MrsPefy13 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I have been starting and restarting whole30's for the past month, my longest stretch was 5 days, but once I get comfortable, I start making excuses for myself in regards to sugar... I'll tell myself that I don't need to follow a "strict" whole30 because I've already completed one back in March, and really, it's just a little sugar so what's the big deal? And then a little sugar leads to a lot of sugar and I'm back to square one. In reality I know I have an unhealthy relationship with sugar and sweets and that I'm better off without, but it's like when someone with a mental health disorder feels better and stops taking their medication because they think they're "cured"... when sugar is out of my system I think I'm cured and that I can handle small amounts with no problem... that is never the case for me, and I fear it never will be. Today is Day 1 (again) so I am asking for some tough love and support, and I promise I won't get defensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anonymous548 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 My Best Advice for you..... Just don't eat it... You really do not need it. Like the program say your not going to cheat so stop thinking like that and do not cheat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjena Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I agree. Suck it up and just do it. Don't think about it. If I start arguing with myself, I lose. LOL If I just don't even go there, it's easy. Just eat what you eat and don't think about it. Now, on day 1, remind yourself of why you are doing this. Then, just do it and don't think about it. You did it once, you can do it again. If you have a log here and/or tell friends/family about it, that might help. Sometimes the only reason I stuck to it was because I said I would and I'd have to confess if I caved. Just being stubborn about that can help. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlaccini Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Yes, sugar is off plan so why do you give yourself an excuse to eat it? It is a big deal. Sugar is a substance that will make you less healthy, plus it's highly addictive. Tough love aside - I have battled with my sugar dragon as well. We used to be good friends. Now we are still on speaking terms but in a controlled venue and he is on a leash. So it works. Each whole 30 is different. Each time there is a different mental game. I did a whole 15 in June and my brain whined the entire time. (Of course I was pretty stressed the entire time and I wanted sugar each and every single day). I am now day 17 of a whole 30 and I have had only a handful of cravings. Day 5 I wanted a cheese Danish from a bakery near my office merely because I was running about 10 minutes late. I sucked up the fact that I was running late and cobbled together a decent enough breakfast. Brain was happy enough as I told my sugar dragon to just suck it up and deal with it. But I must say it nearly had me convinced. So yes combatting the sugar dragon is definitely not easy - but you do have to suck it up and deal with it at some point. Remember the hard line in ISWF - This is not hard. Beating cancer is hard. Beating drug addiction is hard. Drinking your coffee black is NOT HARD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsPefy13 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 thanks all! I'm going to start keeping a log this time to keep myself accountable... I just need to remember to keep up with the log! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina R Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I read in another elimination diet book that when you have a hard time giving up a particular food, that is the one you need to give up the most. That sugar dragon is trying to fight to the death. The only way to stop it is to starve it. You need to get over that first week maybe even two. I find drinking herbal tea helps especially fruity teas that have a little sweetness to them. Make sure you are not hungry at all even if you have to eat 4 full meals a day for the first two weeks. You can do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 For me the best foods didn't hold any remembrance of a swapped out version. No bulletproof coffee, tutti frutti anythings, dried coconut flakes with blueberries & coconut milk for a dried cereal substitute , Larabars or things like that. The further away I traveled from those things....the easier it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wynne Jones Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 You could try the One Day at a Time strategy. As in, just for today I will abstain from sugar. I can have some tomorrow, but just for today - no way. It helps me to plan for the future but keep my mind set in the present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Welp, really...she can't have any tomorrow. If she has serious problems with sugar...she can't tell herself it will be alright tomorrow. She has to create some new patterns for herself to get rid of old sugar habits. Thoughts lead to cravings, desires and then wanting to pounce on them. Sugar is a dragon and a monster. He'll hide and bite you. A binge is not a treatment for a sugar addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praxisproject Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 You can also track your blood sugar at home with a self monitor (this can be quite the reality check, especially the morning one, *before* you eat anything). I had been doing this for some time before my first Whole30, for my blood sugar alone it was worth it, for the first time my resting level went below 10 consistently, all month. This had never happened before. I found grains also triggered more sugar cravings for me, same with dairy and artificial sweeteners. Keeping a food log is very important. If you fall, read back over it, think about how you were feeling, what you were eating. Dates and watermelon are both triggers for me, depending on quantity. Anything that causes a blood sugar spike is followed by a crash and that's when you're most vulnerable to the cravings. You can beat it. You can get it under control, it's not something you're stuck with. Just for some mental awareness, re-read your first paragraph, replacing sugar with: cigarettes, heroin. Scary huh? I found quitting caffeine harder than quitting smoking and quitting sugar & artificial sweeteners harder than caffeine. The addiction instinct is to cave to the craving, but the stronger the craving, the more you are winning, hold strong and you will smash right through it. The days you fail are the days you are so close to beating it, the instinct rises up most fierce when it knows you're beating it. For me, I found magnesium helped too, my blood sugar is more unstable without it as a supplement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cayenne Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Actually, we CAN have anything we want to eat at anytime, anywhere and for any amount. No one is putting a gun to our heads making us not able to make a choice. If looking at it one day at a time works, then it works. Sometimes labling food as bad, evil, never to be had again is too much-the terminalogy, I think , means alot to the brain who is hearing it. We can sometimes deal with 1 day/24 hours and we can do it again the next day. Baby steps. No matter what, restricting food sounds awful...getting more of the good stuff sounds better. Slaying a sugar dragon sounds like a fight to the death with part of your own self. Choosing good healthy meals, fruit, etc to feel and be heathier sounds like what we all need to do. We choose the good stuff.We dont need to beat or strangle or kill the other stuff. It is the terminology we use. For instance, my husband did not lose his leg...he gave it up to gain his life back. Big difference inhow the brain interpretes that. Empowering...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juice06870 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 The Hartwigs had a few good points in their book. (I'm paraphrasing) - unless you trip and fall face first into a birthday cake or box of donuts, there is no good reason to revert to your habit of having something off plan when you know you shouldn't. We are all grown up adults capable of making our own decisions which will either benefit or harm us. By putting in the effort for 5 or more days, and then simply giving up by using the excuse that you are 'cured' of sugar (i don't even know what that is supposed to mean, cured of what?) - you are exercising the self restraint level of a toddler. There are a lot of very good ideas and suggestions on what to do when you get these cravings on this chain of posts. Use your restraint and stay away from the sugar. No more excuses. The longer you can last, the easier it should start to become to beat the cravings...and hopefully as the days progress, the cravings will get weaker and weaker. It's day at a time, but try to make it last longer than 5. Sorry, you wanted tough love xoxo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Wright Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 When I want to cave, and I have all my reasons (excuses) to cave lined up, I think about how I DESERVE to finish this Whole30. I DESERVE to be able to say, "I made it all 30 days, and I didn't give in." Thinking ahead to how proud you will be of yourself can do wonders for you on a bad day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 The Hartwigs had a few good points in their book. (I'm paraphrasing) - unless you trip and fall face first into a birthday cake or box of donuts, there is no good reason to revert to your habit of having something off plan when you know you shouldn't. We are all grown up adults capable of making our own decisions which will either benefit or harm us. By putting in the effort for 5 or more days, and then simply giving up by using the excuse that you are 'cured' of sugar (i don't even know what that is supposed to mean, cured of what?) - you are exercising the self restraint level of a toddler. There are a lot of very good ideas and suggestions on what to do when you get these cravings on this chain of posts. Use your restraint and stay away from the sugar. No more excuses. The longer you can last, the easier it should start to become to beat the cravings...and hopefully as the days progress, the cravings will get weaker and weaker. It's day at a time, but try to make it last longer than 5. Sorry, you wanted tough love xoxo Juice, I agree with you. Sorry, you wanted tough love Tough love is what pulled me through the W30 program. " there is no good reason to revert to your habit of having something off plan when you know you shouldn't. We are all grown up adults capable of making our own decisions which will either benefit or harm us. " During the reintro phase.....I can have anything I want at any time I want. Truth is....my good blood sugar numbers won't stick around if I do that. Yes, I can immediately revert backwards to my old ways, but my old lifestyle habits will do me in all over again. Am I willing to go there? Nope, I'm not. I no longer feel I'm missing out on anything. The rewards of a W30 are so great that I'm not going to look back into my rearview mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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