How do you cut your craving for sugar??
lgramberg15
Posts: 46 Member
I'm most definitely addicted to sugar..most of the time the sugar I eat in the day comes from fruit (some from added sugar like chocolate or vitamin water), but I find myself craving sweets every night and I need to learn how to cut the craving! Any ideas/advice?
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You never lose the cravings completely. The longer you dont have what you crave then you will forget what it taste like I used to eat. Eat your fruits and they will become your new craving0
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I make a pitcher of water and squeeze a whole lemon and half a lime in it (I refill the pitcher when its half gone until there is no flavor left) I drink it all day and I use two packets of splenda in my 20oz glass0
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No advice. I just ate a whole chocolate peanut butter bar. It fit into my day. I could have had half if it wouldn't. No reason to be so worried about sugar.0
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I decided to cut out all added sugar from my diet once. Lasted close to two years. After a few months the craving was easily satisfied with a little fruit. It took a while for the adjustment but it really wasn't bad after that.0
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I crave too. To some extent, it comes down to self-control. For me, sometimes I keep a candy bar in the fridge. Just one. And because it's only one, I try to save it for when it 'feels right'. Like for example on my night off, when I can really enjoy it, or while I'm playing my favorite video game with friends. Something like that. I make it something I don't want to gobble down and then feel like I should have waited. I can put off eating that candy bar for 4-5 days some weeks without feeling like I'm trying too hard. I'm not the greatest at portion control when I have tons of sweets around, so it works for me.0
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Spoonful of peanut butter.0
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Everytime I crave it?? ^0
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lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Peanut butter is an excellent dessert. So is cookie butter.
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Try bubble gum0
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lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?0 -
970Mikaela1 wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Peanut butter is an excellent dessert. So is cookie butter.
I've never tried cookie butter. It sounds so appealing to me. What's it like?0 -
A sweet tooth can come from any number of things, but there are some measures you can take to lessen it.
1. Make sure you get plenty of water. Try having a glass of water and waiting a few minutes--your body may actually be mistaking dehydration for the need for sugar.
2. Try to focus on sources of sugar with a lower glycemic load. For example, milk chocolate causes a steeper spike in blood sugar than bananas. Apples have an even lower glycemic load than bananas, and blueberries/strawberries are lower than both. By reducing spikes in blood sugar, your body may stop urging you to find ways to replenish it.
3. Are you getting enough protein and fat? Those can stay with you longer than carbs (especially simple carbs), so you may feel more satiated after dinner and not have to turn to dessert.
All that said, I agree with arditarose to a large extent: if you can fit some sweets into your macros, go for it! You're more likely to stick to a healthy diet if you can enjoy your favorite foods.0 -
The way I cut cravings is to gradually reduce the amounts I consume over time. The more I eat, the more I want. I find that when I'm more active and well hydrated, I seem to have fewer cravings of any kind.0
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Jelly beans. Most Jelly Belly jelly beans are only 4 Calories each & since they are so chewy, it takes longer for me to consume 6 of them; than it does 2 cookies. The longer it takes me to consume something, the more I feel satisfied; after consumption.0
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Don't reinforce it. Sugar is addictive like any other pleasure giving substance. If you are addicted you probably need to cut back a great deal until you get a handle on it. I had to cut it out all together. No cake, no candy, only artificially sweetened drinks and fruits that were low on the sugar scale (no grapes, dates, raisins, bananas ect but strawberries, watermellon, and other high water or fiber to sugar ratio were allowed). It was hard but I finally got a decent handle on my sweet craving and I can control myself enough to have a cookie without needing to eat 5 now. I know that if I eat a heavy sweet item like a milk shake I will crave more sweets for the next few days so often those treats are not worth the trouble these days.0
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Ween off. I cut added sugar out as much as possible. I have a little chocolate and stuff here and there. First I switched from regular milk to almond milk. Then I started mixing unsweetened with sweetened. I can now drink unsweetened cashew and flax milk and it doesn't bother me at all. My major sweet tooth was sweet coffee creamer. I weened myself down to 2 tbs of So delicious french vanilla coconut creamer. I will try and do cinnamon and PB for sweet, it works for me. I have got myself down to a 1/2 tsp of honey or maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. Just keep cutting back.0
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arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat0 -
herrspoons wrote: »I do it by keeping my hand out of the cookie jar.
Sugar isn't addictive in humans. Sorry, no strong evidence to support that theory exists.
Actually there's been studies suggesting that sugar releases dopamine in the brain, and that when you have too much of it, you have a need for the dopamine release more often0 -
Lissa_Kaye wrote: »Ween off. I cut added sugar out as much as possible. I have a little chocolate and stuff here and there. First I switched from regular milk to almond milk. Then I started mixing unsweetened with sweetened. I can now drink unsweetened cashew and flax milk and it doesn't bother me at all. My major sweet tooth was sweet coffee creamer. I weened myself down to 2 tbs of So delicious french vanilla coconut creamer. I will try and do cinnamon and PB for sweet, it works for me. I have got myself down to a 1/2 tsp of honey or maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. Just keep cutting back.
Perfect I'm already lactose intolerant so I usually don't have milk or half and half of any kind! Thanks for the tip!0 -
I stopped placing sweets in a bad/unhealthy category and placed all food including sugary stuff in the same category..."food".
Once I stopped seeing it as something "bad" or "forbidden" I stopped craving it. Bowl of cookies is on my counter. It bothers me about as much as the milk in the fridge.
Try to see it in the same light as you would any snack between meals. It's helped me a lot with eating it in moderation.0 -
herrspoons wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat
It's down to how many calories you consume, not sugar.
If you want to cut it out then do so, just don't fill the gap with something else. Either that or exercise a bit more willpower. I'm afraid there aren't any other choices.
Obviously I know that it's down to calorie intake, I'm not stupid.. Sugar has more calories than other types of food I.e. If I eat it im consuming more calories....0 -
lgramberg15 wrote: »arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat
Weight loss comes down to calories in/calories out or the balance of energy your body recieves from food. Too much energy gets stored (weight gain). Too little energy from food, and your body starts using fat reserves to make up for the shortage (weight loss).
Tighten up your logging in MFP, weigh solids with a food scale and meassure liquids with meassuring cups. A very small difference can add up over the course of a week and wipe out your deficit.
Or lower your calorie goal.0 -
lgramberg15 wrote: »herrspoons wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat
It's down to how many calories you consume, not sugar.
If you want to cut it out then do so, just don't fill the gap with something else. Either that or exercise a bit more willpower. I'm afraid there aren't any other choices.
Obviously I know that it's down to calorie intake, I'm not stupid.. Sugar has more calories than other types of food I.e. If I eat it im consuming more calories....
If you cut it out chances are you will want it even more and end up binging on it anyway. If you can't eat it in moderation while its in the house, only buy treats once every two days (or when you prefer) that are already single serve portions.0 -
970Mikaela1 wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Peanut butter is an excellent dessert. So is cookie butter.
What is cookie butter?
I find that I crave less when I eat more filling & nutritionally dense meals.
I crave more when I am bored or watching tv. I distract myself from cravings when I don't want to indulge (like if I want to save my calories for something else or for later in the day) by drinking water or hot coffee/tea (both of which I take black ).
If I have enough calories and I'm close to my macro goals I will eat a treat.
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Actually, sugar is a carb, which has 4 calories per gram, which is less than the 9 calories per gram that is in fat.lgramberg15 wrote: »herrspoons wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat
It's down to how many calories you consume, not sugar.
If you want to cut it out then do so, just don't fill the gap with something else. Either that or exercise a bit more willpower. I'm afraid there aren't any other choices.
Obviously I know that it's down to calorie intake, I'm not stupid.. Sugar has more calories than other types of food I.e. If I eat it im consuming more calories....
If you are eating sugary things in excess and that is causing you to go over your calories for the day, then perhaps you should not have them around. I personally would binge on bread and other carb/starchy foods including any candy that I bought. For a long time, I had to not buy it at all.
Then, when I felt I had control over my cravings, I slowly reintroduced sugary items, but in sensible portions. For me, the way to do that was to go out to a nice gelato shop and buy a single 3oz serving. I got used to the correct portion. I also found I loved quality gelato, and that I was much more satisfied with full flavors.
Now, I can buy ice cream and gelato and keep it in my house, weigh out one single portion, and be satisfied and save the rest for future enjoyment.
If you are within you daily calorie limit and not losing weight, it's not because of the sugar. Tighten up your logging and making sure you are being accurate in what you log (avoid generic and inaccurate entries in the database, weigh solid foods, measure liquids, track everything that goes into your mouth).0 -
Unfortunately I don' buy my own food,I go to college and am on a dining planlgramberg15 wrote: »herrspoons wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat
It's down to how many calories you consume, not sugar.
If you want to cut it out then do so, just don't fill the gap with something else. Either that or exercise a bit more willpower. I'm afraid there aren't any other choices.
Obviously I know that it's down to calorie intake, I'm not stupid.. Sugar has more calories than other types of food I.e. If I eat it im consuming more calories....
If you cut it out chances are you will want it even more and end up binging on it anyway. If you can't eat it in moderation while its in the house, only buy treats once every two days (or when you prefer) that are already single serve portions.
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lgramberg15 wrote: »herrspoons wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »arditarose wrote: »lgramberg15 wrote: »Everytime I crave it?? ^
Save room in your day for a dessert. My diary is open. You will see a dessert in there every. single. night. Why do you need to cut the craving?
I'm having a very hard time losing weight and I think it might be due to how much sugar I eat
It's down to how many calories you consume, not sugar.
If you want to cut it out then do so, just don't fill the gap with something else. Either that or exercise a bit more willpower. I'm afraid there aren't any other choices.
Obviously I know that it's down to calorie intake, I'm not stupid.. Sugar has more calories than other types of food I.e. If I eat it im consuming more calories....
Nobody said or even implied that you were stupid.
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lgramberg15 wrote: »I'm most definitely addicted to sugar..most of the time the sugar I eat in the day comes from fruit (some from added sugar like chocolate or vitamin water), but I find myself craving sweets every night and I need to learn how to cut the craving! Any ideas/advice?
Eat sweets with a protein or fiber. Sweetened nuts are my favorite. Peanut butter oatmeal cookies are also good (I add more oats than most recipes call for and sometimes an extra egg). The protein and fiber helps stop the wild swings in blood sugar that can trigger cravings for more and more.
Another quick dessert I like is to mix pb with a little maple syrup and just eat it with a spoon.0 -
I was a huge fan of added sugar. Doughnuts, super sweet coffee drinks, any and all baked sweets. I can eat an entire box of cookies in one sitting.
But, Sugar also makes me feel super tired, and can even make me pass out (I ate an entire bag of gummy peach-o's and promptly passed out with my head on my desk).
So when it gets out of control I do a "sugar reset." No added sugar for a month. You can do anything for a month, it's only 30 days. If I want something sweet, I have fruit. I don't eat sugar substitutes. Cream only in coffee. I drink fruity herbal teas, have peanut butter/banana/dark cocoa powder shakes, etc, but I steer clear of white sugar, honey, etc. after about a week I can actually taste the sugar in my food. Strawberries and raisins taste like candy and satisfy my sweet tooth. I still love dark chocolates and cookies, but after a month without them they taste very sugary and I can get by eating just one instead of an entire box.
Use spices to your advantage! Putting cinnamon in my oatmeal makes it seem sweeter because cinnamon/sugar are always paired together!
I also buy expensive chocolate. I'm not wasting calories on a nasty, waxy twix bar or Hershey's kisses or gummy candies. But I can savor a $5 bar of dark chocolate and it lasts me a while. A piece of dark chocolate with a bowl of fresh raspberries is my go-to dessert now, and it's only about 100 cal.0
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