Sugar Cravings
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mrwhiteapple
Posts: 12 Member
As low carbers, how do you deal with sugar cravings? Do they eventually go away or become less intense for you?
Are you able to "cheat" from time to time without it turning into a binge?
Are you able to "cheat" from time to time without it turning into a binge?
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Mostly for me they have gone away...I do occasionally get them and usually reach for a diet soda to satisfy the craving while staying on target...I did have a peep yesterday after craving them since easter...I was planning to just eat the whole package (as usual) however it was easy to have just one and put the rest of the package away...I have become more sensitive to the taste of sugar, so most of my go-to sweets are now way too sweet and don't taste delicious the way they used to...just not satisfying at all.1
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My physical cravings for sugar have gone away. I believe eating sugar causes me to crave sugar, so I do not test it.
My psychological craving for something sweet to declare a meal is "done" has not gone away. I have very small portions of Lily's chocolate every day, and also these Smart Cakes that are 38 calories each and made of sugar-free chemicals and air. I still like to think of a little something sweet as a reward. Might not be perfect thinking, but it keeps me sane!3 -
mrwhiteapple wrote: »As low carbers, how do you deal with sugar cravings? Do they eventually go away or become less intense for you?
Are you able to "cheat" from time to time without it turning into a binge?
Finally I just resorted to cutting out all added sugar and foods containing any form of any grain to break free from binging Oct 2014 since tapering off was not working for me.
First two weeks were hellish but by the end of four weeks the physical cravings had faded for the most part. The memory of the taste continues today but the cravings are not there.
I played with cheating a few times but the binging would return. If I am going to bing on carbs today it may be like 3 pounds of fresh black grapes but the cravings do not return like when binging on high carb high fat highly processed food.0 -
Running_and_Coffee wrote: »My physical cravings for sugar have gone away. I believe eating sugar causes me to crave sugar, so I do not test it.
My psychological craving for something sweet to declare a meal is "done" has not gone away. I have very small portions of Lily's chocolate every day, and also these Smart Cakes that are 38 calories each and made of sugar-free chemicals and air. I still like to think of a little something sweet as a reward. Might not be perfect thinking, but it keeps me sane!
myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/bakers-unsweetened-baking-chocolate-bar-100-cacao-651479190?v2=false
I eat one 4 oz over most 1-2 day period. Bought 48 bars last week at WM at $1.97 each. Along with unsweetened coconut flakes and almonds I make my Almond Joy's by doing the mixing in my mouth. It fits my LCHF macros and is how I start and end my eating most days.
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Running_and_Coffee wrote: »My physical cravings for sugar have gone away. I believe eating sugar causes me to crave sugar, so I do not test it.
My psychological craving for something sweet to declare a meal is "done" has not gone away. I have very small portions of Lily's chocolate every day, and also these Smart Cakes that are 38 calories each and made of sugar-free chemicals and air. I still like to think of a little something sweet as a reward. Might not be perfect thinking, but it keeps me sane!
myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/bakers-unsweetened-baking-chocolate-bar-100-cacao-651479190?v2=false
I eat one 4 oz over most 1-2 day period. Bought 48 bars last week at WM at $1.97 each. Along with unsweetened coconut flakes and almonds I make my Almond Joy's by doing the mixing in my mouth. It fits my LCHF macros and is how I start and end my eating most days.
That is a LOT cheaper than a Lily's bar!! And sounds delicious. I absolutely love the Lily's Salted Caramel but it's twice that price (and I buy online on sale). I eat about 1/4 a bar a day so at least I stretch it out!!1 -
tcunbeliever wrote: »Mostly for me they have gone away...I do occasionally get them and usually reach for a diet soda to satisfy the craving while staying on target...I did have a peep yesterday after craving them since easter...I was planning to just eat the whole package (as usual) however it was easy to have just one and put the rest of the package away...I have become more sensitive to the taste of sugar, so most of my go-to sweets are now way too sweet and don't taste delicious the way they used to...just not satisfying at all.
This gives me hope, thank you!0 -
I know sugary food is delicious and I want it, but I don’t reach out and pick it up, and that’s a huge difference for me already. In the meantime, I’ve noticed that the foods I am eating taste much sweeter than they used to! Berries are amazing, and I had some whole milk this morning and I’d swear I could taste every single gram of sugar in it individually.
I’ve been taking a weekend off every month or so, and that feels like a good balance to me so far. I can have some seasonal candy or relax at a special event, and eat some of the things I’ve been missing the most, but it doesn’t keep detailing me over and over the way weekly “cheats” used to do.
And by the time the weekend is winding down, it’s honestly something of a relief to go back to low-carb. I like the control, and I start to miss that food, and I just want to go back to normal again.0 -
I eat one piece (<5g carbs) of ghiardelli twilight dark chocolate (75%) almost every day. But I absolutely still get cravings so maybe that's feeding the beast.
Case in point, @FlyingMolly your picture above looks like a huge pile of jelly beans to me, ha!0 -
Berries with sweetened cream. Coconut cocoa clusters sweetened with coffee syrups. Halo ice cream. Dark chocolate. I find not denying myself completely lets me stay on track longer.0
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I find that the more that I indulge my cravings and sweet tooth, the more I eat it... and then the more I want it. For me, it is better not to start. If I am sweet free for more than a couple of weeks, I lose my cravings and that is safest for me.3
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I find that the more that I indulge my cravings and sweet tooth, the more I eat it... and then the more I want it. For me, it is better not to start. If I am sweet free for more than a couple of weeks, I lose my cravings and that is safest for me.
Same here. I was less strict over the Christmas and New year holidays and ended up gaining 2 kilos... which have not gone away yet. Lesson learned, I have to cut sugar out completely, otherwise end up bingeing on it.1 -
tierrafuego wrote: »I eat one piece (<5g carbs) of ghiardelli twilight dark chocolate (75%) almost every day. But I absolutely still get cravings so maybe that's feeding the beast.
Case in point, @FlyingMolly your picture above looks like a huge pile of jelly beans to me, ha!
Those aren't jelly beans?? Oh god, my eyes need checking! Lol1 -
Running_and_Coffee wrote: »My physical cravings for sugar have gone away. I believe eating sugar causes me to crave sugar, so I do not test it.
My psychological craving for something sweet to declare a meal is "done" has not gone away. I have very small portions of Lily's chocolate every day, and also these Smart Cakes that are 38 calories each and made of sugar-free chemicals and air. I still like to think of a little something sweet as a reward. Might not be perfect thinking, but it keeps me sane!
@Running_and_Coffee - Just to let you know that feeling of wanting something sweet to feel "done" with a meal is often a sign of insulin resistance.
For me, if I'm going to have a small portion of something sweet not separately but to "finish" the meal, I try flipping it around. I eat it at the beginning of my meal. That sweet taste triggers the release of insulin, which I FEED by then eating my normal meal. I still end up feeling more satisfied for having had that small bit of sweet, but I don't end up feeling hungrier or wanting more sweets after (well, most of the time)...
I also remember to sweeten ONLY to tolerance (as in the lowest level of sweet to tolerate eating the food without immediately thinking, wow, I want another one!), not to my preferred taste level, and that reduces the romantic allure of the sweet treat, too...2 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Running_and_Coffee wrote: »My physical cravings for sugar have gone away. I believe eating sugar causes me to crave sugar, so I do not test it.
@Running_and_Coffee - Just to let you know that feeling of wanting something sweet to feel "done" with a meal is often a sign of insulin resistance.
For me, if I'm going to have a small portion of something sweet not separately but to "finish" the meal, I try flipping it around. I eat it at the beginning of my meal. That sweet taste triggers the release of insulin, which I FEED by then eating my normal meal. I still end up feeling more satisfied for having had that small bit of sweet, but I don't end up feeling hungrier or wanting more sweets after (well, most of the time)...
I also remember to sweeten ONLY to tolerance (as in the lowest level of sweet to tolerate eating the food without immediately thinking, wow, I want another one!), not to my preferred taste level, and that reduces the romantic allure of the sweet treat, too...
I don't know...I've had completely normal bloodwork my entire life, absolutely no signs of pre-diabetes/diabetes. I think it's more of a habit than an actual craving. I don't have to eat that tiny piece of (sugar free) chocolate, but I enjoy it. Definitely open to using less Swerve/Stevia in general, but I literally have zero signs of insulin resistance going by bloodwork and this: https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/insulin-resistance-symptoms#20 -
Running_and_Coffee wrote: »
I don't know...I've had completely normal bloodwork my entire life, absolutely no signs of pre-diabetes/diabetes. I think it's more of a habit than an actual craving. I don't have to eat that tiny piece of (sugar free) chocolate, but I enjoy it. Definitely open to using less Swerve/Stevia in general, but I literally have zero signs of insulin resistance going by bloodwork and this: https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/insulin-resistance-symptoms#2
@Running_and_Coffee
Actually, on that list, I didn't/don't have those symptoms, either. I don't have elevated blood glucose or A1c... Like not at all. My last fasting blood glucose was 89 and my last A1c was 5.3%. The A1c could see improvement, but that tells me that my blood sugar is going higher at times to be at that number...
P.S. If you are here to lose any weight, and have ever had trouble losing that weight -- or keeping it off, that is a sign of pre-diabetes. If you've ever felt like you have a slow or sluggish metabolism, etc. It's that type of thing. Me, personally, I still get a big mental freak out when I think about pre-diabetes, do I have it, etc., but it is what it is. My knee-jerk reaction is, nope, I don't have the things on that list... Then I have a dose of reality when I go back and look at what I DO HAVE...
It is more a case of "you **MAY** have metabolic syndrome." It's a different way of saying, "you **MAY** have pre-pre-diabetes." There are a TON of medical terms, some more ... polished and less harsh than others. NOT THAT I AM SAYING THIS IS YOUR SITUATION AT ALL. It is more that this was my situation... I could NOT handle the fact that this issue might be MY ISSUE...
My biggest symptoms were:- Being overweight and having trouble losing weight.
- Wanting something sweet to finish a meal - or to feel like it is finished.
- Being tired after meals sometimes.
- Sometimes binging.
- Stress eating.
- Wanting more even though I'm feeling full.
- Sometimes eating something like an apple (as a snack) and feeling hungrier 30 minutes after I eat.
- Cravings for sodas/sweetened hot drinks, even diet.
- Salt cravings.
- Intermittent tiredness throughout the day.
- Perking up with anything with a sweet taste. (or salty taste)
- Feeling like it would be IMPOSSIBLE to ever give up my <insert favorite or comfort carb here>...so bread, pasta, cake, sweetened coffee, ice cream, pizza, etc.
- Eating something and immediately wanting another.
- Elevated triglycerides (related to my thyroid, too). **this is the only one that showed on health tests**
- Lower leg swelling.
- Puffy face and/or hands/feet.
- Heat or cold intolerance.
- Super light skin color differences (for me, it was my eyelid area, my neck, the inside of my elbows, under my breasts (basically anywhere the skin touches itself).
- Having limited hunger during female cycles - only to go to raging HANGRY in a minute.
Oh, wow, I feel bad when I write that, it makes me feel like I was going crazy. I guess I was. Not all of them were constant. Some of them were once a week. Some were once a month or less. Others were every evening meal. Some were all day.
I don't know about you, but my doctors before the one who helped me/diagnosed me, they all made me feel like this was just part of what I had to deal with being a woman!3 -
Thank you, @KnitOrMiss!! This is so helpful!!!!
I think the one on there that really was a problem BEFORE I started Keto was "stress eating" and "wanting more even though full." I have a very stressful life, and often felt I needed to be chewing or eating to get through the next PowerPoint. I am pretty sure that if I were a smoker, I would have gone through quite a few cigarettes. And yes, it was worse during PMS.
I am not actually overweight but have struggled since turning 40 to maintain my desired weight despite being extremely active. This has been 100% due to mindless snacking on small things that add up. Like the crusts off my kids' PB&J sandwich, a few spoonfuls of Halo Top, a cheese stick, an extra apple I ate to not eat something worse, a Ritz cracker my son didn't finish that I should have tossed into the trash can...none of this is sizable enough to be a binge. But if you are trying to lose weight and are sticking to a 1300-calorie-a-day-diet and add in all of this other stuff, you easily hit 1700 calories a day or more, and you are then not losing but sometimes are even gaining. My weight slowly crept about 7 lbs over one year, while I was tracking-but-nibbling. The only way I could lose it was to not nibble but constantly chew sugarless gum (like a pack a day!!!) but that caused severe GI issues you would not believe and wasn't sustainable.
Keto took off the pounds but more importantly, seems to have shut off that part of my brain completely. I can walk away satisfied from a meal and not think about food until I am truly hungry. I feel in control of what I eat and when I eat it, which is an amazing feeling.
I still do enjoy the pleasure of a sweet little something, though. The rest of the time I am eating to sustain myself, and then I have a little chocolate and it's fun. :-) But I don't think I have any insulin issues as I really don't have the other symptoms on there and, knock on wood, think my real problem is figuring out how to manage stress. It's been good to take mindless snacking out as an unhealthy solution to that problem, but the stress is still there and ironically reading about Keto recipes seems to be my temporary fix to that! I need a new coping mechanism that is not food-related!1 -
Running_and_Coffee wrote: »This has been 100% due to mindless snacking on small things that add up. Like the crusts off my kids' PB&J sandwich, a few spoonfuls of Halo Top, a cheese stick, an extra apple I ate to not eat something worse, a Ritz cracker my son didn't finish that I should have tossed into the trash can...none of this is sizable enough to be a binge. But if you are trying to lose weight and are sticking to a 1300-calorie-a-day-diet and add in all of this other stuff, you easily hit 1700 calories a day or more, and you are then not losing but sometimes are even gaining. My weight slowly crept about 7 lbs over one year, while I was tracking-but-nibbling.
I'm quite certain if more people would be honest with themselves about these habits, fewer people would have difficulty losing and maintaining their weight. Good for you for acknowledging it and taking action.
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