Is there anything that helps with craving sweets?

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eat2live2016
eat2live2016 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started exercising and eating healthy last week Thursday per my doctors order. One of my biggest challenge is "sweets". My body is always craving something sweet. Today I ate a homemade carrot cupcake with walnuts, 1/2 of a plain Entenmann's donuts, and airheads sweetly sour candy. Is there anything that can help me crave sweet less.
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Replies

  • carmkizzle
    carmkizzle Posts: 211 Member
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    Going cold turkey seems to help some people (including myself, but I am back to having it in moderation) - you don't eat it, you won't crave it as much. Also, try eating a piece of dark chocolate (like 71% cacao) - it's bitter but at least you don't feel as guilty. Also, try swapping out some of those airheads or cupcakes with fruit, instead. As long as you aren't using most of your calories up on sweets, I see no issues.
  • roberta_m_s18
    roberta_m_s18 Posts: 11 Member
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    Try natural sweet things like fruit. What I tell myself, If you can grab a cupcake or cookie it's just as easy to eat an apple.
  • Goldensuz
    Goldensuz Posts: 2 Member
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    Also don't keep it in the house! I don't buy things I know I don't have willpower over. I also crave sweets and am trying to find things to help me satisfy the sweet tooth without being all sugar.
  • Trump2016
    Trump2016 Posts: 80 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I eat at least 300 cal worth of fruits daily and at least 200 worth of veggies, so there's that. Nature's sweets are good enough for me.

    You could use a substitute like erythritol or the virtually zero cal (probably 5 or less) Walden Farms products if you have an extra sweet tooth. Maybe random drizzles of honey.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Did you log them before you ate them

    Then stopped and considered whether you would be hungry later? So is this muffin worth no supper if it used up too many calories?

    Did you meet your nutritional goals? Hit your minimum protein and fats?

    It's a learning curve...if the opportunity cost of eating that doughnut now is potential hunger later do I really really want it?
  • jacklifts
    jacklifts Posts: 396 Member
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    throw all that stuff out of the house. find some relatively low calorie sweets (weight watchers has a giant fudge bar, individually wrapped dark chocolate squares, etc.). you can also learn to make some things with lower calorie recipes, check out hungrygirl skinnytaste. that's the only thing that's helped me.
  • doodleswithpencils
    doodleswithpencils Posts: 74 Member
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    @carmkizzle I thought you wrote "cold turkey helps" when I first read it. I thought huh, must be the protein, LOL.

    But yeah cold turkey, just got to do it OP. I too have been a sugar addict, completely, so be encouraged that someone like me can be quite in control around sugar now. I have minimal amounts in my diet, and I know from previous experience this will have to be a lifestyle change for me, because if I let it slip back in, the cravings start again. What has helped and still helps me are, number one, keeping the stuff out of my house. Although after a while when the craving dies down, I have dark chocolate in the house and only a couple of squares every now and then.
    When I really need a lift, a cup of tea with about half a teaspoon of raw honey in it, and even a wee drap of cream - the fat helps with satiety. But be very careful just to keep it to a very small amount daily, or the calories will catch up with you. You have to do it carefully, but making sure to have enough fat in your diet really helps with hunger. And protein. Have some with every meal. Also, berries with coconut milk. A healthier dessert to train your tastebuds on. Add just a bit of honey if you really need it. These things will really help, and the craving will pass, hang in there. I find reading in the community forums daily hugely helpful in staying focused too.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Doesn't honey = sugar though?
  • BettyBoles
    BettyBoles Posts: 68 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Don't take all those stuff in your house, eat fruits, use honey in place of sugar.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    Avoidance for a while really helps me until I can be good about small portions again. Someone gave me a 5lb bag of m&m's! Aaaack. I was good for a while, but I've eaten way too many twice now, so I'm not allowed any for a long while.

    I do still eat something sweet most days still. I eat Yopa Greek yogurt with little Dove shavings in it and that helps a sweet tooth :) And sometimes I make 2 slices of cinnamon toast, heavy on the butter and very light on the sugar. I use whole-grain skinny bread. The heavy butter might not fit in everyone's calories, but for me that makes it a dessert that certainly tastes better than handfuls of stale m&m's :grin:

    Protein bars are also yummy, and I usually only eat one a day. On craving days I might add another. Those are always part of a meal for me (with milk at least), even though they are sweet tasting.
  • doodleswithpencils
    doodleswithpencils Posts: 74 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Doesn't honey = sugar though?
    Of course it does ;)

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Cut it out completely, or cut down. Reduce gradually or go cold turkey. Tough it out, distract yourself or find lower cal replacements. Keep it out of the house, or learn to control yourself around it. Drink a glass of water. Go for a walk. Pet a cat. Chew sugarfree gum. No matter what you do: Eat a healthy diet, including enough calories, fat, protein and fiber, and have food you like.
  • carmkizzle
    carmkizzle Posts: 211 Member
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    haha! @doodleswithpencils
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
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    When I do the following, I don't have cravings:

    1. Get sufficient sleep
    2. Exercise regularly - when I get the happy hormones from exercise, I'm not prone to seeking them from food.
    3. Get sufficient protein in relationship to carbs. I'm not low carb, but reducing carbs and upping protein worked for cravings for me.
    4. Eat moderate amounts of fruit
    5. Take a magnesium supplement. This can be especially helpful for women premenstrually.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    carmkizzle wrote: »
    Going cold turkey seems to help some people (including myself, but I am back to having it in moderation) - you don't eat it, you won't crave it as much. Also, try eating a piece of dark chocolate (like 71% cacao) - it's bitter but at least you don't feel as guilty. Also, try swapping out some of those airheads or cupcakes with fruit, instead. As long as you aren't using most of your calories up on sweets, I see no issues.

    Going cold turkey helped me as well. For several weeks. And then re-introducing a few of my favorites, and seeing how I felt.
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Yikes. My suggestions are a little different:
    1) You said that cutting out sweets was something your physician recommended. Get some additional info, such as "how much sugar" and "how many calories", or "how much weight to I need to lose". Work out how many calories that you should be eating and start logging with MFP, like most of us do here.
    2) Log in your food before you eat it. Then you will see if you have "room" in your allowance to eat those sweets. Having everything logged will truly keep you accountable to yourself. Your doctor really doesn't matter. You may have been told to cut down on the sweets, but it is for YOUR health, not your doctor's.
    3) If you REALLY are serious about improving your diet, many people on MFP will confirm that the first two to four weeks are the toughest. You have to get accustomed to understanding that a craving is not a "physiological need". Similarly, not being stuffed full is not the same as being hungry. Moreover, being a little peckish is not a reason to eat outside of your planned, healthy food. You won't die.

    I suspect that once your diet gets cleaned up and your head is really in the game, your cravings will diminish. Good luck.
  • jplinis
    jplinis Posts: 35 Member
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    Not having any sweet treats at home helps me a lot otherwise I'd just keep eating it. I just have my greek yoghurt, fruits and honey as my last meal to curb my cravings for something sweet.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,564 Member
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    I found that eating more fruit whole fruit (i.e. not just juice) helped me reduce or eliminate cravings for less nutritious sweets (candy, cake, donuts, etc.). I started with aiming for 3 fruit servings daily (say, berries on my oatmeal, an apple for a snack or with peanut butter or cottage cheese for a light lunch, half a grapefruit with dinner - or any variation that made me happy). Nowadays, I may not eat quite that much fruit every day, but I still don't have major cravings for the other stuff . . . in fact, most of it tastes unpleasantly sweet now. Your mileage may vary!
  • jennyi27
    jennyi27 Posts: 114 Member
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    I have a really bad sweet tooth as well. I have taken different approaches to dealing with this, depending on what the sweet is. When I first started my diet about 3 weeks ago, I was addicted to iced coffee (the International Delight that you can buy in the grocery store AND iced caramel mochas from McD's). I seriously would have some when I woke up in the morning, sometimes when I got to work, and then some with dinner. It was BAD. There were days when that would be the only thing that I drank. I liked these drinks because they are sweet. On top of that I had desserts and other things. For me, I knew I would have to give up the iced coffee because it is like a trigger food and loaded with sugar and calories. If it is around me, I'll drink it. I gave it up cold turkey.

    For desserts, I am just exploring my alternatives in terms of low-calorie options. If I do well with my calories or exercising, I allow myself a skinny cow ice cream sandwich. I also bought a variety pack of 10oz Naked Juice from Costco. If I have one of those for dinner, sometimes that is enough to satisfy the sweet tooth and I don't feel like I need a dessert. I am also going to experiment with mug cakes. It is something that I have never done before, but I like that it's a single portion. It prohibits me from wanting to finish off a full pan of brownies or cake. In this case, I know myself in terms of my cravings and crazy binges, so I am taking a different approach. I am not depriving myself completely, because I would go nuts; I am just trying to be more sensible.

    I feel your pain though! Best wishes! Feel free to add me as a friend and we can share our struggles. :-)

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