A single tip from the nutritionist helped me overcome my addiction to sweets

We all know that eating too many sweets is bad for your health. They ruin the figure, affect the skin, cause drastic mood swings and tiredness. This list could go on and on, but realistically, who among us can willingly turn down these delicious treats?

An author of awesome.club managed to overcome his addiction to sweets thanks to a single tip from a nutritionist. This passionate former sweet tooth honestly tells us about her relationship with sweets and hopes that this experience will be useful to someone else.

Hello everyone, my name is Elena, I am 27 years old and I love sweets. Possibly with this sentence I would begin my pathetic story about a complicated relationship with sweets in the Society of Sweet Foods Anonymous, if it existed, of course. Sometimes I wonder why this organization hasn’t been created yet. Excessive consumption of sweets is considered an addiction. It’s not as scary and harmful as alcoholism and smoking, but it’s an addiction anyway.

Just to be clear, I’m not dramatic, but until recently I suffered from a love of high-sugar products. I will tell you some episodes from my childhood.

As a child, I was chubby. Even at home they made fun of my little belly. However, there were always goodies on the table. My favorite sweets were always hidden in the cupboards, but as soon as my parents left the house, I immediately started looking for them. I’m ashamed to admit that if I didn’t find them, I would just eat sugar…

Sweets for me were a forbidden fruit, but much desired. However, I now realize that it was all the fault of the bad eating habits I was raised with. For example, on the table was soup, which of course I didn’t want, and on the other side was my favorite candy. I could put the soup back in the pot or leave it for dinner, but my sister “manipulated” me: “When you finish eating, go get your candy. With each spoonful, your candy gets closer.”🇧🇷 And with each spoonful, the dessert got closer…

Another example that is also well known: “Happiness is at the bottom of the plate” / “If you don’t eat it all, you won’t grow”🇧🇷 We know that our grandmothers survived hard times and even food shortages. But the habit of eating everything without being hungry was recently overcome with a lot of effort. However, I am still reluctant to ask my husband to finish the salad: “There is only a little bit left, why take up space in the fridge with that!”.

As wonderful as our parents are, of course, we all have something to say to a psychotherapist. My parents are amazing, but we were raised in the days when there were no social networks with competent nutritionists and food sites for moms, and it was not fashionable to have proper nutrition, but instant noodles and American chocolates.

“We don’t live to eat, but we eat to live”, I didn’t immediately understand the meaning of that phrase. Nor when I thought I should lose weight to wear my shorts from last year. And much less when I got married and got pregnant with my first child. If there was a chocolate in the house, I wouldn’t put it down until it ran out.

When I promised my family to stick to a diet and I couldn’t, I hid the chocolate wrappers at the bottom of the trash can, as if they were proof of my weakness. When I found an article on the Internet about how to avoid eating chocolates, I read it without paying much attention. Who in their right mind would refuse to eat sweets and cakes? Not me! If I didn’t eat chocolate or a piece of cake in the morning, my head would hurt all day.🇧🇷 Or at least, I thought the pain was caused by that reason.

I realized it was a vicious circle🇧🇷 I felt insecure with my non-standard body and the impossibility of wearing beautiful and tight clothes. I only calmed down by eating bread rolls and chocolates. What a surprise! I was still gaining weight, which of course didn’t give me more confidence.

When I was 1.72 m tall, I weighed 63 kg. Those numbers weren’t terrifying, but I couldn’t call myself thin and fit. When my husband gently hinted at this, I was very offended by his comments, as he did not accept me for who I was.

My classes at the gym could be considered a triumph, it took half an hour to arrive, I was tired after work, I paid 30 dollars a month, I sweated and struggled for an hour, but of course, when I got home, I had some desserts. At the same time, I realized that the gym without proper nutrition was useless, it was like fighting the current🇧🇷 But I couldn’t do anything.

After my baby was born, my sanity returned and I started thinking about the eating habits I would pass on to my son. When I read some psychology books and analyzed myself rationally, I stopped fighting with my son who ate little, baking cookies for coffee and buying chocolates. Most importantly, I stopped considering sweets as a premium and supreme value.

When I understood my problems, I finally decided to devote myself to self-education. I found a nutritionist on the Internet who ran healthy diet marathons and promised to stick to her recommendations for at least a week.🇧🇷 I found that eating healthy wasn’t that expensive and apart from the elimination of the high-calorie desserts, it generally felt like a regular diet.

I cannot tell all the secrets of nutrition, as this could deprive the nutritionist of her livelihood. But here are some important tips: it’s worth drinking two liters of water daily and eating every 3 or 4 hours. It is recommended to consume protein with vegetables for better absorption, not to eat carbohydrates at night and not to deprecate healthy fats.

You’ll agree that it’s nothing special, but in this program there was an accurate example of how I had to eat breakfast and that helped me understand that food is a set of nutritious substancesand many psychological problems related to its deficit are corrected with food.

According to the program, the morning should start with whole grain cereals, an omelet thin or whole grain bread, berries and nutsconsuming a reasonable portion. Explaining in scientific language, you need to choose products with a low glycemic index: they are absorbed slowly, stabilize the blood glucose level and maintain it throughout the day. This was the main recommendation of the nutritionist who helped me fight addiction to sweets and listen to my body.

I just had to have a breakfast like that and a miracle happened! I stopped thinking about chocolates🇧🇷 In two weeks I lost 1.5 kg and 2 cm from my waist.

I had an exclusive day of the week for sweets. In the first of them, I bought a sweet bread with cream and a Snickers chocolate. To tell you the truth, they both seemed too sweet to me. I couldn’t eat it all. It was possibly the first time I’ve done that in my entire life.

For me it was a great discovery. By leading a sugar-free life, I had less drastic changes in my mood and the headaches disappeared., although all my life I thought they were caused by the absence of sweets and that their presence helped me. I wonder why this happened: lack of vitamins, auto-suggestion or just an excuse?

The program came to an end and now I only eat what I like. I don’t count calories, I don’t bring snacks to the park, I don’t worry that I miss lunch or that I’m out of celery at home. Sweets no longer have power over me. In the morning I might have a piece of dark chocolate or a cookie, or try a piece of cake. I always have treats at home for guests. I remember the existence of sweets and I’m not afraid to eat them.

The malaise and worries I take care of with a hot bath and a good sleep. I work on my problems instead of “eating” them, I hear myself more and I enjoy the taste of food. It is my concept of a healthy diet with which I have achieved a harmonious relationship.

How is your relationship with sweets and chocolates? Is it an addiction, a love from a distance or an absolute indifference? Leave your story in the comments below.