Killing sugar cravings..

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SeptemberFeyre
SeptemberFeyre Posts: 178 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just watched two separate videos on YouTube that made claims on how to kill sugar cravings. One said to eat green beans when having a craving and the other said eat a teaspoon of coconut oil 3 times a day. These kinda made me LOL but has anyone tried either of these? :)
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Replies

  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Oiy, what will they come up with next :p

    Is there a medical reason why you need to cut back on sugar? Otherwise there's nothing wrong with it. Just eat at an appropriate calorie deficit for your goals and you'll lose weight. There's no need to cut out the foods you like, that just leads to frustration and failure.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    I don't have sugar cravings. I get ideas in my brain that I have to have a gooey hot fudge lava cake or a slice of cheesecake, or maybe get the desire to bake some brownies. I get very specific with what I want. And I'll tell you what, no green bean or coconut oil is going to make that go away! I either put the thought away or I eat it. Most times, I just put the thought away.

    I get general cravings, I guess, but they're not really cravings and I'm not really hungry. I get the "munchies" like I want to pop something in my mouth because I get bored, but I don't know what and browse the cupboards and fridge. If I can't find something reasonable in a few seconds, I walk away. Sometimes I'll grab a carrot. Most times, I just walk away because carrots are boring.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I never get sugar cravings. I get cravings for specific things.. not just sugar.

    But yeah I've seen how eating some things supposedly help with chocolate cravings and whatnot and I'm just shaking my head.
  • Parfumista
    Parfumista Posts: 15 Member
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    For me the best way to kill sugar cravings (or carb cravings like pasta, bread, muffins etc.) is to stop eating it altogether. The first week is tough, then it gets a lot easier. I still eat fruits and starchy veggies, but processed sugar has no nutritional value, so it's not like I'm depriving my body of something it needs.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
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    If I ate enough green beans that I couldn't bear the sight of food...maybe? But steamed/microwaved green beans alone would be so boring.

    Eating coconut oil straight would just make me too nauseous to have anything else, sweet or not.
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
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    The calories in the coconut oil alone would be more than the calories needed to fix my sugar fix :lol:
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
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    KateTii wrote: »
    The calories in the coconut oil alone would be more than the calories needed to fix my sugar fix :lol:

    3 tsp is only one tablespoon, so doubtful. Not that I'm agreeing with the advice.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    The less sugar you eat the less you'll have cravings...
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    hmmm sugar is yummy why would you want to not eat it?

    so confused.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    The less sugar you eat the less you'll have cravings...

    I see people say this a lot but it does not compute. For instance, I can sit here and think about a delicious piece of chocolate cake or something, right? But I don't necessarily want it right now. Maybe I will later or maybe I think about making one for a holiday or something. But as I sit here thinking about it, I can't understand not ever NOT wanting to eat something like that. Not because I crave it, but because I just enjoy eating chocolate cake. Or whatever. So it would seem to me in my logical head that even if I stopped eating sugar today for whatever reason and couldn't have it for 10 years, that would not stop me from wanting to enjoy a nice piece of chocolate cake.

    Does that make sense? I guess I just don't get sugar cravings. That's something that I don't quite understand. I hope I'm not sounding like I'm being all holier-than-thou, i'm not trying to be, I don't get cravings like that and cutting out sugar or carbs or whatever wouldn't really do anything for me. For me, a sugar craving would mean it wouldn't matter what kind of sugar I ate, as long as it contained sugar it would work but that's not what happens with me at all. I get very specific cravings about things I want. Like something with chocolate or there's this really awesome calorie bomb of a carrot cake that I make that's absolutely insane and I'll get an itch to make it, but it's not like if I can't have it right now, I have to chew celery sticks or eat green beans to try and get past the thoughts about whatever it is.

    I probably don't make that sound right but I just see people talk about sugar cravings all the time and maybe I don't understand what a sugar craving is.

    I get mental cravings for lots of things, not just sweet stuff but sometimes I'll just get a thought in my head that I really want some fresh broccoli sautee'd with a bit of olive oil and garlic. Those wants can be just as strong as one for a piece of cheesecake or some General Tso's Chicken. The food type makes no difference but it's always a want for a specific item. But again, it's usually just a thought and I either go with it and eat what I want if I have the calories, or I put the thought away. There's nothing physical that happens to me where I would need some kind of satisfaction to get past it.

    Sorry for my rambling, OP.
  • SeptemberFeyre
    SeptemberFeyre Posts: 178 Member
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    I guess what I'd define a sugar craving as is I think about something sweet I'd like to eat, eat it, and then want more. Last night I had a fiber one brownie, then a fudgecicle, then a werther's original, then a few chocolate covered pretzels. Before long I was over my calories because I also ate fast food last night for the first time in a while and that took up a lot of my calories. It mainly has to do with chocolate. They say if you go off sugar the desire for something sweet subsides, but I've never had that happen even when I went off sugar. It did get a little better, but that's all. I've been that way every since I was a girl but only started gaining some weight in my thirties. I'm thinking I should just stop buying chocolate anything but that sounds really depressing.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    I have two choices: Give up sugar for the rest of my life......or learn moderation.

    MFP is here to help me learn portion control for everything else....so why not sugar?
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
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    Neither green beans nor coconut oil would kill my sugar cravings so then I would have to contend with the calories from the green beans, coconut oil, AND whatever sugar I was craving. Sounds like epic fail to me.
  • Parfumista
    Parfumista Posts: 15 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    hmmm sugar is yummy why would you want to not eat it?

    so confused.
    TeaBea wrote: »
    I have two choices: Give up sugar for the rest of my life......or learn moderation.

    MFP is here to help me learn portion control for everything else....so why not sugar?

    If someone still wants to include processed sugar in their diet, that's ok, of course. But there are certainly reasons for some people to exclude it.
    - no nutritional value, just calories
    - some people crave it and can't handle it in moderation, at least not at this point in their journey
    - blood sugar is more stable without processed sugar (& grains)

    As for chocolate cravings, we live in a wonderful time and place where sugar-free chocolate is available. ;) I've never thought I could eat only two pieces of chocolate and be satisfied (I'm known to snarl at people trying to get a piece of my Milka chocolate) but the sugar-free kind works well for me. It still has some lactose, but it's usually around 2 g of carbs for 100 g of chocolate. Same amount of calories, though.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Yeah, like others have said, I also never crave "sugar" or "carbs" or "fat" or what not. I might have a desire to eat a specific food. I separate that out into a desire to eat just because I'm bored or something or want an excuse for a break or because something I like is in the break room, vs. a more genuine desire for that specific food. If it's the former, I ignore it and mostly deal with it by eating on a schedule and (mostly) according to plan. I allow myself a sweet treat after dinner often (200 cal of ice cream if I have the calories, for example), but after that I'm finished eating and a desire to watch TV and eat will be ignored. I find once you are out of the habit the old desires like this go away.

    If it's actually a desire for a specific food, I might see if it can fit into my meals for the day or plan to have it soon (in which case I might no longer want it) or sometimes think about whether there's a way to satisfy the desire with fewer calories (and back when I first started and struggled with this more, meal planning or thinking about cooking often channel my desire to eat so that it goes away).

    I don't really believe in food cravings that have to be satisfied right now. If I find myself wanting pizza I can generally wait until later in the week and when I gave up meat for Lent I was craving the lamb I planned to make for Easter dinner by the end, but it was kind of pleasant to anticipate it, not something I had to have immediately. I think part of the issue is that in many cases we've trained ourselves to expect immediate gratification or not to have control around something. That's one reason I like eating to a schedule and find it much harder if I graze--I go back to that old notion that if something is there and it tastes good to me might as well have a bit, even if I'm not really hungry and there's no sensible reason to eat.
  • karmelpopcorn
    karmelpopcorn Posts: 77 Member
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    I think for some people, sugar cravings are an issue when you want to change your diet. It was for me an urge that could only be cured with chocolate.

    Frankly, I had to spend a couple of weeks with these uncomfortable pangs, and once I started having less and less refined sugar in my diet, I no longer craved it. I get by just fine without a piece of chocolate in the afternoon.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    hmmm sugar is yummy why would you want to not eat it?

    so confused.

    Too yummy is the problem. I don't think I'm happy with only 1 sugar, syrup glazed donut. Are you?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Parfumista wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    hmmm sugar is yummy why would you want to not eat it?

    so confused.
    TeaBea wrote: »
    I have two choices: Give up sugar for the rest of my life......or learn moderation.

    MFP is here to help me learn portion control for everything else....so why not sugar?

    If someone still wants to include processed sugar in their diet, that's ok, of course. But there are certainly reasons for some people to exclude it.
    - no nutritional value, just calories
    - some people crave it and can't handle it in moderation, at least not at this point in their journey
    - blood sugar is more stable without processed sugar (& grains)

    As for chocolate cravings, we live in a wonderful time and place where sugar-free chocolate is available. ;) I've never thought I could eat only two pieces of chocolate and be satisfied (I'm known to snarl at people trying to get a piece of my Milka chocolate) but the sugar-free kind works well for me. It still has some lactose, but it's usually around 2 g of carbs for 100 g of chocolate. Same amount of calories, though.

    sugar is a carb and carbs give you energy so don't tell me there is no nutritional value.

    Processed sugar or natural sugar how are they different when ingested and digested?

    and blood sugar more stable??? what are you talking about?

    sugar free chocolate that's funny you realize it has lactose in it right? sugar...

    as well sugar free chocolate uses maltitol (a sugar alcohol) which in excess can cause digestive issues among other things...yah I want that over reg chocolate.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Parfumista wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    hmmm sugar is yummy why would you want to not eat it?

    so confused.
    TeaBea wrote: »
    I have two choices: Give up sugar for the rest of my life......or learn moderation.

    MFP is here to help me learn portion control for everything else....so why not sugar?

    If someone still wants to include processed sugar in their diet, that's ok, of course. But there are certainly reasons for some people to exclude it.
    - no nutritional value, just calories
    - some people crave it and can't handle it in moderation, at least not at this point in their journey
    - blood sugar is more stable without processed sugar (& grains)

    As for chocolate cravings, we live in a wonderful time and place where sugar-free chocolate is available. ;) I've never thought I could eat only two pieces of chocolate and be satisfied (I'm known to snarl at people trying to get a piece of my Milka chocolate) but the sugar-free kind works well for me. It still has some lactose, but it's usually around 2 g of carbs for 100 g of chocolate. Same amount of calories, though.

    Sorry, but I don't buy the "at least not at this point in their journey" part. For me, the lifestyle change needs to happen while I am losing weight, because the being able to handle sugar in moderation has never appeared when I got to goal. I've been at goal a couple of times.

    For me, moderation is something that takes practice. I don't want to start practice when I get to goal. Too many people think they are "done" that they can relax when they get to goal (I'm guilty). Relaxing and not knowing portion sizes for foods you've been excluding for awhile, is not a good combination.

    People with medical issues ......of course, but OP did not mention anything like that.

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