Originally Posted by
RB1-luvr
I eat my feelings (anxiety) and out of boredom (desk job). I'll be 60 this year and with two kids 6 and 8, there is SO much junk food around, which has always been my weakness. In addition, cycling has always made me inordinately hungry, out of proportion to the miles and intensity. So, while my weight isn't increasing, my physique is not great (belly). I'm having a hard time reeling it in.
I tell people getting off sugar would be like getting off cocaine, if cocaine was so socially acceptable that we gave it to children and so cheap you could get a fix anywhere for a dollar. I've seen studies where mice were clinically addicted to cocaine and given a choice between cocaine water and sugar water, 99 out of 100 would be off cocaine and on sugar very quickly. Under brain scans it lights up the same pleasure centers in humans as cocaine.
If you want to get off sugar, you have to treat it as a serious addiction. Personally, I used artificial sweeteners to help the transition just like a heroin addict is supposed to use methadone. Don't stay on them though since they may be more problematic long term than sugar. Once I was able to get off all sweeteners, it took about 3 months before all the cravings stopped. I never realized how addicted I was until I wasn't anymore. Foods started tasting sweeter now even without added sugar. My blueberries were sweet to me after 3 months that had been sour before.
My kids cried when I dumped the last 5 pounds of sugar out. I simply don't buy any junk food for the house. My kids get plenty of it when I can't supervise them anyway. I'm not even against them having an occasional junk food treat but not every day.