 Overcoming Sugar Addiction |
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Are you someone who can’t stop eating sugar, once you start? Are you plagued with constant food cravings, especially for sweets or refined carbohydrates, such as pasta, bread or potato chips?
Oh, how I understand! I was a compulsive sugar addict for over 20 years (including bulimia, body hatred, and binge eating disorder), and have found healing and freedom. I wrote Overcoming Sugar Addiction so that you can also have that freedom – so that you can have the help and support you need to break free from the suffering of sugar bingeing. For more help, please read on for a beginner’s ten steps:
Here are ten steps to break your sugar addiction:
1. Add self care. Before you attempt to eliminate anything from your life – even something negative, such as sugar bingeing – it’s important to add to your life, so that you are operating from an overflow, not a deficit. Eliminating sugar will create a vacuum; better to fill it with something positive – self love and self care – than something that is hurtful, like self sabotage. Care for your tender self so that you feel nourished, capable, rested and strong.
Try this simple shift: instead of eliminating your sugar habit, try shifting it to something that isn’t related to sugar – read a novel instead of eating ice cream in front of the TV; indulge in a hobby instead of baking; go for a walk when you would normally grab a treat.
2. Keep your blood sugar stable. Eat breakfast, eat protein with every meal or snack, eat low GI foods, and eat at regular intervals. Why? All of these things will stabilize your blood sugar, so that your moods and energy are at an even keel. Much of the time, I craved sugar because I was hungry (I was always dieting because I was chronically unhappy with my weight). Eat enough so that you feel satisfied, and regularly enough so that you feel stable, and you won’t crave as much junk. Learn more about what and how to eat from the sugar addiction reading list.
3. Treat yourself like you’re in detox. The first week of sugar abstinence can be uncomfortable, when the cravings are at their most powerful. Be kind to yourself: this is not the time to tackle a large project, to implement lots of changes, or to work overtime. Why do people go to a spa when they’re detoxing? Because they need extra support. Likewise, give yourself extra support. Go to bed earlier. Take naps. Cook simple meals (and don’t make the same mistake I did: don’t cook meals for your family that have ingredients in them that you are trying not to eat. Don’t make sugar abstinence any harder than it needs to be.) Spend time in prayer or meditation. Call on others for support and encouragement.
4. Don’t focus on weight loss. While weight loss is usually a natural consequence of giving up sugar, please don’t make it your focus. It’s better to channel your energy towards one goal at a time. So put aside your weight loss goals for now and focus your energy on healing your sugar addiction. Then, after you’ve found healing with sugar, you can decide how you want to approach any extra weight you’d like to lose.
Weight loss is often a pleasant, natural side effect of taking loving care of your body and freeing yourself from food addiction. In my experience, making it the focus puts too much pressure on your tender heart to lose weight quickly and easily – which can lead to a binge/restrict/binge/restrict cycle with sugar.
Furthermore, you might be delightfully surprised to see how much easier it is to lose weight when you’re not eating so much sugar.
(If you’re wondering what I eat when I’m not eating sugar, you may enjoy this list of sugar free snack ideas.)
5. Know your true value. While yes, your body may be sugar sensitive, and while, yes, you may gorge on sugar, it’s not “you.” It’s just a coping mechanism: how you learned to care for yourself when life felt painful, overwhelming or scary. This is probably something you learned when you were very small. It’s not your fault. Being addicted to sugar or bingeing on sugar is not a character flaw – proof that you’re a terrible person. It’s simply a form of self protection, how you’ve cared for your tender heart.
And if you use sugar to care for your hurts, there’s hope – the story doesn’t end there. Your brain is remarkably malleable – you can retrain your brain and learn new ways of caring for your needs, feelings, emotions, and hurts without sugar. (I explain how to do this in Overcoming Sugar Addiction for Life.)
6. Create a supportive environment. For the first month after I gave up sugar, I asked my family to hide the few sweet foods we had in the house so that I wouldn’t seek them out and eat them. (They hid them well because I went looking a few times!) I avoided certain aisles in the grocery store, movie theaters, and abstained from any baking. Later on, when I was in the habit of not eating sugar, and no longer physically craving it, I felt stronger – I was able to be around sugar without dying for it.
Think of your supportive environment as training wheels. In the beginning, your training wheels give you the safety to try something that feels new and scary. This structure is supportive and helpful. As you get stronger, you take the training wheels off. The same structure may not be necessary anymore.
7. Be a detective. Give yourself time to experiment and learn about your unique, precious body. Only you will know what foods make you feel your best.
Use your body as a guinea pig: what foods make you feel good? What foods make you feel badly? How did I learn that dried fruit affects me in the same way that refined sugar does? By observing my body after I ate it. How did I learn that foods like kale, kefir, pinto beans, and almonds satisfy my hunger and give me stable moods? By observing my body.
8. Reconsider fake sugars. I know this is a tough one to follow: many people rely on Diet sodas as a “free” sugar substitute, especially when they’re craving something sweet. But in my experience, aspartame, Nutrasweet, Splenda, and even low carb sugar products (protein bars that are “low sugar”) don’t quell sugar cravings, but increase them. For many people, they also bring unpleasant side effects. (For me, that’s headaches and stomach aches.) A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio found that a person’s risk for obesity went up a whopping 41% for each daily can of Diet soda. If you’re sugar sensitive, I’d include “fake sugars” in the sugar category, as a food to limit. You can see this list of hidden sources of sugar for more information.
9. Start over whenever you slip and fall. You don’t have to wait until the next morning, or succumb to the thinking that says, “I’ve blown it; I might as well have some brownies to go with it,” when you slip up and eat sugar. Giving up sugar is hard. It’s ingrained in our holidays, in our meals, in our society. Be kind to yourself when you mess up, and get right back on track. Use loving self talk to care for yourself when you make a mistake – you can tell yourself, “I can handle this.” Or, “Mistakes are how I learn. It’s okay, dear one.” Talk to yourself as the most loving friend would talk to you.
If you’re feeling shaky from too much sugar, you might want to eat a bit of protein. If your stomach is bloated and upset, try drinking a cup of mint tea. On an emotional level, it may help to give yourself space – take a walk, call a friend, go outside, go to the library. Do something to change your environment so you can switch gears.
Be mindful that there are 3 stages to healing a sugar addiction. What stage are you in?
10. Forgive yourself. I felt very ashamed about my sugar addiction. Releasing that shame was like lifting an enormous weight off my psyche. We’re all imperfect. We all cope with life in messy ways. If you have food issues, offer yourself compassion. Find self-acceptance. All those times you gorged on sugar? Recognize that you were doing the best you could.
Sugar addiction is not a character defect. It’s often due to biology, imprinting, long ingrained habits, our environment and a whole host of other factors – many of which are not in our control. Can you find forgiveness for yourself? Can you see that it’s not your fault? That it may not be something you could’ve prevented?
When we release the blame – and most of us blame ourselves, and terribly so – we find we can also release the sugar. It creates a spaciousness where we can act differently, where we can respond to sugar in a different way and let go of its hold on us. Forgiveness and compassion are the only way I found peace with sugar. It’s the only way I found that I could stay sugar free long term.
Wanting more hands on help?
If you’d like more support and you think we’re a good fit, I invite you to explore my resources for gentle healing from sugar addiction.
- If you’re a beginner and are just starting, begin with Overcoming Sugar Addiction, the book that chronicles my own story and shares how you, too, can heal your sugar addiction.
- If you want to make the transition to a reduced or no sugar diet, but you’re needing support for the first few weeks, Overcoming Sugar Addiction: The 30 Day Lift is for you. You’ll receive 30 days of structured, daily tasks and audio coaching so you can walk through the first few weeks feeling extra supported and strong.
- If you’d like to find healing with sugar over the long term – while creating a more loving, peaceful, and kind relationship with yourself – Overcoming Sugar Addiction for Life offers a map for emotional healing. It includes a workbook and 6 audio CDs.
More articles for you:
If you’d like to read more about healing your sugar addiction, you may enjoy these helpful articles:
- Learn the 4 things necessary to heal your sugar addiction.
- Why failure isn’t the end of the world – the 3 things I learned when I went back to sugar
- Soften the impulse to eat sugar
- Why finding freedom from sugar is not a matter of willpower
- When it feels hopeless
Tools to soften sugar cravings:
When you’re feeling the urge to binge on sugar, what can you do – in the heat of the moment – so you can walk away from the fridge? Here are some helpful tools:
- Download the free Binge Rescue worksheet. This is a map for using self compassion to care for your feelings instead of soothing them in food. It’s a part of the audio program, Heal Overeating: Untangled.
- I love the damage control tool from EBT, emotional brain training – it’s the one I use when I feel totally overwhelmed and nothing else works.
- Use self compassion to rock your cravings to sleep.
- Stop sugar cravings with kindness.
A special audio message for you:
If you’ve come this far, I bet you’ve got a few more questions. Listen to my explanation of how you can retake control beyond the initial detox period, find support along the way, honor your sensitivity to sugar, and make this day the start of a new way of living:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.9MB)
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[...] “Sugar Addiction Escape Plan: 10 steps to control sugar cravings” Karly Randolph Pitman, First Ourselves, January 15, 2009. Retrieved on January 7, 2013 from: http://www.firstourselves.org/10-steps-to-control-sugar-cravings/ [...]
[...] the same “high.” Karly Randolph Pitman, author of Overcoming Sugar Addiction, has some great tips for breaking the habit. Consider yourself in detox because your body will be screaming at you [...]
Your suggest these tactics.
“Try shifting it to something that isn’t related to sugar – read a novel instead of eating ice cream in front of the TV; indulge in a hobby instead of baking; go for a walk when you would normally grab a treat.”
Really?
[...] “Sugar Addiction Escape Plan: 10 steps to control sugar cravings” Karly Randolph Pitman, First Ourselves, January 15, 2009. Retrieved on January 7, 2013 from: http://www.firstourselves.org/10-steps-to-control-sugar-cravings/ [...]
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I
am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody
else know such detailed about my trouble. You are incredible!
Thanks!
Dear Karly,
I am very lucky I found your blog. I think I really need someone to share my situation with because once I tried to talk about it with my family, I was told to be crazy about the problem that does not really exists. Unfortunately, it does. The point is that I had not realised it until I left my home country (I am originally from Lithuania but I am now studying in Scotland). Since I came here, I entered completely different living environment where food and eating is a part of the culture. I am surrounded by food all the time: fast food restaurants, prepared meals in supermarket’s freezers, people eating and drinking and having snacks, which are filled with artificial sugar and fats, all the time. I thought these kind of things will never influence me. Partly, they haven’t (I am a vegetarian). But on the other hand, I realized that some sort of food products, like chocolate, sweets, ketchup, mustards and similar ones, started appearing in my shopping basket and daily nutrition. I am very dissapointed in myself because I did not used to eat them when I was in my home country. Because of this, I realized that there is definitely something wrong talking about ‘relationship’ between my organism and sugar. I dared to admit myself that I was trying to cope with my minds about ‘not eating this or that’ all the time, and such a thing required a lot of my time and energy which could have been used for more relevant things. I now understand that it would be much easier for me in the future if I dropped the sugar addiction now instead of thinking about ‘what not to eat’ all the time and stop waisting my personal resources on such a rubbish thoughts. I hope to get some general advice from you as I am lost and confused right now. :/ Thank you in advance and best wishes!
Viktorija, It sounds like you are describing America! Where I live. Food is the culture, and sugar is in all of it, even sauces on meats, and in processed/boxed foods. I am new to these websites but not new to fighting sugar addiction. I hope you get the help you need. I hope I can offer you something, as terrible as it may sound: The food is designed with sugar and fats to addict us – that is how fast food and processed food works, so we come back always for more. So, everyone who eats it gets addicted and fat & unhealthy, to some extent, some people to a great extent, very big, diabetes, cancer, skin problems. The only way to fight it is to create your own personal culture of health food, and avoid the fast foods & junk foods completely. No matter what anyone tells you, or what any wrapper on a box tells you: If it contains sugar – cane, honey, malt sugar, fructose, they are all the same to the human body – it is addictive. Ketchup – is tomato jam, primarily sugar. Eating no sugar even fruit for 7-10 days kills the addiction, then you must replace it with healthy foods that you love, and sell your friends on what you eat!
Hi Karly, i have a huge problem with sugar and i dont knw how to overcome it, it has taken over my life, its controlling me, i think am the only one here who actually eats sugar, i mean not only on processed food but licking/eating sugar raw if u get what i mean, its really tearing me apart, i’ve tried so many times to stop but i get the urge and go crazy with lickin/eating raw sugar and its killing me, please i need help!!
[...] NOT easy to break and definitely something that takes a lot of tools and resources to overcome. Sugar Addiction Escape Plan: 10 steps to control sugar cravings is definitely one of the better articles that I have read on how to overcome this refined white [...]
Karly, on the fake sugars thing. What do you think of Stevia? It doesn’t seem to have the same effect on me as other fake sugars do. I am still avoiding it right now, but would be interested in your opinion.
I have heard 2 opinions on Stevia. One is the facts that since it is all natural and zero calories, it can NOT give you cancer, like other fake sweeteners.
2nd plus: unlike calorie laden sugars that make the brain happy (cane sugar types, fructose, honey, agave, corn syrup, malt syrups, all syrups) – Stevia has no calories and so, can’t satisfy the addiction – and so should help wean us from it.
But the second opinion is that: I learned from experience that for some sugar addicts Stevia may be a problem too.
Basically, if I was jonesing for sugar, then anything pastry-like, whether made with Stevia or a real sugar, would do. But with just Stevia in it – I would eat more of them, to get the hit.
And there is a scientific suggestion out there that it is the TASTE of sweetness that causes a reaction in a part of the brain where caloric sugars cause an addictive high, satisfaction-reaction.
Seems like testing on oneself is best. ANYTHING that you eat, on it’s own, then your body & brain respond with a small or raging hunger for more that has nothing to do with hunger = it causes addictive cravings. But until I went overboard with food in general, Stevia actually seemed to fill in just fine for sugar. Problem is – using it still left me returning to sweet things for a bit of comfort.
Sugar addiction is not specific to women. Male solutions to weight loss are however usually different to women, more workout focused and less diet focused.
I have recently, independently, figured out that I agree with the theory that abstinence is best. I would rather have no cookies than one cookie, because after one cookie I need to eat the whole box.
Good luck to everyone
Hi there, in number 8. Reconsider fake sugars. I believe that is a worse idea. Splenda and other fake sugars cause short-term memory and other side effects. Including diabetes. Just drink water.
Hi Beatrice,
I apologize for the confusion – when I say reconsider fake sugars I mean to reconsider using them – as in, don’t use them.
In my experience, I found that fake sugars increased my sugar cravings and had a host of other side effects like headaches.
Warmly, Karly
Hey, there is too a man on this discussion board!
I am a big proponent of low-sugar eating, and I am here to give my support to every one of you.
Dan
Hi Karly,
This is the first time I’ve looked up sugar addiction and I have to say that the most exciting thing to see is that there are many others who are struggling. I finally think I may learn something. Thank you all for your ongoing observations and self examination. Brave and helpful!
This one is for dee, who posted back in April. Yes dee, men do struggle with sugar addiction, we are just too stubborn to admit we are weak. ESPECIALLY to say we are addicted to something so “silly” as sugar! Why? Because 1) we can’t fathom a world without eating sweets and 2) sugar is not a drug so it can’t possibly be addicting! Over the last 10 years I have gone from being an extremely fit and healthy 180 pounds, exercising regularly, to weighing 325 pounds and finding it difficult to even walk up a flight of stairs. I need help, just as desperately as any of you ladies. I just ate a pastry from 7-11 then went immediately to CVS and bought a 1 liter mountain few and two honey buns because I was so embarrassed to buy it in one place but still I couldn’t stop myself. It’s so depressing.
Generalkail
I have a terrible sugar addiction. There are days I only eat food with sugar in it. I come home from work exhausted and all I want to do is take a nap rather than do things I need to do i.e., laundry, clean house, or exercise. Today I came home from work and ate 1/2 bag of baked chips then I needed a sugar fix. I went to the store and bough ice cookies and ate 4 of them (they were hefty size) with a glass of milk. I ate no dinner.
I feel depressed because I can’t seem to beat this addiction. I mostly want to stop eating sugar and part of me says I will never be able to eat sugary sweets again. All 10 tips make sense to me but it is just being able to start. I drink diet Coke all day long with very little water. I get headaches when I don’t eat right. I love healthy food and even joined Weight Watchers. I found their plan to be very forgiving. “It is okay to eat that cookie as long as you count it.”
I am also a Starbucks freak and enjoy drinking mocha’s on my way to work on a daily basis. I have tried to lose weight but I know my addiction is keeping me from losing any weight. If anyone has any suggestions I am willing to listen. Thank you.
I suffer from a lot of the same symptoms you jab, suar ddituon an carvings, depression (for what I believe is not eating healthy) and I’ve tried weight watchers with little success. Ideas an article that made me question diet sodas. I discovered I was allergic to artificial sweeteners and this allergy actually made me crave sugar to the point where I was binging on most days. My suggestion is that you look into Juice Plus as the first step in retaining your body’s cravings. It’s a little costly but runs the same as a monthly WW membership. After starting juice plus and removing artificial sweetness you should see a major change in your desires. I’m on step 3 of my plan to better myself by looking into and trying recipes from the paleo diet. It’s taken me 2 months of religiously taking juice plus and avoiding artificial sweets and my body feels as though I’ve got more energy, a clearer mind at work and the ability to tackle those evenings I used to spend on he couch. This change has been slow (as it should be) but the affects are worth the Time and money. Any questions please email me! Khempel81 @ gmail.com
Hi there, I read your comments and I agree and agree. It’s one of the toughest things that still is plaguing me and I am sick of it. I have a higher power and therefore, everyday, I do it. SUGAR is far more addicting and/or just as addicting as any addiction. I am thankful that I am aware and SUGAR is everywhere. I am overweight and down about this. I want to send GOOD THOUGHTS about SUGAR and collectively; we Sugar Lovers will prevail against something that is so addicting. Sending you peace….Cinderella Bee
I have been trying to kick the sugar habit for so long, as everyone else here knows, it isn’t easy. i don’t need to lose weight, but I want to feel better. I am tired of having headaches and feeling sluggish. This site is a Godsend. i wish I had a support group in my area for sugar eaters.
I am about to start a sugar free diet for my family, my husband is not really on board so hopefully I can keep it up.
My main problem though is money. I recently went on an elemination diet when I was trying to nurse my second child. I had no problems with the first but during my second pregnancy I had gestational diabetes and then my daughter was having blood in her stool. For four weeks I was on an elimiation diet to try and figure out what was causing her problems. I lost 20 pounds, but I felt like I was starving. I eventually had to put her on formula.
The main point is that while on this elimination diet where I eliminated all persevatives, wheat, soy, dairy and went organic on everything else I spent my entire families two week grocery budget on one week of food for JUST me!
I don’t know how to overcome this.
Hi Jennifer,
First, I want to give you a big hug – it sounds like you’ve been through a lot already. I admire your courage and perserverance.
You can change how you eat without making your family come on board. I eat differently than my kids and husband – they eat sugar – and have found a way to make it work. I share more about how I do this in my book, Overcoming Sugar Addiction – http://www.sugaraddictionbook.com/book/
For now, I’d invite you to look at your decision to eat less sugar as something you’re doing for yourself and not anything that others feel forced into. When my energy is focused on me and my choices – and not on regulating my husband’s, parents, friends or family’s choices – I find a lot more acceptance and support for my decision.
You bring up a good point – healthy eating can be expensive. Our family spends a ton of money on healthy, fresh food. At the same time, I don’t have an unlimited budget, either, and simply do the best I can. I make priorities and buy nonorganic when I have to. I use places like costco (that’s where I get all my organic chicken, for example), co-ops and farmers markets to make my food dollars go as far as I need to. I also do a lot of my own cooking.
I hope that helps!
Warmly, Karly
Why is sugar addiction exclusive to women? No men at all on this site. Talking of sugar – I find many replies on the site so syrupy – are these smug amateur advisers for real?
Hi Dee,
Thank you for writing and for sharing your feelings.
Most of the responses to the comments are from me, so perhaps you find me syrupy. That’s okay – I know I’m not for everyone! If you’re looking for alternative sugar addiction resources, you may enjoy Beat Sugar Addiction Now by Jacob Teitelbaum, Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen des Maisons, or Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett.
I wish you many blessings on your journey.
Warmly, Karly
Waiting too long between meals may set you up to choose sugary, fatty foods that cut your hunger. Instead, eating every three to five hours can help keep blood sugar stable and help you avoid irrational eating behavior.