I can't stop eating sweets ;(

hellothere1212

Cookies, donuts , ice cream. I want it all the time now and constantly give into my cravings in excessive amounts. I'm gaining back all the weight I worked so hard to lose (30 lb). For some reason I can't stop. Everyday I say I will get on track and I always give in by afternoon. I'm so depressed I'm gaining so much yet I still won't stop. I fear I'll have loose skin if I lose weight yet AGAIN so what's the point? I just wish I could get my motivation back. I used to eat veggies and chicken all the time now that just sounds gross to me. Any words of encouragement for me?

haymancm

Increase your magnesium, it will offset your cravings. It's too low, which is why you are craving such junk.

kahyee

Stop eating the sweets. Ask yourself, what is making me it the sweets. Is it stress, boredom, anxiety, happiness and/or joy? Also, it seems as if this has become a routine since it happens every afternoon. How about finding another routine. And start off small. Try not having an afternoon sweet on 2 days out of the week and work up from there. You've done this before. You can do this. I too am a sugar addict, but I switched my routine from having something sweet everyday to having my sweet treats on Saturday and Sunday.

fatgirlinheels

This is something I struggle with constantly. Its my biggest pitfall.

Can you allow yourself to have a small treat once a week? Or is that a trigger for you? I cut back my sweets gradually and now I don't crave them as often. I still do on occasion, but its not as bad as it used to be. (I would have punched someone for a chocolate chip cookie at one point. It was that bad! lol) I replaced ice cream with frozen yogurt when I absolutely must have sweets.

I bought myself a single serving blender at walmart ($15) and some Hershey's sugar free cocoa powder. I make smoothies using the powder and bananas and I find it helps a lot with chocolate cravings! You can also make an awesome chocolate dip/syrup if you mix a small amount of Agave (I like the maple flavor) with the cocoa powder. Its wonderful on strawberries!

As the previous posters mentioned, start small. Have faith in yourself. You didn't gain all the weight in one day, and you won't lose it in one day either. It takes time and patience.. I have faith in you!

ellen_kay

I am a sweet lover also. This is good info. Thanks

karl39x

Put that cookie down! NOW!

JeanDescole

I suffer from this too, gained 4 pound recently thanks to this... any tips on how to increase magnesium intake?

ctpeace

Ok, magnesium might be a factor, but that comment wasn't based on blood tests and is speculation at best. Take magnesium if you want (or do a salt bath, it absorbs through your skin), it can't hurt, but seriously, MAKE YOURSELF STOP! Temptation is real, cravings are real, but so is willpower. This isn't easy guys, but it is possible. Keep the crap out of the house, or limit yourself to 1 treat (if you can do that, otherwise cold turkey). Don't let that treat get the better of you! Make a real decision, set real goals, and then DO IT. I'm not saying you'll never slip up, but when you do, stop yourself! You CAN stop eating sweets. There's no magic fairy dust to make you automatically not like them, you have to make it happen yourself. The upside is going on a low-sugar diet is hard at first, but gets easier as your body becomes accustomed to fewer and less drastic blood-sugar spikes, and stops grumbling at you for it.

kaylindeschanel

get all the sweets out of your house. out of sight, out of mind.
don't watch channels that could provoke a craving for those types of things - avoid food channels, that's the best you can do.
BAKE healthy versions of whatever it is that you're craving.
there are healthier alternatives to everything.

crave milk chocolate? --- strawberries drizzled with dark chocolate is better for you.
want something salty? --- pretzels.
want some deliciously juicy? --- apples/bananas + peanut butter on whole wheat toast.
cinnamon is delicious - fights cancer and great for obesity control.
green tea boosts metabolism.

REMEMBER - a healthy diet means letting yourself indulge every once in a while. if you COMPLETELY cut off the bad foods for you, YOU WILL binge and get back on this cycle of BINGING and GAINING. let yourself indulge every now and then, but always in moderation. always.

healthy food doesn't have to be all greens. there are so many things out there.

remember, fruit is nature's candy.

kaylindeschanel

and also, i couldn't help myself, but i had to post this:

THE HEALTHIEST BATCH OF COOKIES ON EARTH

Ingredients

2 tablespoon coconut flour
2 tablespoon mashed banana or applesauce
pinch of salt
stevia or other sweetener, to taste
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoon almond milk, or milk of choice
Chocolate chips
Directions


Preheat oven to 350F.
In a small bowl, mix coconut flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add in masked banana or applesauce and stir.
Add in almond milk, one tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dough by tablespoon or teaspoon, depending on how big you want them, on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Flatten the dough into cookie shapes.
Bake in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
Let cool.

Calories: 6 per bite-sized cookie

RougeIllusion

Get in the habit of logging EVERYTHING you eat too. I believe that this is the single biggest factor in me taking control of my weight so far. I will sometimes want something sweet or salty and I will go to log it, see how many calories it is and then decide if it's worth it.
Getting rid of sugar is very hard at first but if you can stick it out for a week or two the cravings get so much fewer and far between.

sunnyskyjb

bump for same issue

staplebug

Make sure you're not feeling SUPER deprived. I work in sweets every day, but they are (almost) always within my calorie allowance. 80/20 rule: 80% calories are healthy and "fuel" foods in main meals, 20% calories are treat foods.

DontStopB_Leakin

Sure you can. Put them down, and stop eating them.


Yaaaaayyyyy, willpower.


Though, I can't fathom why on Earth you'd WANT to stop eating them.

Beezil

I know this probably doesn't help, but it's what I had to start doing and I have an insane sweet tooth, too...

I have one treat a day (sometimes two) but make sure everything else I eat is 90% healthy and make sure I stay within my calories. If I want more sweet, I do more exercise - which of course one can only do so much of. Something not so bad that makes me feel like I'm having a treat is green tea with milk and honey in it. Very yummy and to me feels almost like drinking a cookie or something. lol.

PB on toast tricks me into thinking I'm having a sweet, too. Good luck honey... I've been just where you are not that long ago. I gained 10lbs back before I finally stopped myself. I hope you gain that strength back sooner rather than later. :flowerforyou:

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Start logging for starters. Log even (maybe especially) if you go over. Your goal is low, which could be causing you to want to eat more. But it's hard to tell because your diary is blank.

Mlkmaid

We're headed into great fruit season. Freeze grapes. Have strawberries around constantly. And I swear by fat-free Fig Newtons. If you get off anything sweet for 3 or 4 days your cravings will subside. When I eat something really sweet now it practically makes me sick. You just need to retrain your tastebuds.

jonibc

If you can resist long enough, you'll break your addiction and you will not want them. When you want something sweet, eat fruit. Sugar is like a drug. Beat the addiction. You can do it.

hungreeteacher17

so glad to hear that many others have been side tracked this way. what everyone says is true - don't keep it in your house, log everything, and cutting out the the sweets really helps the cravings go away. I have been eating lots of strawberries & watermelon lately.

karlalband

bump

SoDamnHungry

Can you limit yourself to one a day? I understand that's hard, so sometimes going cold turkey is the best way to go about it. I've been off sweets for a week now and am feeling pretty good.

metacognition

It's the simple sugar, without protein or fiber. Leaves you hungry in about an hour, I remember.

How about eating fruit with a protein instead ? You can artificially sweeten oatmeal or sweet potato so it's more like a desert. Add truvia, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice, whatever you like. You can even use Yonanas to blend frozen fruit to an ice cream consistency.

Alison12121

I know it's hard, because I have a sweet tooth too. I know if I have sweets in the house, I will probably eat them, so I don't buy them anymore because having them right here is too tempting. Chances are I will feel too tired to go to the store just to buy sweets.

I also cut out sweets completely for a few weeks to get over my sweet tooth. It's rough at first, but you can do it! Now, if I'm really craving something sweet, I plan for it, go and get the ingredients and make it myself.

Also, maybe you could try some new recipes. Healthier food can taste delicious. Maybe having some tastier options will help you to not feel so deprived. I have been cooking all week from these two sites:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

http://www.emilybites.com/

Cooking Light also has some tasty options too.

darwinwoodka

Work 'em in. If they fit in your macros why feel deprived? Control your portion sizes instead -- grab some smaller plates, bowls, ramekins, etc. Cut those donuts in halves or quarters. Log everything. As long as you know what you're eating and WHY, it's ok.

Make your meals nutritious and protein and veggie full, let your snacks be sweet but small.

Honest_Angie

When I start craving something, I ask myself a very simple question that puts it all into perspective for me.

Do you want that junk food you've been craving for an hour, or the body you've been craving for a lifetime?

SanteMulberry

I suffer from this too, gained 4 pound recently thanks to this... any tips on how to increase magnesium intake?

Spinach! Hardly any calories and LOTS of magnesium and potassium (a dieter's best mineral friends). You can sneak spinach in almost anywhere--into your morning eggs along with sauteed onions and pepper, into your protein shakes.

Nuts are not low-cal but they are a great source of minerals too. Often, dieters become depleted of minerals because of the lower volume of food. That's why eating well is SO important on a calorie-restricted diet. Even though you can lose weight on 1,200 calories worth of cupcakes per day, at the end, you body will be so hungry for nutrients that you will become a food magnet, hoovering up everything that even LOOKS like food. I know that many here on MFP counsel that you can have your treats and still lose weight--and that is true, if all you care about is a number on the scale. The downside that is important to think about is what good things are you crowding out of your calorie-restricted diet in order to accommodate the sweet-eating? We only have so many calories to spend and when you waste them on foods that are less than nourishing, your body keeps track. When you cheat it of nutrients, it will get its revenge, unfortunately.

I have eliminated the empty calories contained in sweets from my diet (and it is going on three years now). I have not binged on sweets once in those three years. (I also have eliminated gluten--I have a gluten-intolerance). It is sometimes helpful to go on a fast from fructose for a couple of weeks. It will lower your level of fructokinase (which becomes elevated when there is much of a sugar habit going on). After a couple of weeks (and you will crave fruit during that time, provided you are not eating sugar--sugar, i.e. sucrose is 50% fructose) you will be totally content with eating fruit alone for satisfying your sweet tooth.

It seems that there is an inverse relationship with eating sweets and nourishing food. (Ever notice how a lot of nourishing food rots in the refrigerator while there are a lot of sweets around at the holidays?) The more sweets you eat, the more that nourishing food will turn you off. The more nourishing food you eat, the more that sweets will turn you off. I occasionally have a piece of cake pushed on me at a party or something, and I take one bite and leave the rest because it really tastes unpleasantly sweet to me--I am much more satisfied with a nice piece of fruit instead. (What I did in the past, BEFORE I broke my sugar-addiction, was tell everyone I was dieting and eat only a little bit of fruit off the fruit platter that many considerate hostesses provide these days. And then I would go home and dig a dessert out of the freezer. Ever eat frozen cookies? LOL--pretty pathetic.) Obesity researchers are now pointing to sugar consumption as a large part of the "food addiction" picture. Here is the website of a scientific conference on "food addiction" from a few years ago: http://www.foodaddictionsummit.org/index.htm