Girls - sugar cravings!

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sierrajordon
sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have started a new birth control and im having horrible sugar cravings especially around that time of the month! i have been trying to stick with "somewhat" healthy choices like non fat frozen yogurt or dark chocolate cover almonds. I know its not the best but its driving me nuts!
How do you satisfy your sweet tooth with out feeling guilty?
Or how do you ignore the craving?
Someone told me to quit eating sugars cold turkey but i kinda have mixed feelings about that.
Help!(:

P.S - i do not eat meat, i only eat seafood and occasional dairy like cheese. rarely any milk and if use it its a little in a recipe. i do not know if this will have a effect in my cravings?

Replies

  • srey0701
    srey0701 Posts: 196 Member
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    I just killed mine with strawberries!!!

    EDIT* For 5 large strawberries, only 50ish calories.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    The dairy might help..

    Cold turkey is the only way I can kick the sugar addiction, and one cookie will send me right back to it. fresh pinapple is super sweet, healthy and low calorie. Can try the who nu cookies if you need a cookie.. they are ok in taste..

    mix a banana and some honey into greek yogurt or steel cut oats to make it sweet. or chocolate protein powder.

    of just have the chocolate.. it won't kill you.

    last time I caved and make ghetto smores. marshmallows on graham crackers microwaved and topped with Hershey special dark syrup. so good.. but soo bad. I also like the kosher tea biscuits, the vanilla ones are really sweet and they are low calorie.
  • naomi8888
    naomi8888 Posts: 519 Member
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    About a year ago I had a similar diet (except I didn't eat seafood). When I really looked over my macros I realised that pretty much all I was consuming was carbs. I'd be starving, eat some carbs, be OK for a couple of hours then hungry again. Once I made a real effort to increase my protein and fat and decrease carbs I found that everything balanced out better and I didn't have those insane sweet cravings.

    Your diary is closed so can't see your totals but maybe that's something you could consider.
  • lizzyb83
    lizzyb83 Posts: 107 Member
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    About a year ago I had a similar diet (except I didn't eat seafood). When I really looked over my macros I realised that pretty much all I was consuming was carbs. I'd be starving, eat some carbs, be OK for a couple of hours then hungry again. Once I made a real effort to increase my protein and fat and decrease carbs I found that everything balanced out better and I didn't have those insane sweet cravings.

    Your diary is closed so can't see your totals but maybe that's something you could consider.

    I agree! Check how much protein you are getting! One way I cover sweet cravings is fruit. I love making green smoothies for that very reason! Just frozen spinach, banana, and what ever fruit. So good and sweet!
  • sierrajordon
    sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
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    sareynoo -Ill try eating more fruit! i never thought of that
    Nami8888 - When i switched i relied ALOT on carbs, recently i have made ALOT better choices and have cut the carbs dramatically, i use to eat pasta almost 3 times during the week but now i eat spaghetti squash instead and i have started making stuffed portabello mushrooms. i haven't had pasta in a few weeks which i think has helped me.
    confuzzled4ev - ill try greek yogurt too! i always see yummy flavors i want to try but never pick up when i got food shopping, i think picking that up instead of chocolate or sweets will help!
  • sierrajordon
    sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
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    lizzyb83 - any tips on how to consume more protein on my type of diet?
  • naomi8888
    naomi8888 Posts: 519 Member
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    lizzyb83 - any tips on how to consume more protein on my type of diet?

    I would suggest tofu, seitan and Quorn products for protein. Also maybe a vegan protein powder?
  • sierrajordon
    sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
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    thanks! i always tried to avoid those frozen products because of i have heard how processed they are but ill check out protein powders!
  • lizzyb83
    lizzyb83 Posts: 107 Member
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    I love greek yogurt, also I eat a lot of beans! Love making black bean wraps. Pumpkin seeds and flax seeds are another of my favorite. Trader Joe's makes a couple of good protein powders. Sun Warrior is a popular one, and I just saw a new Hemp protein powder that I am going to try!
  • Tamtamz76
    Tamtamz76 Posts: 23
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    I learned that I need to eat full meals three times a day in order to get the cravings in check.

    I have always been a grazer, so I'll eat some cookies, then some pretzels, then some chips and it just goes on and on; while PMSing it's so much worse. When I'm feeling "snacky" it's usually around the time I need to eat, so I just make myself a complete meal, and I don't snack in between. Some people choose 6 small meals, but I can't. I've tried, and I blow my calories every time.

    If things get bad, I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal. I'll sprinkle some brown sugar on it because it's sweeter than white (at least to me), so it doesn't require me to use as much. Between the complex carbs of the oatmeal and the sugar for my sweet tooth, it tends to solve the problem.

    I also took a look at a my diet (I eat little meat) and noticed that I'm missing out on a lot of B vitamins; they are very important. Without them, all hell will break loose. Before I started taking them, I was feeling sluggish, foggy-minded, grouchy and irritable, and around my period those cravings were uncontrollable. I also take magnesium and chromium, and my cravings are not bad, and that's even if I have them.
  • sierrajordon
    sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
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    thanks for the tips! i really appreciate it(:
  • sierrajordon
    sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
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    tamtamz76 - im currently taking B12 shots once a month, it has helped me greatly! just the past few days i have been trying to eat oatmeal with a small amount of chocolate chips and it seems to help my cravings. Im the same way with grazing ill admit! ill go back for more and in a hour or so MORE. I could never do the 5 or 6 meals a day or i know i would be in trouble!
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
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    I've learned that sugary treats put me into binge-mode. I can't stop, and pretty soon I'm treating myself every day, then I tell myself that "I've blown it" and just go back to all the bad habits. Thus, I limit my environment and don't buy sugary crap that I know will call out to me until I've eaten it all. How I satisfy my sweet tooth is to have a carton of non-fat no sugar-added vanilla yogurt (80 cals), to which I add 2 tablespoons of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder (20 cals). I have one (or two!) of these every day as a snack or part of a meal. Good luck on your journey!
  • larsensue
    larsensue Posts: 461 Member
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    try yogurt covered raisins or iogo parfait yogurt, both are sweet enough to satisfy my very large sweet tooth.
  • 13suzie
    13suzie Posts: 349 Member
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    The only way I can get off sugar is to go cold turkey and it's frickin hard for 3 days and then it is easy. After the 3 days, sugar isn't even interesting to me! I did it several times before and then made a mindless slip (or got social pressure to "just take one bite of something homemade etc" and got hooked again. (I am currently hooked.) It sucks to be stuck on sugar. It really is interfering with my weight loss but I am driven by hormones so much of the time. Just writing this post makes me want to try to get off it again. I have a few cravings as I type this. Argh. It's like a drug.

    Tips for getting off of it:
    * Use sugarfree gum during the 3 days
    * Be very strict for the three days - no sugar includes ANYTHING with the word 'sugar' in ingredient list and should probably also include any refined flours; allow yourself to enjoy fruits (fructose) but avoid sucrose and all of the other 'oses';
    * use tea to curb cravings/
  • sierrajordon
    sierrajordon Posts: 78 Member
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    thanks for the tips 13suzie!(:
  • cbkb1234
    cbkb1234 Posts: 94 Member
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    hmmm cereal? dry in a baggie or frozen bananas
  • happydaze71
    happydaze71 Posts: 339 Member
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    best advice I can give for sugar cravings is not to eat any!!! I got rid of refined products from my diet, like bread, pasta etc, and that really helped me, now I pretty much dont crave anything.

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