How to Quit Sugar

Hey all,

I've been trying to quit sugar for about two years now; I liken it to quitting cigarettes. I feel the same withdrawls as I did when I quit smoking, only sugar withdrawls last longer and sugar cravings are MUCH stronger for me than cigarette cravings EVER were. And it was hard to quit smoking! So you can imagine how difficult this sugar thing is.

Anyway, I've been off of sugar for almost a month now, which is longer than I've ever made it. I feel as if I have finally gotten over the 'hump' of withdrawls, and it should be smooth sailing from here. So, having finally found the way to quit sugar (for me personally), I figured I'd share to help those of you embarking on the same treacherous yet infinitely rewarding journey.

1. Cut out refined carbohydrates, too. Refined carbohydrates are only one simple digestion step away from being sugar itself, so cutting out or strictly limiting refined carbohydrates helps keep your body from going through nothing more than a slow, drawn out withdrawl process. In other words, you'll still have sugar cravings if you keep eating refined carbs.

2. For the first few months, go easy on honey, natural maple syrup, and other 'natural' sweetners (especially ANYTHING from the sugar cane plant, organic and natural or otherwise). These things are supposed to occurr in our diets sparsely anyway, and if we eat them in the same frequency as we used to eat refined sugar, there's not much difference where the body is concerned. The point is to eat things that convert straight to sugar sparsely, not including fruit.

And the following is the most important one that has helped me more than any other tip:

3. Identify your self-sabataeur. After millions of attempts to quit sugar followed by a sugar-binge three days later, I finally sat down with myself and said, 'what is the one determining factor in my failures? where is the one point in which I decided to recind my decision to not eat sugar?' I realized that each time I 'gave in,' some sort of justification process happened in my head. I told myself, 'you can't survive without sugar forever.' 'You're a professional cake decorator, you SHOULD eat sugar, it's your trade!' 'maybe just for valentine's day.' 'perhaps sugar isn't so bad for me, after all.' All of these things went through my head, to the point where finally I broke down and ate something sweet.

The next time it happend, I was prepared. I told myself, 'this voice telling you that you don't really want to live sugar free is just one of your withdrawl symptoms. Every time you ignore this voice, it will get quieter and you will get stronger. You made a commitment to yourself when you were thinking with a clear head. Keep it!"

This helped me IMMENSELY. Also, a great thing to remember is that if you have sugar cravings at night, if you can just make it to bed before eating sugar, I PROMISE you the sugar craving will be gone first thing in the morning, when you can start afresh in your commitment to yourself. Knowing that helped me, too.

Another things that really helped is the fact that I know that if I give into a craving, the craving won't stop, it will strengthen. I know this from experience. So, as long as I'll still have the pain of craving AFTER I eat whatever it is, I might as well just endure the craving without trying to satisfy it, 'cause it's insatiable by nature.

Lastly, every time I was REALLY confronted with a sugar craving (I work in a bakery as a cake decorator, so BELIEVE ME I've been tempted on a daily basis), I would ask myself if it would really be worth breaking my month-long fast from sugar with a whatever-it-was. Usually, it wasn't. I mean, if you're in a five star restaurant or patisserie, that's one thing, but if it's gas-station donuts, that's quite another.

So, I hope this helps some of you. We all know sugar is bad for us, and tons of health professionals prescribe diets and lifestyle plans that include going off of sugar. I haven't, however, seen much in the way of helping with the process of quitting sugar, which is really where most of us get lost. So, use this advice the best way you can, and keep on pluggin' away!

Renata

Thank you - I'll keep that in mind. I have stocked up on green tea - hopefully that will help with the caffeine side of things.

Hi -

I am the ultimate sweet tooth. I'd like to think it's one of the main things stopping me from ever actually reaching my desired weight. I cannot say no to a dessert and cannot stop once I've started. I think I am going to try to cut out any simple carbs, refined sugar, etc. and just do it a couple of days at a time. Then pat myself on the back and try to push my sugar-free streaks further. Maybe allow myself one sweet a week.

Thankfully I love fruit so I'll just be frequenting the grocery store to keep the produce in my fridge fresh!

Please everyone keep sharing your sugar-withdrawal experiences, it's so great to have others to relate to!

Hello Renata.   Are you taken?

Jon

Thanks

I'm on my 3rd day of no sugar. I (alcoholic) quit alcohol Dec 11, 2002. Shortly after, I started to crave sweets and have not been able to stop. Before I managed to stop drinking, after almost 25 yrs, I never ate any sweets. I found out that it was because of all the alcohol I was drinking. I also quit smoking 1 yea later and it was very hard but I have to admit that sugar seems much harder.

I want to have sick pack abs like high school and it will never happen if I can't stop eating ice cream. I will try to follow your guidlines and keep you posted.

Thanks Again

davebflying@aol.com 

Hi there, 

I also gave up sugar and refined carbs.  For the past 3 weeks i ate clean foods, brown rice, chicken, beans, veggies, etc.  I had a rough day and was craving sugar...chocolate cake.  I just had a piece and now i feel Like im going to be sick..i feel dizzy, etc.  Did I destroy my body....im off the stuff for good...i dont like the way I feel right now...

saveen

Kudos to you for just having one piece!

Did you know that it is EXPECTED in behavior modification to relapse to old behaviors? That is how the brain works; you try to instill a new behavior, and you fall back on the old one a few times until finally, you're doing it less and less and you've made a change for good.

Just expect that this is going to happen here and there, and don't make it a big deal in your head, because it's not. The bigger deal you make it, the higher your chances of falling are!

Good luck!~

Original Post by gi-jane:

You're absolutely right.   I fully support your move to remove refined sugars from your diet and the advice to others is excellet.   The other post asked for your reasoning.  There really is no GOOD reason to eat sugar except for pleasure.  It has no nutritional value, it rots teeth and it causes excess insulin production which in turn exacerbates/causes some horrible conditions including Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, PCOS and so forth. 

Fat gets the blame for modern obesity levels but our fat consumption hasn't risen particularly over the last 50 years.  However, our consumption of refined grain and sugar has almost trebled.  Atkins took that statistic and concluded (wrongly) that to slim the population down we had to remove all the carbohydrates from the diet.  The more sensible conclusion is to retain unrefined and whole grains but ditch the sugars and refined starches - as you have found

I am quite confused by the advice you are offering. I recently posted a thread on the weight gain forum asking for reassurance about me eating 'a lot' of sugar during refeeding and you told me that there is no danger in eating sugar. It just feels like you are giving mixed messages, I'd rather you be honest with me than lie to make me feel reassured.

"Sugar isn't dangerous by itself and keeping your teeth clean reduces the risk of dental problems.     If someone is overweight, inactive and has a generally unhealthy lifestyle which includes things like smoking or  drinking too much etc.... then that's when eating too much sugar (or salt or fat) can become an issue.

So concentrate on the weight restoration.... once you're there you can adjust your diet."

This is the 'reassurance' you are referring to that gi-jane said.

I don't see how this is contradictory? You are refeeding; this means your nutritional goals, aims and requirements are completely different from the average poster.

Yes but I don't plan to reduce my calories dramatically when I maintain so I won't be really reducing my sugar intake either.

I am just a bit confused that on my thread everyone told me it is fine to eat sugar and then this thread is promoting cutting it all out. It may just be me thinking gi-jane has said conflicting views, this thread has just paniced me I suppose. Made me think it is so bad for me if I eat sugar after weight restoration.

Well, I will say that refined sugar is something man created, and is not something we are well-adapted to eat as a species. Diabetes, Insulin Resistance and Obesity are examples of this.

However, when recovering from an eating disorder, it is not the time to get philisophical about the food you're eating.

I recovered from an ED myself back in the day, and I just had to trust what the hospital told me to eat. Every day, we had cafeteria food, which was...challenging, to say the least. And of course I may not agree that the dessert I was supposed to eat with my lunch was the best for my health objectively, but subjectively, it was the best for my psychological health, and once I was able to build that back up and to allow my body to start accepting food again in general (and what better way than through quick energy sources like sugar?), I was then able to become fully healthy in spirit and thus able to focus on health and my body.

You are exhibiting the all too common 'black and white' thinking that is the root of eating disorders. You say gi jane's posts as black and white, when really, we're dealing with a grey area.

And recovery is one big grey area; learning to paint in shades of grey is the art and beauty of becoming healthy.

Good luck to you!

Thanks very much for that reply.

I know you are right and I am sorry if I came in a bit strong. I guess I am seeing it as all black or white and that not everyone has to cut out all sugar. I just thinking reading this thread made me panic and assume that nobody should eat refined sugar.

Well done for recovering, that is very inspiring.