How can I resist sweets?!

How can I resist eating sweets and junk food when they are all around the house? I live with my parents and am in college, and eating healthy can become complicated sometimes, any advice or help?
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Replies

  • mommyweighless
    mommyweighless Posts: 192 Member
    Most of it is just pure self discipline. As hard as it is you have to learn to tell yourself NO!

    As far as living with a family that does not eat healthy...I have been there. I just tune them out and focus on me. Slowly but surely I have noticed they have started to change. All you can do is encourage them to be healthier.

    Remember YOU have to WANT this so much nothing can stop you!

    I have faith in you!
  • itslouiejay
    itslouiejay Posts: 26 Member
    You're right! Like, I want this so badly and sometimes it doesn't help when they eat everything they want, and I'm trying my hardest not to indulge in junk food. Thanks for the reply by the way! :)
  • StrongAndHealthyMommy
    StrongAndHealthyMommy Posts: 1,255 Member
    i have the same problem at home... what do i do?? i bake everything and alway eat vegetable with everything.. today, my husband and child wanted burgers... my husband made them with french fries and i just ate the burger patty with vegetables.. and they also wanted mozzarella sticks.. so I baked them....

    yesterday, they wanted chicken strip.. so i baked them...

    I bake the french fries too...

    if they want pasta...I use the beef sauce with salad and parmesan cheese (no pasta for me)... looks funny, but taste good
  • teine79
    teine79 Posts: 12 Member
    I eat alot of fruits and that usually satisfies my sweet tooth. :)
  • mumreeder
    mumreeder Posts: 222 Member
    Are there any fruits you really love you could eat instead? I know it sounds funny but if you had a bowl of blueberries in a bowl or grapes, they are sweet and juicy and maybe give you the sweet kick you crave? If not every time you are tempted to go for one just remember why you are on your weight loss journey and tell yourself that you don't really want to eat it - then walk away.
  • Raerae1993
    Raerae1993 Posts: 82 Member
    i'm going through the same thing. my mom buys a ton of junk food and i'm a killer for sweets, to make it worse i lack discipline. Also when my friends wanna go out its hard to be the only one not eating junk or pie or sweets so i give in to that too. it sucks.
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    be the change you want to see in them! you may inspire your family to start eating healthy when they see your results!!
  • if you feel like having something sweet, eat a banana, or apple, this should help your cravings,

    all the best :)
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Willpower.

    How badly do you want this?
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
    How can I resist eating sweets and junk food when they are all around the house? I live with my parents and am in college, and eating healthy can become complicated sometimes, any advice or help?

    It's time to go to WAR... in your mind that is..... "Are you really ruled by me, this little potato chip? Come eat me you weak minded fool!! Muahahha... Oh yea you little piece of junk food, you and Frito Lay aren't the boss me! I'm going to burn you down until you're a little burnt crisp of a chip, and that bag has melted all around you with nothing left but a pile of ashes....!" There didn't that take your mind off eating a chip? :bigsmile: :laugh: ... anyway mental discipline and distraction is what I used to help me quit smoking cigarettes :smokin: so it may help here, if not at least you got a laugh. :laugh: --- Of course it would help if your folks were supportive too! :grumble: Also try ginger tea, spiced tea, fruit, yogurt plain with your fresh fruit. Drizzle honey on your yogurt, molasses on your oatmeal. Cheers :drinker:
  • itslouiejay
    itslouiejay Posts: 26 Member
    RaeRae1993 I know what you feel! Cause everytime I go out with my friends, I'm the only one eating healthy and they eat loads of junk food.
  • itslouiejay
    itslouiejay Posts: 26 Member
    tricksee Your right dude! Honestly, I wish my family would be more health-wise about the stuff they ate. Hopefully I can be if I keep at it long enough
  • itslouiejay
    itslouiejay Posts: 26 Member
    Markguns Your comment made me snort water outta my nose! You're right about the discipline! Sometimes, it is hard, but it is totally worth trying! I gotta be tough about my diet and have more self-control! :D
  • My family has the opposite problem, lol. I'm a stay-at-home mom. When I'm on the eating healthy wagon, so is everyone else - I don't have time cook two meals when one will work just fine.

    That being said, I love my sweets. LOVE THEM. I emotional eat like a mofo. It's the way my mom's family was and I was raised with all of them. Instead of telling myself NO, I found healthy substitutes. Check out the blog Chocolate Covered Katie. Girl is vegan and a nutritionist (I think) and has some great desserts and treats that are way more healthy. My favorite are the fudge babies. They are based on pitted dates (super sweet, I was scared to try them bc I'd never had dates - let me tell you, you will not believe for a minute that they are healthier than eating fudge), but they are delicious and easy - takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish. Keep them in the fridge and when you get the urge to splurge, do it (one or two). They are not calorie free, but they are made from fruit and nuts, which provide needed nutrients, so it's way healthier than processed crap food.
  • liztall01
    liztall01 Posts: 8 Member
    very great trick is to take frozen blueberries right out of the bag, put them in a cup and sprinkle on them some sugar free jello. Tastes like those horrible sweet sour candies the kids love and diet friendly. We usually use raspberry sugar free jello.
  • OP - have you tried finding a healthy recipe that sounds good? Maybe you can offer to cook dinner once a week and everyone gets a healthier meal? If you find a winner, it can become part of the regular meal rotation and everyone benefits! Check out pinterest for some ideas. Or search for WW recipes (many of them are free on blogs and whatnot on the internet). Teach your family that healthy eating doesn't have to be tasteless...
  • itslouiejay
    itslouiejay Posts: 26 Member
    Novemayune - So far, I haven't found a recipe for sweets, especially a healthy recipe. But my aunt was letting me know of substituting certain healthy sweets for others. Like instead of milk chocolate, trying dark chocolate (70%), and instead of cookies , trying some berries that are sweet. So far, I've done that this past week. I've ate tons of apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, grapefruits, kiwis & peaches... So as far as making a healthy pastry or healthy dessert, I haven't found a recipe that is easy and not complicated with ingredients
  • timetoletgo
    timetoletgo Posts: 9 Member
    fruit is a great substitute for sweet treats. However sometimes I get a craving for chocolate. I found a protein bar called nugo, its dark chocolate, mint flavored and they have another one with pretzels and dark chocolate - they have 10 grams of protein and 200 calories, so its a candy bar - but better!
  • toritoriprind
    toritoriprind Posts: 60 Member
    GUM!! A stick of gum usually does the trick for me... or a mandarin orange straight from the fridge!
  • Firestar98
    Firestar98 Posts: 30 Member
    How can I resist eating sweets and junk food when they are all around the house? I live with my parents and am in college, and eating healthy can become complicated sometimes, any advice or help?

    I don't know what I would've done if I had tried to diet while still living with my parents. They are both >200 pounds (my Dad was well over 300 at one point) and they both ended up having lap band surgery (my Dad still has his, my Mom eventually had it removed.)

    For me I do what most people would do: I remove it from the household. Perhaps a conversation explaining that you don't want any snack foods around the house? Or maybe they can hide their own snacks better, in a drawer that requires effort to open? No shame in wanting a padlock on the snack drawer so only they can access it! :)

    Good luck!
  • tpfoodie
    tpfoodie Posts: 148 Member
    How can I resist eating sweets and junk food when they are all around the house? I live with my parents and am in college, and eating healthy can become complicated sometimes, any advice or help?

    Find something else to fill the void. I walk into my house and make a hot cup of tea!
  • Ask your parents if you can have separate sides of the cupboard..or separate cupboards depending on your house. Put their food away from your view so you won't be tempted.
  • My downfall is gummies. Forever and ever. Especially Lifesaver Gummies.

    What I found is that I really like the tartness of it, so I replace them with things like Granny Smith apples, blueberries, fresh pineapple, etc.

    If I really want the taste and texture, I go for a bag of the Fit and Active gummies. They have no added sugar or anything and they're made with orange juice. Plus, having one bag of them isn't as bad as cracking open a large bag of Lifesaver Gummies and inhaling them without even thinking of what I'm putting in my mouth.
  • skinnyderella
    skinnyderella Posts: 5 Member
    I am a sweets fanatic but i find that if i have adequate potassium, i am able to control myself much better.
  • CherokeeBabe
    CherokeeBabe Posts: 1,704 Member
    Gotta agree with willpower mostly, and def. keep some lower-cal options around for moments of weakness. I have delicious magnum bars and high-quality chocolate for special occasions, but for normal sweet cravings I have 90-cal fudge bars and 60-cal pudding snacks. You can still enjoy luscious sweets, just not as often as you might have before.
  • Sweets I can ignore every time, there were boxes of chocolates here from Valentine's day and I didn't even open the box to have a look.
    Potato chips on the other hand.
    What I have found, if there is an open bag of chips I just work out what a serving size is and count out half that amount of chips and have half a serving and make sure to enter it. Worse scenario, later I will do the exact same thing so I am still only at one serving, but most times I am good with it. Before I would just take 1 or 2, and then maybe another 1 or 2 and before I knew it had eaten who knows how many. Counting them out and knowing exactly what that is in calories means I no longer have an issue. Although I still prefer a chip free house to start with.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I play a psychological game with myself to help me resist. I try to envision really gross things that the food sort of resembles. For instance: Baby Ruth bar= turd. Really picture it in your head, get the association really stuck in your mind to the point you'd be too grossed out to eat the damn thing.

    Spaghetti= worms or maggots

    Pizza, if you squint just right, kind of looks like a giant plate of vomit.

    I think you get the idea. I've got nothing for girl scout cookies so far. I'm trying really hard to just not open the box in the first place.
  • TheConsciousFoody
    TheConsciousFoody Posts: 607 Member
    Moderation. Have a little now and then. When I have really good weekends I reward myself. Like tonight, I put a cup of greek yogurt in the food processor with a package of Kandy Kakes. I enjoyed it, I got my "sweets" fix and will be good for a while now.
  • imtrinat
    imtrinat Posts: 153 Member
    Like everyone else, I'll have to say that you need to learn self control. Ignore the crap food. Easier said than done, right? So, when all else fails, try some healthy alternatives.

    --You already know about fruit, but sometimes that just doesnt cut it. However, I do recommend Cuties mandarin oranges. You can easily peel them and they are great if you want sugary/fruity candy.
    --I keep 120 calorie kelloggs fiber bars on hand for my chocolate fix. It supplies about 35% of my daily fiber needs.
    --Greek yogurt is awesome too. Sometimes I put a tablespoon of sugar free syrup, honey, or a few morsels of chocolate in it (maybe a combo of those). Really, you can do just about anything with greek yogurt. It tastes amazing with strawberries. Another idea is to take some blueberries, roll them in yogurt, and freeze them.
    --Sugar free pudding cups are good. They have 70 calories.
    --A cup of almond or soy milk some times does the trick. It's just sweet enough and many of them have around 60 or so calories per serving.
    --Protein shake. Find one you like and blend it with a banana (could be frozen), ice, any other fruits you like, and milk or water. Just be mindful of the calories. Look up some recipes. If you do it right, it tastes like the best smoothie or milkshake you've ever had.
  • RMNPHike
    RMNPHike Posts: 89 Member
    Put grapes in the freezer. Also, you can get frozen cherries at the health food store - no sugar. They taste like candy. Apricots and almonds are sweet and healthy together. And dates, of course. I like to take out the pit and put a nut or a piece of sharp cheese in the middle. You only want to eat one or two at a time. My friend gave me organic 70% chocolate bars for Christmas. So I broke them into little squares and I only allowed myself one a day. I logged it on MFP, and I still lost weight. We had a football playoff party and I bought some cinnamon chocolate cake from Starbucks and cut it into small cubes, so I could have a couple without going nuts. Also, those little fat-free vanilla meringues are low in calories. I guess what I'm saying is if you have your own little treats, it's easier to resist what everyone else is binging on. Make it a ritual - have your little treat with a nice cup of tea or coffee and eat it slowly. Another trick is to drink a lot of herbal tea and water and have that whenever you feel you crave something. Also, I have found that getting enough Vitamin C helps with the sweet cravings. The good news is that after a long time of not eating crap, you get used to the taste of healthy food and you don't want it as much.