I have a sugar addiction.
I can't accurately pinpoint when I got addicted to sugar but I'd say it started about 5 years ago. I never truly admitted or shared this with anyone because I feel like I'm able to overcome this struggle myself. Also, I'm ashamed of it because you rarely hear of people with a sugar addiction. I've only seen people portray overeating or consuming too much sugar as a choice; your own fault for not living a healthy life style. And as a result, although I may be projecting, it seems that people think of sugar addiction as nothing compared to tabacco, alcohol, hard drugs and other addictive substance addictions. I understand the logic because it's not life debilitating by default. But even so, research creates parallels between sugar and other known addictive substances. [
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I don't think it's
that severe but I have yet to beat this addiction permanently. Fortunately I'm still optimistic despite the years of struggling because I'm not fat (22.8 BMI). But I despise myself for constantly craving sugary foods and caving in to these urges. To give an example, I would eat 3 pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream a day for several consecutive days, or eat a 2-pound apple crumble pie in one sitting. This may sound like nothing compared to the amount of food true overeaters would eat. But the urge to eat more and more each time scares me. I would probably be obese if it weren't for the amount of exercise I do.
What issues does this specific addiction cause for you in general, or the issues caused when trying to quit
I don't want to become fat and sad whenever I eat something. That's why I have tried to quit consuming sugar a lot over the years, but I never managed to last longer than a couple of months each try. Each time I come out of a period full of sugar, I have to endure 2 weeks of withdrawel symptons: huge food cravings, insomnia, depression, lack of energy/motivation, trouble concentrating, stress, and the occasional headache. I would stare at sugary food pictures whenever I did my groceries, debating with myself on whether I should just give up again and buy them. If I managed to stay strong and go 2 weeks without sugar, I would still need to think twice about everything I eat because sugar and temptation is everywhere. I draw a lot of inspiration from the keto diet types of food to avoid sugar. Some sugar is fine, like a 3g sugar cube in my coffee, or a piece of fruit. But there's a limit that, if exceeded, would push me right back in a downwards spiral.
Sadly, two days ago I gave into my sugar urge again. I excised a lot that morning and thought
"fuck it, I'm treating myself." So I bought 250g of chocolate covered gingerbread cookies (180g carbs, of which 115g sugar) that I finished in one sitting on my way home. I always think
"this time it won't affect me" and as much as I want this to be true, 9 out of 10 times the withdrawel symptoms come back the next day to fuck me over. Now, as I'm typing this, my craving for anything sugary is sky high. Particulatly the huge craving for anything sugary is a nasty one, and my usual strategy to cope with this is to eat a lot of unhealthy savory foods like chips and salted nuts. So I think I'll do this today and for as long as I keep craving sugar.
I remember my mum once telling me about my niece eating 2 full-sized bags of chips every week, and going on about how unhealthy that is. And all I thought was
"if only you knew how unhealthy I eat." But of course my shame wouldn't let me tell her about my eating habits.
Edit: reading back my post, it sounds kind of tame. I wonder if there are other people here with sugar withdrawel symptoms.
