Lifestyle tips

I know it's weird asking on this site, but here goes.
I quit smoking and drinking with no trouble at all, but this one is a bitch. It's the only stuff Iballow myself to calm down my messed up nerves but sometimes think I eat too much of it. One day I'm perfectly fine without eating a single bar, the next day I eat four of them. Any thoughts or similar experience?

It’s a really tough one! As you can probably tell from my username, I’m a huge fan of sweet things. Around the end of 2019 into the beginning of 2020, I’d cut down a LOT on sugar. At first it was unintentional, but as time went on, I started craving sugar less and less. Then when I did try to eat sweet things, they tasted far too sweet and made me feel sick. Having to eat/pick at cakes & desserts socially lead to me slowly falling back into my sugar loving ways. It’s my only real vice, and it makes me happy, so I let it happen - especially with the stress of 2020. But I can absolutely agree that sugar is incredibly addictive.

I think I have some personal experience with that. What I found is that the cravings are often brought on by dips in blood sugar levels. Certain things can really spike blood sugar levels and that ends up resulting in a corresponding crash that brings on cravings for the thing that gave it the spike in the first place.

It's not necessarily that you have to eat less sugar, although it's a good idea to eat things in balance even if you are eating a lot of things. Things that have helped me with that are making sure that I'm also eating enough fat and fiber. Both of these things slow sugar absorption and smooth out the spikes.

Also it's helped me to avoid those crashes by making sure I don't allow myself to get too hungry or to have long gaps between meals. This can require some planning. But I've found it really helps. It's helping me feel better in general and helps me avoid weight loss and has supported weight gain as well.