sugar withdrawal experiment

Hi everyone,
After last Thursday's combination of Thanksgiving dinner (with pie) and Birthday party with a really rich chocolate cake, I felt like I'd taken in enough sweets for about a century. But on the way home my DP and I got talking about the way my family deals with desserts. Desserts were always around growing up; unless mom was flat on her back sick, there were homemade cookies, brownies, cake, pie, or other yummies around. And no one ever finished a meal without a sweet. For a while growing up I even talked my mom into letting me have a "dessert of breakfast." :)

So here I am, 28 years old, having adopted pretty different habits regarding eating and exercise than my fam. (That is, I'm vegan, a farmer, and I ride or otherwise work out most days.) But I still feel the compulsion to have something sweet after a meal - especially the evening meal. My DP worries about this, not because the dessert is hurting my weight or appearance, but because I'm not able to resist the urge for sweets. Even when there's nothing around and I'm scrounging for a few chocolate chips and half an old frozen cookie.

And after hearing his concerns - and brushing them off or rationalizing them - for quite some time, I finally realized there was some truth to this. I love me a good dessert, but do I really find the "desperation desserts" satisfying? No. Actually, they usually make me feel a wee bit queasy; but they satisfy "the urge."

So I decided that I'd do an experiment. No desserts until my birthday - which is this Friday - to see how my body & mind would react. And today - at the end of day 5 - I feel great. My body feels way more stable than it's felt in a while, and I don't have much day-to-day weight fluctuation. I'm finding it really important to get adequate protein and fat in my diet, or my dessert cravings are huge. And there have been a couple hard stretches - perhaps comparable in some way to the urge for a drug or cigarette? Having never had to quit those addictions, I can't say.

Anyhow, any of you have experience with this? Has anyone had what they consider to be an addictive relationship with sugar? Will it be possible for me to enjoy a really good dessert every now and again but not have to fight through the withdrawal for days afterwards?

Thanks for any insights - and for reading this whole thing! :)

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Originally Posted by solveig

Hi everyone,
After last Thursday's combination of Thanksgiving dinner (with pie) and Birthday party with a really rich chocolate cake, I felt like I'd taken in enough sweets for about a century. But on the way home my DP and I got talking about the way my family deals with desserts. Desserts were always around growing up; unless mom was flat on her back sick, there were homemade cookies, brownies, cake, pie, or other yummies around. And no one ever finished a meal without a sweet. For a while growing up I even talked my mom into letting me have a "dessert of breakfast." :)

So here I am, 28 years old, having adopted pretty different habits regarding eating and exercise than my fam. (That is, I'm vegan, a farmer, and I ride or otherwise work out most days.) But I still feel the compulsion to have something sweet after a meal - especially the evening meal. My DP worries about this, not because the dessert is hurting my weight or appearance, but because I'm not able to resist the urge for sweets. Even when there's nothing around and I'm scrounging for a few chocolate chips and half an old frozen cookie.

And after hearing his concerns - and brushing them off or rationalizing them - for quite some time, I finally realized there was some truth to this. I love me a good dessert, but do I really find the "desperation desserts" satisfying? No. Actually, they usually make me feel a wee bit queasy; but they satisfy "the urge."

So I decided that I'd do an experiment. No desserts until my birthday - which is this Friday - to see how my body & mind would react. And today - at the end of day 5 - I feel great. My body feels way more stable than it's felt in a while, and I don't have much day-to-day weight fluctuation. I'm finding it really important to get adequate protein and fat in my diet, or my dessert cravings are huge. And there have been a couple hard stretches - perhaps comparable in some way to the urge for a drug or cigarette? Having never had to quit those addictions, I can't say.

Anyhow, any of you have experience with this? Has anyone had what they consider to be an addictive relationship with sugar? Will it be possible for me to enjoy a really good dessert every now and again but not have to fight through the withdrawal for days afterwards?

Thanks for any insights - and for reading this whole thing! :)

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Well I have an addictive relationship to the whole processed white flour/sugar thing. I crave sweets and could eat soft white bread without every feeling full I think. I can usually quell the urge to eat cookies etc by drinking decaf coffee or tea with sugar. I know it's still sugar, but the caloric content is still much lower than a couple of cookies. Another favourite is a single piece of dark chocolate, melted slowly in my mouth. That can satisfy the craving for a long time. Whenever I have managed to get rid of the sweets/white flour from my diet for a week or more, I have felt better but it's painful to do so and I seldom manage to stay off them.

Been there. Still am there. For me, the turnaround point was my cholesterol level. I am a vegetarian and my cholesterol level was high enough that the doctor was threatening to put me on pipe cleaner drugs. When I went through my diet, I realized that all of the avoidable sources of bad fats were in desserts <sob />. I *love* desserts--skip the meals, just give me the dessert!

At the same time the study came out that red wine had a lowering affect on cholesterol. So, I substituted a glass of red wine every night for my dessert. Sure, sometimes I splurge and still have dessert; sometimes I just break a little had have a piece of dark chocolate; but many nights "dessert" is just my red wine.

My cholesterol is now under control, but the really wierd thing now that we've been doing this for more than a year, is that I'm able to walk past the sweets. The first time that happened, I was surprised, but now I routinely bypass the sweets table at work (oh, those coworkers and their tempting doughnuts).

I may not have kicked the habit, but, oddly, it seems to be fading. I still enjoy the sweets, but on my terms, not theirs. So, I think there is hope.

I have cut out processed foods including stuff added with sugar from my diet since June

I have noticed:
I dont need to add sweetener to coffee or tea any more
I can cut the sweetener out of baked goods that i make by more than half and use maple syrup or honey or sweet potato or pumpking, and they still taste good to me.
when i do have a taste of dessert, i find they are crazy sweet.

i still love chocolate, and dark chocolate works for that craving.

i can maintain my weight much more easily.

My skin is clearer and i am much less reactive emotionally.

i think that's it...

Oh I've had a major chocolate craving lately. I'm going to have to go on a chocolate diet. That is. Buy a big block of dark chocolate and eat one small block of chocolate a day. I also crave chips a Pace picante sauce. I don't know why. They really can't be good for you, but they sure taste good. I was in the grocery store the other day and reading the labels on snack crackers. made we want to walk away. I need healthier snacks.

Wow Solveig, did we grow up in the same house? I have come to learn that it is now my "comfort food" this sweet/dessert thang that I automatically turn to when stressed or bored. I tend to drink a diet coke to control my sugar cravings, but have found if I eliminate both sugar and the dc, I feel loads better. Tough part is actually doing it, and I now it's time again. That first week sucks but I need to start. I've eaten all the chocolate in my house and the dc is down to just a couple - I'm ready!

i crave sugar with my lunch for some reason. i think its my midday slump and my body wants a boost. i notice when i don't have sugary stuff i feel much better. right now i'm on the bottom end of that sugar high and i hate it. i know if i don't eat it i feel much better, but it tastes so good.....

Dark chocolate is my friend. I buy it often, keep it in the house at all times. It's a staple, like eggs or cheese.

Whenever I want it, I eat a square or two slowly. Nice thing is that the dark chocolate is so much more satisfying than milk chocolate or caramel. (caramel is my other HUGE favorite) So I don't end up eating too much so I don't do the blood-sugar rollercoaster, and I never feel deprived because I always have it around.

If I feel deprived, I binge. Blood sugar goes up, then it crashes, then I binge more to get it back up... So, the secret to my success (55 lbs down, 5 to go) is not to ever let myself feel deprived.

And ride my bike.:D For some reason, if I'm getting exercise I don't yearn for candy/desserts.

KnottedYet-we have similar staples. :)

Thanks for all the responses! I had a feeling that a lot of you could relate. It's day 6 now, and I still feel good. I'm finding that I have a lot more drive to cook - so that my actual meal really tastes good and satisfying - rather than dumping a bunch of leftovers together and waiting for the goodies after the meal.

Eating butternut squash soup with homemade (and just a little burnt) croutons right now. Yum.

Not to say I'm not looking forward to the birthday cake. But I don't feel so much like I NEED it.

Best to you all!

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Originally Posted by mtbdarby

Wow Solveig, did we grow up in the same house? I have come to learn that it is now my "comfort food" this sweet/dessert thang that I automatically turn to when stressed or bored. I tend to drink a diet coke to control my sugar cravings, but have found if I eliminate both sugar and the dc, I feel loads better. Tough part is actually doing it, and I now it's time again. That first week sucks but I need to start. I've eaten all the chocolate in my house and the dc is down to just a couple - I'm ready!

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mtbdarby, I found that Diet Coke was worse for me than sugar. I originally thought it was the caffeine and switched to caffeine free but that was just as bad. I cut it out completely as I decided I didn't want to take in any more fake sugar in my diet and have felt loads better. I've had no diet coke for 5 months and have basically avoided all artificial sweeteners as much as possible. It actually didn't involve that much change to my diet but I stopped a couple of things: sugar free gum, sugar free squash for flavouring water in Camelbak, change of recovery drink to one that doesn't use aspartame or any artificial ingredients. I also read labels more closely now and don't buy anything with either Aspartame or AceK.

If I have a craving for sweets and/or fizz (which I do at the moment as I'm PMSing I'll have a little full fat coke if I have to give in to the craving, it ticks lots of boxes for me, none particularly healthy though;) ). My appetite is more stable now, as are my moods and energy levels. I have real sugar occasionally but often find things like milk chocolate, cakes etc too sweet. My caffeine tolerance has completely disappeared though, one small cup of freshly brewed coffee is really amusing for me I whizz around the place (too much makes me crash badly later though).

Hello, my name is jennifer, I'm 26yrs old and I too am a sugar addict.

I was just talking about this a few days ago with my husband. We're both sugar addicts. The past week I've made a serious effort to eliminate all unnecessary sugar, and it has been tough. I can honestly say though, the last few days I've been very alert first thing in the morning and throughout the day. I feel healthier and seem happier. My husband isn't quitting cold turkey, but he is trying to reduce his intake. Like you, growing up, he ALWAYS had sweets in the house. When he got to college, he thought it was strange not to have a cake in your fridge every single day. Up until recently, he had sugar cereal in the morning, a dessert w/ lunch, and cookies before bed. He just eliminated sugar cereal this week, still has the lunch dessert, and ran out of cookies so he eliminated that.

It's hard, real hard to quit. I used to be a smoker and this sugar addiction is much more difficult to quit than smoking ever was. I've found if I eat more fruit and nuts it helps with the urges.

ah, sugar.
why do i feel like i need sugar after a nice meal?
it's so strange.
doesn't have to be a lot. a piece of candy.

but like Knot, I dole out very dark chocolate to myself and eat it very slowly.
i gave up sugar for a year once, but it was 24 years ago, and i was tired and miserable with two small bouncy boys...

I have been able to eliminate almost all sweets from my diet over the last ten years. My taste buds are now so accustomed to it that any kinds of sweets - from cookies to desserts to candy - make me feel ill. I can't remember the last time I had a piece of cake, a couple of years ago at least.

To cut out the sweets, I did one major thing... I decided to live alone... and if there were no sugars in the house, there were none to eat. I keep absolutely NO soft drinks, desserts or packaged sweets in my house. I don't buy any sweets, and if some are given to me as gifts I just pass them along to friends or clients. Or I just throw it in the trash... immediately. Out of sight, out of mind. Occasionally, if I have a sugar craving I can satisfy it with a fruit roll-up (organic, 39¢ at Whole Foods), raisins or even a Cran-Razz shot block.

I do have one BIG exception.... Fresh ground coffee with flavored Coffeemate in the a.m. Honestly, I don't know if it's the caffeine or sugar, but it's my dietary vice I don't want to give up. (Okay, I do the half-caff brewing now). Mmmmmm I can smell it now.

This thread reminded me that I, too, feel better when I limit my sugar intake. I have quite the sweet-tooth, though - it's hard to use restraint.

I do well at home... I have about 1/2 tsp. in my morning coffee, and sometimes I have a hot chocolate before bed (cocoa powder and 1 tsp. sugar) - that's about it.

It is really hard at work, though! People bring in cookies and donuts... I don't even really LIKE donuts, but somehow I usually take one when offered. I wonder what happens to my brain, sometimes. I had a drawer-full of Halloween-sized candy bars. HAD is the important word here... I got rid of them all... by eating them in the past few days. :( :o

So, I have effectively removed the temptation. :rolleyes: Now, to brave the holiday parties that start this weekend! :eek: Wish me luck!

I've been having some success with my postponing technique. Although I crave the sweets, I make a cup of green (decaf) or chai (again, decaf) tea, with the deal that if I still want the sweets after I finish the tea, I can have it. So far, by the time I finish the tea, I've completely forgotten about the sweets.

Also, if you absolutely have to have something, I use the caramel or chocolate flavored Viactiv calcium chews. Gets the craving taken care of while getting my daily dose of calcium.

I completely quit sugar and most processed foods for a couple years in my early 20s. Still eat very little of them and don't have a taste for them. The thought or smell of a donut or cannolli can almost turn my stomache. I don't like chocolate, so guess I'm lucky that way. If I do eat dessert, it's probably a homemade pie that I made with the amount of sugar I wanted to put in it (about 1/2-2/3 of the recipe). I do enjoy ice cream but don't have it very often. And I'll occassionally make myself tapioca pudding because it's sweet but not too sweet. Also, I love cranberries and haven't figured out how to eat them without some sugar (not too much sugar, they must still taste tart).

I'm way late on this thread . . . Just wanted to share that I too am a sugar addict. About 2 years ago I realized that I could probably loose some weight if I stopped eating my "something sweet" after dinner every night, so I quit cold turkey. It was so incredibly difficult for the first 2 weeks, I thought I was going to have to check myself in to a rehab center. I should mention that I'd read that if your body is getting what it needs, it will stop craving the things it doesn't need, so I tried this theory. I made a concerted effort to eat well while trying to kick the sugar, and it worked. After about 2 weeks the cravings started to subside and the pure habit of eating something sweet after dinner started to fade. (I agree with Pedal Wench, I found tea to be very helpful in warding off the cravings, and it was something to have after dinner). This was liberating in that I finally felt I had control over the sugar, not that it had control over me. For the first time ever I was able to pass up the cookies at work.

Once I was in control, I let myself start eating it occasionally. I know this may sound sad, but truly life for me would not be as enjoyable without cake. I absolutely adore cake. So its not that I don't ever eat sugar now, I just have it when I think its reasonable, like if I rode 50 miles that day and something presents itself that looks tasty, I'll have some. So its an indulgence, not a habit anymore. Right now I have leftover Halloween M&Ms in my desk drawer. They'll stay there until the day I feel like I should eat them, whereas before, I would've just eaten them because they were there, because they would be calling to me.

Just another aspect of sugar, solveig...

My partner tried cutting all sugar he reasonably could from his diet in an effort to control cramping - he had read about it in one article and thought - why not, I'll give it a go.

No added sugar, occasional desserts, rare biscuits, no cakes... this, for him, equalled no cramping after races, TTs or long (100-150km) training rides.

Me? Afraid I won't give up the chocolate... :p

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Originally Posted by RoadRaven

Me? Afraid I won't give up the chocolate... :p

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Dark chocolate doesn't have much sugar..... :D