Craving Sugar?

Personally I like the brown packets of sugar in the raw. It's tastier than white sugar. I use them in place of glucose tablets when I have a hypoglycemic episode. It's only 4 grams of sugar each which is 2 percent of my daily carbohydrate intake and less than 1 percent of my total calories . It's insignificant, especially if you're active

I just find it easier to not eat sugar -- eat protein instead. Plenty of natural sugars in fruit, milk, etc. Sugar sets off craving in me, and I want more, like the sugar monster. I think we are all different in this regard. Sugar just doesn't work for me. Wish I could just eat a little. Interesting research on how sugar (and refined carbs in general) activate the dopamine pathways in the brain like alcohol and cocaine. So for me I just abstain. If I ate a sugar cube it would set me off like a drug.

Will power.

Having said that, if I eat sugar, especially pure sugar like a sugar cube, I only want more. It only makes my craving so much worse and then my will power takes a nose-dive!

I also can't eat fruit alone, or I crave more sweet. However, if I eat some protein, such as a little cheese, with it, I'm fine. The protein makes all the difference in the world for me.

When I get a sugar craving I eat ice cream. I'm particularly fond of Breyer's Girl Scout's Thin Mint, Rocky Road, Natural Chocolate, Cookies & Cream, Oreos, Moose Trax, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Oh, I also like dark chocolate (75% and above), and Krispy Kreme donuts. Sometimes I even put a donut in my ice cream and smother it with Hershey's syrup and whipped cream.

Of course, I also make sure that the portion that I eat fits within my calorie and macros goals for the day.

To the person that satisfies their sugar craving with ice cream -- so happy you can eat sugar and stay within your calorie and macro goals. But don't be naive. Not everyone is like you. Some people (and it isn't a question of will power because such people often have incredible will power in other areas of their lives) do not have your physiology and are not able to stop at one bowl, or one cookie, or one whatever. I

LOL! Thanks for the lesson in self delusion and excuses. Most people can develop their self control.

OP - seriously, focus on self control. If for whatever reason you can't exercise self control and enjoy a reasonable portion of something, then by all means cut it out of your diet entirely. I will say that portion control works, and if you want to live a normal life, eat normal food, and yet still be in great shape, it is absolutely essential.

Sometimes I suck on hard candies...they have sugar, are sweet and can take a while to eat. Brachs is a good brand.

I let myself have a treat every once in awhile. Like on Tuesdays I go out with one of my friends and get some ice cream cause it is college night. Knowing that I will get the treat on Tuesday usually keeps me focused the rest of the week. I also really like Cascadia dark chocolate almond organic granola. It only has a little chocolate in it but it is very satisfying. I also recently found a recipe for chia seed "pudding." If you google it you will find recipes for it and chia seeds are great for you!

sugar free double chocolate pudding with strawberries! tastes like chocolate dipped strawberries

I know that like you, I'm needing to modify my sugar habits. Plus, it's everywhere. I noticed that tracking it on my food diary tool on MFP has really surprised me in a couple of ways. 1) How "little" we're supposed to eat per day 2) how quickly it adds up!

The fruit suggestion is a great one, that another person mentioned above. I've heard the best way to have sugar is the way nature intended (with fiber). Sugar in fruit is good as long as one is eating the fruit in Its natural state (ie not juiced) because it slows the spike in glucose and the volume of fiber fills the stomach.

Does aversion therapy work for you? Here's a great video lecture about how sugar (not fat) causes heart disease and obesity. It blew my mind when I saw it. I probably need to re-watch it as I had ice cream sandwiches tonight (ate within daily caloric range).

Here's a link to the video: Sugar the Bitter Truth
http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Sugar-The-Bitter-Truth-16717

Love to know what you all think...

eat more fruit, preferably fresh, whole fruit. It takes longer to eat than other sweet foods (so it feels more satisfying as you have the sweet taste in your mouth for longer - eat it slowly and savour it to make this even more so), and has fewer calories (e.g. than sweets, cakes, etc) and it's chock full of micronutrients. win win win. The sugars in whole fruit are healthy.

I would nibble two dates when I was 'transitioning' from eating too much sugar. Very sweet, with fibre.

sugar free wether's original candy!

CANDICE SWANEPEOL!!!! lol sorry... I just love her! Her body is amazing!

Well, no. The sugars in whole fruits are just sugars. Biologically they are absolutely no different than any other sugars. The sugars in fruits just happen to come in a package that includes other nutrients, but if you are speaking specifically to sugar consumption, and have no nutrient deficiencies, the source of the sugar makes absolutely zero difference from a health standpoint. Glucose, fructose, galactose, etc. are all handled exactly the same in the body, whether it comes from eating an apple or a Snickers bar.

So zoo keepers could stop feeding other primates fruit and feed them snickers instead and that would be okay, because according to you they're the same...?

Sugar refined from fruit or refined from a snickers bar is still sugar, and in its *refined* form will be the same. However, fruit does not have the same GI as pure fructose (which means that if you eat 20g of fructose that's part of fresh, whole fruit, it will take a lot longer to get into your blood than if you ate 20G of refined fructose), therefore there absolutely *is* a difference. The water and fibre you eat along with the sugar that's in whole fruit make a difference, because the fruit has to be broken down by the body, which affects the rate at which nutrients are absorbed by the body. Additionally, combinations of nutrients can affect how easily they're absorbed, e.g. iron is absorbed more easily when vitamin C is present with it. once the sugar gets to the cells, it doesn't make a difference to the mitochondria whether it comes from sweets or fruit, so at that level what you say is correct, however the rate at which the sugars get from the digestive system into the blood and what nutrients are coming in with them makes a huge difference to how the sugar is handled prior to reaching the cells. It can make the difference between getting diabetes and not getting diabetes (to name just one of many issues).

In isolation, nutrients cannot be healthy or unhealthy. You can isolate pretty much any nutrient and in its pure form it won't do the same thing in the body as it would when it's still in the foods it came from. You can only start to talk about healthy or unhealthy in the context of the whole diet. i.e. a whole diet can be healthy, or unhealthy. Apples as part of a balanced diet won't harm you, and will give you micronutrients and carbs. Eat nothing but apples and you'll die from malnutrition. McDonalds burgers as part of a healthy balanced diet won't harm you and will give you protein, fat and carbs, but eat nothing but McDonalds and you'll probably die from heart disease. Fructose is a kind of sugar found in fruit, and many primate species have evolved to get carbohydrate and micronutrients from fruit, including humans. fruit is not unhealthy, nor is the sugar in fruit. If you refine fruit sugar and put it in other foods, that's different.

ETA: I'm an everything in moderation person, I eat ice cream, chocolate, all sorts (not snickers because I hate peanuts) - so i'm not approaching this from a hating of all junk food point of view, I don't believe any food should be demonised, healthy is about getting everything your body needs without harming it in the process. i.e. everything in moderation, toxic is dependent on dose.

I just find it easier to not eat sugar -- eat protein instead. Plenty of natural sugars in fruit, milk, etc. Sugar sets off craving in me, and I want more, like the sugar monster. I think we are all different in this regard. Sugar just doesn't work for me. Wish I could just eat a little. Interesting research on how sugar (and refined carbs in general) activate the dopamine pathways in the brain like alcohol and cocaine. So for me I just abstain. If I ate a sugar cube it would set me off like a drug.

Oh good grief this is me I thought it was only me and I had no self control it IS like a drug if I try a little bit I have to have more and more but when I fast I dont eat anything and I am fine. but I dare not fast for more than a couple of days in a week otherwise my loss would be too rapid