Coping with sugar cravings

Ann's got a great suggestion above, but where I dont like fruit, I had to try another way.

I've had 60 fudgsicles in my deep freezer for months and I'm barely through the first box.

When cravings for sweets hit for me, I make different choices. I do the same practice for when my binge eating disorder is strong.

If my brain is screaming food, food, food, because honestly, everything and anything for me is a binge food, at night, I acknowledge it rather then fight it because often times fighting something can make it worse.

I choose foods that wouldnt be my first go to choice when I have multiple options. Yeah.. there is 60 fudgsicles in my freezer and I could easily power through those.

So, if I'm gonna engage in a binge or a craving, I'm going to choose the foods I'd probably pick last.

One night, i was feeling the urge to eat...I started with carrots. I did eat quite a big bowl of them. When I was done, I waited a bit to see what my brain was gonna do, would it be more calmer? Or still screamy?
I still felt the urge, so when I went upstairs I saw the loaf of bread there. I made 4 slices but I didnt put anything on it. No butter no nothing. Just dry old toast. Because I have acknowledged that I am giving into my brain screaming at me, so I'm not here to make it taste good. I ate those 4 slices and waited.

I tracked all the calories as I was eating and as I was just hitting the top of my maintenance calories, the combination of eating what was least enjoyable to me and seeing the number of calories increase really made me stop and think about if I wanted to keep going. Which is what I need to practice, making it an acknowledged choice, rather then brain screaming and me just getting up and eating whatever.

I stopped myself from choosing fudgsicles first and having that sweetness be the one grabbing my hand and reaching in for another and another and another. Mostly because I decided to fill the calories between my deficit and maintenance with something else.

To me that's like picking up the cookies and putting them back on the shelf. I didnt wanna keep going past my maintenance, and since I didn't actually taste the fudgsicles, it was easier to also decide against them, reinforced by my desire not to go over maintenance.

Also, by the time I ate all those carrots and choked down 4 slices of dry toast, enough time had passed also and the screaming had quieted down more and made it much easier to manage.

I choose to have a fudgsicle on the days that I'm not struggling. When I know that I have the mental capacity to eat 1 and that's it.

I did it last night. I ate one and never went back for another.

I would much rather hit maintenance, and potentially achieving the goal of acknowledged choice and then being able to stop, rather then hit maintenance without acknowledging and tracking and falling into my same loop of eating and letting the screaming always win.

It may not always work, but the goal is to lessen my binges and the out of control that they can get.

And eventually once i can get used to that, i want to take that new found strength and move away from eating the carrots and the toast and be able to replace it with something non food related. With an eating disorder i know it will take time..

In the end it's all about practice tho. Be it cravings or binge eating or emotional eating.

Lol i rambled on quite a bit there sorry..i hope i made sense