I asked for help!

san1943

I can't see what I posted recently (I'm a first timer) but basically I asked for advice in controlling my sweet tooth. I have been on steroids now for around 6 months in gradually diminishing doses, however I am now on a six month course of a low dose! I had two replies, one being to go to the doctor (?) and the other told me to use self control! Now. If I could do the latter I wouldn't have needed to write and there is no point in seeing a GP. I don't believe that the lower dose of steroids should have such a dramatic affect on my appetite (nor, incidentally my mood).

So, has any kind and patient person out there got any advice pleeeese. I'm an older person and just cannot afford to feel this way.

Many thanks?

flippy1234

Hi,
My sister had this problem. I don't have a great answer for you. I just think steroids tend to make you want to eat more, crave more, etc...I think your best bet is trial and error. Instead of chocolate, have an apple with peanut butter. Instead of ice cream, have a yogurt, etc...I know it's not the same but you may need to retrain your taste buds which will take trial and error and work. Best of luck. Steroids stink. It would be great if there were an alternate medication that did not cause this....

mlbh613

I have no specific info or experience on this matter but I just wanted to wish you the very best in your efforts to find a kind and patient person to lend a helping hand....hang in there and don't give up. I have little will power but when I cut down on eating sweets I actually stopped craving them....it isn't easy that's for sure. All the best.

DebLaBounty

My friend went through this. She started eating smaller meals or snacks she planned for every three hours. She told me it helped control sugar cravings.

The website Livestrong.com has a good article called “How to Lose Weight While Taking Steroids “ that listed some tips about controlling cravings.

88olds

OK. I was successful at weight loss because I fought my sweet tooth and won. Well, maybe we fought to a draw. These are some things that helped.

Just say no is a hard road to travel.

I eat oatmeal almost everyday for breakfast. I’ve tried everything as a sweetener. I’ve settled on Splenda.

Fruit. I rarely ate fruit before I got involved in weight loss. I have 2-3 servings per day now.

Candy. Most of the candy around stinks as candy. It’s kid candy. There is some really high quality imported chocolate candy available. If I want candy, I go out and buy it. I never keep it around the house.

A donut is just a fried wad of goo. I don’t eat fried food.

Muffin is just another word for cake. I don’t know how the muffin got to be a “healthy” pick. It’s cake.

Cookies- a special problem. To me they are like potato chips. I’m going to eat half a bag.

When I started, I decided I needed a daily treat.
So I studied how I got the most bang for the calories. I found that I got the most satisfaction from frozen treats. For a couple of years my go to was a Weight Watcher Fudge bar. I knocked them off the stick and ate them with a spoon. It takes longer. If it’s in the ice cream freezer at the store and is low fat, low carb or low sugar, I’ve tried it.
I can get a satisfying portion of a frozen treat for 100cals, 100cals in cookies is about 2 bites. Same for pie and cake.

I eat ice cream after dinner. If I give into something during the day, no ice cream.

All this said, it’s not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. It’s not my birthday without cake.

I’ve lost 100+lbs and been at goal 11 years. You can solve this problem.

Hope there’s something here that helps you. Good luck.

arnnanz

Have to admit I’m needing to approach fructose/sugar as akin to an alcoholic. I basically cannot eat it. Maybe once a week - but more than that and I begin to go haywire with mood swings, stress, intrusive and overwhelming food cravings, months of bingeing and even puffiness in my eyes and blockerd sinuses. Too much fruit does this too. It’s taken me seven years of experimenting and I’m only beginning to accept this now. It’s easier to give it up entirely, then the cravings disappear and it all begins to taste strangely chemical. Some sweet tooths can’t be controlled except by abstinence, the same way some people just can’t control themselves around alcohol. Good luck.

pamfgil

I found tracking sugar helped me to gradually reduce my consumption. App is " that sugar app". After a few weeks my tastebuds retrained and it takes a lot less for me to taste sweet now. Cravings are usually only strong for 20 minutes or so, if you can come up with some distracting activity when they start it may help

rheddmobile

I agree that cutting back on sweets is the best way to reduce a sweet tooth. When I cut soda from my diet my cravings dropped off sharply. Different people are different - some people can fit modest portions of their favorite foods into their diet without trouble - I can't and do better by avoiding them.

Don't buy sugary foods you have difficulty moderating, or keep them in your house. Pay attention to your triggers and avoid them - for example, I stopped driving by the corner where I used to stop every day for a Coke Icee. I don't go to restaurants with high calorie foods which don't serve my goals.

Do buy fruits, vegetables and other foods which are lower calorie for the amount of satisfaction, and make yourself eat them even though they are usually more trouble to wash or slice than just grabbing a cookie.

Jingsi84

You can see what you previously posted by finding the link to “my discussions.” On my iphone it’s in the little word bubble top left.

chargeddartxo

Steroids are a *kitten* to your cravings. I used to be on them constantly years ago due to asthma. I don't think there's an easy answer other than trial and error. Maybe give yourself something small and sweet that'll go with something healthy. Like an apple dipped in caramel. But with a limited amount of caramel. Or banana slices dipped in dark chocolate. Small snacks that satisfy the sweet craving without going over board.

positivepowers

I just came off of a two week course of steroids for pneumonia w/asthma exacerbation. I wanted chocolate so badly I thought about eating the unsweetened cocoa powder in my cabinet.

I didn't see your previous thread requesting help but it looks like you've got a lot of good suggestions in this thread.

What about something like yogurt? Eating that after my meal makes me feel like I've had dessert. I eat a commercially prepared Greek yogurt which not only appeases my sweet tooth but also provides extra protein to keep me full and low carbs/low sugar to keep my blood sugar in check. Steroids can play hell with your blood sugar, too, which can be contributing to the cravings, even low dose therapy. Since you have to go on long term steroid therapy, please keep track of your blood sugar (you can buy a glucometer for a few dollars - the testing strips are a little more expensive) and if you can get a referral from your primary care provider to a registered dietician (not a "nutritionist" - ask specifically for a registered dietician. Believe me, there is a difference of about 6 years of education!)

Someone else here also mentioned eating more often. I found that if I'm not hungry I have fewer cravings. Also, if possible, don't keep the food you crave but don't want to eat, around. If it's not there, you can't eat it. In case you have a s/o that loves junk food, have them keep it out of sight. My adult son loves Doritos, Oreos, etc. Asking him to keep the food out of the house feels unfair, so we compromised. He has a dedicated shelf in the kitchen that he keeps locked at my request. He is happy to share but honors my request that he not, at least with me.

dejavuohlala

I'm an older person too. I know about steroids as my husband has to take these, the effects are different for each person, my husband losses weighit on steroids. Sweet tooth, can you get , low calorie low sugar snacks that would fill that gap, I think we all like sweet things to a smaller or greater degree but it's about sourcing alternatives like many other healthy eating objectives. I hope you can find some answers, maybe add some friends that have open diaries you may pick up some good tips, don't forget to support each other though as it's not a quick fix. Good luck

san1943

Oh my goodness. I was feeling so sorry for myself but all your replies have lifted my spirits so much. Thank you all I'll try my best.

DRBuchholz

My best suggestion is fruit. It's sweet and it's healthier. Berries are the best for me. I also agree with eating smaller, more frequent meals to stay full. Don't keep it in the house or at least put it up in a hard to reach place so you really have to think about it before you eat it. Slowly lessen the amount of sugar or sweetener you put in drinks. The less often you taste sweet, the less you will want it. I wish you good luck and health.

amusedmonkey

I have no recent experience with steroids (when I last took them I wasn't dieting or paying attention to my food so I didn't notice anything), but here are a few tricks to try. May or may not help, but no harm in trying.

- Is there a sweet you aren't prone to overeating? Say, hard candy or something? Sometimes when I want something sweet and I don't have many calories I eat Nerds (a type of tiny candy pieces). I eat them one by one and my tongue is done by the time I reach 50 calories. I also eat lollipops sometimes when short on calories.

- Is it possible to keep the stuff you are most likely to overeat out of the house? If not, would you be able to hide them somewhere inconvenient? I'm more likely to eat something if I can easily grab it, but too lazy to dig through layers of stuff to reach something or go to the shop specifically to buy a single serving of a snack food I want, so I don't do that unless I really want it.

- Can you eat foods that fill you up but not too high in calories? When I'm not hungry I tend to have better self control around snack foods. If it's too hard, maybe you can eat at maintenance for a while until you're off steroids. Sometimes the white knuckling isn't worth it and postponing weight loss is okay.

san1943

I really think I'm nuts. I just can't stop craving, and giving into it, sweet things! This evening, I just haven't stopped shoveling food, mostly rubbish, into my mouth and was too ashamed to enter the diary. Oh dear, had all my self control disappeared. Please help.

kommodevaran

No self control in the world can stop you from shoveling foods you call sweet things and the next second, rubbish, into your mouth, when you feel shameful for eating and at the same time keep those foods around.

You need to adjust eating habits, attitudes and food environment, drastically, and that is going to be some long, hard work.

fiddletime

san1943 wrote: »

I really think I'm nuts. I just can't stop craving, and giving into it, sweet things! This evening, I just haven't stopped shoveling food, mostly rubbish, into my mouth and was too ashamed to enter the diary. Oh dear, had all my self control disappeared. Please help.

Probably most of us have been there and done that. The biggest help to me, is to log the food as best I can. It’s a real pain to have to log that much stuff and that in and of itself often gets me to just stop shoveling. After logging I sometimes find out I didn’t eat as many calories as I thought, but usually I’m way in the red. At that point I decide enough is enough and that tomorrow I’ll start pre-logging again and not go over.

It’s really really hard not to go over the majority of the time. If it were easy, none of us would be here. Hang in there! I also get on this forum daily and almost always find an inspiring post that helps me stay on track.

brightresolve

san1943 wrote: »

I really think I'm nuts. I just can't stop craving, and giving into it, sweet things! This evening, I just haven't stopped shoveling food, mostly rubbish, into my mouth and was too ashamed to enter the diary. Oh dear, had all my self control disappeared. Please help.

I agree with @fiddletime that most of us have been here!

About your diary - that tool is here to help you, and it can only help you if you are honest with yourself. The food's in your body whether you put it in your diary or not. Hard as it can be, looking at my feelings when I make choices that don't serve me well is the only way I (imperfectly, one day at a time, some days better than others) that I can start making different choices.

All the best, do not be discouraged. We can empathize, but the work -- AND THE RESULTS! -- are going to be yours. YOU CAN DO THIS!

san1943

I think you are all wonderful - to be so very supportive. I'm doing my best and going through a lot of emotional as well as physical....but I will keep trying. Thank you x

CheezWhiz88

san1943:
I echo a lot of the earlier sentiments. I understand not wanting to write in your diary because you are embarrassed by what you've eaten; I was afraid to step on a scale initially out of fear of what it would say. But whether or not I knew my weight didn't change it, much like not writing something in your diary doesn't change that you ate it. And when we are honest with ourselves about what is going on with us, we can pinpoint our trouble areas and work to improve them. It may not always be a fun road to get to the destination, but take some solace in knowing you're not traveling it alone.