Sugar cravings - how do you cope?

i have chocolate and ice cream every. single. day.
i just make sure they fit into my cals/macros.

i would not do well at all if i had to cut these out, and really there's no need to cut them out, as long as you can control yourself.

every day i take a bag of almonds and dark cocoa chocolate chips to work - i weigh out 12 grams of almonds and 7 grams of chocolate chips. the total cals comes to 107 and i'm having just enough that i'm satisfied.

my every day ice cream is really just an ice cream pop - vanilla ice cream covered with popsicle - 60 cals

but every saturday i allow myself a big ice cream treat - i'll go to my local ice cream parlor and get a mixture of soft serve chocolate mixed with brownies and cookie dough - it's about 2 cups worth

by having these treats every day, i am staying satisfied.

and hey, my weight loss ticker is moving....slowly, but it's moving. and really i'm not looking for quick weight loss or even a specific number on the scale, i'm looking for a healthy bf% and still be able to eat all the things i enjoy

this may work for you too

)

I have to agree with Kelseyhere, I try and avoid sugar like the plaque because I believe it's very addictive to some people, not everyone. My husband can enjoy something sweet and he moves on, me no way, I want to eat it until it's all gone. If I'm really craving something sweet, I'll bake it myself so that I know what is in it or i'll have a rice cake with peanut butter and organic jam or i'll have a rice cake with cream cheese and jam, works for me, all the best for you.

I bought myself some "healthy alternatives" in the form of Fiber One brownies and Healthy Choice fudgesicles, but at the end of the day I think those just encourage the cravings.

Yes, there is science confirming this. At least for some of us (including, obviously, you and me), sweet flavors lead us to want more sweets. One of the ways I got off the sweets wagon was to stop putting sweeteners in my coffee and generally avoiding sweet things. We don't eat much packaged food and avoid any with hidden sugars. For instance, we look for peanut butter which only includes peanuts and salt as ingredients. Most of the time, when I make homemade bread, I don't put any sugar in it.

Now, about the only sweet things I eat regularly are fruit and an occasional bit of honey or pickles. I find that control over the sweets that I developed a year ago when I lost a bunch of weight even stuck around when I fell off the portion control wagon and retrieved those same accursed pounds! It takes awhile -- several weeks -- to fully adapt -- but it's definitely worth it.

I'm glad you got some helpful feedback I understand the part about your husband being gone so it feels like your more likely to go out of control. I believe having an accountability partner is huge and if it's your husband continue with that. Allow him access to your food and exercise diary. I am much better off because my husband and 2 grown sons can see my exercise portion...only my nutritionist gets to see my food diary. I am suggesting this on the assumption that your husband is an encourager not a berater. I am horrible about becoming obsessed with a food I know is in the house. I have a bag of hershey kisses and allow myself 3 a day (I am diabetic) but I have them in a place that is a pain the *kitten* to get to, I have to realllly want them. I have a friend that has 3 pieces of dark chocolate at lunch every day and that's it. I also think you should definitely log that weight, it will serve as a motivator and reminder in the future Good luck!

I am about 8 weeks in myself. I have more problems with salty snacks but do like sweets. My biggest tip - Love yourself enough to say no! That being said, I agree with a post below to get pre-packaged small goodies and you get that small bag. They have small bags ofskinny cow cookies and such and just make it work in your calorie goals. I also know how you feel about being told that you aren't attractive any more and I know that I ate to cover up those hurt feelings, which is crazy because then you gain more weight! Just keep going, keep believing in yourself and keep up the good work! Hang in there!

I have a giant 5 lb bag of trolli sour gummy worms in my desk drawer right now and I typically have about 6 pieces per day and I'm still losing weight.

Trolli - Sour Gummy Worms Five Pound Bag, 6 worms is about 60 calories and 13 grams of sugar.

You can have sugar and still lose weight, it's all about calories in and calories out. There are people here that prefer low sugar diets and are losing weight but that's because they are eating at a calorie deficit, sugar itself is not the enemy.

Oh... I was the queen of baking. People far and wide know my cookies, they are extraordinary!

Then the first week of this journey, I didn't eat any sugar. Triumph. Then the family decided to go to our favorite artisnal ice cream place. "What am I going to do?" -- all I could think on the way there. Answer? Smallest portion and savor it. I decided that I would work it in. When I had to. Because I wanted to live a good life, a life with ice cream.

Since then, a few things have helped...

In a situation where I would have reached for a cookie (or a cookie recipe, let's be real, I ate most of what I baked)... I reached for an apple. I ate a ton of apples month one.

I brushed my teeth - because you can't eat sugar with a clean mouth -- or when I was out and about, a Lifesavers wintergreen mint did the trick (which I know, they contain sugar... but who pigs out on mints?).

Then, the best trick? I became a sugar SNOB. Only those sweet treats worthy of the work it would take them off made it past my lips. In fact, 2 weekends ago, I ate 3 bites of coconut cream pie (my most FAVORITE of all desserts) and pushed the rest of that pathetic excuse for pie AWAY. This is saving my calorie plan big time.

Best of luck to you!

PS -- I still plan on baking... when I need to take cookies somewhere!

Pepsi max curbs my cravings

You can have sugar and still lose weight, it's all about calories in and calories out. There are people here that prefer low sugar diets and are losing weight but that's because they are eating at a calorie deficit, sugar itself is not the enemy.

Yes it's calories in and calories out, but a high sugar meal is far more likely to leave you hungry shortly after.
So it's harder to stay within range eating lots of sugar, as it is harder to stay full.

"helpfully told you recently that you're too fat to be attractive." this is NOT helpful. It is mean. Only you can say that to yourself and even then its not okay. IT sounds like its not the sugar you are craving but really its the binging problem and impulse buying. make a shopping list and stick to it. only bring enough money to the store for what is on that list. find yummy alternatives to have that don't cost that many calories. for example: you love oreos. okay me too. but I buy the yogurt with the oreo cookies in them. they are worth every calorie and I don't feel guilty afterwards. you like chocolate: how about some sugar free hot cocoa or a yoohoo singles pack with almond milk and mix in blender with ice. I call it a chocolate milkshake. start planning in some snacks into your day. preplanning helps me a lot. I stick to what I planned to eat and therefore I don't have room for other stuff. to tell you the truth, I haven't had a lot of the stuff I used to love so much and have stopped even wanting them. you just got to get them out of your system I think. if you do purchase boxes or bags of trigger food type snacks. then I suggest you individually portion them out into baggies and get them out of the box. its like having a buffet in front of you if you dotn. I do this with everything. I go through baggies a lot. they are only a buck at the dollar store. I do this for cereal, chips, crackers, noodles, etc If you look in my pantry right now you would see that. It really comes down to the calories you take in below your maintenance that helps you lose weight. I think of my daily calories budget like my bank account. I stick to my "budget" throughout the day and if I cant "afford" it, I cant have it. If I really want it then I don't go over budget.. I just have to skip a meal. I hate skipping meals so I don't splurge too often. Just start preplanning occasional snacks into your day. Pre log it then eat it and enjoy. Guilt free.