It’s much easier to look at a birthday party and say, “They’re going to be eating cake and ice cream. I can’t go,” then to ask ourselves, “Why am I desiring cake and ice cream in the first place? What emptiness do I feel inside that I am trying to meet with food? Why am I keeping myself from community, from something that would be joyful and fun, because I feel this urge to control and protect myself? What am I trying to avoid feeling by immediately jumping to, I can’t go?”
We can put all the blame on sugar and focus all our efforts on keeping this bad, bad, bad thing out of our lives. We do this because it keeps us from having to face our own hurt. It’s a classic defensive maneuver.
As long as we are staying focused on minimizing the sugar threat, we can avoid examining all the feelings and needs that drive our desire for sugar in the first place.
– from Overcoming Sugar Addiction