Hi Misty, sorry to hear you are experiencing such terrible cravings. I have found what helps me is to cut down on processed carbs. Have you noticed that the cravings are less severe on fast days? On fast days I don’t eat until the evening and then I eat a bit of meat and lots of vegetables which makes fast days carbless days. I tried starting my feed days instead of toast or cereal with a scrambled egg and a tomato and later some meat and vegetables and therefore prolong my low carb diet. This has helped me a great deal.

I do love carbs and still eat them but when I find myself craving sugar too much then I know how to tackle this problem. Hope this helps. BTW it also helps with the weight loss.

Hi Misti,

I’d second what Lichtle says.

I’ve been maintaining at under 60kg since early June. Even now though if I eat white bread, pasta, cakes, biscuits etc the hungry monster within me wakes. I can now exert more control, but it definitely helps me if I avoid processed carbs. I’m a big fan of natural full fat yoghurt. I add my own fruit. Lunches I do things like cottage cheese (in fact any cheese!), hummus, olives, tuna, and salad/ veg. Nuts are great too, caloric but filling, and don’t wake the carb monster.

On fast days I skip breakfast but do eat at lunch. Fine, if I stick to the above with no processed carbs.

Hi Misti

I also have been maintaining around 60 kg for the last four months. I find that the sugar cravings are triggered by processed carbs and sugar foods. I try to go free from processed carbs on fast days and as many other days as possible. When I indulge, I know how to break the addiction the next day. Good fortune.

Cheers, B 🙂

Hi Glitter and all other fellow Sugar Addicts

Just read on another thread someone describing cravings as ‘the Sugar Monster’ – so true! Very interested to read others’ experience of processed carbs triggering a sugar binge – I have often had that too. I have also done a lot of thinking about the psychological aspects of sugar/ food addiction over the years, which I’d like to share, in hopes it might be useful for others.

I’ve been doing 5:2 since about mid June, and been much more committed since beginning Sept, and my experience is that I rarely crave sugar these days – HOORAY! Like many other people report, I have drastically reduced the amount of processed carbs I am eating in general.

I have only eaten chocolate on 1 occasion since early Sept; and no biscuits at all. Both were my major weaknesses. The chocolate mini- binge (2 individual bars compared with eating a family size bar etc etc on many occasions in the past) was definitely due to addictive thinking rather than physical sugar cravings. I had just had an ‘official’ interview, which I had been dreading but which, though difficult. had gone ok after all. I think the addicted part of my mind told me: ‘Poor you, now you deserve a treat’ and I chose to listen to that thought.

I reckon it is a good idea to reduce processed carbs, but if anyone were also interested in taking a psychological tack, a book I have found helpful is by a writer called Gillian Riley. Her approach helped me stop a 40 a day smoking habit(in 1999 – so it has stuck!) I then read her book on food addiction. It was originally called ‘Eating less…’ but i believe it has been reissued under a different title. Honestly, I have no involvement with her – this is not an ad! In fact, I couldn’t quite do it with just her approach (eat less and lose weight I mean) but have found it a very helpful adjunct to 5:2.

I also went to Overeaters Anonymous for about a year (2010 – 11) but decided it wasn’t quite the approach for me. However, I did gain a lot of support from it and it did help my over-eating while I was involved, so again I offer that as an idea if anyone feels they are really struggling with addictive feelings. I think it would coexist quite happily with 5;2.

Thanks for this thread and all the best to everyone reading
Bootsy Badger

Hi, Misti-

I like sugar too, but I don’t binge. I believe there is something else going on. One is how your body reacts to the sugar you are eating. It’s like at Halloween- I can eat 5 small candies in a row, but normally I wouldn’t eat that much chocolate in a sitting.
First of all, try to find lower-sugar alternatives, like 70% dark chocolate instead of milk, or Graham crackers instead of Oreos.Try eating a KIND bar- the one with chocolate is yummy, as is the cranberry almond. They are very sweet, but have a low GI, and have protein as well.
Then there’s that list of “what you really need”. In part it says:

If you crave this… What you really need is… And here are healthy foods that have it:

Chocolate

Magnesium Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits

Sweets

Chromium Broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans, calves liver, chicken
Carbon Fresh fruits
Phosphorus Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes, grains
Sulfur Cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage
Tryptophan Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach

Now I would NEVER say liver and broccoli are substitutes for sugar, but make sure your body is well-fed before you automatically head for the sugar. Also try eating whatever it is super-slow, or eat half and leave the other half for later. My husband jokes about how he used to find half-eaten candy bars in my pockets (okay, maybe ONE time!).
A

Thank you bootsybadger !! Are u on Facebook at all? There is a dedicated 5:2 group on there too! Xxx