Help from Sweet Tooths who have changed their ways?

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2

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  • wikitbikit
    wikitbikit Posts: 518 Member
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    I can't do without it completely or I am prone to suddenly overindulge, so I keep some treat stuff handy: hard lemon drops (70 calories for 4, I have 2 or 3 a day); 75%+ cocoa dark chocolate (it doesn't go down as easy as milk chocolate, but it's still chocolate... and has antioxidants!), and Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew KIND bars--my real saviors. I keep room to have one just about every day. Reacquiring a taste for fruit helped too, especially oranges.
  • palmerar
    palmerar Posts: 489 Member
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    I have a huge sweet tooth, and even in my healthy eating I lean towards fruits, sweeter veggies and granola bars/ protein bars with sweet flavors. Sugar is something I am not willing to part with (yes I may have a slight addiction). What I have found that works for me:

    1) I crave sweets directly following a meal so I try to distract myself for the 20 mins following a meal whether it's doing the dishes, cleaning the house, paying bills, checking e-mail or facebook etc. something that helps distract me from the thought of dessert.

    2) Keep any dessert items out of sight in the kitchen, if it's tucked away there is a chance I will forget it is even there.

    3) Allow for a small sweet treat each day, if I can have 2-3 (1 oz.) pieces of chocolate or one scoop of ice cream once a day I will not often overindulge because I do not feel deprived

    4) If I am making a dessert I look up a recipe on cookinglight.com, they have a ton of lightened up recipes, if you are in a potluck situation at least you know you can have the dessert and how to record it.
  • Shana82
    Shana82 Posts: 19
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    They laugh at work, but I have 2pm dessert time during the week. That is about the point in the day where I am ready to scream, so I take a break and have a small cookie, or some chocolate and some tea. Usually around 150 calories. Right now it is a serving of GS cookies. I don't keep sweets in my house, as that has lead to binges in the past. So I keep them at work, plan them into my day, and knowing I have that in the plan helps keep my sugar cravings from being crazy.

    I was raised in a dessert after dinner family, so giving it up entirely wasn't going to happen. I also learned that having it after dinner tended to lead to second and sometimes third desserts. Keeping it at work helps me portion control.
  • courtneywiens
    courtneywiens Posts: 148 Member
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    i buy dark chocolate bars from trader joes, they are near the checkout counter and come in packs of three. a whole bar has 290 calories, but it is broken up into 12 pieces so if you just have one piece it's less than 25 calories. it's great for a little sweet fix and even if you go back a few times for a few more pieces you won't break your diet. also dark chocolate has the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food so you are still being healthy if you incorporate it into your diet in moderation. plus it feels very chic to indulge on such a decadent thing rather than just eating some overprocessed dessert, so i think mentally it makes you feel better about what you are putting in your body.
  • Arkhos
    Arkhos Posts: 290 Member
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    Maybe try replacing Ice Cream with Jello (sugar free tastes about the same). One desert I had made for myself was:

    Jello
    Mixed Berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
    Cool Whip Free
    Crumble a graham cracker over it.
    If they have pre-sliced Angel Food Cake you can crumble up 1 slice into it too. But I find that if it's not already sliced I will eat the whole thing. :/

    Another Ice Cream alternative is Arctic Zero. You can find it in pint sizes at Whole Foods and King Soopers/Krogers. It is not made from cream, it is made from Whey Protein, has 150 calories for the whole pint. You want it to be soft when you eat it, I suggest microwave a frozen pint for about 28 seconds - just tastes better. Honestly it really does taste good and just like ice cream - I like the Mint Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chocolate flavors.

    www.myarcticzero.com
  • autumnsnow786
    autumnsnow786 Posts: 279 Member
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    I didn't give up sugar completely. Fiber one bars are great but if I still want some dessert I just have some but make sure I don't over do it and that I'm still under for calories
  • ghostdivatonya
    ghostdivatonya Posts: 58 Member
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    Portion control!!!! I also have a sickness/weakness when it comes to sweets. I love candy, cookies and cake!! I do not deprive myself of it. I have learned to take a bite or chunk compared to the whole thing or even half. I just want to taste it at this point. Where I work they always have cookies and cupcakes from vendors. I take a bite. It keeps me from wanting to binge on my "free days" and so far it's working!!! portion control!!

    Another practical tip- I use flavoring for my water. When i'm craving sweets I add extra. It helps too!
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    simple., just do not put it in your mouth.
  • KKWilson
    KKWilson Posts: 68 Member
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    Well, I ended up curbing my sugar cravings inadvertently when I gave up soda. I had given up sugared soda in college and switched to diet. I continued to drink diet soda by and can-ful daily into my late 30's. I probably averaged 3-6 cans per day. Then one day in May of 2012 I just stopped drinking it. Mainly because I kept wondering what it was really doing to my body and what the long-term health effects of diet soda would be. The first couple weeks were really hard. I started drinking more water and tea. Then, when I hit somwhere around the 5 month mark, I happened to realize that I wasn't craving sweets like I always had in the past.

    When I was drinking soda, a day could not have went by without some sort of afternoon treat around that 2:30 pm mark. I also had terrible sweet cravings after dinner each night. Both of those cravings...gone. Now, don't get me wrong, I still occasionally get a cookie after dinner or a couple Hershey kisses, but I can stop after one or two and be satisfied...not the normal feeling of "I must continue to put this into my mouth until there is nothing left" mentality that I used to have with sweets. I'm guessing there is some correlation there because I didn't set out to give up sweets, it just happened....and I am completely OK with that.
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
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    40 calorie fudgesicles were a huge help to me. When I wanted something terrible, I'd have one and usually had no interest in the sugary food after that. With that said, I have my weak moments and my wayyyy too much sugar moments. But I try to be awesome the rest of the time so that those times don't kill me. I managed to reach my goal weight and have been maintaining since late summer 2012 so it's definitely possible to still indulge. You just have to know your weakness and make up for it elsewhere.

    Fruit is another option...I love fresh fruit so I quarter and core a pear and an apple each day. Snacking on those gets my sugar fix in the morning when I'm prone to hit the donut box that someone brings in.
  • unlikelyathlete
    unlikelyathlete Posts: 62 Member
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    I am a sweet-tooth stil trying to change my ways. I think education has been the best way for me to understand what sugar does in my body (and that includes all kinds of sugar, not excluding or including HFCS specifically). If you have the time (it's about 90 minutes) and really want to see how sugar affects your body, watch this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

    the language can sometimes be pretty scientific, but I think he does a good job of explaining it.

    every time I think about the fact that sugar is processing in my body in a similar way as alcohol, and that the liver is harmed by it, it makes me take a step back.

    Good luck to you!!
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
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    I have almost complete control over what comes into my household. And the small amount of food where I don't have control is kept in a cabinet where I don't have to see it. Alcoholics aren't going to make recoveries living in bars. That's your primary problem.

    I also don't totally deprive myself. The cabinet of evil also contains my little treats. My fiance doles out a serving when I'm in the mood, and then they go back in the cabinet.

    I've also increased the quality of my treats. These days I go for good quality dark chocolates mostly.
  • fortunafitgoddess
    fortunafitgoddess Posts: 9
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    I gave up sugar last year and started using alternative sweeteners (stevia, xylitol, erythritol, Just like sugar) You have to play with them to find the right combination that tastes right for you. I know lots of people will have opinions about this. I'm just telling you what has worked for me. I recently had some sugar and I found it to be way too sweet for me now. Baked goods and cookies still look so tempting to me, but I'm learning to bake my own using the alternatives. Any change for the positive is good and takes some effort. Keep going!!
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    Fruit, sweet and good ! I mean like real fruit aka off a tree or bush.
  • LadyZephyr
    LadyZephyr Posts: 286 Member
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    I ensure my sugary treats are still within my calorie limit and rather than binge on tubs of icecream and packets of cookies, I'll have a few squares of dark chocolate (my favourite, plus its better for you) or a cup of low calorie hot chocolate. When I really want to treat myself to some cake or something I buy weight watchers slices and have one or two of those.
  • kjohnson754
    kjohnson754 Posts: 54 Member
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    There are so many low calorie snacks out there nowadays you really shouldn't miss eating them. One thing I like to eat that's sweet are the real fruit bars by Welch's or Dole. They're under 100 calories. I eat some at night. I know I like to take trips to the kitchen at night so I keep cashews and pistachios by my bed so that I won't go downstairs. Sometimes I will work out more just so I can have a Klondike bar (250 calories) at night. LOL. Sometimes I'll eat a lighter lunch just because I know I love to eat at night. You just have to know yourself and try to fix things so that you won't go too far over your calorie goal. I also give myself a cheat meal which usually falls on Friday at lunch,. You don't want to know what I eat. LOL. Just know yourself. That's all that I can really suggest.
  • punkahontas71
    punkahontas71 Posts: 73 Member
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    Hersheys Simple Pleasures are good. milk chocolate with vanilla cream are 180 cals for 6. I try to spread them out by eating 1 per hour..
  • DoingitWell
    DoingitWell Posts: 560 Member
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    Sweet tooth here. Juicing fruits and veggies once a day helped me with my sweet tooth habit.
  • Lisapayne76
    Lisapayne76 Posts: 157 Member
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    I allow myself a small treat everynight. I go buy a bag of candy, whatever I am craving at that time then I give it to my husband. He gives me a piece a day. I know it sounds crazy having to ask but its a way to keep myself accountable. If I didnt have to ask for it I would eat the whole dang bag lol
  • Derpes
    Derpes Posts: 2,033 Member
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    Here are a few things that worked for me:

    Sugar free pudding
    Protein bars (read labels, they are not all created equal)
    Frozen Yogurt
    Chocolate chips

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