Craving sweets

I have a drawer at work dedicated to "treats" that fit into my calorie goals and each day I pick something that matches what I'm wanting (sweet, salty, chewy, etc). Some of the things in there now: spicy seaweed strips, fun-size bags of Skittles, peanut butter crackers, chocolate-coconut clusters, mini Larabars, 100-calorie bags of dry roasted almonds. I leave a buffer in my calories each day to be able to grab something.

I allow myself something sweet everyday. I measure & log it. As long as I'm meeting protein & fat goals.....it's all good.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/coconut-macaroons/

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. See also http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html
4. Eat moderate amounts of fruit. This makes me less interested in higher calorie sweets.
5. Take a magnesium supplement. This can be especially helpful for women premenstrually.
6. Save foods like chocolate for after dinner, in small amounts
7. Stay hydrated
8. Have a calorie deficit that is appropriate for the amount of weight I need to lose. An overly aggressive goal can definitely lead to cravings.
9. Eat at maintenance when my appetite goes up premenstrually.

That said, here's a recipe for Chocolate Coconut macaroons. They aren't really macaroony, like the Skinny Taste recipe above, but they are yummy! I reduce the recipe to what my OH and I are going to eat, as I have no will power around them.

Don't skip the refrigeration step. While this is tempting to do, you won't get the best flavor if you skip it.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/228563/stovetop-chocolate-coconut-macaroons/

I'm not sure where you are, but if you're in Britain Tesco's do a small tub of coconut bits in the fruit section- it's lush! or make these - http://www.natalieshealth.com/2015/12/healthy-coconut-bites/

My way of getting round sweet cravings was to re-educate my brain into thinking certain fruits are sweets. So i now have dried mango (max of 6 pieces), chilled grapes, satsumas, mixed melon bits, coconut bits etc.

I'm slowly weening myself off the bane of my life: salt and vinegar crisps. I have salt and sweet popcorn instead (i eat 10g of popcorn instead of a whole bag of sliced tatties).

I also make fake icecream for when i want a proper dessert; like when a greek yog and honey just won't cut it (youtube/google banana icecream nana, pb and yogurt, maybe some honey) and blueberry bliss bars (coconut cream, blueberries, vanilla, honey).
low sugar jelly is also a winner, love those.

If i really, really can't do without a proper sweet, i have a marshmallow or 2 (I quite often have 2 of these as dessert).

At first, I just didn't eat sweets but now that I have better (macro and calorie friendly) versions that I really enjoy, I actually eat more "sweets" than before I lost weight.

I don't really have any recipes for coconut but if I was craving it, I would probably just add coconut to some Greek yogurt.

...or maybe make a Greek yogurt based coconut cream pie with stevia.

Hopefully you're over your coconut craving by now. But for next time, I'd try coconut flavored gum or yogurt or yogurt made from coconut milk. Or a coconut popsicle. Or shaved coconut over banana. Sweet Drops also has a cocktail flavor, but I've tried adding it to tea and it's awful.

PS - I get cravings for very specific flavors once in a while, like cinammon, or mint. Not sure what sparks it.

I get ridiculous cravings at times. I just refuse to act on them anymore. I am dialing the resolve up to its max.

At first it really sucked .. but over time its getting better and not as strong.

I am refusing to let my cravings/body/stomach make the decisions anymore.