What's your advice to control the urges to eat sweets?

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Probably many of us crave sweets or savory stuffs that sometimes make us end our diet; how you cope with these feelings, what's your advice?
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  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
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    You're going to get different answers, ranging from don't eat them at all to eat them all you want but in moderation. You'll hear about CICO, ketosis, Whole 30, who knows what else.

    Read about all of it and more. Then try everything you think might work until you find what does.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    I only go for the really tasty stuff, and not every day. Instead of the three portions I truly want, I only have one.
  • marieamethyst
    marieamethyst Posts: 869 Member
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    I either indulge and start over the next day, or I exercise it off. :)
  • veephil31
    veephil31 Posts: 53 Member
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    I love the fiber one bars or yasso bars. If I allow myself one of those at night, I seem to be good. For a while I was eating a yasso bar every night (it tastes just like ice cream, though made with Greek yogurt and very low cal). That kept me on track all day. After about a month of that, I don't need a bar every night and don't have much trouble staying away from candy/cookies.
  • lhtbuzz123
    lhtbuzz123 Posts: 40 Member
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    Completely agreed with @Azuriaz .

    I'm in team "in moderation" - You can eat anything you want in moderation. Stay under your daily calorie goal, have a little of what you're craving, accurately measure & log it.

    A suggestion I heard the other day - If there's a treat you know will be a weakness for you, decide what would be a reasonable portion of that treat (calorie-wise), then weigh & divide the treat into snack sized portions in sealable bags. That way you can have 1 reasonable portion of your treat all ready for you to grab & devour when you get a craving :) ... My internal argument against this was "what stops me having another bag... & another..." BUT with willpower it could work & be much better than eating all the crisps/sweets/cookies from their packet :)
  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
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    lhtbuzz123 wrote: »
    Completely agreed with @Azuriaz .

    I'm in team "in moderation" - You can eat anything you want in moderation. Stay under your daily calorie goal, have a little of what you're craving, accurately measure & log it.

    A suggestion I heard the other day - If there's a treat you know will be a weakness for you, decide what would be a reasonable portion of that treat (calorie-wise), then weigh & divide the treat into snack sized portions in sealable bags. That way you can have 1 reasonable portion of your treat all ready for you to grab & devour when you get a craving :) ... My internal argument against this was "what stops me having another bag... & another..." BUT with willpower it could work & be much better than eating all the crisps/sweets/cookies from their packet :)

    I've also heard a lot of people will freeze their favorite weaknesses. Makes it harder to devour as quickly.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I too agree with @Azuriaz but I'm on team keto (very LCHF).

    I wasn't good at moderation. I could do it for a ew weeks and then I would cave in to cravings. It wasn't a good fit for me.

    I eventually learned I was prediabetic and that sugar is inflammatory (I have autoimmune issues) so I went very low carb high fat and found that it eliminated my sugar cravings. Gone. I had thought it was an exaggeration when people said that, and I was pleasantly surprised when it became true for me now.

    I keep carbs very low now, I eat no added sugars, starches (from grains or potatoes), and limit my fruit too. My sugars are usually under 7-8g per day; sometimes they are zero. Sure I'd love to eat a piece of cake with impunity, but I know I shouldn't, and having a little bit isn't worth the risk of those cravings coming back and derailing my regained health.

    That's just me though. It won't work for all.
  • kkzmom11
    kkzmom11 Posts: 220 Member
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    i am one of those that say eat what you want in moderation. otherwise, the craving will get out of hand.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I believed for years that I was an emotional eater, and that I lacked willpower because I wanted something that tasted good and often gave in to temptation, and ate too much.

    The alternative was diet food - low fat, no sugar, high fiber, low taste. I could do it for maybe a week. Then I caved. Again, and again, and again.

    I searched and searched for the feelings that made me seek comfort in junk food. Couldn't find them, because they weren't there. A little research made a big difference. Turns out my cravings were food driven - after all, junk food is engineered to be irresistible and not satisfy, just make you long for more, it is nutritionally void so they provide no sense of fullness, they are everywhere all the time and pushed by marketers, friends and family.

    I hated that *kitten*. So I started eating real food instead. Food that tastes good and satisfies. Food is supposed to taste good. Food that taste good is full of nutrients we need. Just eat real food.
  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I should mention, and we keto/low carb people should mention this more often in our posts:

    Diabetics need to go to their doctor and let them know they're changing their diet because medications may change. It's great that some Type 2s even come off medications after a while on keto/low carb, but it's definitely not something that should be done without a doctor monitoring the situation and adjusting as needed.

    I feel guilty, I don't think I've mentioned this once since I've been back on here, and it's important.
  • ilovecereal1982
    ilovecereal1982 Posts: 1,194 Member
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    Dang you sweets!! Even now you are ruling my mouth as I chomp down some sweedish fish. ..come on though can anyone say no to a sweedish fish? ?? I feel like it should be Swedish fish but my phone is currently accepting both spellings....hmmm I apologize in advance to the people of Sweden if I've offended but hot damn you make a delicious candy fish
  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
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    Dang you sweets!! Even now you are ruling my mouth as I chomp down some sweedish fish. ..come on though can anyone say no to a sweedish fish? ?? I feel like it should be Swedish fish but my phone is currently accepting both spellings....hmmm I apologize in advance to the people of Sweden if I've offended but hot damn you make a delicious candy fish

    I was worried for a second you were eating candied fish. Which might be a thing somewhere in the world, but doesn't sound tasty at all to me.
  • ilovecereal1982
    ilovecereal1982 Posts: 1,194 Member
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    Noooo no no...candy fish. ..you are the delicious Swedish fish is a tongue pleasing red gummy fish that has just the right chew to it. In fact if you leave it in a warm car and then eat you are going to thinking....man...this is the greatest day ever.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    It depends on you. I eat what I want in moderation. A snack bag of chips is 150 calories. A Yasso bar is 100 calories. A fun sized Snickers bar is 80 calories.

    In the past, I used to avoid "trigger" foods and find substitutes to have instead.

    There are short and long-term fixes here. Substitutes are a short-term fix if you want to incorporate the foods you like in your life eventually. Long-term fixes require some work.

    You mentioned both salty and sweet items, so I'm going to assume you mean all hyper-palatable foods, or snack foods, not just one particular type of food like sweets.

    Ask yourself a few questions. Are you willing to live forever without these things in your life? If you're not, then you need to do some hard thinking about your behavior with them. Yes, they taste good, but they are a source of calories. So is all the other food you eat. The key is for you to be able to come to a place within yourself where you feel in charge of your food choices.

    Another thing to examine is the conditions under which you're overeating. Are you bored, anxious, depressed, tired? Have you let yourself become over-hungry because your next meal isn't ready? If you are really honest with yourself and if you (general you, not just OP) are eating for any of these reasons, you'll have to admit that none of them is a good reason to eat. Get up and walk around a bit instead. Take a drink of water. Read. Engage in a hobby. Talk to a friend. Pamper yourself instead.

    There's no reason to permanently ban snack food from your life if you don't want to. Food has no power beyond that which we give it. I used to believe I was addicted to sugar and carbs and gave those foods too much power. I've taken that power back and learned, instead, that I'm the one that gets to be amazing. I firmly believe in the potential everyone has to find their own amazing and kick food's butt and make their own choices when it comes to it. You can be in charge of just how much of it you eat, no matter what kind of food it is.
  • JannickOcampo
    JannickOcampo Posts: 9 Member
    edited September 2015
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    This is all good advise people. I'm fighting it, and so far I am doing well. The only candy I can't resist is, Red Hots. They are so good... low in calories, but I eat the whole box.... :(
    Please add me as your friend for mutual motivation. We are in this together ; )
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    MMM swedish fish are one of my favorites. And gummy grapefruit. :)

    I enjoy sweets in moderation. A little every day. I don't wait until I have cravings which seems to really prevent me from downing a whole package of cookies or whatever.

  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    Another thing to examine is the conditions under which you're overeating. Are you bored, anxious, depressed, tired? Have you let yourself become over-hungry because your next meal isn't ready? If you are really honest with yourself and if you (general you, not just OP) are eating for any of these reasons, you'll have to admit that none of them is a good reason to eat. Get up and walk around a bit instead. Take a drink of water. Read. Engage in a hobby. Talk to a friend. Pamper yourself instead.
    .

    Super important. Agree 100%.
  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
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    This is all good advise people. I'm fighting it, and so far I am doing well. The only candy I can't resist is, Red Hots. They are so good... low in calories, but I eat the whole box.... :(
    Please add me as your friend for mutual motivation. We are in this together ; )

    If the only thing you can't put down is Red Hots, I'd say you're way ahead of a lot of people here.

    Unless it's the movie theater box and you buy one every day!
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
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    Eat them within your calorie goals.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    I enjoy sweets in moderation. You can try dividing the box of Red Hots into separate baggies before you eat them. The act of weighing my foods really helped keep me in check when it comes to portion control.