Sugar cravings: how do you get your mind off strong cravings for junk food?
Mangey07
Posts: 2 Member
Hi everyone! So I love sugar... It's the main reason I'm over weight. I haven't had any desserts in a week, but still strongly crave them. Any suggestions for substitutions or ways to fix my sugar cravings?
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Replies
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I am not sure you can permanently fix the craving, but you can reduce the craving by treating yourself to low calorie sweet treat in very small amount and them make your self a cup of hot lemon water. I find that this works for me. You can sip on this throughout the day. A treat that I like to make at night is a 35 calories rice cake with a little hazel nut spread. Them drink my hot lemon water.7
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If you decide to ban something that you enjoy you tend to crave it more. Learn to incorporate the foods you love, in moderation, into your daily or weekly food plan.6
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Quitting sugar cold turkey will end cravings permanently. BUT it feels like withdrawal, takes a few weeks to get thru it, and totally SUX when u love food. I'm an emotional eater, but I've convinced myself that the foods I love are doingmmore harm than good. And I'll try them AFTER I've kicked the addiction and see how it's not as good as I think. I know some people who have done this, hope it works for me too!9
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I, too, had a terrible sugar addiction. Cold turkey didn't work for me. I found it heightened my cravings because of the awareness and I would binge for days following. We're all different and I'm not here to criticize anyone or be criticized. Here are some things that helped me...
While I'm not diabetic, I often find that diabetic dessert recipes have helped me get through some difficult sugar cravings. While they are not reduced calorie specifically, they are reduced sugar. Sometimes it is just getting through that craving (even if it is going from full sugar to reduced sugar) that can help you to progress. You can research for ways to also reduce the caloric amount (substituting with apple sauce, etc...), and I'm sure there are other posts to search for that.
I also found that exercising and eating a balanced meal before grocery shopping prevented me from buying sugar-filled items. I found I specifically sought after more protein-filled, heartier and healthier options. If I were to buy something with sugar, I would focus on something that perhaps came with other benefits like Fiber One and Special K brands. If I don't buy the item, I won't have the item. If I have the craving, I have the Fiber One or Special K items I can turn too.
If you can, try to use sugar as a reward. When I first started my journey, I would allow myself a cupcake after I worked out. It was pure bliss. As I progressed in my journey, my body naturally began to change. Now, after lifting weights, my reward is a strawberry, vanilla ice cream or chocolate milkshake flavored protein shake. I don't want a cupcake, I want my protein shake!
Lastly, because I truly feel that sugar addiction isn't recognized or talked about enough... If I had a bad day, I recognized it and started over the next day. I would develop a plan and start over. I don't think anyone on MFP will claim to be perfect. The important thing is to continue to push yourself to do better and be better. Just because you have a bad day, please don't beat yourself up about it. Keep going forward.
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For me, I can't do small portions. It's too much of a trigger. I just have to give them up permanently.
Also, what the above poster said. Give yourself a break and acknowledge that you are not going to be perfect. After pretty much giving up sweets for 2 months, I totally fell off the wagon making my husband's father's day cheesecake yesterday. Everything went straight into my mouth. I felt sick afterwards. But today is a new day and I'm back to logging food and staying away from sweets. It's hard, but in the grand scheme of things I realize that one "bad" day isn't going to mess up my weight loss journey.9 -
Find a Greek yogurt that you like (Dannon Light and Fit is my favorite!) and put it in the freezer. Eat it when you crave ice cream.4
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As someone that loves sweets and would binge often on cookies, ice creams, candy, etc, there is a way around it. Don't avoid it completely. Find a healthier option that has some chocolate or whatever it is that you're craving in it. Usually after lunch is when I crave sweets the most. I off set that with a chocolate fiber bar, a kind bar, etc. This week, I got chocolate rice cakes. Haven't tried them yet, though. Either way, it's enough to tame that craving.5
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You can try and find substitutions - greek yogurt, fruit, infused water, etc. Another option would be to go on Pintrest or other sites and look up sweet yet healthy recipes that are more natural and get to cooking. Or the last option is moderation (this is hard for some people and does take practice). I use moderation because I feel when I restrict myself too much, I will eventually give in and overeat on "splurge" foods. A hand full of gummy bears at the end of the day, or half a cup of ice cream, or some sugar free pudding will usually do the trick for me. I just count it into my day on my diary.
Pick what works for you. Good luck3 -
Speaking for myself, going cold turkey is the only thing that works. After about two weeks the cravings stop and sugary things taste too sweet. It helps if you cut back on added salt, since salt makes you crave sweet.
Instead, I eat naturally sweetened foods like fruit. Some of my favorite snacks are berries with Greek yogurt, and latte with almond milk, cinnamon and dark chocolate.4 -
I used to have a really bad sweet tooth and when I came across cookies, candy, cakes and pies I had no problem turning the blind eye and eating it. Now since, I have been eating more fruits, yogurt with fruit and some granola for a crunch or have even pureed fruit and frozen it in ice cube trays for a sweet cold treat. Once you have gotten your sweet tooth under control and realized when your body is not craving it anymore, it will be easier to turn down sweets.2
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i experimented to see what it was about sugary foods that I loved so much. taste? feeding an emotional need? actual physical craving? I figured out it was a bit of everything, and that I was fine with none, but a little would start an intense craving, even after a full well-balanced meal. i found a sweetener I liked (had to do some taste testing - none of the major brands suited me - there are other options online). I use that when I want to sweeten something - it doesn't cause further cravings for me. When I eat one serving of a sweet thing, I acknowledge to myself before hand that I'm going to want more, and won't have more, and do i want to eat it if I'm left more unsatisfied than I started? My sweet tooth has indeed subsided - but it constantly takes mindfulness on my part. But having several months of foregoing sweets and feeling better and more in control is helping me to continue to moderate them heavily.2
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I'm horribly addicted to sugar. Whenever I'm craving sugar, I drink water flavored with Mio. It doesn't have any calories, and it has the sweetness I crave. It's usually enough to curb my craving.3
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I've got more of a salt tooth than a sweet one, but the principle is the same: find something within my calories that satisfies the same basic 'want', based on taste, texture, etc. So, when I want something sweet, my go-to is Quakers Corn Squares cereal. It's sweet, gives me a good chunk of my iron RDA, isn't a guilty pleasure or hard to moderate, the way the marshmallow chocolate-frosted stuff would be; if I weigh out 30 grams on the scale, I can finish that and stop. If I want something a bit softer, I make applesauce in my crock pot; about 105 calories per half-cup. And there are frozen treats like sorbet (basically, strawberries, lemon juice, water, and sugar... but also around 100, 110 calories per serving) and granita (orange and green tea are both under 120 calories; lemon-lime needs more sugar and isn't as good a choice).
Salty would be Skinny Pop popcorn, string cheese, veggie dogs... occasionally 'pop chips', but those are a bit harder for me to moderate.2 -
Quitting sugar cold turkey will end cravings permanently. BUT it feels like withdrawal, takes a few weeks to get thru it, and totally SUX when u love food. I'm an emotional eater, but I've convinced myself that the foods I love are doingmmore harm than good. And I'll try them AFTER I've kicked the addiction and see how it's not as good as I think. I know some people who have done this, hope it works for me too!
@cgcrutch trying to save my life Oct 2014 I quit all sugar and all forms of grains cold turkey. It was a hellish two weeks for me and my family based on what they tell me.
After the first 2 weeks my cravings just started to fade fast so in just 30 days my joint and muscle pain of 40 years being in the 7-8 pain level range dropped to 2-3. Loading up on carbs would put me back into a tail spin.
Now nearly 3 years later my health markers and general health is better than 20-30 years ago and I have hope of continuing to be able to walk and talk for many years to come.
While my physical carb carvings faded quickly my memory of their taste was very strong for 6 months are longer. Now that my left brain clearly understands my carb abuse was leading to my premature death I clearly understand to keep my carbs just under 50 grams most days just makes for a much happier life in my case.
I had stopped all Rx Meds in Aug 2004 due to their side effect of making me fall so the drastic change from High Carb Low Fat to Low Carb High Fat is working out well in my case.
It seems sugar cravings can be produced by the overgrowth of bad microbes in our gut. When they started dying off from the lack of sugar and the impact of the heavy use of coconut oil it was not a fun time the first month but because the my pain started dropping like a rock I knew my new way of eating was correct for my body.
Starting in Aug 2014 I tried to taper off of sugar and failed for two months. Facing starting Enbrel injections the first of Nov 2014 and the fear of their side effects drove me to leave high carb cold turkey the first of Oct 2014. The doctors were in shock that I passed on the Enbrel injections for pain management.
After three years of living in a state of Nutritional Ketosis 95% of the time I just wish I had done it 40 years earlier and prevented the physical deformities to my body. A driving force was our two kids that were 16 in 2014. They both are HLA-B27 positive which gives them a 20% chance of developing Ankylosing Spondylitis as well. Now they know how to try Nutritional Ketosis to prevent joint damage should it become an issue in their lives. [post edited by MFP mods]
Best of success to each. The earlier one starts thinking about how to best eat the better. Keep in mind we are not to copy the way another may successfully eat for better health but work to learn the Best way to eat for Our own body.
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Absolutely amazing and very inspiring!!!1
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I eat a TON of fruit with yogurt and nuts noe that I'm off sugar. The key to making it sustainable is to still eat food you love. Be creative! I've been experimenting with dates and coconut butter candy.
Quitting sugar is super helpful I've lost over 20 since may in part by this and have started a weight loss blog. I lost 70 lbs before. www.bigtinysteps.com3 -
Think about what it is doing to your health. The more you crave it, the more obvious it becomes that you really need to leave it behind.4
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I'll have a couple of squares of dark chocolate and let them melt in my mouth for a mid-day sweet fix.
One of my favorite desserts I like to have in the evening: a mini shortcake shell, strawberries, and whipped cream. 155 calories, and a mighty satisfying treat!4 -
I pre-plan dessert every night. It gives me something to look forward to all day.4
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StealthHealth wrote: »If you decide to ban something that you enjoy you tend to crave it more. Learn to incorporate the foods you love, in moderation, into your daily or weekly food plan.
W
Well said friendStealthHealth wrote: »If you decide to ban something that you enjoy you tend to crave it more. Learn to incorporate the foods you love, in moderation, into your daily or weekly food plan.0 -
Hi everyone! So I love sugar... It's the main reason I'm over weight. I haven't had any desserts in a week, but still strongly crave them. Any suggestions for substitutions or ways to fix my sugar cravings?
Incorporate treats as a reward not as a normality. Also try to replace the usual sugars for healthier fructose from fruit. But still in moderation.
We crave because these things are addictions. Going cold turkey can work for some, but weening is probably more advisable.1 -
dragonfly_66 wrote: »I eat a TON of fruit with yogurt and nuts noe that I'm off sugar. The key to making it sustainable is to still eat food you love. Be creative! I've been experimenting with dates and coconut butter candy.
Quitting sugar is super helpful I've lost over 20 since may in part by this and have started a weight loss blog. I lost 70 lbs before. www.bigtinysteps.com
@dragonfly_66 Great job on your blog. Keep up the success.1 -
It's definitely hard. I've been having very similar experiences. I recently got the 10 day detox diet book from the library. It's a no sugar kick start plan, doing the diet or not is totally up to you, but I found being able to read specifically about what sugar does to your brain and body and why you crave it to really help. I really liked being able to read the scientific reasons why it's so hard to kick sugar, he's really good at breaking down exactly why it feels so hard to kick the sugar habit.2
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I was addicted to sugar and did my share of eating my feelings.
I also met with a dietitian in January to discuss my diet. Then I met with one at my physician's office in February to clean up my diet even more as I couldn't seem to lose weight. I learned a whole lot!
In mid-February, I joined MFP and I cut out refined sugar. I had sugar in fruits and some other foods.
I also cut out dairy. I had the occasional sour cream (once or twice a month) and cheese (once a month). I eat eggs (not dairy I'm told).
I also cut out gluten (again 2--4 times a month).
I learned to have protein whenever I had carbs. That would keep me from crashing.
I eat frozen fruit or fruit only once a day, in my smoothies (after I exercise). I put peanut butter powder in there so I get my carbs in there.
I eat olive oil, butter, coconut oil (limited), and keep fats in my diet.
I eat about 10 servings of veggies a day (6-7 servings of kale in my smoothie). I worked up to that many handfuls of kale in my smoothie.
I also have Multiple Sclerosis. I also started competitive swimming again in October (started at two days - up to 6 by Feb).
I put fresh ginger and tumeric in my smoothie. This helps naturally with inflammation. Sugar causes inflammation. I hardly ever take NSAIDs anymore. Even with a lot of hard swimming.
I eat whole grain popcorn as a snack at night when I need to eat something and I eat this Skinny Pop that has dark chocolate dusting when I crave some chocolate. (2 g sugar per serving)
When I really want chocolate I eat 1-2 or even 4 squares of dark (86%) chocolate. Dark chocolate is pretty healthy and it fills you up. I eat it slowly too.
I have had maybe 3 "eating my feeling" moments since February. I ate 5 girl scout cookies (that was all I could find). I ate 8 oreos (my son had them in my hotel room). The other times I had dark chocolate.
I don't have the food in my house and binging on broccoli doesn't sound inviting.
It takes a while to get the sugar out of your system; however, once you start losing weight and setting goals for yourself, in my case swimming times, you don't want to hurt yourself. I also don't get sick (MS weakens your immune system) very often. I used to over do it physically and have to use a cane.
I have had cake once in a while. I have gone on vacation and eaten french fries. I crave steak and eat that once every week or two. I eat a lot of veggies, chicken and fish. Oh, and my vegan son made these unhealthy peanut butter cups that were to die for. I ate four one night.
I have lost 38 lbs. My clothes get looser every day and I feel great!
I can live my life this way. I had a cupcake one night for my son's birthday and I felt nauseous at swim practice the next morning. I love frosting and cake, but when it is there, I don't feel like eating it.
I eat things I never would have eaten before. You can change your taste buds, you grow new taste buds every so often.
Don't punish yourself for eating "not so good" food once in a while. Life life and enjoy!
I am 48, gained 50 lbs when I went through menopause, went 8 months without being able to walk or barely stand when first diagnosed with MS, and I am feeling better than I ever have in my life. I still struggle with stress and work and my kids. Life is a journey and you can do anything you put your mind to when you are ready.3 -
midlomel1971 wrote: »For me, I can't do small portions. It's too much of a trigger. I just have to give them up permanently.
Also, what the above poster said. Give yourself a break and acknowledge that you are not going to be perfect. After pretty much giving up sweets for 2 months, I totally fell off the wagon making my husband's father's day cheesecake yesterday. Everything went straight into my mouth. I felt sick afterwards. But today is a new day and I'm back to logging food and staying away from sweets. It's hard, but in the grand scheme of things I realize that one "bad" day isn't going to mess up my weight loss journey.
I enjoy eating cheesecake without falling off the wagon - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10500016/low-calorie-protein-cheesecake#latest
No crust but otherwise very, very tasty.0 -
Since going KETO those uncontrollable urges for sugar are GONE G-O-N-E Gone!!!!!! Sugar is as addictive as heroin (I kid you not) Now I limit my daily carbs to less than 15% (about 60 g. or 3 Oz.) mostly from veggies and a little fruit. But I eat a ton on good fats. Like coconut oil, olive oil, avocados and such. Lost 30 Lbs in 3 months,1
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Quiting sugar was the best thing I have done for myself in a very very long time! Sucks for about a week and then zero cravings2
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This is something I'm working on as well. I'm at a 15 day log and have been focused on keeping my sugars to the natural, not added end of the spectrum. I also started this with smoothies, not for a cleanse but to help reset. The first week was a struggle and I'm still supposed to keep my sugars under 60 grams a day. I am currently working on keeping to 100 grams or less and will keep on ticking it down (especially when I end the smoothies because the fruit alone makes up 60+ grams)
The good thing is that this past weekend during our cookbook club meeting, I tried two separate desserts and they were HOLY SWEET - way way way too sweet - when two weeks ago I would have eaten them and then possibly gone back for seconds.
TL;DR: focusing on natural sugars rather than added sugars and finding my max allowed has really helped adjust my super sweet tooth.1 -
Hi everyone! So I love sugar... It's the main reason I'm over weight. I haven't had any desserts in a week, but still strongly crave them. Any suggestions for substitutions or ways to fix my sugar cravings?
Most people manage sugar cravings in two ways.
Some people learn to eat a small, planned treat in moderation (more power to these people). In this way, they don't feel deprived and don't binge. This is a lifestyle they feel they can stick with long term.
Other people cut all most added sugar (it's impossible to cut it all out because sugar in some form is in almost everything). I'm in this group. I don't do well with moderation.
I eat fruit if I want a treat. Fruit has sugar, but the fiber and bulk are good for me plus fruit doesn't give me the cravings I would get from donuts or cake. We also need some sugar for our bodies to function -- our brains need glucose. I buy fruit that I like but am not crazy about -- like apples -- and steer away from grapes, because I will eat those all at once.
I went this route last July, and found it hard the first two weeks, but after that the cravings stopped.3 -
My favorite is a Quest bar and iced coffee with sugar-free syrup.1
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