One of the things I know it hurts my health the most is sugar. I drink a lot of sodas, eat sweets and everything these days seems to have a ton of sugar. Do you see this as a problem or for you it's just a normal situation?
It's a problem when you can't live without sugar. If you think this is a problem, you can switch from candies, chocolates and cakes to fruits and healthier dishes, such as carrot microwaved cake. The thing is: if you think you are hungry enough to eat a dessert, why can't you eat an apple or a banana? Everytime you are going to eat something, think about it: could you eat a fruit right now? Or, if you really can't stand being without chocolate/candies, you should give them as a treat to yourself. For instance: after every 1 hour workout, you will give yourself a candy bar.
I definitely see this as a problem. I mean, I have got a little better over the years but I could still do with cutting down my sugar intake. With me, it's mainly in my hot beverages and my love of chocolate. When exactly I developed this love of chocolate is a mystery to me, because I haven't always been a huge fan! I'd say it's progressively got worse maybe over the last 2 years. I'm just glad that I don't drink lots of fizz and eat a lot of biscuits.
I’ve been known to have a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate, but I’ve found three things to be the case for me: 1) Sugar messes with my hormones, which in turn messes with my skin; 2) I crave chocolate when I’m depressed (I suppose that’s natural, though) and let’s be real, it’s only a temporary boost and ends up messing me up more; 3) The busier and more active I keep myself, the less likely I am to crave unhealthy, sugary treats. It also really helps if I don’t have sugary stuff readily available, haha. So I could say my cravings come and go, and at the moment they’re not a problem but this could change.
I find that I crave sugary stuff all the more when it's cold or during that time of the month. My secret is to avoid keeping those tempting snacks in my cupboards. That way when I get a craving, I'd have to go out and buy them, which means leaving the house. Luckily when I do cave in, I've not noticed anything adverse happen to my skin
The main issue about sugar as far as I see it is that everything has sugar. I don't know how this is allowed. A common juice or something other has tons and tons of sugar and lot of people including me drink them on a daily basis. Isn't that destroying me inside?
I have been trying to cut back on sugar, too, and like Sunflogun mentioned, it seems like it's in everything! I stopped drinking sodas and don't buy candy very often, but I still find sugar sneaking up everywhere...and it seems like as soon as I have just a little, that's enough to start the cravings all over again.
I think a lot of sugar cravings come from the fact that people restrict too much in order to avoid weight gain from the bad foods they eat. If you eat healthfully, you can eat the required calories and not gain weight and in doing so, you become satiated and cravings won't be a problem.
It is a problem. It has been my greatest challenge. In order to cut back on sugar, you have to kiss convenience goodbye, and make your own snacks and even food. Then, alternative sweeteners do not have the strong flavor of sugar, so you have to sacrifice and adjust. It helps some to cut my desire for sweets by eating naturally sweet foods like dates, raisins, carrots and sweet potatoes. Even white potatoes have a sweet taste when you bake them.
I have the same problem, really. I'm in my mid twenties. When '90s kids were young our parents didn't yet realize how horrible convenience foods and sugar can be. Food was used as a reward for me throughout childhood! If we did good in school that week, my granny would take us all out for fast fast food every friday! Lmao! It's interesting that you asked if it is addiction or if it is normal. I say it's both. You're addicted to sugar and it's bad for your health... just like a lot of other people! I eat low carb now and it helps so much. I seriously feel so much happier in general when I'm not eating bad carbs and sugar.
Everything in excess is a problem. I do love sweets too. But the problem is, once you start indulging in them you become addicted. Try eating fruits instead of them. I did this and I lost my cravings for sweets. Sometimes, I would crave for them and I would eat sweets but not as many as before. I can control it now. I consume more fruits than sweets now.
It's good to start early. My husband had skin eruptions when he was a pre-schooler. It was suspected to be caused by too much sugar because he was fond of sweets. And since diabetes runs in the family, my husband was taught to avoid sugar. Now he doesn't indulge much in sweets although soda is in his regular menu.
I really hate that I am addicted to sugar. I eat sweets all the time. I can tell that it affects my health because every time I eat sweets and I brush my teeth I notice it makes my teeth gums bleed a lot. It also makes me feel really hyper at first and then I feel really sleepy. Diabetes even runs in my family. So it is a problem I really need to fix.
I love drinking sodas, and whenever my uncle sends a bunch of chocolates from abroad, my share never lasts for a week, unlike my other family members that consume them sparingly. Luckily, I don't buy sweets often, since the kind that I want aren't really cheap, like imported chocolates or premium ice cream tubs, so bingeing on them frequently is unlikely.
That's one thing I am going to start with sidney, sodas. I have the nasty habit to drink them at most of the meals and I cannot even imagine the sugar intake it represents. My first step will be to cut those and I'll just keep moving forward.
I think cutting down on soda would be easy to do, since you can just replace it with water, coffea, or tea which is much cheaper. I rarely buy soda, but when I do, I consume a whole 2-liter bottle in 24 to 48 hours by myself.
