How to get out the desserts

I can change my healthy eating choices with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However I cannot seem to remove sweet from my diet. I’m always craving them. Can anyone give me some good advice on how to get them out or how to start saying no?
Thank you in advance.
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Replies

  • competeagain2x
    competeagain2x Posts: 149 Member
    OddDitty wrote: »
    Something I read a long time ago was that the taste for sweets containing processed sugar is not natural to our bodies. We are not born with a desire for chocolate, gummy bears, cake etc. Rather the sweet sensory in our tongues is basically muted and confined to naturally occurring sugars, as in mother's milk.

    I agree with the above: remove them from your presence.

    But do more than that. Drink a lot of water. Treat getting off sugar as you would quitting smoking. And, unless you're a diabetic, berries (as she mentioned as well) and bits of granny smith apples could become your "patch" to get past the cravings.

    Good luck!

    She?! lol
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    OddDitty wrote: »
    Something I read a long time ago was that the taste for sweets containing processed sugar is not natural to our bodies. We are not born with a desire for chocolate, gummy bears, cake etc. Rather the sweet sensory in our tongues is basically muted and confined to naturally occurring sugars, as in mother's milk.

    I agree with the above: remove them from your presence.

    But do more than that. Drink a lot of water. Treat getting off sugar as you would quitting smoking. And, unless you're a diabetic, berries (as she mentioned as well) and bits of granny smith apples could become your "patch" to get past the cravings.

    Good luck!

    She?! lol

    People using phones can't see profiles so it can be hard to tell gender by avatars alone. And, some folks just don't look.
  • FL_Hiker
    FL_Hiker Posts: 919 Member
    I eat them , but not all of them. The rest go up for another day, after all they aren’t going anywhere are they?
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I restrict my desserts to 200 calories or fewer per serving. This week, that meant https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/haupia-coconut-pudding. Last week it was https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/blueberry-crisp-diabetic-213290. I've cut wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back on bakery treats, but I haven't given up desserts.
  • happytree923
    happytree923 Posts: 463 Member
    Herbal tea. Celestial Seasonings makes a lot of very good sweet herbal teas (some with stevia if that's your thing but the non-stevia ones are sweet too), just look for anything fruit. And they have special holiday stuff!
  • ghudson92
    ghudson92 Posts: 2,061 Member
    There is no reason to eliminate sweet treats completely, unless required for medical reasons. I am currently avoiding sugar where possible due to a health reason. Once that issue is resolved, I will go back to having a bit of chocolate every day :smile: You just have to work out what fits in to your daily calories.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    smilerdh17 wrote: »
    I can change my healthy eating choices with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However I cannot seem to remove sweet from my diet. I’m always craving them. Can anyone give me some good advice on how to get them out or how to start saying no?
    Thank you in advance.

    eat them if they fit in your calories/macros for the day/ week, or just say no. it'll still be there next week...
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Decide if you want to remove them or regulate them. Think about yourself a year from now, not the perfect version of yourself, but how you realistically see yourself (imagine a year has passed, and it's now, what plan sounds good and sustainable to you now, what would make you happiest). Do you see yourself as the person who never eats sweets? The person who only eats them occasionally when out with friends? The person who eats them a couple of times a week? The person who eats them every day?

    Based on your answer, you can look for specific strategies for the outcome you want. This will refine your question to become "how do you include sweets every day without going over my calories", for example. This would be much more helpful to you than getting anxious around desserts and just wanting the feeling to go away.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    It's true that desserts can blow your diet. Most of us develop strategies. There are low cal deserts, and lots of threads on them if you want to do a search. Some buy sweets that are portioned, and then eat just one. When I go to a restaurant with my husband, we split a desert. I also try to have 10g of almonds, or walnuts, pumpkin seeds,etc instead of sweets when I get a craving. Sometimes it works. You'll have to experiment. Sometimes elimination is the only answer, but is flawed in that most can only resist so long. Decide ahead of time how you'll handle parties where people will push sweets on you. If you refuse, they'll notice, so take a small piece and have two small bites (make it last, walk around with your plate) and then unobtrusively throw it. Good luck.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I have a piece or two of sea salt, dark chocolate and caramel squares almost every night for desert.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    I still eat them but in moderation. Nobody better ever take my sweets away from me :)
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 849 Member
    I am working them into my calorie/carb/fat allotment. I do not have every day. I happen to really like making SF instant pudding, adding extracts a little lite cool whip. And yes a mousse like dessert. As a diabetic I realized I needed to change my sweet lifestyle eating. But not eliminate it, work it into my allotments. Example I love to bake, so I am looking into baking cookies and desserts the low carb way this year. This is something totally new for me. Maybe I try it and hate it, or like it. Point is I want to try it because a life without sweets sounds very sad to me.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    smilerdh17 wrote: »
    I can change my healthy eating choices with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However I cannot seem to remove sweet from my diet. I’m always craving them. Can anyone give me some good advice on how to get them out or how to start saying no?
    Thank you in advance.

    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.
  • ata1anta
    ata1anta Posts: 115 Member
    edited October 2018
    i've found the blog "deserts with benefits" offers some less guilt recipes.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    OddDitty wrote: »
    Something I read a long time ago was that the taste for sweets containing processed sugar is not natural to our bodies. We are not born with a desire for chocolate, gummy bears, cake etc. Rather the sweet sensory in our tongues is basically muted and confined to naturally occurring sugars, as in mother's milk.

    I agree with the above: remove them from your presence.

    But do more than that. Drink a lot of water. Treat getting off sugar as you would quitting smoking. And, unless you're a diabetic, berries (as she mentioned as well) and bits of granny smith apples could become your "patch" to get past the cravings.

    Good luck!

    From my psychology text book;

    "Our preferences for sweet and salty tastes are genetic and universal. Other taste preferences are conditioned, as when people given highly salted foods develop a liking for excess salt, or when people who have been sickened by a food develop an aversion to it.

    Culture affects taste too..."

    The take away from that is that a preference for sweet food is natural. It doesn't really matter where it comes from. However, a preference for really sweet food is conditioned. If you really don't want to eat sweets or desserts you could always add something to it that makes you feel really sick afterwards. This may help you develop an aversion to it. LOL!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Dairy Free Desserts are much healthier and taste better!!!

    How are they healthier?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Dairy Free Desserts are much healthier and taste better!!!

    better than what?!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Dairy Free Desserts are much healthier and taste better!!!

    I strongly disagree with this and am unsure how exactly this is supposed to help the OP :huh:
  • FireOpalCO
    FireOpalCO Posts: 641 Member
    Dairy Free Desserts are much healthier and taste better!!!

    Using margarine instead of butter in my peanut butter cookies will a) make them taste worse not better and b) not make them any healthier. It might kill my desire to eat them, so maybe that's the benefit?