Best way to curb sugar cravings

Frankly, the easiest way for me to stop craving sugar is to simply stop eating it altogether. I replace sweet things with salty or savory things and after a couple of days I don't even want the sweet things anymore. So snacks become things like popcorn, crunchy veggies (plain or dipped in hummus or a dip made with Greek yogurt), a handful of nuts, string cheese, unsweetened cereal (Kix, Cheerios, Chex), etc.

If, for now, you truly can't moderate your intake without going overboard and can't find a treat that contains sugar that you can be moderate with, try a small portion of something fatty like a teaspoon (weigh this) of nut butter or an ounce of really sharp cheese. They will usually cut a craving for something sweet.

Later on you might find that not all sweet foods trigger a free-for-all for you and you can be moderate with your intake and add them back to your diet. I personally love dark chocolate every now and then and can be perfectly satisfied with a small 40 calorie portion then walk away. I'm sure you'll be able to find some treats that you can fit into your meal plans as well.

The whole idea is to find yourself eating in a way that's sustainable and enjoyable. Total deprivation is neither of those things.

I eat a spoonful of ice cream when I want sugar. It's more fat I want and then the sweet. I'm good with one spoonful - especially a really rich one. I just log it. It's nothing.

I also have 1/4 cup of ice cream every night for desert. Same reason.

And I don't do hardly any sugar for anything else except coffee. The more sugar I eat the more I want.

Eat it at a planned time and with (or close in time to) other foods? That's what usually works for me.

For example, if I set a time for a snack or planned meal+dessert I'll generally just have what I planned. (I'm taking a break from desserts at the moment but had half a cup of ice cream as a post dinner dessert probably more often than not last year and lost lots of weight.) If I decide it's okay to nibble throughout the day but just tell myself not to have too much I'm much more likely to end up overeating because it lends itself more to mindless eating.

But strategies like that are going to depend on you.

Try to drink a glass of water before eating sweets, it fills your stomach up before eating anything so that way you don't eat as much. Helps me.

The best for me is virtually cold turkey also. I'm on day 4 and doing better every day. I've been moody as hell though! I really fell off the wagon, and was eating hard candy a lot, and 2 tablespoons in my coffee .... and I drink like 5 cups a day! I've been at or under the sugars on my daily logging, with most sugars coming from fruit or the milk in my coffee.

Keep some chocolate mousses in the fridge. When im craving sugar / chocolate (most days) having one of those does the trick for me and not too many calories!

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Pre-log your day and include a treat in there. I have something yummy at least once a day.

definitely this , being overly restrictive often leads to cravings imho

I find that individually portioned products can really help. I have one Ghirardelli chocolate square almost every day.

I take a spoonful of peanut or almond butter. works like a charm and also fills really good!

maybe try to stay around the sugar grams mfp gives you in your diary section?