I think I need a sugar detox

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I have the world's worst sweet tooth. Like I CRAVE dessert after every meal. Meal is not over until I've had it.

It used to be under control and I would eat dessert like a normal person 1-2 nights/week and the rest of the time I was fine. It was a treat. Now, I MUST have it every night. 3+ years of pregnancy and nursing have gotten me used to the extra calories. It's not about weight, my running controls that, it's that I know I shouldn't be eating this much sugar.

Who's done this? Anyone have any advice? I'm not looking for a fad diet or to cut out other things - many programs I've found are cutting out sugar/wheat/dairy all at once. I only want to cut sugar, I eat great otherwise. And is it good enough to just greatly reduce it or do I need to go cold turkey and cut out ALL sugar for a while.

[Thirteen]

I am reintroducing a heavy duty probiotic into my diet, and eating "alternatives" to discourage bad habits.

We purchased a huge amount of fruit recently, and I asked DH to stop buying "treats" and bringing them home.


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[TulipsAndSunscreen]

So you're not going cold turkey? What is a heavy duty probiotic? I have to admit, I'm relatively skeptical of dietary add-ons/probiotics because we eat so healthfully normally (meat less than once/week, organic dairy, etc).

[LynnAlicia]

Are you eating enough protein? I crave sugar when I don't eat enough of it. Sugar detoxes are great, sugar is an addiction, once you get off of it you don't even want it. Things I found to help are drink tea or kombucha (a fruit flavor). Both are taste pretty sweet but have barely any sugar and have zero calories.

[MsSassyBaskets]

Following with interest. I've never been a sugar addict, but pregnancy is making me into one. I wanted fruit and starch so much in first trimester, and my favorite savory flavors made me sick, as did animal protein other than yogurt. I haven't completely shifted back and I still can't eat high protein or I feel sick for hours after. I don't know that I'll be able to kick my sugary black tea habit until I can drink full-strength black coffee again (I know I'm allowed, but I've already quit and at this point it would make me uncomfortably jittery, DH makes it really strong). I do find that a cup of non-caf unsweetened fruit tea like Lemon or Raspberry Zinger after dinner can help with a dessert craving... Otherwise we often have good dark chocolate bars in the fridge and a couple squares of that can work without being a total sugar bomb. Also, whenever I have ANY kind of craving, I usually start by drinking a full glass of water. Thirst often fools me into thinking I want something else. Definitely interested in others' suggestions.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I find that I easily reset when I'm sick. So, cold turkey is probably what I would do.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Any sweets, anything. Sugar or HFCS, doesn't matter.

I just need a plan or an approach. And I'm not viewing this as a diet which many programs seem to do. I'm BFing and cannot diet nor are diets psychologically healthy for me, personally.

Those of you who do this, do you cut out ALL sugar (ie no honey sweetened cereal) or just non-natural/not nutritious (cookies, desserts).

[SoonerTexan]

Those of you who do this, do you cut out ALL sugar (ie no honey sweetened cereal) or just non-natural/not nutritious (cookies, desserts).

I've done it before and it works until I fall back into the habit. I cut out processed sugar only. I still use stevia for sweetener. It really does help after about a week.

[spotty_dog]

I don't think my sweet tooth has ever been crazy strong. But probably the easiest thing to do is just not to do dessert for a while. I don't really see any reason to drastically change your daytime eating, unless you're not getting a range of flavor profiles. That is, sweet foods beget sweet foods (and salt spurs the taste for salt) but bitter and savory and tart foods mostly just stand on their own, you know? And also make sure you're eating enough -- you say you feel like it's breastfeeding and pregnancy and an urge to get calorie-dense foods, so maybe if you get some fattier ingredients into your daytime meals you won't feel that urge to nom after dinner?

I had a friend in college who used to buy Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips and eat 5-6 of those as a desserty treat. There's terrific antioxidants in dark chocolate, so that could be a nice way to quell the cravings.

Another sane rule would be that you can't have it unless you made it yourself from basic ingredients. I do know some people who have the time and inclination to bake tons of things, so this isn't as effective, but if baking is a very occasional thing for you, this will also cut down on "empty" foods and boost your overall nutrition. No donuts unless you bring out the batter and deep fryer, no cake unless you separated those eggs and measured that milk, etc.

[spaz]

How???

I would seriously love to do this. HOWEVER, my hubby thinks a dessert is a must after every single meal. My kids enjoy it as well. Over Thanksgiving last year hubby made a pound cake, cheesecake, scones and some homemade bread.... Here is the thing... He is 6 foot and 152 pounds. Part of it is he works so many hours and doesn't get to eat on a lot of the call nights. The problem is that I am in this house all the time. If sweets are here, I will eat them.. I have now met him almost. When we first married he was 6 foot 165 pounds and I was 5 6 and 115 pounds. I am now 150 pounds.... I was 130 a year ago.... I had a whole bunch of bloodwork done today. I don't have desserts every day and I can resist a lot of them, but if a chocolate cake is made, forget it. I will sneak. My metabolism has changed so much I guess. I'm not eating any differently and I am actually exercising which I never did...

So how do you do this by yourself when your family doesn't agree. Oh and hubby's cholesterol is 105. He has very low blood pressure. Great blood sugar......

Sigh.

[Michele]

I'm you. I just did a 10 day challenge! No sweets. Cold turkey. Grapes were OK and the granola bars I have have honey as an ingredient but aren't sweet so I said they were ok. My tea was lightly sweetened with Stevia. After 10 days i didnt crave and was good. But I'm back to eating m&ms by the handful......so maybe it didn't work that well. it's stress related for me right now. (Short staffed-AGAIN- at work)

[BonBon]

I would just go cold turkey. Are you getting enough protein and fats to satiate you? I like sweets, but don't really crave them. (I want spicy fatty crap)

[ladymoreta]

I would start substituting instead of eliminating desserts. I don't have anything like an addiction (when I stop eating sugar for a couple weeks, I don't have withdrawals, but I always enjoy it the same amount when I have it again), but I love my carby, sugary treats. After doing South Beach for several months (not that I'm recommending it since you said you don't do well with diets!), I've found that I'm more likely to just forget the desserts I used to have after meals since it's enough to make me not feel deprived, but they're not yummy enough to think about every time.

My favorite substitutes are sugar free jello or pudding and dark chocolate covered strawberries.

[BonBon]

and dark chocolate covered strawberries.

One of my daughters made these with homemade magic shell (a bit of coconut oil mixed in with dark chocolate) and they were SO good! Might be hard to find tasty strawberries this late though.

[civilspouse]

I'm right there with you. Every night after the kids go to bed I have a treat. A bowl of ice cream, cookies, or brownies. I'm pretty good about not buying sweets with the exception of ice cream but I like to bake. I've also been eating too much sugar at breakfast, homemade waffles with syrup, oatmeal with brown sugar, etc. Now that DD is nursing less and we are working on weaning I really should get it under control. Maybe I'll just replace my desert with a drink when she weans . I would usually just cut out the big things cold turkey. I don't change my diet other than cutting out the things like cookies and ice cream etc. After a while I quit craving that stuff so much. I had to do the same thing when I weaned DS. I apparently let myself go wild when nursing.


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