How to get out the desserts

macgurlnet

kshama2001 wrote: »

smilerdh17 wrote: »

I can change my healthy eating choices with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However I cannot seem to remove sweet from my diet. I’m always craving them. Can anyone give me some good advice on how to get them out or how to start saying no?
Thank you in advance.

When I do the following, I don't have cravings:

1. Get sufficient sleep
2. Exercise regularly - when I get the happy hormones from exercise, I'm not prone to seeking them from food.
3. Get sufficient protein in relationship to carbs. I'm not low carb, but reducing carbs and upping protein worked for cravings for me. See also http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html
4. Eat moderate amounts of fruit. This makes me less interested in higher calorie sweets.
5. Take a magnesium supplement. This can be especially helpful for women premenstrually.
6. Save foods like chocolate for after dinner, in small amounts
7. Stay hydrated
8. Have a calorie deficit that is appropriate for the amount of weight I need to lose. An overly aggressive goal can definitely lead to cravings.
9. Eat at maintenance when my appetite goes up premenstrually.

All of this is excellent.

I find that I do best when I'm consistently taking my magnesium supplement especially. I still want something sweet to round out my day, but I don't have this hard-to-resist desire to eat a large quantity.

~Lyssa

gallicinvasion

Recently I’ve been buying snacking chocolate (dark chocolate pretzel bark, etc), splitting it into 100 or 200 calorie servings, and pre-logging it if I have room in my calorie count for the day. I keep it reasonable so that when a truly special occasion comes (wedding cake, holiday get together), I can enjoy something new, homemade, or traditional without feeling guilty or like I fell off a wagon. I’ve had six slices of wedding cake this summer (because I went to six weddings, not because I pigged out at one 😂) and I’m not feeling deprived or resentful that I’m not having donuts or cupcakes everyday.

Leannep2201

Im another who works them into my day. I want to make sustainable decisions around sweet treats, because there’s no way I’m going to live a life without sweet treats! I want to develop good habits for a lifetime, rather than just eliminate certain foods for now.

I eat things that fit in my calorie goal- often this means saving enough calories for something, or doing a little extra exercise.

Some of my faves are:

Fibre One brownies
Sorbet
Sugar free puddings
A small cookie or two
A treat-size chocolate bar.

seltzermint555

I know this is more of the same response, but I think habits are a big part of staying on track (or not).
For a long time I was having a little something sweet at both lunch and dinner to end the meal. I did that even while losing 100+ but now as I've been in maintenance for a few years, the pounds slowly creep on from time to time. It really helped me to get completely out of the habit of having anything sweet at lunch. Then I still have a small dessert most nights after dinner. One thing I like a lot is individually wrapped ice cream sandwiches/treats under 200 calories. Very satisfying and I can stop at one. I try to completely avoid things that I can't limit as well...chocolate Halloween candy would be a good example.

In the years before losing weight, I used to make full-on desserts several times per week. My grocery/meal planning list included a whole separate list of desserts like pie, cake, cookies, etc. I also grew up in a household where dessert ended every single meal. It's a tough habit to break.