Cold turkey is in my opinion the only way.

For chocolate, switch to 85% dark or higher!!

The other thing you need more of is FAT!! Egg Whites are horrible!! You need the yolks to get you the necessary nutrients, and your description of egg whites, salad, and grilled chicken is not Paleo!! Cholesterol is your friend.

Steak, Bacon, Whole Eggs cooked in bacon fat or coconut oil, avocados, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds all good sources of fat!!

Please visit my facebook page and check the notes section for Foods I Eat, as well as my results. Fat is what you need to replace the carbohydrate sugar fix!! You won't be hungry, and your cravings will disappear!!

Tim http://facebook.com/bigtimsprimaljourney

The most important thing I can recommend as you are making the switch - yes, cold turkey is best - is to never allow yourself to go hungry. When you are hungry is when those cravings for sweets usually turn up. When you have had plenty of food, especially fat, you will feel satisfied. If you start to crave sweets, eat something else that is satisfying to your hunger instead. It will be hard for about three days as your body uses up its stored glycogen, but then it will become very easy to pass up sugar as your body switches over to fat burning mode. So: go cold turkey, don't let yourself go hungry and tough it out for about 3 days until you switch to fat burning mode. That's all it takes to conquer the cravings.

You need calories. The meal you described is almost entirely protien and fiber, get some fat or healthy carbs(tubers, fruit etc.) in there.

get la croix soda water. it's probably partly the carbonated burn that you crave in a soda. i know that's my deal. try it. it won't suck entirely. and oh yeah, do that other stuff people wrote above.

I agree with all responses above. It's best to quit cold turkey and, for a while, avoid fruits and starchy veggies. If you eat enough fat, as in cook your chicken in bacon fat (and eat the bacon too) etc., you'll still crave sugar for a long time but you won't be physically hungry which helps your odds if you keep all junk out of your house.

After a few weeks I started eating a little fruit--which aggravated my cravings at first--and now it's my daily dessert without causing problems. I'm 4 months in and I still have days where I think I'd love some junk food, but by now spring water tastes wonderful.

I had the same problem at the beginning. I can't just inch away from sugar. As long as I eat any sugar, I will crave sugar. Finally solved this problem by eating thin slices of cold roast beef each time I craved sugary treats. That might work for you. I cooked a big roast beef each weekend, sliced it thin, and had it available in the fridge for quick snacks during the week. Plain, or with a little mustard and butter, it was very satisfying to eat lots of roast beef instead of sugar, candy, cookies.

I switched over to paleo Jan 2010 and was crawling the walls in NEED of SUGAR! Shocked how addicated I was. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and going to the store to find the fruit with the most sugar... dried dates. I allowed dates, bananas etc in the 1st month. As I started to feel and look better it was easier to tighten the reigns in and drop the fruit.

Then again, quitting cold turkey isn't bad advice. (But maybe instead of giving up completely, fall back on a fruit)

Having successfully quit smoking and sugar in my life (smoking was much harder), my advice is to 1) just give it up completely one day, 2) avoid things that are similar, and 3) if necessary, temporarily replace your bad habit with another incompatible habit.

The way I finally quit smoking (after about 10 tries) was to take up fairly serious bike riding, which is the third step above (i.e. totally incompatible with smoking). If you think that a 20 mile bike ride can be tough, try it after smoking a pack of cigarettes the day before.

For the sugar, you could try treating yourself with foods that are full-fat but without sugar. This should be about as satisfying as sugar and, overall, better for you. For example if you normally put a couple of scoops of sugar in your coffee, put 1-2 Tbsp of heavy cream instead. Cream has a slightly sweet taste and this makes it so you don't have to drink your tea or coffee black, which is way too much of a change for those with a sweet tooth.

I would also avoid sweet-tasting things that don't actually contain sugar, such as diet sodas or "Crystal Light" and that kind of thing. This will just keep your sweet tooth and will eventually lead to you cheating with the sugar.

For snacks or desserts, get full-fat but unsweetened greek yogurt, or the creamiest cheese you can find. There is a fromagerie in my area that has the most unbelievable imported French and Italian soft cheeses, this must be the ultimate indulgence, and is sugar-free. As delicious as it is, it is hard to eat a lot of this because it is so rich, and this is something to look forward to. Just don't eat it with any fruit or anything sweet.

Being comfortable eating fat guilt-free is probably one of the hardest steps for people to take on this diet, but also one of the most important. The fats can only be certain fats, and can't be combined with any sugar, but be 100% sure that they are good for you and will help you eat better.

Trying to cut out all sugars AND fats is probably nearly impossible.

I had to go really low carb to get off the sugar. ymmv.

I still have to be careful with fruit, dairy and alcohol, or things start getting sketchy again -- it's a slippery slope for me, unfortunately.

i'm for cold turkey all the way.

Read this book , it is fantastic and takes you through a 7-step program to help you come off sugar for good: Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen Desmaisons.

All the suggestions are great here. There was awhile when all I had were meat and some greens in my fridge. If I got snackish or just wanted to eat, I would just eat a huuuge hunk of steak/whatever, even until the point of being quite full. At that point you really don't want to eat anything else. I was so scared I'd gain weight (one time I cooked and ate a huuuge pork chop at like 3am), but nothing bad happened, it actually probably helped me out.

So, if you're like me and you think 'oh, I can't eat/cook a whole meal right now, Ill just have this sugar snack instead', which leads to more and more trips back and forth to the fridge and getting small snacks, I'd suggest just going for it and cooking a whole hunk of meat right then and letting yourself eat the whole thing if you want/need something to chew on.

In fact I should take my own advice, as the bits of random nut butters/nut milk/nuts/snacks I've added back are ruining my weight loss, and reeally make me crave them/binge. vicious cycle :(

I have a major sweet tooth as well, and I was able to go cold turkey for a month, but after a cheat day at a wedding (CAKE OM NOM NOM), I had to really struggle to get back on the no-sugar wagon.

I've found I do better overall and am a generally happy person when I just do LC in stead of VLC or NC. I still eat fruit on the regular, enjoy the hell out of some Larabars, and savor a couple squares of super-dark chocolate (try Lindt's 90%--it's off the chain) just about every night to keep myself from going paleo-postal. My weight loss has slowed a bit(it was never that rapid to begin with), but I've also upped my weight training and HIIT, and I'm seeing more muscle development, which is nice.

Honestly, you have to figure out what works best for you. I have a binge eating disorder, so coming to terms with the fact that is indeed okay to have something sweet on this diet--as long as it's not processed or fake--was a major breakthrough. Good luck!

I"m new to Paleo also and love my gelato. Talk about a double whammy with the no sugar no dairy thing!

My saving grace has been a cold glass of coconut milk or unsweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted. I snack on this and it feels like a treat and I miss the gelato less.

Pretty simple... Just stop using it.

Meat, eggs, and green vegetables ONLY for the first two weeks. Actually, since it's so easy to go overboard on the nuts, seeds, and fruit... you may consider leaving them alone until you reach your weight loss goal.

Drinks...water is best. If you must, although they are not paleo, have diet sodas or better, still brew your own tea at home and use artificial sweetener. Hey, even using that little bit of "bad" stuff, you are making yourself healthier than you are now.

At some point in the first two weeks, you will feel like total crap for a day or two...brain fog, weak, tired... Then when this passes, your energy level will go up...off the charts. At work, about 10 years ago when I first started eating this way by trial and error and having never heard of paleo, primal, ancestral, etc... They actually drug tested me because my energy went up so much and they thought I must be smoking meth or something... especially with the rapid fat loss I was experiencing.

I am starting day 16 today of no sugar and mostly no grains. Easing myself into all of this.

I'm feeling pretty good now - no horrible cravings although I just read that thread about pasta and felt a ping.

The first day or so I was a bit itchy and my hubs peanut m&ms were calling to me big time. I wanted them!

Instead I ate 2 pints of farmer's market fresh blueberries over the entire day. Not the best plan, but there it is. I didn't cave and have any m&ms though!

I even sat and watched my hubs eat a Dairy Queen the other night after the movies. Really didn't want one!

Left over steak sliced thin and sprinkled with sea salt is awesome as well.

I've done the tough it out cold turkey thing with sugar before, and it is rough, but it is doable. It seems to take about 3 days for the craaaaaavings to die down for me, somehow the habit seems to linger longer. I had a really good experience with some high end probiotics and digestive enzymes finally killing that little voice in my head that kept asking for sweets. The one my nutritionist gave me was called Theramedix DGX. I thought it was too expensive, but I also thought it worked, so I'm not complaining too loudly. If you shop around you could probably find something similar for less money. After that experience I'm now totally fascinated by psycho gastroenterology. I now wonder how many thoughts in my head are dictated by my gut?

Before going 100% Paleo, I suffered from terrible eating habits that were seemingly out of my control. I had cravings for sugar-rich and high-fat, high-carb foods that I couldn't resist, and I often found myself binge eating industrial foods. Pretty much everyone who I asked for advice from told me to quit cold turkey, but each time I tried this - and I tried it many, many times - my success would only last a few days, at most a week, before I succumbed to my cravings again. Cold turkey was just too distressing and exhausting for me. Interestingly, instead of going cold turkey, it was patient self-observation of my eating problem that allowed me to eventually overcome it. I used yoga, meditation, and other methods of cultivating self-awareness to make the switch to Paleo. If you're interested, I blogged about the entire journey on Paleoterran.com. Here's the link: http://www.paleoterran.com/journal/2011/6/10/becoming-paleo-part-1-the-yale-food-addiction-scale.html Good luck with your effort to ditch sugar!

I think sugar-free gum might be helpful. You'd be constantly chewing something sweet thus you wouldn't really feel deprived during a sugar craving. I used to go through a pack a day. You can buy Xlear Spry's xylitol gum if you're sensitive to aspartame. Also, most cinnamon flavored gum do not contain aspartame (like Trident and Stride).

As for sugar: I agree, just throw it all away. But, I have personally noticed that when I use stevia, which isn't often, there is somehow something missing.......that little bit of happiness maybe. It just doesn't satisfy something because probably it doesn't trigger the same chemical responses other sugars do. It just seems to end on your tongue. That's fine with me. It makes certain dishes more palatable especially for kids, and I believe it does not lead to addiction. This is something I have been meaning to read up on (the why)...Will do so now..thanks for the reminder.

Another tip: I find when I get those odd cravings especially at the end of the evening I can replace them with other things..such as, foi gras (duck or goose liver - basically fat), or fermented pickles (salt).

I grew up drinking sodas daily. When the soft drink companies changed from sugar to HFCS my intake sky rocketed - this was at the same time I end high school and entered college. I am an addict pure and simple and I have not had a soda in over 5 years. Here is how I did it. First, never buy and keep at home - always make yourself work to get one. Second, switch to drinking only sodas made with real sugar, they cost more and you can not drink as much. Third, Start giving it up for 40 days... that is you only goal and promise yourself you will be rewarded.

Stage three is the hardest and I worked on this stage for 4 years before I went 40 days and just didn't really want one afterward.

I drink no sugar drinks, only tea with caffeine... the next habit to break. I am also trying to give up the grains right now. I used the same method and this is the second year of giving up for 40 days and then a reward. My reward is a manicure/pedicure because it is a nonfood easily attainable treat that I enjoy and rarely partake in.

Good Luck!

Most people here will tell you to up your fat intake, but I'm skeptical of this solution. It's probably worth trying, but you hear of so many people constantly falling off the bandwagon with low-carb, and has anyone noticed that several prominent low-carb proponents are actually, er, still fat, or have regained weight?

I believe Stephan Guyanet, certainly no slave to the conventional wisdom, believes that, contrary to the Paleo coventional wisdom, low-fat diets can be just as effective as low-carb. Especially, I'm guessing, if you avoid wheat and the other NADs. A high-fruit diet, ala Castle Grok or Denise Minger, could work better for you than low-carb.

So you may want to try both ways. It seems like some people really enjoy eating low-carb, while others have a lot of problems with it. I haven't been low-carb for several months, and I have not gained weight, and feel pretty good, and I don't feel like I'm betraying myself whenever I eat some rice or fruit.

Like Grok of Castle Grok, I advise against eating a lot of fat if you go high-fruit. I think this is what caused GI issues with me a while back. That doesn't mean you have to be super-low-fat, but, if you eat a higher-fat meal, space it from a high-fruit meal by a few hours. So, for example, you could have a higher fat dinner.

Yes, fruit contains fructose, but I suspect Chris Masterjohn says, the toxicity of fructose is highly contextual. This probably means something like "Fructose in whole fruit, no problem. Fructose in Coca-Cola and Twinkies, problem."

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I know this question was from a long time ago, but I just thought I'd offer my two cents' worth anyway.

I highly recommend going cold turkey. One day I was stuffing myself silly with Oreos, milk chocolate, apples and OD'ing on artificial sweeteners, and the next I went less than 20g of carbs. I went through severe carb withdrawal, and felt like death for about 3 days. On the 4th day, I suddenly felt a lot better, but still craved sugar and fruit.

I stuck with it for the next few weeks, with some "relapses" every four days or so (I would go binge on fruit/cakes/candy/other high-carb stuff). Gradually, the carb cravings decreased in frequency and intensity. The binges stopped, and I found myself growing more and more sensitive to carbs.

May I recommend that you also cut out artificial sweeteners along with the sugar? They only serve to make your sugar/carb cravings worse.

I can now have the occasional bit of cake and ice cream and "recover" from it easily enough, without severe carb cravings the other day.