Need friends with ideas to help calm that ridiculous sweet tooth of mine.

smileyjules70

My ridiculous sweet tooth seems to be my undoing every time I start trying to loose weight and live a more healthy lifestyle. Any ideas to help get me through would be awesome.

suejabin2014

Stop!! Don't do it!!! I had a sweet tooth and now it's broken lol so before u touch those yummy and delicious treats think of me and my broken tooth lol!

Natalierae886

I was drinking 10+ cups of tea a day with sugar in and having about 2 chocolate bars a day. Since ive started drinking 3 litres of water a day im barley hungry, I havent had chocolate in over a week and barley drinking tea. I also sometimes have a healthy living hot chocolate before bed, not to high in calories and seen as night time was when I mainly had chocolate and snacked it really helped.

smileyjules70

suejabin2014 wrote: »

Stop!! Don't do it!!! I had a sweet tooth and now it's broken lol so before u touch those yummy and delicious treats think of me and my broken tooth lol!

Ha ha now that's a pretty good incentive! lol

smileyjules70

Natalierae886 wrote: »

I was drinking 10+ cups of tea a day with sugar in and having about 2 chocolate bars a day. Since ive started drinking 3 litres of water a day im barley hungry, I havent had chocolate in over a week and barley drinking tea. I also sometimes have a healthy living hot chocolate before bed, not to high in calories and seen as night time was when I mainly had chocolate and snacked it really helped.

Ill try upping my water intake then, I don't have sugar in my coffee my my down fall is chocolate, lollies and of course cakes and tim tams. Eeek I have gone 5 days cold turkey and it doesn't work... just causes an massive binge as the cravings become full on, an gradual is also a problem.

DebraWilliams1

you might try cutting down gradually with EVERYTHING. For instance, I used to take 2 tsp. of sugar in my coffee. Started taking only 1. Not as good, but drinkable. Then cut to 1/2. and finally stopped using sugar entirely. Also started subbing stevia for part of the sugar, and still cutting down on the total sweet taste. Now if I'm making a recipe that calls for a cup of sugar, I use 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup stevia replacement, and find that the product is often almost too sweet for my taste. It took months, though, to get my taste buds down to a reasonable level of sweet.

LaurenNotLaura

I agree, slow and steady wins the race! Cut back little by little and you'll barely realize it! When my sweet tooth hits, I go to the store and will buy a single piece of cake instead of the whole thing. The piece is still way to big, but I cut it in half and eat enough to satisfy me. I find I will always eat more if I have a whole cake in the fridge instead of just a piece!

sophomorelove

I have a huge sweet tooth, and I found that it helps to have lots of protein first, make sure to have veggies with every meal, of course water, and only then a dessert. I have to remind myself to treat the sweets for what they are - treats. I'll have them but only after my "big girl" meal. My life used to be like this: I eat (simple) carbs, I get really hungry in 2 hours, eat more carbs, etc. I rarely craved anything else because I was so used to sugar as the primary food. Now, I still have a sweet tooth and crave sweets every day, but I also leaned that these cravings come at certain times of the day and last for a limited time. Once I learned what to expect, I could prepare myself and suddenly, the sugar is not so intimidating and powerful. I know how to deal with the cravings and I know that I can have sugar any time I want. Good luck to you!!! You can do it!

leem1968

Hi, i think you should try drinking at least 7 cups/g;*kitten* of water every day, especially about an hour before you usually eat. Also make sure you are eating enough fibre / protein to keep you fuller for longer. I have lost 46lbs since Dec7th and am still on a calorie deficit of 1000 Kcals per day, so you would assume i am hungry, but honestly if you eat properly (3-5 times per day) you will stave off the hunger for sweet things. I made a basic muffin recipe that I added lots of fibre and protein to, so that I can take a muffin to work and have as mid morning or afternoon snack with a glass of water. This keeps me fuelled. I can send you the recipe if you need it. Keep up the good work

smileyjules70

sophomorelove wrote: »

I have a huge sweet tooth, and I found that it helps to have lots of protein first, make sure to have veggies with every meal, of course water, and only then a dessert. I have to remind myself to treat the sweets for what they are - treats. I'll have them but only after my "big girl" meal. My life used to be like this: I eat (simple) carbs, I get really hungry in 2 hours, eat more carbs, etc. I rarely craved anything else because I was so used to sugar as the primary food. Now, I still have a sweet tooth and crave sweets every day, but I also leaned that these cravings come at certain times of the day and last for a limited time. Once I learned what to expect, I could prepare myself and suddenly, the sugar is not so intimidating and powerful. I know how to deal with the cravings and I know that I can have sugar any time I want. Good luck to you!!! You can do it!

I'm pretty good with my three main meals and rarely have dessert however I tend to hit the sugar when I get tired or stressed. It tends to happen between meals or at night when I'm watching tv. (A really bad comfort food)

smileyjules70

leem1968 wrote: »

Hi, i think you should try drinking at least 7 cups/g;*kitten* of water every day, especially about an hour before you usually eat. Also make sure you are eating enough fibre / protein to keep you fuller for longer. I have lost 46lbs since Dec7th and am still on a calorie deficit of 1000 Kcals per day, so you would assume i am hungry, but honestly if you eat properly (3-5 times per day) you will stave off the hunger for sweet things. I made a basic muffin recipe that I added lots of fibre and protein to, so that I can take a muffin to work and have as mid morning or afternoon snack with a glass of water. This keeps me fuelled. I can send you the recipe if you need it. Keep up the good work

Thanks might try going to five meals a day and upping the water intake, that may help the problem. For my three main meals Im really good, its the in between when Im tired. If you can send me the muffin recipe that would be awesome.

Patttience

Yes quit! I did it starting 2014 for the third and final time. This time i created some rules that make it work and make it easy. I have sweets only when offered to me outside my home and then in only have one serve. The idea is to have sweets only in low risk situations and this is low risk.

The rest of the time you never eat sweets or sugar or artificial sweeteners. Only fruit. After a while you iwll be safe with dried fruit but I waited for some months before going with them too. I know that if i get in a bingy mood due to stress or low mood, i'll probably binge a bit on dried fruit and other things but none of them are as bad as sweets and I get over it all faster.

I love living my life without regular sweets. If you are interested in trying this, message me for more ideas. Anyway think about it. You may not be ready now but for your sake, one day, i hope you recognise that this is probably what you need to do.

Patttience

smiley, could it be that it doesn't work because you have cut your calories too low. Or could it be that your mood is not in a good place. I quit when my mood in a good place. I think enables you to get off to a good start but if you are already in a binge mode, then its nothing to work at this point in time. The reasons are hormonal.

So its not that it doesn't work. Its that it doesn't work when you are not in peak mood. After you've sustained an abstience for some time and established your routines and got past the worst of temptations, then its really easy. Getting to that point is about avoiding temptation but first you have to get your mood right.

Work on that.

Oh i just read above - tired and stressed. Yeppers! That will cause you to want to eat more and especially sweets and comfort food to ensure you get lots of sleep and deal with stress. If you have the occasional unavoidable lack of sleep, if you have good healhty food with you, then you can avoid the indulgence.

Over the course of the year and a half since i quit sweets, i have been tested on numerous situations of stress, lack of sleep, and so on. I know its possible to quit sweets.

How i solve my stress problems is to go see a councillor and start resolving the issues. I usually find one conversation gets me on the right track.

smileyjules70

Patttience wrote: »

smiley, could it be that it doesn't work because you have cut your calories too low. Or could it be that your mood is not in a good place. I quit when my mood in a good place. I think enables you to get off to a good start but if you are already in a binge mode, then its nothing to work at this point in time. The reasons are hormonal.

So its not that it doesn't work. Its that it doesn't work when you are not in peak mood. After you've sustained an abstience for some time and established your routines and got past the worst of temptations, then its really easy. Getting to that point is about avoiding temptation but first you have to get your mood right.

Work on that.

Oh i just read above - tired and stressed. Yeppers! That will cause you to want to eat more and especially sweets and comfort food to ensure you get lots of sleep and deal with stress. If you have the occasional unavoidable lack of sleep, if you have good healhty food with you, then you can avoid the indulgence.

Over the course of the year and a half since i quit sweets, i have been tested on numerous situations of stress, lack of sleep, and so on. I know its possible to quit sweets.

How i solve my stress problems is to go see a councillor and start resolving the issues. I usually find one conversation gets me on the right track.

Many thanks this is all great feedback and I have messaged you on a couple of areas. Thanks again

wrrly

I cut out candy, cookies, cakes (ect). When I yearn for something sweet, I eat fruit. It always hits the spot. Everything in moderation, of course. I also learned that artificial sweeteners (such as in diet sodas) increases my sweet cravings. Water is always best.

erigann

Sugar detox is so hard, my whole body seems to fight it every time I do it - see it's a cycle
I started using maple syrup or honey in things for sweeteners, not because they are better exactly, but because I can use less. Otherwise I love sweets sometimes too

Childfree1991

smileyjules70 wrote: »

My ridiculous sweet tooth seems to be my undoing every time I start trying to loose weight and live a more healthy lifestyle. Any ideas to help get me through would be awesome.

I was able to break mine and have recipes for dessert alternatives.

christinaleigh44

When you have that sweet craving, chug some water. Try to think about something else for that moment. If all else fails, have that chocolate in moderation, as long as it fits into your calories you are good. I love sweets! I know that struggle.

Cocoa1020

try looking for better alternatives. a sugarfree jello back isnt too high in calories. add in some fresh cherries to what ever flavor and throw in some chia seeds (or skip them) it wont be as bad as a chocolate bar

Jonny15121983

I just switched over to fruit Grapes are awesome for when you have snacky fingers. Plus you can freeze them to make them into little sorbet balls and/or icecubes lol Long live the grape.

smileyjules70

Thanks so much everyone there's some good suggestions and some great alternative recipes sent through to help me. Here's hoping this time I can beat those cravings.

LaurenNotLaura

You can do it!!!

Liftng4Lis

I make room in my allotment, daily, for some type of "yum".

vivmom2014

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

I make room in my allotment, daily, for some type of "yum".

Definitely this. I could *never* sub fruit for, say, chocolate. Or ice cream. I would rather save some calories every day for sweets. (And I hear you, OP, on snacking while watching shows/movies. It's so ingrained with me, but I'm working on it!)

For those of you who can plug in fruit instead - good job.

AshleyHaro

I think I have a trick that can calm your sweet tooth. Research shows, when your are craving for something sweet you should smell an orange. This fragrance calms your urge to have the sweet tooth.

AnnPT77

I second (or third or so) those who suggest fruit. When I started eating more fruit (aiming for 3 servings of whole fruit a day) my cravings for other sweets reduced dramatically. Yes, fruits have sugar, but less than the typical processed "sweet treat", and in fruit it's packaged with vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, and other such good stuff. And fruit *is* yum.

bclarke1990

Everyone on this site is going to urge you to just eat lots of sweets and "fit it into your macros yolo iifym!!", but from personal experience if you just try to cut out most processed added sugars and stick to natural flavors: fruits, cacao, carob, honey, dates, etc. you'll find that your brain craves less of the things like cereal and candy. That's just my experience, though

snickerscharlie

bclarke1990 wrote: »

Everyone on this site is going to urge you to just eat lots of sweets and "fit it into your macros yolo iifym!!", but from personal experience if you just try to cut out most processed added sugars and stick to natural flavors: fruits, cacao, carob, honey, dates, etc. you'll find that your brain craves less of the things like cereal and candy. That's just my experience, though

Um, no, no one will urge her to eat lots of sweets. That's probably why she is looking to lose the weight in the first place. But instead of giving up sweets entirely, it is possible to leave room in your caloric budget each day for a treat so you don't feel deprived.

smileyjules70

Ok yesterday I cleared my whole pantry of any sweet temptations( you know the really bad ones like chocolate/lollies/biscuits and cake - they are my downfall) as if they are there I will have no control/willpower over my cravings - processed sugar has a big hold.......... so today is a new day and the mid morning cravings have started so I'm sitting here with my bowl of watermelon/strawberries and a green apple all chopped up to make it last longer and a 500ml bottle of water. I know its going to be a day by day thing initially but lets see how I go.

Natalierae886

What might help and is healthy but is a sweet snack is chopped up bannana with honey drizzled over, its absolutely delicious and healthy aslong as you dont put heaps of honey on.
Also you can get yogurts that are less then 100 callories, I bought loads of them to ensure that if I did want sweet I could have something low and sweet in. I have bannana and custard yogurts in and therejust what I need If im fancying sweet stuff.

snickerscharlie

Natalierae886 wrote: »

What might help and is healthy but is a sweet snack is chopped up bannana with honey drizzled over, its absolutely delicious and healthy aslong as you dont put heaps of honey on.

Sugar is sugar. Bananas and honey are both high in sugar *and* calories, so why not just leave room for a regular treat, instead?

In before, "Oh, but it's *natural* sugar!"

Again, sugar is sugar. And it's not the debbil.

For me personally, I have found moderation to be the key. I'm the type that if I deny myself something long enough, it's all over but the screams. But if I work a bit of the treats I love into my calorie budget each day, I don't feel deprived, which, for me at least, is the key to long term success. And I've lost over 50 lbs in 6 months.