Replacement for Sugar Cravings

ncherokee9
ncherokee9 Posts: 9 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
One of the hardest things for me to avoid in dieting are sweets.. Just call me the junk food junkie if you will. Growing up, my mom always gave us dessert after dinner and with lunch. This trained my body to literally expect something sweet after a meal or I don't feel like I've fully eaten. I have tested myself on several occasions with staying away from high fat and high in sugar treats. My body last approximately 7 days until the intense sugar cravings hit me like crazy. If times are stressful, it's almost impossible to ignore without indulging.

I've tried to trick my mind with sugarless treats containing Splenda or other sugar substitues and it has worked from time to time. Recently, I have been stressed out and turned back to my bingeing on sweets to comfort myself. With this new start to a lifestyle change I am more than anxious to hear some of the ideas others may have to help out in this area.

Thank you all so much for your generosity in giving...

Replies

  • holly122677
    holly122677 Posts: 67
    Hi ncherokee9, I too have the sugar cravings after a meal. I have found the Jello No Sugar Chocolate pudding does wonders for me. Hope this helps some. Good Luck
  • kvcarden
    kvcarden Posts: 175
    Oh do I know the feeling I am a junk food junkie too :ohwell: ....I usually try one or two the following and it satisfies my craving:
    -a piece of sugarless gum (which is about 5 calories)
    -a small piece of dark chocolate (bc it' suppose to be healthier than milk chocolate).
    -a Little Debbie's 100 calorie lemon cake (or anything "cakey" that's 100 calories).

    If I totally deprive myself I end up eating way more on other items that I really didn't want so I try to compromise & honestly it's hard for me to go more than a week w/out something sweet so you're not alone ;)

    Key
  • kittybellenir
    kittybellenir Posts: 128 Member
    Hot Chocolate, Swiss Miss Diet or Nestle No sugar added, I drink alot of it, or five hersheys kisses and instead of biting them suck on them like a mint and they last longer, sugar free fudge bars or fruit you can't go wrong with fruit!!!
  • ivykivy
    ivykivy Posts: 2,970 Member
    It's a no-win with sugar. You are stressed you eat sugar. You have an insulin surge then crash and your body will crave more sure. Look at how you eat it. If you're gonna eat it make sure you have one gram of protein for every gram of sugar in the treat.
    Also try drizzling 5 pecans (or your nut of choice) with 1 tsp of honey. Honey is intensely sweet and may help.
    But the key is to stop using sweets as a stress reliever. Exercise is a good stress buster. So next time your stressed pop in a Taebo dvd (I loved the old 8 min) or a Leslie Sansone video or just jog in place for a couple of minutes. It really will help. Also you can check out some books from the library like Sugar Busters, Carb Addicts or Diet Cure. They will have some good tips even if you don't follow the program.

    Good luck to you.
  • PeachyKeene
    PeachyKeene Posts: 1,645 Member
    That is one of the biggest challenges I face with my diet.

    I love sweets and I love to OVERindulge in them.

    I have also tried jello sugar free puddings and the jello(10 calories). I like them both and they seem to help a little with the cravings for myself.

    I also eat bananas and tangerines and they seem to help as well.
  • tiffanygil
    tiffanygil Posts: 478 Member
    I like sweet freedom fudge bars from blue bunny and they are about 45 cals.
    frozen berries mixed light whip cream sprinkeled with cane sugar and refrozen (tastes like ice cream to me)
    sliced apples with 1 tsp of brown sugar and about 10 raisns put in microwave for about 1:30 min (tricks your mind into believing "apple pie"
    fat free yogurt about 100 cals (the thicker the better) frozen in freezer
    Hot Mint tea with sweet in low

    as you can tell i am a junk food junkie too! But you can work through it..... I promise....
  • PetraCore
    PetraCore Posts: 11 Member
    Hi ncherokee9,
    I personally recommend eating as much fruit as possible, and sticking with raw sugar and honey. It's been shown in a few studies that sugar substitutes can actually cause your body to be hungrier than if you had chosen to stay with regular sugar.

    I've taken sweets in my life to a kind of gourmet approach. Instead of buying Twix or Peanut Butter Cups, I'll get myself some high end fancy chocolate as a treat. Both the cost and the seeming decadence of it seems to trick my mind into thinking I'm getting away with something. And I find that I just don't splurge as much on it. For the bulk of the time, fruit curbs my sweet tooth. And then I allow myself the really bad stuff on special occasions, cause sometimes you just really want a twix bar right? It's not easy at first, but your body does adjust after time and it gets WAY easier.

    Good Luck!
  • srkreft
    srkreft Posts: 1 Member
    Andes Mints
  • ncherokee9
    ncherokee9 Posts: 9 Member
    Wow.... all of these ideas are wonderful and believe me.... I'm going to keep referring to these comments to detour from the ambush of Sugar attacks.. Thanks so much you guys....
  • ncherokee9
    ncherokee9 Posts: 9 Member
    This sounds yummy... I think I'll try the frozen berries with Cool Whip tomorrow.. Thanks :)
  • nakrya
    nakrya Posts: 191
    One of the hardest things for me to avoid in dieting are sweets.. Just call me the junk food junkie if you will. Growing up, my mom always gave us dessert after dinner and with lunch. This trained my body to literally expect something sweet after a meal or I don't feel like I've fully eaten. I have tested myself on several occasions with staying away from high fat and high in sugar treats. My body last approximately 7 days until the intense sugar cravings hit me like crazy. If times are stressful, it's almost impossible to ignore without indulging.

    I've tried to trick my mind with sugarless treats containing Splenda or other sugar substitues and it has worked from time to time. Recently, I have been stressed out and turned back to my bingeing on sweets to comfort myself. With this new start to a lifestyle change I am more than anxious to hear some of the ideas others may have to help out in this area.

    Thank you all so much for your generosity in giving...

    Sweets is my weakness. I cannot avoid it, so I just try and keep it to a reasonable portion i.e. 100-150 calories when I really, really want something sweet and nothing else will do, but I tell myself I have to go out for a walk or run after.

    I've found this to be really helpful. If you like fruit and yogurt, thaw out 1/2 a cup of frozen blueberries at room temp for about 10 minutes or so and mix it with a container of your favourite yogurt and top off with a small sprinkling of granola and yummy! That has really helped beat my late night sugar fix!
  • atauds
    atauds Posts: 41
    fresh pineapple or an orange is my sugar replacement. It's as close to my sugar fix as I can get.
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