Sugar Cravings: Why You Should Join A Support Group
#30DaysOfSugar
Sugar cravings (and addiction) are a real problem - just like junk food cravings and addictions, and in many cases, are even harder to break - so why don’t we use moral support and accountability in the same way to break them? Learn how I tackled and broke my sugar addiction and cravings using the power of a physical and online support group and accountability buddy system, and how YOU CAN too!
Two questions I get asked a lot (… and I mean a lot!) About My Sugar Addiction are:
‘When did I realize that I had an addiction to sugar?’,
and,
‘What was the one factor that helped me the most in achieving my goal of breaking my addiction to sugar, and finally curbing my sweet tooth?’
These are two great questions because they really get to the core of how we can all succeed in breaking the grip of something that it negative and unhealthy for us - in whatever manifestation it may come in - and how we can all find the power in the resistance we’re experiencing.
Here’s the thing About Confronting Our Issues.
When we finally realize - and come to accept - that something has a hold of us, you can start to see it as a source of your strength.
Now you’re probably scratching your head with this sentence and asking yourself how this even makes sense?
But here’s how: once you have identified the problem, well, you can actually deal with it - it’s unmasked - and now that you’re fully aware that something in your life isn’t balanced, from there you can work back to the root of the problem and conquer it.
The biggest realization I had about my sugar addiction was that it wasn’t based solely on a simple physical addiction; it was based also in mindset, behavior, and unconscious patterns that I had formed.
Realizing this was a break through moment because it meant that I could unravel and pinpoint any fears, struggles, and anxiety I was sufferings from and then clear out negative thoughts, feelings and emotions.
This gave me a road map to begin the process of shedding my mind of conscious and sub-conscious negative habits, attitudes and patterns and replace them with positive ones that would take me forward (that process is a story for another time)!
All of which leads back to the first question:
‘When did I realize that I had an addiction to sugar?’
Well, for years I suffered with a chronic sugar addiction - of course I didn’t call that because, like most of us, I didn’t take seriously (I just put it down to having a sweet tooth).
I literally wasn’t able to join my friends in my favorite coffee shop without having the compulsion to order the biggest sugary drink on the menu OR be able to enjoy my families’ birthday parties without feeling that having a slice of cake wouldn’t kick-start a binge.
I wasn’t even able to keep some sugary food in the house without the compulsion to eat it.
I would find myself reaching for the sugary treats every time I felt overwhelmed, stressed, or tired in my day-to-day life.
I would find myself unable to resist something sweet at night. #NightSugarCravings
I would find it IMPOSSIBLE to watch others eat or drink a sugary treat without obsessively hankering after a taste of it for myself.
I would find it near impossible to resist ‘just a bite’ instead of a binge.
The cravings just escalated until I kept being hit with one health condition after another. Every day I woke up with terrible aches, pains, and painful cramping.
I broke out in acne, had weight fluctuations (a problem I was already dealing with), and was constantly in a state of inflammation. As for my mental state, as I said, I literally couldn’t have ice cream or anything sweet in the house. The thought of it would consume me until I gave in to it.
I would find every excuse to have sugar - to celebrate, to pick me up if I was tired, to feel cozy watching a favorite film, if I felt nervous, upset… you get the picture.
I was in a constant cycle of sugar cravings and binges: cutting it out for a couple of days, and then binging again.
This of course made me feel even worse, and my confidence was crushed. I began having sleep issues, extreme fatigue, irregular periods, difficulty concentrating, and irritability.
In short I felt horrible. I was only 18 at the time.
My search to break my sugar addiction.
I hit the internet and went on an epic Google self-diagnosis search, and discovered that my sugar obsession was literally making me sick.
It was at that moment that I finally realized, and well, admitted to myself, that I did in fact have a full on sugar addiction.
Confronting That My Sugar Cravings Were Part of An Addiction.
I now had a choice to make: do I tackle my issue head on and work towards sugar balance instead of sugar indulgence? Or, do I take the Ostrich route and bury my head in the sand? Do I simply carry on with what’s not working for me (but hey, I’d get to keep indulging me sweet tooth)?!
You guessed it: I chose to deal with my sugar addiction, to own it and conquer it.
But here’s the thing.
It’s like, really, really hard to break the sugar addiction and cravings.
The reality is that sugar is addictive - on a SUPERCHARGED level. It’s even more addictive than nicotine or cocaine - yikes!
I set about working on my diet, carefully weeding out the hidden sugars, and committing to a super-healthy eating plan. However, I would find myself keeping to my plan for several days - sometimes even as long as two weeks - but then I would hit a bump and the craving would feel overwhelming.
As you might have already imagined, I would end up having a sugar binge. I wondered what I was doing wrong.
Just cutting out sugar from my diet alone wasn’t enough.
Cravings are something we all battle, especially when we’re stressed or feeling vulnerable. And it’s easy for them to push us off the wagon when we’re trying to create healthier habits. Not to mention how much brain space and energy they take up when we’re trying to resist them.
Many times they seem so insurmountable we just want to throw our hands up and give in, especially if we’re relying solely on willpower. #DitchTheWillPower
That’s why getting a grip on your cravings is not about willpower, but it’s rather about integrating the appropriate habits into your daily life.
It’s not about the determination to give up certain foods, but developing the taste for good ones - just as with exercise. It’s not about forcing yourself to the gym every week as much as finding a way to actually look forward to it and enjoy it.
And this is what brings me full circle to answer the second question that I kicked-off this blog post with:
‘What one factor helped me the most in achieving my goal of breaking my addiction to sugar, and finally curbing my sweet tooth?’
Ready for my answer?!
Drum roll please!
Support. Yep, there it is: support.
You see when I started out on this journey to obtain sugar balance and harmony in my life, I felt shame: shame that I had let this sugar addiction take over my life, shame from all the terrible consequences it had caused, and the impact that it had on my family.
This is why I had chosen initially to try and deal with it on my own, quietly changing what I ate, my habits, and my rituals.
My family was puzzled. They nurtured and loved me, so of course it’s not like they weren’t going to notice!
I kept fudging the answers to their questions, hoping that I would come out of this private process transformed like a butterfly from its chrysalis, from a sugar addict to a healthy, productive balanced member of the family - I wanted them to be so proud of me.
However, it had the opposite effect.
I felt alone and unsupported.
I searched online, on Facebook and anywhere else that I could think of to find others like me, but to no avail.
And here’s the point.
The first thing you need to remember on your journey to get control back over your sugar addiction, is that it’s not just about what you do and don’t eat.
It’s about treating the problem as a whole.
You’ll find that it is likely your sugar addiction is closely connected to emotional eating.
And here’s the thing about that:
We eat to be sociable and share, to build bonds together, to show unity - it’s basically a part of being in the same tribe. We eat to reward ourselves when something good happens, we eat to console ourselves after a rough day.
We eat out of boredom, we eat to distract from things we have to do, we even eat to create joy or intimacy.
All of these elements thread back to our community, our family, our friends; it’s a big undertaking, and so it’s a big ‘ask’ to then tackle a serious issue without the right support.
My experience reaching out to others about my sugar addiction.
Well, I ‘failed’.
I got right back on the sugar fix - but I didn’t really fail, because I found the courage to open up and share what I was trying to do with my family, and this led to the most beautiful moment that I experienced with my mother.
She, through my journey, had a realization and breakthrough about her own sugar fixation, so deeply rooted and ingrained in her psyche as a child from her own parents as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety.
My sister then got involved to help us too.
We vowed to work on our sugar addiction together, and my entire family of seven siblings (even the youngest who was only three years old at the time!), as well as my dad, joined us in solidarity.
This time I wasn’t alone in battling my sugar cravings.
I always knew that it was important to have a support system, but I never really understood how important that was until that very moment.
Your support mechanism is made up of the people who encourage you when you feel like giving up and the people who celebrate with you when you succeed - and I knew how lucky and super fortunate I was.
It reminded me of this quote:
“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”
Having that support in my life at that crucial moment was one of the most important factors of whether I would succeed or fail.
Sadly, I know not everyone has that same backup that I was fortunate to have, even those who have folks supportive of what they do but who don’t quite ‘get it’ can still feel isolated.
This especially for a subject like sugar Addiction because, as a whole, it’s not taken seriously.
That, my friend is EXACTLY why I created my Sugar Balance + Wellness Circle Group, so that others - perhaps like yourself - who are looking to create a new, balanced, and healthy relationship with sugar would have your own supportive family.
A community who’d quickly become your family of people who care about your success and understand what you’re going through - because they’re going through it too.
Take a second and read this recent post from my group:
Do you read what that post says from my private group?! You betcha!
‘I made it 29 days sugar free!’
If you had told me that I could live HAPPILY without ANY sugar for 29 days, I would have laughed at you- ‘Impossible’ I would have yelled!
But yet - I did, and I CAN! I have been where you are right now. I’ve stood in your shoes. I know you, and I’m right there with you. I would LOVE for you to come and join my group, so I can support YOU!
A supportive community helped me, and if you’re dealing with the same issues, it WILL help YOU!
If you...
Want to, or are actively trying to curb your sugar addiction and your mind is holding you back and you feel totally overwhelmed at the thought of taking those first steps…
Are looking to create lasting and positive habits with long term success, but you’ve been held-back and frustrated by the lack of information out there on how to systematically get it done… #ActionStepsPlease
Need to learn how to live with sugar moderation because you’ve been diagnosed with a health condition that requires you to control your sugar consumption…
… then I have GREAT news for you, the private free Sugar Balanced + Wellness Circle group is for YOU!
I focus on topics like:
Low sugar living.
Effortless zero sugar living (yes! It’s possible!).
Balanced sugar living (enjoy sugary treats on your own terms and without the fear of falling back into the vicious cycle of out-of-control sugar cravings.)
Your mindset transformation- from negative enabling sugar addictive habits to positive sugar-free habits and behavior.
Steps to create your supportive sugar re-set environment.
How to tweak my food and beverage choices (without the overwhelm!).
I’m obsessed with finding actionable solutions NOT JUST inspiration (although a pinch of powerful inspiration goes along way!), so I break down the week into helpful, doable and actionable step-by-step hacks, tips and ‘how-tos’ based loosely around the following weekly structure:
Challenge Monday
Engagement Tuesday
What’s Cookin’ + Baking Wednesday
Quick Tip Thursday
Weekend Self-Care Friday
So, if you’re ready to get the support you need to finally throw those craving out the window, then come join the group here >>>
Seriously, I can’t wait to have you! Before I go, I’ll leave you with this quote:
Inspiration, from whatever the source, arouses feelings within us that rekindle hope, ambition, and determination. It is a momentary whisper of encouragement and reassurance that causes us to become aware of our potential.