Healthy Eating Support Group

I cannot control my eating of sweets and carbs. I binge and I even get up in the night to eat them. Im so happy right after I eat them, but then feel guilty and depressed. I tell myself I will change tomorrow but that never comes. I want to lose weight but I cant control my sweet craving and binging.

greetings, heetherpiano! I used to go through the same thing. What I found, and it took me a long time to make this shift, is that you can curb it by a healthy diet and that's it.

I learned to eat a lot of veggies and fruit and whole grains and lean protein. I think the binging happens for two reasons: 1. unresolved emotional issues. I've read and found this true from personal experience, that I can go for months w/o binging or even having anything sweet so I am 80% successful with this so I consider myself cured of it...I'll probably never be free of binging altogether but at least I can contain it most of the time. 2. your diet needs to be balanced enough so that you don't have cravings. You've got to load up on the light and healthy stuff in order to stave off the cravings.

Hope this helps!

Hi there and welcome! Have you ever tried eating the opposit of what you are craving? For example, eat something sour when you have a craving for sweet stuff. That works for some ppl. Also, try to drink something when you feel that binge coming on. It just might make you feel full. You need to find a way to trick your body into thinking that you are getting that fix until you can gain control of the situation.

Another suggestion, eat sweets! But eat HEALTHY sweet foods such as roasted yams/sweet squash roasted and garnished with a drizzle of pure maple syrup. Use apple juice, brown rice syrup, agave, stevia to sweeten foods. Make up fruit pies with whole grain crusts and alternative sweetners. Eat these kind of foods when you really cannot beat the craving. The sweetness of natural foods goes far if you can give your tastebuds a break from sugar for a bit.

You may want to add the organic raw, apple cider vinegar which takes care of the cravings and organic black strap molasses which is the best part of sugar with vitamins and minerals.

I'm a fellow sugar addict myself so I can tell you that I never thought I would be SUGAR FREE but I am. From personal experience, getting a handle on the sugar thing can save you from tons of medical issues down the line, not trying to frighten or anything, just stating my personal experience.

Sugar is probably contributing to your depression.

Faith

has anyone out there looked into the chemical reactions that occure in the brain when sugar is consumed? we treat it like a drug. that is part of why it is so hard to control sugar cravings.

yes, it's terrible, craz! I still have sugar in my diet but it's mainly in fruit. I will, about once/week have a no pudge brownie. and every once in a while a few chocolate chips. But, yeah, I try to stay away from sugar because it is easy to eat too much!

Some studies show that craving carbs can be linked to depression: http://www.mdjunction.com/diary/healthy-living/Linking-Carb- Cravings-and-Depression-28214

Yes, I definitely agree that there is a sugar component, in terms of cravings, to depression! I know for sure but I'm beginning to think there is a HORMONAL component to depression in that ESTROGEN, too much of it, in the body can cause depression/mental illness.

Estrogen thrives on sugar which causes the cravings. Even though I don't consume sugar, I still get the cravings right before my period. Sugar is quite addictive, speaking from personal experience, so I avoid it.

My alternatives are raw honey, black strap molasses, and fruit. Of course, it's taken years and years to get to this point for me. Unfortunately, now sugar means hallucinating because of my extremely high estrogen levels so I guess at this point I have no choice.

Faith

Post edited by: ohfaithful, at: 03/24/2010 05:54 PM

I use to love,and crave sweet,in my 40,s..now in my 60,s i learned to skip dessert.once in a while,i would have a candy bar.

it takes a while to curb the sugar,but the least sugar in your diet,the least you will crave..that is what happenned with me.

Jackie.