If you are combating Candida and Sugar Addiction, chances are that chocolate candy bars, ice cream, and bakery goods are foods you crave the most. In my last post, I explained how to transition from your favorite ice cream to plain old vanilla, and then to frozen yogurt smoothies and mixing frozen yogurt with plain yogurt until you've combatted your ice cream cravings for good.
In this post, I want to give some suggestions for combating your candy bar addiction. Before I go into alternatives, I want to reiterate that anything you crave intensely is a food that is feeding your Candida and Sugar Addiction. I used to make excuses for allowing myself a container of ice cream, a bakery item, and a bag of candy bars every time I went to the grocery store, all the while "following"Candida diet plans. I didn't allow myself to realize that those items were the culprit that sent my health into a neverending downward spiral.
If you are suffering to the degree I was, you recognize that just having a bag of your favorite candybars will cause you to binge eat until the whole bag is gone. I used to chase my binge-eating episodes with whole bottles of acidophilus and 5-6 caprylic acid (antifungal) vitamins in a setting. By changing my shopping habits, I could have alleviated much of this struggle and saved tons of money in supplements.
For Candy Bar cravings, identify your favorite candy bar. For me it was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, a candy that was my favorite in childhood. If your favorite candy was also a learned trait in childhood, let that part of your childhood go. Try to find candy you do not crave or even necessarily like and allow yourself that candy as the replacement.
Because my chocolate bar cravings revolved around Reese's and sometimes Butter Fingers and Hershey's, I started looking for alternatives. I tried Snickers, but then hit a brick wall when I began craving them. I then tried mint chocolate bars and started seeing results. You see, for me, it was a lot harder to polish off a bag of Ande's Mints, or York Peppermint Paddies.
If I had it to do over again, I would have used Almond Joy's, a candy bar I am absolutely disgusted by, to transition out of candy.
Buy that candy you dislike the most. It may not even be a chocolate bar, any kind of candy will work. Allow yourself to binge on it in the throws of a full-blown sugar craving, the kind of craving you generally have at night. Don't anticipate the craving and buy this candy during your shopping, rather buy it when your cravings arise. Try to only buy a small bag or one bar. Chances are you will allow yourself a smaller portion of this kind of Candy because you don't like it. You'll be angry at first, I know I was, because what you are really craving is your favorite. Your mind is craving it and the yeast in your gut are craving it. Embrace this anger as a normal emotion and let it pass as you explain to yourself that you get this kind of candy, or nothing at all. Give yourself that choice.
After a few weeks or a month, you'll find that you will be less likely to break down and buy the kind of candy you don't like. You'll be more willing to withstand sugar cravings and reach for things like fruit, raw nuts, and a bowl of plain yogurt for night time snacks.
As of now, I only allow myself chocolate during a social event and maybe once a month to every two months. When I do indulge, I opt for dark chocolate that contains 80% cocoa and a lower sugar content. I generally buy a very small bar on sale at the health food store. Chocolate has become a decadence rather than a craving, and one that is sustainable long-term.
No comments:
Post a Comment