties by making it harder than it has to be.

[amygarcia150]

Thank you guys,
Tomorrow is my official start date, so .let see. I will check what other people eat and find out. But my plan is to make it simple. Thank you so very much for everything. I will let you know how it works.
Take care.
Amy

[fkwan]

After going through my first two S days and bingeing, although not as horribly as i expected, but still eating roughly a day's calories before breakfast today, I confess that I am unsure about this diet. Even though I knew better, even though the stuff didn't taste good at all, I still ate it, and I still felt the same horrible thought processes coursing through me, i.e., I DON'T CARE IF IT DESTROYS ME, I WANT IT, AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!

I don't belong to any addictive 12 step group and I really don't know anything about addiction except being one and surrounded by an incurable one, an 80 year old lady with hoarding and spending OCD. However, it seems to me that the conventional model of simply not indulging in the habit, period, one day at a time, may be the only model that works for me, otherwise I will binge. Even if the binges are less severe, calorically they manage to undo all the good work performed on the N days, and thus if allowed to continue, will never produce any weight loss whatsoever.

Of course this is only my first weekend.

[stevecooper]

Give it a while. You can't develop habits in a week, so give it a bit more time.

What you're looking for is your default behaviour to be three meals a day -- if the N-days are still conscious, then you've not got the mealing, no-snacking habits down. S-days aren't going to be easy.

I think you'll find after some number of weeks, your default behaviour will be to resist over-indulgence.

[FarmerHal]

Fqwan, give yourself some time to work into the new habits.
And also, sometimes you just have to be little strict with that inner tummy toddler. Sometimes I find myself pacing the circle in my house that connects the kitchen/dining/living rooms. Around around, talking myself out of grabbing a snack to feed my emotions. Sometimes I go for a drink of water, or a coffee/tea or even chewing gum helps (trident has some neat flavors).

Stick it out and you'll start to figure out that you'll not be missing out on anything. Yes you can have what you want, at meals and on S days. I had some serious issues with that I WANT IT NOW!! but it is much more under control. I feel at peace with food and myself because I'm not a constant slave to it all day long. And I literally ate all day long. Being a stay at home mom, it didn't take much to get to the frige and pantry!

My stomach/digestive tract is much quieter and calmer and after about 15 months now, when I overdo an S day, I am reminded how I used to feel all day, every day. Bloated, gassy, making several bathroom trips and just mentally exhausted from that eat/guilt/eat cycle.

Keep posting and asking questions and seeking support. If you "fall off" and snack inbetween meals, move on. Don't let it ruin the whole day and just keep trying.

I became a noSer to lose weight, but came away withe *freedom* from food. I truely enjoy food now, have really come to enjoy fruits and veggies and have really made some deccadent desserts that were totally worth it (and I didn't bat an eyelash )

Take care and keep posting!

[fkwan]

Tiffani, you're right. After the binge I cut back on food the rest of the day and unbelievably did not gain any weight (didn't lose any either, but them's the breaks).

f

[FarmerHal]

f, it all adds up, eventually!
Just by following the rules and changing my habits (and having several imperfect WEEKS even!) I've lost and kept off 22lbs. Hopefully by my 2nd noS anniversary, I'll have another 20 off and be under 200.

Day by day, meal by meal.

If I can do it, you can too, don't be afraid of that inner tummy toddler