Sugar addiction held me in its grip for years, keeping me isolated from the world. When I stopped eating sugar, I gained better health. But, more importantly, I found self respect.
The pain of negative habits isn’t solely from the habits themselves. When I was addicted to sugar, I had extreme bouts of anger and irritability, vacillating blood sugar, yo-yoing weight, and chronic depression. But even more harmful then the physical effects were the spiritual effects: the pain sugar bingeing caused my spirit. No one wants to be addicted. No one wants to feel out of control. No one wants to feel powerless.
What hurt the most weren’t the consequences of my sugar addiction: neither weight gain nor the upset stomach nor the depression. What hurt the most was the cause of my sugar addiction: my inability to care for myself with love, tenderness and respect.
That lack of self love appeared every time I dove into the granola instead of choosing a more nurturing path.
When you act in ways that go against your beliefs, it hurts. If you think that you are a worthy, divine creature, it will hurt when you treat yourself in ways that belie that. Shame and sadness accompany any choice that goes against our values. And shame short circuits self love every time.
That is why it’s necessary to tackle destructive behaviors. Yes, we need to accept ourselves as we are, and that means accepting all of our behaviors, good and bad. But while we start at acceptance, we don’t stop there. It’s very difficult to love and accept ourselves when we’re wallowing in the shame and guilt from treating ourselves unkindly. We need to move to a space where we practice self love and self care, so we feel good from the inside, out.
Great. But how? Transforming these pesky habits can feel like a Catch-22: bad habits feed our low self esteem and feelings of unworthiness; yet, until we change these habits, it’s very difficult to raise our self esteem or feel good about ourselves.
1. Acceptance. For me, I had to accept that I couldn’t eat sugar normally. I had to accept that when I eat sugar, I binge on it. This means that I don’t eat birthday cake, Christmas cookies, or ice cream. Accepting this fact about myself was the first step in creating change: for me, abstaining from sugar isn’t deprivation, but evidence of self care and nurturing.
2. Forgiveness. Since the most destructive part of a bad habit is the guilt and shame that usually accompanies it, it’s important to separate the habit from the shame. This is brilliantly discussed in Overcoming Overeating, a guide to freeing yourself from food abuse. If you’re going to overeat, the first step to healing is to bring compassionate awareness to your habit. Accept that you are caring for yourself in a harmful way, and refuse to beat yourself up about it. This is also helpful as you work at healing your habit: you will probably have times when you slip up and fall. That’s okay: drop the guilt.
3. Compassion. Loving yourself means accepting all of who you are – including your bad habits. When you can look at your habits and see how they were an attempt to nurture yourself, you can forgive yourself. As you know better, you do better. Marshall Rosenberg’s work with nonviolent communication is an excellent tool for approaching yourself and others with compassion.
4. Self care. When I have cravings for sugar, I stop to ask myself, “What is really going on here?” Sugar cravings are cravings for comfort, care, rest, and relaxation. They are signals that I’m feeling deprived. The key is to find ways to soothe that deprivation without turning to food. Usually, what I’m really wanting is one of two things: 1. Connection: with God, my spirit, friends, or loved ones, or 2. Comfort: sleep, a recharge (I’m known to push myself too hard), time to myself, or time outside. We call this filling the tank in our home. A walk, a nap, a break from my children, or a crafty activity usually does the trick.
5. Find help. It’s hard to admit that you don’t have it all together. But admitting your need for help softens your heart, so that others can reach in, and offer their support. Counselors, friends, support groups, books, prayer: I’ve used it all.
Ultimately, I am not my habits. You are not your habits, either. Our frailties and stumbling blocks were given to us, on purpose, to feed our growth and development. There are no mistakes; that includes your greatest painful habit. Embrace it as an opportunity to befriend, love and care for the precious creature that is you.
For more support to heal your sugar addiction, you can order the new edition of Overcoming Sugar Addiction as well as the follow up workbook, Growing Human(kind)ness: How to Befriend not Punish Your Way to Sugar Sobriety.
Want more help? Join my October Kick Your Sugar Habit small group class.
Dear Karly,
Reading your story has given me hope. I am a recovering alcoholic of, sober 12 years, and when I gave up alcohol AA members recommended sugary treats to help stave of the alcohol, and it did help I suppose and I’m not criticising that. However, with my addictive and bingeing nature this has become just as much of an addiction for me. For a long time – although I was aware of it – it didn’t concern me enough to worry but over the last few years it’s really started to hurt, especially that I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to and would go to all manner of lengths to ensure I had my sugar foods available. It been difficult and embarrassing to talk about, almost more so than the alcohol, because it isn’t commonly known about or taken seriously unlike drug and alcohol addiction. I haven’t binged for 8 days now, and the withdrawals are hard, but reading your story has really helped me to focus on my motivation for overcoming this addiction and I hope I can succeed. Thank you.
Hi Robert,
I feel very proud of your 12 years of sobriety. I bow to your courage and commitment.
You might be interested in reading/studying Kathleen des Maisons’ work, who believes alcoholism is a form of sugar addiction. She wrote Potatoes not Prozac, and you can find out more about her here:
http://www.radiantrecovery.com/
Her work may help you appreciate your body’s sensitivity to any form of sugar – whether it’s in drink or food. In my own life, her work greatly helped me soften the shame I felt about having a sugar sensitive body.
I think there’s more and more awareness these days about sugar and it’s potentially addictive nature. It can feel challenging when there isn’t cultural support, though. You’ll find lots of kindred spirits here, though!
The withdrawals can be uncomfortable, and they do pass. I sincerely hope you find the support and strength you need to honor your intentions. I’m cheering you on every step of the way…
If you’d like to learn more about my story, I share more in my book, Overcoming Sugar Addiction, which you can learn about here:
http://www.sugar-addiction-book.com/book/
Warmly, Karly
Karly,
I just signed up. I think I have dealt with this since my early teens and it resurfaces eery so often. Finding harder to overcome it and it is always difficult during the Holidays.
I recall telling my mother when I was a teenager, ” I think I have an eating disorder” and I was told, “Every woman has an eating disorder.” This offered me no help, of course. During college, I was denied help through group setting because although I was a binger, I was not a purger.
So, I am hoping to find a way out here.
Thank you!
Jacqueline,
You are very welcome. I write from my own experience, from my years of suffering from overeating. If my pain can help others, I am grateful. Warmly, Karly
Wow Karly. It’s so nice to know there are other people out there like your amazing self who also suffer from this. I have known deep down for a while, but it is so hard for others to understand! It is surely like my “heroin” so to speak . . . Others, they say “oh go on, just have one lolly. One can’t hurt. Don’t be silly”. Why is it so funny to some people? Yes to them it is “one lolly” – to me it is the end of the world!!!! A means of losing control and mentally locking myself in a tiny cage of self-hate and self-destruction which I try to get out of on a daily basis. My whole life has felt like one big continuous cycle. Until recently, I have found it’s ok to accept this and I am getting proper help. What I really wanted to tell you is that your post was a wonderful inspiration and has given me that little positive edge that I needed to get started. Thank you.
Hi Jocelyn,
Thank you for your kind comments. I am grateful that sharing my story, and my bumpy process, is a help to you. I nodded along to your comment – so much of what you shared has been my experience, too.
If you are looking for more support, I greatly encourage you to reach out to others. That’s why we began offering support forums – to enable you to get support, light, encouragement, and inspiration from other women who are traveling on the same path. It eases feelings of isolation and shame. I learn so much from the women on our support forums. It makes my journey so much easier, and more joyful. (I can make this so, so serious. Smile.)
Read more here: http://www.firstourselves.com/membership/
Or, try our sugar support program. It includes a copy of Overcoming Sugar Addiction, our support forum, and the 12 week Sugar Addiction support program:
http://www.firstourselves.com/sugar-support/
I see your intention to change, your commitment to yourself in your comment. You have everything you need, right now, inside you to heal. Enjoy the journey,
Karly
Thank you for writting this, I found it very helpful. I am starting to understand why people harm them selves with overeating and such, and even more importantly, the way out of it.