How to beat addiction to sweet stuff

[unwashed potato!]

out on interest, what's the cheapest way to get some good protein with your meals? i've been cutting the carbs with diners and cutting sugars (weird how grose i find it now in food) but getting protein is expensive.

 

[elmarko]

I found that a good variety of fruit during the day and plenty of water deadened my cravings for sweets and chocolate, just need to keep it up!

- just stick with what works to be honest.

Switching to a high protein diet with a large amount of fresh vegetables worked great for me (along with drinking loads of water).

out on interest, what's the cheapest way to get some good protein with your meals? i've been cutting the carbs with diners and cutting sugars (weird how grose i find it now in food) but getting protein is expensive.

Eggs are pretty cheap, sometimes lean chicken in reduced & reasonably priced (just make sure it isn't pumped full of water/sugar/salt as it tends to be in Tesco) sainsbury's fresh chicken is usually just chicken, tinned tuna isn't bad either (pretty cheap)

 

[Freefaller]

out on interest, what's the cheapest way to get some good protein with your meals? i've been cutting the carbs with diners and cutting sugars (weird how grose i find it now in food) but getting protein is expensive.

Unfortunately that's how our western culture/diet has matured, a propensity for cheap carbs and cheap poor quality proteins. Protein doesn't have to be expensive, but it's often cheaper to bulk buy. I.e. buy a whole chicken and roast it, rather than lots of chicken breasts. Fish is good, oily fish is even better, lots of calories, omega 3 good fats and protein.

However in general £ for £ you get more carb for your money than protein.

Buy from online butchers, you can get a meat box which can last a whole week or two (if you freeze it).

Most of our meals are protein based with stacks of veg. You just have to get used to changing your lifestyle to fit it.

 

[dogbert]

I recently had a very revealing discussion with a liver consultant about eating habits.

He told me things so utterly game-changing they seem obvious.

What happens after you eat a meal?
...your body digests the food.
and how does it do that?
…by making acid, bile and enzymes to soften the food.
and where do your organs get the water to create those fluids?
…your organs draw in water from the body to create digestive fluids. Those fluids are absorbed by the food in your gut. The water used to create digestive fluids needs to be replaced. Otherwise you become dehydrated.

If you have eaten recently and are still hungry and you don't drink enough water you can confuse it with still being hungry. This is because the sensations are similar as both hunger and thirst are controlled by same brain part called the hypothalamus. You can confuse dehydration with hunger!

It is a natural occurrence to feel thirsty about an hour after eating a meal. This is your body asking for more water, to replace the fluids used to digest your last meal. It is generally better to assume that you are thirsty instead of hungry. Drink a glass of water and if you still feel the need for food after 15 minutes – eat.

Beware of beverages that are sweetened with sugars!
Though they provide water, sugar triggers insulin production because the body registers sugar as food, and gets ready to begin digesting a full meal when a large quantity of sugar is ingested.
When food does not follow a sugary drink, the body believes it is starving; this is where excess levels of insulin trigger a body’s famine response. The famine response causes the body to store calories (sugar etc...) as fat, and slow down the metabolism to conserve energy – thus making one feel tired and lethargic.

It is a natural occurrence often called a sugar rush. The body expects food after a big dose of sugar. Sugar gives a short spike of fuel, creating the extra energy (rush). When food is not forthcoming the body goes into famine mode, falsely believing it to be starving. Then one starts to feel tired and lethargic the feeling is exaggerated because of the swing from excess sugar energy to switching on the famine response.

This makes one seek our more fuel (sugar) to quickly reverse the feeling of lethargy, thus people tend to swing between sugar highs and lows, while the body desperately stores calories as fat because it think its starving by constantly going into famine response (Excess insulin).

In Summary:
Keep sugary drinks to a minimum and only consume them with a full meal.
Expect to be thirsty about an hour after a meal.
Avoid sugary food or drinks between meals.
If you continue to feel hungry between meals, eat more protein with your meals.

 

[sHo0sH]

I have the same problem. I just have this immense craving after savoury food for sugar, it is very hard to control but I have started to manage it.
How? as previously suggested - natural sugars, try eating things like sweet potato and butternut squash, also it's mind over matter just ask yourself 3 times, do I REALLY need it?

 

[bushmins]

I gave up eating sweets for a week, after that time I had a choc bar and it didn't taste very nice. Almost like I had beaten an addiction, much like smoking; you kid your self into thinking its tastes nice when actually it doesn't taste that good at all.

I cut down my sweet stuff intake 3 weeks ago (for the second time) and I've lost nearly a stone. I also massively cut down on my bread intake.

I'm telling myself im not on a 'diet' im actually just eating more normally for a human.

I weighed in at over 16.4 stone but im 6foot1 and didn't look like some of the guys that weigh 16 stone. I never had a massive gut or flabby bits. This meant that the fat was inside me probably around my internal organs. Just by eating a more normal diet (and everyone knows what that means) the weight has dropped off at a rate I actually thought I had diabetes... I don't, but I could have if I kept the way I was going.

I want to get to 14 stone. I have a very physical job but that alone wont get me to 14 stone, ill have to start swimming again. Swimming makes me feel good.

I have periods of the day when I actually feel hungry now but don't instinctively reach for something to eat, this make me feel good.

I don't believe the whole 'going on a diet' thing, I believe in changing your life style. So I wont be cutting out anything completely or going on some stupid body rape slimming diet. I know people who have cut things out of their diet completely for a period of time and now have an intolerance to those foods.


Something I noticed is that now I have been eating a more healthy diet, when eating something like a small tin of Heinz beans or the like on toast I will get hot flushes. This must be the high salt content. Kind of puts how bad those things are into perspective.

 

[Subliminal Aura]

OP if you've not done so already..... Exercise.

I've also cut the sugars out and have been walking a minimum of 5 miles a day. Playing Ingress motivates and don't forget to leave the car at home

 

[elmarko]

Indeed, keeping up a good water intake has made a huge difference to how I feel daily.

Avoiding that constant high/low from high sugary foods has made me never remotely get tired at work any-more (that's with getting up at 5AM, gym at 6:30 - 8:00) - work 8:00 till 5:00 daily.

Quote some time ago I used to struggle to stay away at work during long boring meetings (almost falling asleep) when I did less exercise & got considerably more sleep/consumed far more calories.

 

[Kishywish]

Exercise, water, self-control, diet.

Easy to say, harder to implement.

 

[Subliminal Aura]

Exercise, water, self-control, diet.

Easy to say, harder to implement.

Positive results come very quickly and this motivates you more. So much so that I've our on stroll at the moment having been revitalised by this thread

 

[hargi]

Yeah I have just started jogging want to be able to do 10ks. My diet is poor thing is I'm 5'8 and 11.6 so have a little bit if a belly but nothing drastic. However looking at what I eat my insides must be awful this is something I want to change.
I love tuna, and chicken. I can't eat cheese or propper milk have to have almond substitute.

 

[Jono8]

willpower

 

[Freefaller]

Uh oh.... You had to go and say that didn't you....

 

[Glaucus]

Unfortunately that's how our western culture/diet has matured, a propensity for cheap carbs and cheap poor quality proteins. Protein doesn't have to be expensive, but it's often cheaper to bulk buy. I.e. buy a whole chicken and roast it, rather than lots of chicken breasts. Fish is good, oily fish is even better, lots of calories, omega 3 good fats and protein.

However in general £ for £ you get more carb for your money than protein.

Buy from online butchers, you can get a meat box which can last a whole week or two (if you freeze it).

Most of our meals are protein based with stacks of veg. You just have to get used to changing your lifestyle to fit it.

This,
And cold turkey to the original question. Three days of hell, then extremely easy after that. I also avoid fruit due to the high sugar content. However if doing a lot of exercise or you get a craving for something sweet, then fruit can be a life saver.

On a separate note, Freefaller. Any chance of explaining glycogen stores to me and the importance and consequences of running out etc and best way to keep them topped up while exercising.

 

[Gackt]

I find that when I don't have access to sugary foods on hand, that I tend to crave them more. When I know that they're there, and that I can get them anytime I like - I tend to treat them as...well...treats. The same goes with other nutritionally devoid foods.

A method that worked for a while back was to actually increase the amount of junk I was eating to every single day. Each week I would cut out a day. It meant that I could get used to not having them, while the knowledge that the next day or day after I could have them again. Eventually not having them became easier, and in fact I got bored of the junk food due to having it so much. I found cold turkey to be a difficult process that invariably led me, after a short while, right back into it. It works for some people, for others it doesn't.

It took maybe 3 or 4 weeks, but afterwards I didn't eat or feel the need to eat any kind of junk food/sugary sweets/drinks/crisps/cakes. I gained a little weight at first, obviously, but the long term effects were worth it.

Now they are regarded as treats - and it is good and healthy to indulge in things like that. Why deprive yourself of life's pleasures?

 

[Jono8]

I try to avoid fruit personally,

Lol

 

[elmarko]

Lol

Ohh you!.

This,
And cold turkey to the original question. Three days of hell, then extremely easy after that. I also avoid fruit due to the high sugar content. However if doing a lot of exercise or you get a craving for something sweet, then fruit can be a life saver.

Ay,

I found my cravings slowly changed, from something sweet to something meat.

Now after a hard workout I really want a big rare steak.

I find that when I don't have access to sugary foods on hand, that I tend to crave them more. When I know that they're there, and that I can get them anytime I like - I tend to treat them as...well...treats. The same goes with other nutritionally devoid foods.

I tend to just not have them in the house.

When I still used to get cravings, it's allot of effort (comparatively) to go down the shop, or order something than it is to just walk into the kitchen.

When weighing up the additional effort combined with the fact I'd be doing a disservice to my diet, I tend to opt for a couple of scrambled eggs instead (making being unhealthy more effort than being healthy tended to work I found personally).

 

[regulus]

I've lost 33kg since last August/September and I'm convinced the large bulk of that weight was due to sweet stuff. I've managed to quit cold turkey and didn't touch a chocolate/sweets for 6 months. The weight melted off. Granted, I also weight train and do cardio 3-4 times a week, but I done all that for the last two years anyway and still gained weight. The moment I changed my diet, good things happened. If anything, I took the weight loss a bit too far as everyone who hasn't seen me for a few months, freak out when they do. I'm looking to gain around 5kg but obviously 5kg of muscle.

Another thing I noticed with my diet. On the very rare occasion now when I do eat 'bad' food, my body reacts to it and I'm left sick or running for the toilet. For example I had KFC last night for the first time in months. One mini fillet and a small diet Pepsi. I felt unwell afterwards.

You just don't want it any more.

 

[Glaucus]

Another thing I noticed with my diet. On the very rare occasion now when I do eat 'bad' food, my body reacts to it and I'm left sick or running for the toilet. For example I had KFC last night for the first time in months. One mini fillet and a small diet Pepsi. I felt unwell afterwards.

You just don't want it any more.

This is really annoying, but I do still want it on occasion. Psychological rather than a physical craving. Especially when I'm bored at 2am, the lure of a kebab, or going to the supermarket and just giving out.

 

[elmarko]

Another thing I noticed with my diet. On the very rare occasion now when I do eat 'bad' food, my body reacts to it and I'm left sick or running for the toilet. For example I had KFC last night for the first time in months. One mini fillet and a small diet Pepsi. I felt unwell afterwards.

You just don't want it any more.

Same here to be honest, some foods/meals I just avoid totally now for that very reason.