How to kick that dessert addiction?

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  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    I used to have such a sweet tooth but I had to get a handle on it if I wanted to lose weight. I would have measured out a portion of no more than 250-300 cals and savoured each delicious bite :smiley: ...it was logged, it fitted into my calories and it was enough to satisfy me.
    Now I prefer savoury tastes, oh don't get me wrong there's nothing I like better than a few squares of good quality chocolate, but that satisfies me I'm happy to say. Tastes change.
  • curiousgp
    curiousgp Posts: 122 Member
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    I limit my dessert to either items that are really special (Looking at you chocolate tower at Nichole's Fine Pastry) or home made. I rarely eat a pre packaged goodie except chocolate. I also limit baking to only Sundays. We have a family style dinner on Sundays - I usually attempt to make dessert something special and budget the calories for that day. That way I can have my cake and eat it too!
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    ...

    I also found that a planned dessert at the end of the day (soon after a dinner with plenty of protein and veg and after a good and nutritious day) was a lot easier to moderate than if I was snacking on such things all day long or telling myself if I was eating poorly anyway calories didn't matter, it was a write-off day. I think telling yourself you can't have sweets often means that you decide the day doesn't count if you do and then you have no incentive to moderate vs. someone who decides sweets are fine within calories and a nutrient dense day.

    I agree with this completely - that's what works for me as well. I may seem to eat a lot of indulgent sweets because I typically have 1 thing most (not all) days, such as a scoop of ice cream, cookie with tea, slice of pie, etc. But I never snack and kind of "save up" my sweets craving for that one thing. In some ways it also causes me to make a few better swaps throughout the day, like choosing Greek yogurt with very little sugar instead of a yogurt that has 17g, I'd rather use that sugar on a good piece of chocolate for example.

    Of course this could backfire if a person chose something like a 600 calorie milkshake instead of two or three "100 cal" bags of mini cookies throughout the day.







  • soukyfitness
    soukyfitness Posts: 16 Member
    edited March 2018
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    Wow thank you everyone for all the advice! It will definitely help me in my journey.
    Unfortunately for me I can't just "not buy it" because I'm a college student and the dining hall where we eat has a buffet style, with many desserts right in front of your face. It's quite a challenge and some nights I'm so tired I just crave a brownie or something.
    But everything is very good advice, and I will be sure to try everything!
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    edited March 2018
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    I have my good and bad days, but I find trying to avoid it altogether doesn't work for me. I get cranky, jumpy, and mean, and then I end up buying a bunch of crap to binge on and hiding it from my husband, because I don't want him to see me binge or have to share. It's pretty bad.
    So I generally have a goodie a day planned and accounted for, and if I want more, I have to decide if it is worth the math to add it in, or the shame of seeing my count go over.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Eating buffet style is hard, but can be done. You have to learn to "eyeball" and estimate calories. There are older threads with advice on how to do that if you do a search. You have to know what you usually like to eat and how many calories--about--are in there. Then look at lower calorie options such as vegetable plates. You can have some type of desert, but they can run 600 calories or more. You have to know your calorie budget and how much you can spend. Also, watch sauces and condiments. They are also high cal and have to be limited.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,031 Member
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    soukyfitness wrote: »
    Hi guys, so I have a problem. I'm pretty sure I'm actually addicted to sugar. Once I start eating it I can't stop, and I crave brownies or jelly beans constantly. I've been doing better lately, but used to horribly binge eat in the evening on things like whole pints of Ben and Jerry's (the best) or handfuls of Skittles. Was wondering what other people do to stave off cravings and resist reaching for the sweets?

    Well, for one thing, I don't have any of that sort of thing within reach.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,031 Member
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    soukyfitness wrote: »
    Wow thank you everyone for all the advice! It will definitely help me in my journey.
    Unfortunately for me I can't just "not buy it" because I'm a college student and the dining hall where we eat has a buffet style, with many desserts right in front of your face. It's quite a challenge and some nights I'm so tired I just crave a brownie or something.
    But everything is very good advice, and I will be sure to try everything!

    Then fit it into your calorie limit.

    Exercise is a good way to do that. Exercise is a win-win option! You get to exercise (yay!) and you can eat more. :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Machka9 wrote: »
    soukyfitness wrote: »
    Wow thank you everyone for all the advice! It will definitely help me in my journey.
    Unfortunately for me I can't just "not buy it" because I'm a college student and the dining hall where we eat has a buffet style, with many desserts right in front of your face. It's quite a challenge and some nights I'm so tired I just crave a brownie or something.
    But everything is very good advice, and I will be sure to try everything!

    Then fit it into your calorie limit.

    Exercise is a good way to do that. Exercise is a win-win option! You get to exercise (yay!) and you can eat more. :)

    I'm jealous of people who can 'just fit a 600 calorie dessert in their calorie limit' because I seriously could never ever do that every day without starving, and that's with a TDEE of 2300 calories.

    OP, how about this - aim for 100 less calories every day and let yourself have one dessert ONCE a week. And don't eat dessert 'just because', eat it because it's something you really crave only.

    I mean, it might help if you tell yourself that 'I can have it in 4 days, I'm just saving calories for it right now'. It's how I handle it at maintenance too - don't waste calories on something just because it's there, save the calories for what I really want instead. And it's hard and sad and depressing sometimes, but in the end it's a choice between being healthier and the food.

    I do have that friend who can pretty much just eat cookies or pie for lunch and be fine, but I'm too hungry overall to do that.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,031 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    soukyfitness wrote: »
    Wow thank you everyone for all the advice! It will definitely help me in my journey.
    Unfortunately for me I can't just "not buy it" because I'm a college student and the dining hall where we eat has a buffet style, with many desserts right in front of your face. It's quite a challenge and some nights I'm so tired I just crave a brownie or something.
    But everything is very good advice, and I will be sure to try everything!

    Then fit it into your calorie limit.

    Exercise is a good way to do that. Exercise is a win-win option! You get to exercise (yay!) and you can eat more. :)

    I'm jealous of people who can 'just fit a 600 calorie dessert in their calorie limit' because I seriously could never ever do that every day without starving, and that's with a TDEE of 2300 calories.

    OP, how about this - aim for 100 less calories every day and let yourself have one dessert ONCE a week. And don't eat dessert 'just because', eat it because it's something you really crave only.

    I mean, it might help if you tell yourself that 'I can have it in 4 days, I'm just saving calories for it right now'. It's how I handle it at maintenance too - don't waste calories on something just because it's there, save the calories for what I really want instead. And it's hard and sad and depressing sometimes, but in the end it's a choice between being healthier and the food.

    I do have that friend who can pretty much just eat cookies or pie for lunch and be fine, but I'm too hungry overall to do that.

    I can't do it every day, but I usually manage it a couple times a week. :)

    I do have dessert every single day, but most of the time it's low cal yogurt or fruit. Then a couple times a week, I'll have something that's up around the 300-400 calorie mark.
  • Soieblanche
    Soieblanche Posts: 6 Member
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    This has been me lately. The study snacking is severe! It sounds lame but I've found dates to be the best thing for kicking chocolate cravings, and dried fruit (especially pineapple) for sweets. Still high in sugar but at least you get the fibre and vitamins with it too. Nibbling through a couple of dates is better than however-much-chocolate-I-can-consume in a sitting lol Also, dates and walnuts together is soo ridiculously good!
  • mayas135
    mayas135 Posts: 37 Member
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    For me, I stopped eating them and never went back. I substituted it for my favourite fruits and nuts so that works really well for me.
  • AEC50
    AEC50 Posts: 124 Member
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    I can demolish an entire tray of cookies without batting an eye, so I feel you on this. My favorite way to end the day now is a cup of plain greek yogurt mixed with two tablespoons of powdered peanut butter and half a scoop of chocolate or banana flavored protein powder. I whip it up and it becomes basically like eating a bowl of frosting. Really fills me up and doesn't kill my macros.
  • mztamaraann
    mztamaraann Posts: 35 Member
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    If you go to the drugstore like walgreens or CVS they have the teeny tiny cartons of ice cream. It's like a small hit of sugar and leaves you satisfied. You should also consider creating your own low cal desserts. Try 2 ingredient bagels, easy muffins, dark chocolate kodiak cakes with a little honey on top and a banana. Those kodiak cakes will change your life :)

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