Sugar Craving help.

BoxerBrawler

The other thing that no one likes to mention or admit is sugar cravings have nothing to do with hunger for the most part. The hard core sugar junkies will agree. You could eat healthy and clean until your hearts content and be truly full, and still crave sugar.

RllyGudTweetr

Diet soda will make it worse, the aspartame will only spike your blood sugar and make the cravings worse. Try fruit, fresh in season if you can get it, or super dark chocolate.

Please cite your sources indicating that a sugar-free beverage will spike blood sugar.

slimtrime

lower carb intake

bjshields

Fruit helps me. If I want crunchy, it's an apple or pomegranate seeds, which I consider nature's candy; gooey, I go for apple sauce.. Good luck to you! :drinker:

tallon5

Drink a diet soda?

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-tip-scales-toward-metabolic-problems

Don't drink diet soda, it's just as likely to cause metabolic disorder and type 2 diabetes because of its effect on gut microbes.

paniolo5

Sugar cravings are real, as in addictive. I agree with several of the posts...try to eliminate as much sugar as possible for a couple of weeks, natural or otherwise. Then you should be able to slowly introduce it back to see how much you can handle without having a major craving again. Unfortunately, artificial sweeteners are still sweet - some more so than natural sugar - so they don't take away the sugar cravings. Best of luck to you.

tallon5

Diet soda will make it worse, the aspartame will only spike your blood sugar and make the cravings worse. Try fruit, fresh in season if you can get it, or super dark chocolate.

There is nothing wrong with diet soda. Many of us use it daily and consistently lose weight. In fact, cyber ed (another mod) drinks 2-3 diet cokes a day and lost 302 lbs. It's a great option if you dont want to drink calories.

It may be good for consuming less calories, but it's just as likely to give you metabolic problems like diabetes later on.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-tip-scales-toward-metabolic-problems

sofulnaturalee

I eat fruit or chew on some gum. I would love to eat candy, ice cream, cake, or cookies, but there is no such thing as moderation for me when it comes to these things. If I know I will go overboard on it or just can't say no I will not eat it. This is just me though. If you are well in your cals and consistant with your exercise regimen I would say go ahead and have it :-)

paulzli

Drink a diet soda?

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-tip-scales-toward-metabolic-problems

Don't drink diet soda, it's just as likely to cause metabolic disorder and type 2 diabetes because of its effect on gut microbes.

Obviously you never read this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1308408-why-aspartame-isn-t-scary?page=1 that basically explains that aspartame in the amounts tested on rats are HUNDREDS of doses more than we could possibly consume in a day through drinks and whatnot as well as the fact aspartame is broken down CHEMICALLY into proteins that occur and exist in the body naturally without any undue harm.

And please....leave the anecdotal stuff out of it.

baconslave

The other thing that no one likes to mention or admit is sugar cravings have nothing to do with hunger for the most part. The hard core sugar junkies will agree. You could eat healthy and clean until your hearts content and be truly full, and still crave sugar.

Agree.

That's how I ended up at 255lbs before. "A little bit" to a person addicted to sugar ends up turning into a lot. And then more.Until you've gained 90lbs. And finally realize what is keeping you from being able to succeed on a calorie-deficit plan.

Apples never delivered the high that chocolates did. Ever. I could feel it hit my system. I called Hershey Kisses "antidepressants." And sugar is attached to calories. So if you work yourself up to eating a bag of chocolates everyday, and can't stop, you gain weight. It happens. People do have this problem. The only thing that worked for me was cutting carbs. After a short time, the cravings that drove me to kill myself with sugar went away. I make cookies and other delicious sweets all the time for other people, and I haven't even once licked the spoon. That was unheard of before. I licked the whole damn bowl before. Then ate half the cookies myself. Pathetic.

Yeah I know. CICO, calorie deficit, blah blah. Well, for some people, it's more complicated than that. Sugar/carb addiction is real. I've lost count of the times I started and stopped plain calorie-deficit and fell off the wagon because I tried to just "have a little" because it did fit in my calorie deficit. A little turned into "I can't keep my hand out of the bag. I need another hit." Not because I didn't want to lose weight bad enough. But because I didn't realize why I was so stupid and couldn't stay away from that stuff. (That's how I felt about myself. Stupid and weak.)

Many people who haven't ever had as strong cravings just don't understand. People with such strong cravings want to succeed as bad as anyone else and hate themselves because they can't ignore the cravings. Sometimes it's biology. And you have to figure out how to circumvent the issue. For me the solution was carb restriction. That crap has no hold on me any more. I can smell it, unwrap it for the kids, and etc and it doesn't phase me. I can say, "just don't touch it." And easily not eat it. Before, my hubby had to get the kids' candy and hide it when we got home so mommy wouldn't eat it all.

PatchEFog

The other thing that no one likes to mention or admit is sugar cravings have nothing to do with hunger for the most part. The hard core sugar junkies will agree. You could eat healthy and clean until your hearts content and be truly full, and still crave sugar.

Agree.

That's how I ended up at 255lbs before. "A little bit" to a person addicted to sugar ends up turning into a lot. And then more.Until you've gained 90lbs. And finally realize what is keeping you from being able to succeed on a calorie-deficit plan.

Apples never delivered the high that chocolates did. Ever. I could feel it hit my system. I called Hershey Kisses "antidepressants." And sugar is attached to calories. So if you work yourself up to eating a bag of chocolates everyday, and can't stop, you gain weight. It happens. People do have this problem. The only thing that worked for me was cutting carbs. After a short time, the cravings that drove me to kill myself with sugar went away. I make cookies and other delicious sweets all the time for other people, and I haven't even once licked the spoon. That was unheard of before. I licked the whole damn bowl before. Then ate half the cookies myself. Pathetic.

Yeah I know. CICO, calorie deficit, blah blah. Well, for some people, it's more complicated than that. Sugar/carb addiction is real. I've lost count of the times I started and stopped plain calorie-deficit and fell off the wagon because I tried to just "have a little" because it did fit in my calorie deficit. A little turned into "I can't keep my hand out of the bag. I need another hit." Not because I didn't want to lose weight bad enough. But because I didn't realize why I was so stupid and couldn't stay away from that stuff. (That's how I felt about myself. Stupid and weak.)

Many people who haven't ever had as strong cravings just don't understand. People with such strong cravings want to succeed as bad as anyone else and hate themselves because they can't ignore the cravings. Sometimes it's biology. And you have to figure out how to circumvent the issue. For me the solution was carb restriction. That crap has no hold on me any more. I can smell it, unwrap it for the kids, and etc and it doesn't phase me. I can say, "just don't touch it." And easily not eat it. Before, my hubby had to get the kids' candy and hide it when we got home so mommy wouldn't eat it all.

Good to see you baconslave!
Nice post. You said it all.

OP: Some people find taking chromium picolinate and L-glutamine to be helpful with sugar cravings.

psuLemon

Diet soda will make it worse, the aspartame will only spike your blood sugar and make the cravings worse. Try fruit, fresh in season if you can get it, or super dark chocolate.

There is nothing wrong with diet soda. Many of us use it daily and consistently lose weight. In fact, cyber ed (another mod) drinks 2-3 diet cokes a day and lost 302 lbs. It's a great option if you dont want to drink calories.

It may be good for consuming less calories, but it's just as likely to give you metabolic problems like diabetes later on.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-tip-scales-toward-metabolic-problems

Well the good news is I am not a mouse. Diabetes has a lot of factors. And considering I do not have a family history of diabetes, I am in good shape (15% body fat), and workout daily, the likelihood of getting diabetes is low. Since you have to pay for the original full text version, I can assume dosage is way over that of what an average human will consume.

And always remember, coorelation =/= causation.

sloth3toes

In.. Because the only thing I enjoy almost as much as a good sugar binge, is a discussion about how to cure them.

rprussell2004

In.. Because the only thing I enjoy almost as much as a good sugar binge, is a discussion about how to cure them.

Ready when you are...

senusenu

I started MFP about 3 weeks ago and it's only over the last week that I noticed my sugar craving has gone way down. It was driving me absolutely crazy and I was wondering when it'd go away, but I just did my best to stay within goal and use pre-portioned applesauce and fruits cups, chocolate and oat fiber bars, and chocolate meal replacement shakes to feed my chocolate/sugar craving. I'm no longer just *waiting* for my daily dose of chocolate shake and go a couple days or more between using them.

If you can't have a "bit" without eating it all, then try not to eat any for a couple of weeks, and make everything pre-portioned if you do, stay ACCOUNTABLE, no "I just won't list it because it makes me feel bad." Put it in, don't beat yourself up, and try the next day not to have any.