giving up sweets cold turkey

I have always had an awful sweet tooth.  Since trying to lose weight, I am able to eat healthy meals, but I think I am addicted to sugar! I told myself I would not buy any more sweets, but instead of studying for my exam after dinner, I went to Wal Mart and bought some desserts.  I really do want to stop this, but when I try to go cold turkey, I make it through one day, and then the next day I am craving them.  I know that the only way to stop this addiction is to go cold turkey, because I have no self control.  Is there anyone who has given up sweets cold turkey?  If so, will it always be this hard to pass up sweets?  Any suggestions? Thank You :-)

have done both the cold turkey, and the "be mindful" approach. cold turkey is easier in some ways because your limits are clearer, at least for me. no is no. "be mindful" gets translated into "i dont have to worry about it, its just one" but one becomes two and two becomes fifteen. . . . . for me. 

some things that help me avoid refined sugar:

• dont have any in the house.
  
• have veggie snacks on hand that you can let yourself eat: like carrots, celery, 
• fruits and veggies have natural sugars, so they are good choices when your craving a sweet, have an apple, an orange, a carrot, some beets, fresh raw peas, what every you enjoy. 
• i serve sliced fruits as dessert, all pretty, arranged on a little plate. it works. 
• learn to cook fancy things with veggies, nice salads, side dishes, etc. it helps not feel like you need sweets when your meals are wonderful, beautiful, delicious, and can bring you pride. 
• watch out for fruit juices! they are a denser sugar than raw fruit. i found myself downing it like water on more than one occasion during sugar free times, so i dont even buy it any more. 
• ive actually found protein very helpful in nipping the sugar cravings. i have no idea why that is so, but it works for me. 

i have a harder time when i allow myself the occasional treat. not only does one lead to 15, but one day leads to the next and pretty soon, i've had 200 to 500 calories of refined sugar a day for most days of the week! (usually mixed with the evil chocolate). 
cold turkey is hard for the first few days, but it gets easier. the effort is worth it. i feel a lot better when i get some clean time away from sugar. sugar really can be an addiction. good for you for making the effort. 

i have a simliar approach...if i avoid it altogether it seems easier than allowing myself just one taste (then i want more, then i think of something else i want)

 

I started on 2/2/09 and the more I ate healthy the less I craved the sweets.  Don't try to do it cold turkey it will make you want it more.  Everything in moderation. You don't have to cut anything out of your diet, just account for it. If you have the sweet you are craving, just plan on lower calorie meal around it.  My weakness is cookies, cakes and bread. I have baked the kids several loaves of banana nut bread, and a batch of tollhouse cookies. I ate two cookies and to be honest they were not as delicious as I remembered them. There are several muffin mixes that you can make that will satisfy your sweet tooth that are not very high in calories.   Just wait  until you get to the point of being able to finally taste the natural sweetness in vegetables.  I never knew how sweet carrots and celery was.   I know you can do it. I had the worst will power in the world and I'm creeping up on a 17lb loss.    I wish you the best of luck.

-Julie

the more you convince yourself that you have no self-control, the more true it becomes d:

it's not really best to just quit entirely. you should allow yourself sweets in moderation. like say, if you have done well the entire day or every 2-3 days, allow yourself a small desert (as reward) but keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to lose weight so that you don't eat too much. also, to make sweets healthier, look for healthier versions like ones made with whole grains or make some yourself if you can.

if you need something sweet every day, here're some ideas:

- yogurt sprinkled with 2 tbsp granola

- tea or coffee with 1/4 c skim milk and 2 tsp honey

- whole grain toast with tsp sugar-free jam

 

also when you do eat "real" dessert, make sure it's really good quality even if it's more expensive. that way you let yourself indulge and eat it slowly to get your money's worth. d:

good luck

It sounds like we have a lot in common!  Sweets are definitely the biggest obstacle I face too.  I have tried to go cold-turkey but I struggle making it more than a day or two, just like you.  One healthy alternative that helps me get my chocolate fix is making sugar free chocolate pudding.  It's low-calorie (for a dessert) and is easy to make.  I definitely don't buy sweets because I'll just sit and eat them.  THe best thing I've found is to keep the house empty of them, and if a craving gets too bad, I'll go to the local ice cream shop and get a small frozen-yogurt blizzard.  It's probably 300-500 calories(?), but it fills me up and stops my craving without indulging in a whole box of Oreos or whatever.  I don't really eat 100 calorie packs much because they just leave me wanting more.  My key is to make sure I REALLY want it (i.e. I really AM hungry), and then finding something substantial, yet semi-low-calorie, and in a single serving!  Hopefully this helps :)

I am exactly like you!! It's so hard not to get a cookie or frozen yogurt from my dining hall after dinner - my trick is flavored coffee (decaf depending on my plans for sleeping) with skim milk and a packet of splenda - it's sweet and the warmth of the beverage fills my tummy - plus skim milk I think is a really really nutritious food so you'll get the extra protein and calcium from the splash of that.

Good luck! I find it easier to not eat any sweet and like a previous poster said, really make my meals DELICIOUS and filling - if I enjoyed what I ate for dinner I'm less likely to need desert. the protein suggestion is great too - it helps fill you up and lower your blood sugar so you don't crave as much.

Good luck! I struggle with this too very much!

I went cold turkey without refined sugar several years ago, and have never looked back.

It was hard at first and I had the odd ONE piece of candy, but one was enough and soon I could go with none.

Now, my body only craves fruit, dates, and natural sugars.

We are not designed to eat refined sugars, and especially in the large amounts most people do, so our taste buds have become used to eating too much refined sugars

When you start to eat only natural fruit sugars then your taste will adjust and fruit will be enough to satisfy a sweet craving.

Even honey or maple syrup drizzled over oatmeal or a baked apple is better for you then refined sugar or artificial sweeteners!

Giving up cold turkey, sweets....

This AM that last 5 day old piece of white meat was staring me in the face saying eat me or toss me....so I ate it....ecch....what I wouldn't give for a doughnut right now....

I've never given up sweets cold turkey, but I took high GI carbs out of my diet cold turkey for several months.  This was mostly processed starch in dry cereal and white rice, but there was some sugar too.  It was a health issue, which might have made it easier. 

I am on day 3 of my "beat my sugar addiction" mindset.  I haven't had any major cravings yet, although the more research I do the more I find things that will keep my sugar addiction fueled until I cut them out comepletely (sauces etc), so I don't think I'll ever have no sugar.  But I am avoiding completely chocolate, sweets, biscuits, cakes, sugar in coffee, soda, and so on, and also white bread, white rice, white potatoes etc.

My gripe at the moment - asphatame.  Doh.  I don't want sugar but I don't want chemicals either!

The abstinence vs moderation debate will always be there.  People who are firmly on one side or the other are very passionate.  I'm someplace in the middle, leaning toward the abstinence folks.

I have been a sugar fiend most of my life - I grew up on sugar cereals for breakfast every morning and this was before they were fortified.  I have compulsively overeaten sugar/white flour products, for years and years.  The 100 cal packs don't work for me - yeah, I guess I am burning some calories as I rip open yet another package. 

I have found that the longer I go without sweets, the less appealing they are and the less obsessed I am over them.  Cookies, cake, ice cream - a little bit is rarely satisfying.  "One is too many and a thousand never enough." 

On the other hand, I have low fat vanilla yogurt for breakfast 4 days a week, and it has sugar in it.  I have honey in my tea most mornings.  These sugar foods do not trigger binges - I never find myself wanting to go through all the yogurts in fridge or guzzle the tea uncontrollably.

And sometimes I can have a piece of candy or a cookie - typically if I'm somewhere outside of my home where I can walk away after having a sample - I do not keep those things in my house.

So my recommendation is listen to your body - if you find it overwhelming to control a certain food, eliminate it from your diet.  I understand the idea of "If you say you can't, then you can't" - but why bother training yourself to have sugar?  Your body doesn't need it, and binging is the clearest sign that it is a drug that needs to be eliminated.

What I CAN do is train my mind to stop obsessing over a food that harms me.  That is much more effective than shaming myself because I over-ate [insert favorite binge food].

Original Post by mad4moon:

...The 100 cal packs don't work for me- yeah, I guess I am burning some calories as I rip open yet another package....

 lol, when I read this comment I thought to myself the 100 cal packs work for me-as long as I eat 4-5 packs...

sigh, I need to cut out all refined sugars...I have never been a person who can do sweets in moderation...In fact I had lost my extra 30 lbs with 6 months of excercise and eating well just to be derailed for a year after visiting my family for 2 weeks where I was being plied with sweets non-stop...At first I resisted but it seemed to hurt my family's feelings because they went out and got all the stuff I like and I felt I was being so obsessed so I gave in and ate the stuff..problem is I kept eating it after I came home...and eating it and eating it and before I knew it 30 lbs had found its way back to my tummy...(I am only 5'1 so thats a lot of tummy)....

 

You have to find out what works for you. Abstinence is the only policy for me. I can't do moderation. Sweets just make me want more and more and more. There is no such thing as ONE for me. I am in the process of kicking the sugar again. For me, the first few days are really rough. After that, I could care less about sugar/sweets and no longer crave them.