If you still consider yourself a hopeless sugar addict
We've saved our most extreme measure for the end. This is a technique from NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) called "The Compulsion Blowout". Be sure you want to get rid of your compulsion before you use this technique, as the results may be permanent. It's done as follows. Find out how you picture the sweets that compel you and exactly what attracts you to them. Is it the size, nearness, color, or brightness of the image, or the imagined smell, taste or texture of the sweet? Now compare your image of the sweets with the image of something neutral or mildly distasteful, like lima beans. See how you picture the images differently. Now test what makes you feel attracted to the sweets by imagining increasing or decreasing it and seeing whether that makes the attraction more or less. Now picture the sweets in your minds eye. Very rapidly increase the quality that makes you crave the sweets until it becomes ridiculously intense. Repeat this rapidly over and over until you feel something pop or change. For example if you were attracted to chocolate kisses by imagining their delicious taste, you could rapidly increase that chocolatey flavor from a mild to overwhelmingly powerful in a matter of a few seconds. Quickly repeat the visualization several times. You will feel a change in yourself as you go over your threshold and the craving will be gone. We wish you success in kicking your sugar habit, but remember not to take it too seriously. Life can be sweet, with or without sugar.

Drs. Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Robert Ullman are naturopathic and homeopathic physicians and cofounders of the Northwest Center for Homeopathic Medicine in Edmonds, WA. They are coauthors of The Patient's Guide to Homeopathic Medicine and Beyond Ritalin: Homeopathic Treatment of ADD and Other Behavioral and Learning Problems. They can be reached at (206) 774-5599.