Sweet tooth and weight loss

Joy5434

Anybody have any tips on how to overcome sweet tooth and sugar cravings?

kommodevaran

You don't overcome, you learn to live with. Everybody loves tasty things. You just have to not eat too much of anything.

nvmomketo

I tend to avoid them. The less of it I eat, the less I crave it.

Leannep2201

Ive just posted in your other thread

Crochetmama84

1 dum dum lollipop

1 clementine

Tea

nickssweetheart

I eat at least two servings of fruit every day, which mostly keeps my sweet tooth under control. When I want something else, I carve out room and have some.

MynameisChester

A couple of quick tips I can think of off the top of my head to manage (rather than overcome) sweet cravings.

1) Eat fruit and drink water. Fiber and water can possibly reduce craving/appetite causing you to eat less overall
2) Try to avoid keeping sweets in the house. If it's easily accessible, you're more likely to consume more, which brings me to tip 3.
3) A "eat sweets only when you're out rule" may possibly work if managed appropriately. The trick to that is to split it with a friend, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend. You both get to enjoy the sweet but only consume half the calories.

lorib642

I eat sweets but make sure i am in a deficit. I like the suggested ideas of not keeping them in the house and only having them when out. Also fruits are good for a craving for something sweet.

seltzermint555

I agree about only having them when out to avoid temptation. Or just buy things you know you can handle.

I could make a box of 12 English toffee ice cream bars last for 3 months, enjoying them every now and then - but my husband will eat them all in 2 days. Meanwhile, if we bought a box of Oreos and had milk on hand I would have a very hard time leaving those alone and would probably end up screwing up my calories OR not eating enough "real food" and just eating Oreos. So we don't buy those things!

In the pantry at home we always have chocolate chips for baking, peanut butter, unsweetened coconut flakes, and a few types of nuts. A couple nights per week, I grab SMALL portions of some of that stuff and/or have it with a half banana and it satisfies my sweet tooth. We also buy cookies that are good with tea but not super-appealing to either of us. Biscoff cookies, vanilla wafers, small coconut cookies from the Asian grocery store, or others that are tasty but not so delicious we want to eat ten of them.

We like to go out for an ice cream cone a couple of times a month and I bake 1/2 batch of cookies or something like that, once a month or so. Maybe get dessert on a trip when we are somewhere with special sweet treats that we want to try. Just not a chocolate bar every day for a snack, and no bulk sweets (not even the ones that are supposed to have a nutritional bent like Larabar...my husband will have them 2 or 3 times per day and he's not dieting but doesn't need an extra 400-600 calories most days).

aliblain

A low carb diet has been the best thing for me to get rid of sugar cravings!

CarvedTones

I usually have a fun size candy bar or two and fit it in the calorie log. I avoid eating more by staying disciplined.

malibu927

I fit sweets into my day. Usually ice cream. Tonight it's going to be vanilla with fresh strawberries on top.

skelterhelter

I have a sweet tooth as well and it's definitely a struggle. I try to find lower calorie alternatives (Enlightened ice cream instead of Ben and Jerry's; 100 Calorie Snack Packs instead of Oreos and other type cookies) or fit the real deal in my day if I have the calories for it. Fresh strawberries and blueberries with a dollop of whipped cream and a tbsp of Better than Peanut Butter helps curb a sweet tooth at times

emmamcgarity

Part of my goals for weight loss is to get proper nutrition, but I make an effort to work in sweets. I start by planning my meals around getting lean protein, fruits, veggies and lowfat dairy. Fruit is naturally sweet which helps. I also pack a mini kind bar (with dark chocolate) into my lunch bag every day. It is my mid-morning snack and is very satisfying. Honey roasted almonds make for my afternoon snack to satisfy the sweet/salty mix. I keep a package of single serving sized 70% Cocoa dark chocolate candy bars for my late night snack which are low calorie. (I buy the Green and Blacks brand with sea salt, and I let each bite melt in my mouth instead of gobbling down the whole chocolate bar). There are some foods that are trigger foods for me. So, I stay away from them altogether (i.e. Reeses pb cups are a no go for me. I love them, but I can't trust myself for proper portion control there). Sometimes I'll make the 123 mug cake (from the angel food cake mix and devils food cake mix combined together) and top it with fat free whipped topping. I also like the sugar free pudding mixes for mixing with fat free milk to work in an extra dairy serving.

midlomel1971

It's hard AF. I live in a house with 3 other sweets-eaters and it's a challenge every day. I went cold turkey on the sweets for a couple of weeks and that lessened my cravings after a while. I'm not one of those "eat in moderation!" types. Sweets are too much of a trigger. I still find it torture to open our pantry and see a box of "good" cereal like Captain Crunch or Frosted Flakes. I literally fantasize about them all day. It got to the point where I had to hide them from my sight. My biggest trigger is Pop-Tarts and my 9 year old begs me for them every week and I refuse to buy them. I'd eat the entire box. I know....none of this is any helpful. I do keep the 60 calorie Jello Sugar-Free pudding packs in my fridge to have as an occasional treat and that helps the sweet-tooth cravings sometimes. I guess my best advice is to figure out what your trigger foods are and just avoid buying or seeing them.

AnnPT77

I'm another who was helped by increasing fruit consumption. Eating 3 servings a day really helped reduce/control cravings for more calorie-dense sweets like candy and baked goods. After a while, many of the latter started tasting way too simple and over-sweet, not satisfying or desirable. I'm sure this doesn't work for everyone, but I've seen at least some others report similar experiences

Alidecker

I love sweets too and it has been a problem. Like others, I don't keep much in the house and eat fruit when I am craving something sweet. If that doesn't work I will just fall to the craving and go get ice cream or something. When I am at work and crave sweets I drink Crystal Light and it usually does the trick.

emmies_123

I have gone cold turkey on larger sweets (cookies, brownies, cake), and keep smaller wrapped sweets in the house. I have room in my calorie count to eat one serving of wrapped sweets (2-4 candies depending on brand), and that satisfies my sweet tooth.

Just because you are trying to lose weight/get fit doesn't mean you have to go without sweets. You just have to watch how many you eat in a day

EHollander89

I like to have something sweet after dinner. Something small like a few caramel M&Ms or Hershey's kiss usually works for me. I also like to buy Dove mini ice cream bars. Each one is about 70 calories. Some nights I'll eat just one, and other nights I'll have four or five if they fit into my calories. I also enjoy Halo Top/Enlightened.

Another strategy I use sometimes is to brush my teeth after dinner. It's like a way to signal to my body that I'm done eating. It might seem silly, but it works for me.

bertabugg

I like anything sweet, I don't discriminate.
As a former closet eater, I find a piece of hard candy can get me over the hump, my go to is lifesavers and if one doesn't do it I can have a few at 15 cal each.

AmyOutOfControl

I have been eating Chobani Yogurt Flips for my mid-afternoon sweet tooth snack attack. They are around 200 calories and keep my sweet tooth under control with minimal impact on my daily calories. This one if my favorites at 180 calories: https://www.chobani.com/products/snacks/flip-indulgent/salted-caramel-crunch/

VUA21

I cut regular candy bars in half and freeze them. For Snickers, I know that it's 110 caloriers per half bar and takes me a good 30 minutes to chew through them frozen. I had a TimTam dark chocolate today, frozen they last me about 20 minutes. This way I get my junk food craving satisfied and am good with just a small amount.

snemberton

I like the Dole fruit dippers frozen things. My favorite is the 100 calorie pack with dark chocolate dipped banana slices. Gets a few of the good banana nutrients, but the dark chocolate yum too.

My grocery has some sugar free baked goods that are decent alternatives to some of my favorites and they fit into my calories for the day better than the full sugar version. Some use Splenda and some use other artificial sweeteners, so if you have an aversion to that, read the labels.

Rocbola

Your muscles run on glucose. Your brain runs on glucose. Fruits and vegetables are mostly carbs, and are generally accepted as the healthiest foods you can get. You have a sweet tooth for a reason!!!

Eat whole foods, such as fruit, when you are craving sugar.

CSARdiver

I was traveling a bit when I started calorie counting and spent a week in Europe where they typically don't add as much sugar in foods as transportation and shelf life isn't as long. Coming back to the US I started to become aware of how sweet everything tasted. A key factor in many weight management programs is to "Reset your sweet" - a process of going off sugar for a time and slowly introduce it to become aware of new tastes and start appreciating the flavor of foods outside of sweet.

My diary is open - I have a bit of a sweet tooth and just limit my treats to a lower calorie count. We keep a treat bowl in the kitchen where we all get a treat at the end of the day. Dum Dum suckers, Jolly Ranchers, any manner of candy is up there from time to time, just eaten in moderation.

whitej1234

Definitely water. I've learnt a lot of my cravings are as a result of dehydration. And no, drinking water when you want sweets is too late. If you keep hydrated the cravings definitely reduce.

zmida

I have a sweet tooth, but I don't keep sweets in my apartment. If I'm at work, where sweets are plentiful, I might take a few bites and throw the rest immediately away. It is a waste but it satisifies my sugar craving and I still stay within my calories.

applesforanna

Fruit helps, as well as some yogurt. You can totally indulge every now and then but if you want to beat cravings instead of indulging, fruits and yogurt usually help curb the craving.

applesforanna

I also blend frozen bananas with a dash of vanilla extract and some cocoa powder to create a chocolate ice cream type dessert. Smoothies work wel with sugar cravings as well. I’m a firm surpporter of fruit sugars and natural sugars, which I believe are better than processed sugar.

maybe1pe

I fit them into my day. every day.

I also learned to listen to my body. I have low blood pressure even thought I'm on medication for it for example - when I'm experiencing a low I crave salty foods, because that's why my body needs to help me retain more water and elevate my blood pressure.

I used to crave chocolate a lot. I was deficient in magnesium.

but there is a difference between I want a treat every day and when I'm craving something. But even when I just want it I just fit it into my calories.