The Atkins bars and treats come in handy when these cravings strike. Their products are kind of pricey though. If you like coffee, you can use the sugar free syrups (Google Skinny Syrups and you'll be amazed at their variety.) I also go for 2 tbsp of peanut butter also.

Diet soda?

Are you actually craving sweet, or are you just used to having something sweet when you're feeling peckish?

Look at the "extinction burst": http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/07/07/extinction-burst/

Also, it's best not to give your body sweet when you're craving sweet ... all you do is reinforce the dopamine hit reward cycle ... best to feed it fat when you're craving sweet. Retrain your brain!

Feed the sweet urge with salt and fat. Feeding the sweet urge with a sweet that triggers your taste buds or anything is asking for trouble. Learn to sweeten to tolerance, not to taste. Like when I make hot tea, I only add enough sweetener that I can tolerate drinking it, not that it's sweet creamy bliss, etc.

If you do have something sweet, make sure there is twice as much fat and carbs. So have like 5 small strawberries swimming in unsweetened heavy cream. Dip bits of bell pepper in cream cheese. Make a sour cream combo with heavy cream and sugar free gelatin blended with unsweetened unflavored gelatin....

Find out what AS trigger your sweet cravings. For me, any diet soda is enough to make me crave junk or more food for WEEKS. I occasionally (liek 4 times in 4 months) have a LaCrouix soda (unsweetened with no dyes, etc.) with a few drops of liquid Sweet Leaf Stevia. Just enough to stand, not enough to be a Soft Drink substitute...

I've got the hugest sweet tooth ever...and take it from me, figuring out ways to fit stuff in, before, every day, was my inner sugar junkie screaming for a fix. Once that voice fades, it's easier to ignore and cut back on to once in a blue moon....

wishfullthinking79 wrote: »

@meggic Does this mean that it would be ok for me to have a few of the sugar free reese cups from time to time? I love to cook. I havent done a lot of baking but I am willing to try.

@kirkor I am just wanting something sweet. I have done a pretty good job not giving into the craving. I just think it would be nice to know of something that I can eat without feeling guilty for doing so.

And while I'm huge on banishing guilt, no sweet type thing should ever be consumed without conscious acknowledgement that you're eating something that could set you back, cause cravings, or slow/stall all progress. Accepting those things BEFORE accepting a food is critical to continued success.

wishfullthinking79 wrote: »

@KnitOrMiss Thank you so much for the reality check. I too have a major sweet tooth. I just love my reeses pieces and resse cups. Oh and I really love ice cream. I was drinking a cherry coke in the morning but I gave that up 3 weeks ago. That hasnt been too difficult. But the craving for sugar is still very much there. Your comments are so much appreciated. It is so beneficial to hear it from someone who has been there. I am super glad that I post on here before I follow through. I found this ice cream that is like 5 grams of sugar and 7 grams of carbs for .5 cups. I guess that would be no good either huh? I almost bought it yesterday but I didnt. I always find myself looking for something sweet when I am at the grocery store but I never buy anything.

You're welcome.... I find that any time I'm trying to rationalize or negotiate with myself how to add something in, it's time to exit that conversation, full stop. And believe me, @wishfullthinking79 , I get you on the wanting something sweet. I'm back maybe 3-4 weeks into readapting, and even pickles with their tartness can get me going on wanting sweets and junk. Add to that some huge stressors right now, and I"m ready to dive into a vat of ice cream (it's a stress relieving thought, but it's far more stress REDUCING to not eat those things and to stick to my low carb plans).

The hugest thing for me was breaking that sweetness level. I did Atkins back in like 2001-2003 or something, and I never addressed my sweet addictions. If had, I might have discovered back when that I was insulin resistant saved myself a decade hellacious struggles.

Literally, I was a 5 heaping tsp/TBSP sugar in my tea person. When I shifted to AS, I used stevia and splenda, and still had it crazy sweet. Then I started playing with lowering it as much as I could. Now I primarily use liquid only sweeteners because they don't have fillers to mess with my glycemix impact.... Now I literally add by the DROP instead of by the DROPPER-FULL. When adding with cocoa powder and such, I do have to add more and/or some vanilla to cut it with. etc.

I would not BUY ice cream. If you MUST have it, make it. Most of them start with a base of coconut milk (from the can) or heavy cream, and cream cheese and egg yolks (to cook a custard base), etc. But still - only sweeten to tolerance, or you're right back in the same boat. After a while, you'll probably get to where I did, that making "faux" sweets and fat bombs was more work than just upping fats and salt in my diet.

Many days now, once I'm well adapted, I can go days without something sweet. Or when I do, it's a sweet tea with 5-10 drops of stevia. Or 85%+ dark chocolate. It never reaches the bliss point that previous milk chocolate or SAD "dark" chocolate (never more than 45-55%) adventures did, but it's enough to take off the edge. If I am craving chocolate, I try to add magnesium (chocolate has magnesium). Often times if we crave stuff, our bodies find whatever we're nutritionally missing and tell us to eat the most appetizing thing with that nutrient in it.

If it's a generic sweet craving, I find eating a good dose of salt, and then fat, if necessary, really helps. If it's chocolate, I get the magnesium. If it's jello, I go for something with collagen. etc., etc. They say most of our legit cravings are started this way.

I also find that if I am dying for something, and nothing else sounds like an acceptable substitute, it's a mental craving and not a real need. It's far easier to ignore then. If I want something badly, and other things, healthier things, sound just as appealing, I go for the better option. Once in a blue moon, eating something else or ignoring it just does not work. That is when a single portion only with nothing else available to follow it is a compromise....

Sometimes finding low carb ways to enjoy the same treats in far more moderation is helpful, and sometimes it is the whirlpool back into craving and backsliding... Only you can tell the difference....

Honestly, for me, the mental aspect is still there. Sometimes, when I stress, I think, "Damn, I could use a soda." Or "Some candy or cake or brownies would taste SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good right now." Or "Sinking into something sweet and luxurious now sounds fabulous."

I'm not really a booze person at all, never have been (long story about an alcoholic father), and yet sometimes I still think, "This day has been the worst ever. I could use a stiff drink!"

The thing I've discovered is, I prefer to say the latter, and not any of the former, because once I say it, I can laugh at the kooky-ness of it, and just move on. It's like the very act of saying it is a relief unto itself.

I know that's strange.

Also, fasting through that urge helps. I got to a weird point where literally, every single workday (and maybe weekends, too, I don't recall), within an hour or two after finishing my lunch, I would literally feel like I was starving for a fat bomb or dessert of some kind. Like it would take over every single thought in my head. I couldn't focus on anything else until I ate something! It fed the sugar monster in me somehow.

Once I realized how absolutely insane that was, I worked to include the intermittent fasting in my day by skipping my trigger meal, lunch. I thought the crazy sweet/junk craving would stay, but it didn't. Something in my insulin resistance or something was playing with my mind. I couldn't do it every day, but doing it at least once or twice a week really gave my whole digestive/metabolism/pancreas a break that helped my mental side so much.

Of course, with most things, I hit some kind of a wall with it, and rather than adapting to the changes, I slipped off the IF stage, and proceeded into a really slow backslide of sorts. We'll, I'm back, swinging, and raring to add this tool back into my toolbox. My biggest rule is to allow intermittent fasting ONLY when it occurs naturally and to not force it. If I can drink some water and delay hunger by 30 minutes, I do it. But if I'm legitimately very hungry, stomach making protesting noises and all that, I'll brake a fast early if necessary.... Because not eating when we're truly hungry is as bad in my book as binging when we're not hungry at all...

wishfullthinking79 wrote: »

@KnitOrMiss I am definitely fighting through the cravings. I think that it wouldnt be so dang difficult if my boyfriend didnt bring home all kinds of sweets. I tell you sometimes I think he wants to see me fail. He took his mom shopping the other day and came home with cheese cake and chocolate muffins. Not to mention all the candy bars he brings home.

You know I have been drinking a protein shake in morning after the gym. I found that I have more cravings throughout the day when I do that even though it is low carb protein. So today I did not drink it. The past two days my carb count has been higher than it has been in the past but the only thing I did different was eat more veggies. I think it was somewhere in between 20-28grams.

So what is a fat bomb? Just the name alone is a little intimidating. I did have me a cup of hot chia tea yesterday with 2 splenda packets and some heavy whipping cream. I cannot say it was that good. Which is surprizing because I love chia tea. It was my go to drink from starbucks.

I think giving up sugar is so dang hard!! It is definitely a mental thing. I find it more challenging when everyone around me is eating it. I just want to yell at them. I still stand my ground, not giving in.

I am not a drinker either. But I too find myself saying if I drank I would totally be doing it after a day like today.

I feel like I have been doing everything I can do to be successful but the scale is not budging. I did take some measurements before I started to workout. I just do not know how often I should revisit it. I really want to get myself in better shape. I cant believe how hard it is to get back into the swing of things after being out of the gym for as long as I was. Stuff that I had no problem doing in the past is very challenging now. I am making myself go every morning. Even if it is only for an hour.

For me, it's somewhat easier to avoid my guy's carby-junk if I just mentally label it as his. He has a specific shelf in the fridge, in the pantry, and a table next to his side of the couch. If it is in one of those areas, it doesn't register. If I label it as his, and then remember how frustrated I get when he eats something I was drooling over/looking forward to all day/made as a luxury for myself, it really becomes easier to see those things as non-foods.

The craving monster still wants to convince me otherwise. Ironically, I think he has a thing of oreos that are going stale because I didn't binge eat half the container in the last several months! LOL

Any artificial sweeteners or sugars will increase hunger and trigger sugar/carb cravings and stress eating in the majority of people. I can only use Sweet Leaf brand stevia without fighting the worst of this - and even then, I only sweeten to where I can tolerate the food - not sweetening to taste, where I'd love it.

I find that as soon as I'm consumed with a certain idea of a food, I almost have to boycott it completely. I don't want my meal to taste so awesome I want 3 more of it immediately! It's such a battle. I don't want to see food ONLY as fuel, though either...

I find that no chai teas taste the same as restaurant prepared stuff. The amount of sugar, syrups, flavors, and milks added to the loose chai leafs (which most don't even use) cannot be easily translated to a low carb version. I really want to buy some of the highly recommended tea blend off Amazon, but I haven't been able to justify it yet. Splenda and I are mortal enemies. It might as well be Valium - it puts me to sleep from an insulin jolt. Crazy... However, I tried some French Vanilla Chai tea bags and they were disgusting. Then I tried a black chai tea (Stash brand, I think), and it's way better, but the nutmeg or allspice or something it is just way too concentrated if I let it steep to as strong as I like my tea, so I have to do one chai and one normal tea bag...that way it gets strong enough without that bitter bite. In fact, the next time I make it, I might use butter, too, to cut the edge...

I've gotten to the point where eating low carb is a consistent comfortable thing during my stress times. I know at least ONE thing is set and safe and sane! LOL Sounds weird, but it works. Plus, it makes me feel more and more bad @$$ when I can stand against the store of "normal" and be the better me in progress... Silly, but I kind picture myself super-hero-esque standing there, reveling in accomplishment. Dorky, but totally works.

Measurements should be revisited monthly at the same time of day after the same activities if possible. If your pants start falling off, then it's definitely time to measure "midway" through. That being said, pick random things to measure, too. Rib cage, wrist, your fat rolls (if you're like me), hips with and without stomach gut, etc.

Working out is something I'm healing now to be able to do, but I have a lot of joint damage and some intervening issues that prevent me from a number of activities, so it's a lesson in frustration at the moment... (working out itself will slow loss rates while your body adjusts, hold water to repair muscles, and such - give it 4 weeks after starting consistent exercise to see scale movement again)

All that being said, you have to decide if you're in this for the long haul. Once you do, getting frustrated by a month of non-progress WHILE you're feeling pretty dog-goned great starts to lose it's intensity... Look at it in increments - and always remember to step back and see the big picture sometimes.

Fat bombs are just a snack/treat/food that have a significantly higher content of fat in comparison to protein or carbs.... Here are some of the ones I started with - but remember the sweet factor here, too.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/recipe-jello-fat-bombs-731743 (like custard style yogurt)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/cream-cheese-clouds-recipe-728462 (very simple, easy cheesecake type one)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/bullet-proof-on-the-go-736094 (Tea fat bomb)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/copycat-olive-garden-zuppa-toscana-soup-recipe-739915 (soup as a fat bomb version)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/what-are-fat-bombs-738493 (explanation)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/primal-egg-coffee-tea-744092 (more coffee/tea options)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/my-loaded-tea-746518 (ditto)

Somewhere I have my base recipe. too... But my weight stalled toward the end of adding all these things in, so use sparingly!

Savory options, too, include eggs and avocado rolled in crisp bacon or pate wrapped in cream cheese and rolled in crisp bacon, etc. Or egg salad, etc.

I like cream cheese fluff even better than cream cheese clouds; so easy if you're in a hurry!

I've found it at Walmart before on the coffee aisle (there are usually a few SF options along with the regular syrups) but I often find it at stores like Ross, TJ Maxx or HomeGoods, actually (cheaper!).

wishfullthinking79 wrote: »

@meggic Does this mean that it would be ok for me to have a few of the sugar free reese cups from time to time? I love to cook. I havent done a lot of baking but I am willing to try.

Yes. I've had them and I stay in ketosis. Just grab 1 or 2 and put the bag away. It's easy to over indulge. And don't eat them every day. It should be an occasional treat.