I've got the same questions! I don't think that you're weak & pathetic, I think that you are human. I can only tell you about my own experience...

My Sugar cravings seem to be hormonally driven, in fact, the week before my period, I'm just REALLY HUNGRY! But with sugar...? Once I have that first taste, I want MORE. That's why I do my utmost to avoid it. I try not to keep it in the house. My husband is one of those controlled, saintly types who can just eat a TINY scoop of ice cream, or ONE cookie, & be done with it. So I'm always asking him to hide his sweet treats(seriously). Cuz I'm not happy with a little bit. I want a LOT!physiological? psychological? who knows & who cares. For me, avoidance is the ONLY thing that works. And(for the most part) I am successful at avoiding sugar. I really don't think that it would be possible to NEVER have it again, though. and honestly, I don't WANT to never have it again.

I have also given up coffee. I've also drank it since giving it up. I LIKE coffee! As long as it's an occassional treat, I don't see the problem.

I think that being on such a restrictive diet is a really difficult. It seems that you gave up a LOT, all at once. I'm not surprised at all that you've fallen off the wagon.

It's totally natural that you are now "gorging" yourself on these formerly prohibited items. You need to give yourself permission to have these things occassionally so as to avoid the feeling of deprivation that you obviously felt while denying yourself. As long as you know that it IS o.k. to have them sometimes, it is less likely that you will get caught up in the deprivation/gorging pattern again... :)

ps...tastebuds are VERY powerful... :)

Katie, I can sure identify with your post even though I hate the taste of coffee. My addiction may be even worse-DR Pepper :(
I found this post of mine from a couple of years ago from the old Ask Shelly Forum. That is where I first remember "meeting" you. Anyway, I thought I'd repost here and see how you feel about my take on food addiction:

MY MORNING OF ENLIGHTENMENT, by hopinso

I am writing this on Shelley's forum because I think a lot of us share the same problems and the same sense of discouragement when things or so slow to show improvement. Tasty's post on spiraling downward really touched me because she was telling much of my story. For three years now I have had daily pain, it ranges from a dull ache to excruciating and almost unbearable. Two years ago I began seeing an alternative health practitioner and also started doing a lot of research on my own, for the last year and a half I've been putting a lot of what I've learned into practice. Still I woke up this morning just as tired as I was when I went to bed, the pain today is deep and severe, I was having trouble walking. My face was bloated and blotchy, and I have a zit on my jaw-no woman should have to suffer with crow's feet and pimples at the same time!
Well, as I was reading Curezone this morning, I was becoming more and more discouraged and depressed. I've done so much and yet I feel so awful. Something snapped and I decided to go to town on a junk food run. As I drove the 9+ miles to the nearest small town I was making my list of what to buy-sandwich meat (Oscar Myer Ham and Cheese loaf), bread, chips, dip, Little Debbies, ice cream, and a lot of chocolate. I also decided if there was a certain amount of money in the bank I would stop at Sonic for the first time this year. I made it to Sonic and ordered a cheeseburger, fries and DR Pepper. While it was good, somehow it didn't have the magical soothing and calming effect I was hoping for. While I was contemplating this, a car pulled up beside me and out came a teenage girl at least 100 pounds overweight. She was reading off the menu her cotton knit shorts bunched up between massive thighs, scratching her large behind (its tick season in the Ozarks) while her equally heavy mother sat in the driver's seat and blew smoke in her face. Later at Walmart I watched another extremely obese woman drag along her small son, who already had a big "beer gut" belly, with one hand and puffing on a cigarette with the other. Everywhere I looked there were heavy and obese people of all ages, there were also so many using canes to get around.
That was when the light bulb clicked on. For too many of us food is at the center of our lives. Food becomes our parent, babysitter, best friend, lover and comforter. Food is how we give and receive love. We entertain with food, celebrate with it, and mourn with it. The happiest childhood memories I have somehow involve eating. That was one of the few things that brought the family together. Suddenly the rows of junk food did not look so appealing. Instead of spending my money on the planned junk food I wound up getting a bottle of magnesium oxide tablets, a fresh supply of fish oil and a bottle of prune juice. I took the mag oxide as soon as I got back in the car.
My drive home was a long one, the five miles of dirt road leading up the mountain was being graded. I had time to slow down and really count my blessings and enjoy the extraordinary beauty of the Ozark Mountains. I could also feel the mag. oxide kicking in. As soon as I got in the house I was able to pass 18 inches of well formed but foul smelling stool. Within an hour the pain had diminished somewhat, my bloated blotchy face looked thinner and clearer. The magnesium oxide had worked its magic; but even more importantly I got a serious attitude adjustment.
All the cleanses and supplements in the world will do little good if we are not ready to change our diets for the better. For most of us that is not just a matter of will power and determination, but also a major emotional adjustment. Food addiction is just as powerful as drug or alcohol addiction, it is just more socially acceptable. We cannot allow ourselves to give up; but we must take more responsibility for our actions, especially our diets; and learn to be patient. After all, it took more than a couple of weeks to compromise our health, it will take more than a few cleanses, supplements, fasts and diets to fully turn our lives around.
Meanwhile, thank you Shelley and others who so patiently answer our questions and supply valuable advice. I have this strange feeling, have dread and half anticipation that some big change is looming ahead. Somehow, I get the feeling of somehow being connected to you, I don't understand this and admit its somewhat unsettling. Still if you get any "vibes" or insights, I'd appreciate your counsel and advice. -G-

Katie,

I believe that most people CAN overcome the addictions.
But, I think the amount of time it takes is different for everyone. One of the things it depends on is how long you have eaten poorly, and what your childhood diet was like.

I did the 100% raw for a while, beginning back in February. I was eating anything raw all day and I was hungry all the time and mentally tortured because of my addiction/withdrawl from cooked foods. After a few months, I found the warrior Diet Forum and decided to eat mostly fruits during the day, but have one cooked meal in the evening. It was difficult for a few weeks, but then it worked really well for me because whatever I wanted to eat during the day, I just saved until the evening and then pretty much ate whatever I wanted then. Then I gradually started eating healthier stuff in the evening. Some days I eat totally raw all day and don't feel deprived.

Don't get me wrong, I still eat "junk food" occasionally. I'll eat ice cream or pizza or white rice or bread, or a fresh french pastry. But actually it's not that often. And after I eat a small amount, I'm either satisfied or sick to my stomach. Sometimes, I plan a "cheat day" and go out to find something yummy and don't find anything I want and wind up going home and eating fruit instead. I think if you do your cheat, then don't feel guilty about it, because that just makes it worse.

One of the keys I think is to be pretty well cleansed and properly nourished because I think that reduces cravings. Some people won't like this, I'm sure, but I think I have less cravings now that I am eating a little more meat than I was before (I was only eating it about once a week, now I eat it about 5 times per week, but usually only in the late afternoon/evening). Usually, I eat raw fish. I even found that raw beef tastes good, like I remember a tender roast tasting. I am not recommending eating raw beef unless it is of exceptional quality; some of the beef here in Japan is sold specifically to be eaten raw. I have also been eating organic yogurt once a week or so. Sometimes I eat cooked meat, like chicken or eggs but not that often.

I think one of the reasons I'm doing well is because I grew up eating a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. I remember eating apples or salads as snacks when I was little and loving it. My husband grew up on a SAD and so when he tries to eat healthily, he has a difficult time because there are very few fruits and vegetables that he enjoys and he grew up on hydrogenated fats and diet sodas and he loves the taste of that stuff, while I have always thought it was disgusting.

I think hopsino is absolutely correct when she says that if you want to eat something unhealthy when you are out, take a look around at the other people eating it and you will probably be so grossed out that you will loose your appetite. This happened to me recently when I was out with my kids at a food court and we were going to get some pizza and there was a VERY large woman with an overweight 2 year old and an obese 5 year old slurping down disgusting food and so we left and ate at home.

Anyway, to sum it all up, I think that the more I cleanse and eat healthy food, the more I want healthy food and not junk. But, when I get stressed out, I still do crave the crap. So, one of the things you need to learn is NOT to stress out about eating (which is actually pretty difficult).

I think it also helped me to search the internet and read gross things about the foods I liked. You can find a lot of info about how animals are tortured or what they are fed or about what Sugar does to your veins and why diabetics sometimes get their feet amputated or why some people think french fries and potato chips contain more carcinogens than cigarettes. Then, think about those articles while you are contemplating eating something crappy.

You are definitely not alone, though. And, I think it's okay to obsess about food for a while. I sure did. Then I started to obsess about why I was obsessing about food. Then, I decided that since I spent over 30 years barely even thinking about what I was stuffing myself with, that it was okay to be obsessive about it for a few months, to make up for the lost time.

Tina.

if i find myself addicted to anything, i literly make myself sick of it by intentionally overinduldging in it..this is often dangerous in some cases,when i was younger i was addicted to coccaine and decided i was going to quit..so me and my friends did about $250 in about an hour! i was soooooooooo clucked out, i could'nt hold still,i was panicicing, i was going crazy!when the high wore off i was soo down i felt like i was going to die..i remember almost blacking out and it felt like i was going to stop breathing, i remember praying to god that if i live i would never do drugs ever ever ever again.since then i havent' done it since!
i have associated that feeling with sheer DEATH, i no longer enjoyed even entertaining the thought anymore.i have done the same with alcohal,sugar,sex,whatever the new addiction was..i did it ALOT in a short period of time to get it out of my system and until i no longer got a rush or anytype of enjoyment out of the addiction,once it lost it's spark - i no longer desired it, it seems like the more you repress something the more you want it,but if you temporarily overinduldge until you get sick of it, you stop on your own free will.
kinda like the dad who caught his son smoking , so he told the kid to smoke as much as he wanted to ..the kid smoked himself sick and then no longer wanted to smoke anymore on his own!!
LOL!!

sounds like my experience.

My cousin got addicted to mocha frappuccinos. It was usually the Coffee Bean's but also Starbucks. She got to where she had to have one everyday, and sometimes 2, or she would get a migraine headache. Then she realized how ridiculous it was, she was spending so much money and eating so much of that junk, and it was making her sick, so she quit cold turkey. She had terrible headaches and had to walk around wearing sunglasses for about 2 weeks but after that she was glad she quit. She still has one occasionally but she makes sure it is only occasionally and blatantly for a treat - not a crutch.

Oh, and I'm not sure if this will help you, but I like to make an "alternative" frappuccino/milkshake. Here's a recipe I wrote a loooonnnggg time ago (I was NoDairyGirl for a while when I first started coming to Curezone):
//www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=64752#i

These days I like to add sorghum molasses, 2 brazil nuts and lecithin to my smoothies. I think that will help feed my body and reduce cravings. I add a little ground coffee and cocoa powder if I want "mocha". I don't know if something like that will help you, but I just wanted to give you an idea. I figure that, while not perfect, a smoothie I make is way healthier than the ones they sell most places!
I make one once every few weeks, maybe 2 or 3 around my period IF necessary :-)
And occasionally I just have the real thing.

BUT I don't have a particular problem or obvious reaction to caffeine or sugar, just so you know.