craving sweets

I wait a day and if i'm still craving it then I make it work in my calories.

If you have a low calorie sweetner like stevia drops you can make a hot chocolate with water or a nut milk verrrry low cal. Even the boxed stuff could be fit into your day if you plan for it.

LORD JESUS REIGNS

kshama2001 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Generally, when I'm craving chocolate, I eat chocolate. Or something chocolate flavored. I enjoy barely sweetened homemade hot chocolate, made from unsweetened cocoa, cayenne, cinnamon, maybe a splash of almond and/or vanilla extract, and just a little sugar, plus milk or nondairy sub. Or a somewhat sweeter mix of cocoa and sugar blended with much less milk, more or less to the consistency of unset fudge. I find I can stop at one serving of those.

@lynn_glenmont: I am going to have to try this tonight!

What's a serving for you? Grams of cocoa and sugar would be ideal, but calories is ok too.

Well, a serving for me is pretty much what I can manage/am willing to spare from what I have left. Generally, I'd say it's anywhere from 50 to 150 calories.

My personal preference is around 1:1 unsweetened cocoa powder to sugar by weight, then a bit more milk by weight than the combined weight of the dry ingredients. If all I want is a couple of spoons-full and I use skim milk, that's about 50 calories.* If I want something more like a third of a cup (U.S. standard 8 fl oz. cup), it's more like 150 calories. It really is very much like unset fudge to my taste (minus the "mouth feel" of the additional fat that real fudge has), so I seldom want as much 150 calories worth.

Results will vary depending on how sweet you like it, how thick or thin you like it, and the kind of milk you use.


ETA: so this would be about a tablespoon (15 ml.) of cocoa, a tablespoon of milk, and a teaspoon (5 ml.) of sugar. You could actually do slightly "rounded" measures for 50 calories.

I dont have much of a sweet tooth, but a Tootsie Roll Midgee does it for me. About 10 calories. I let it melt in my mouth so the flavor lasts at least 30 minutes. By that time I’m doing something else and have forgotten about chocolate.

ReenieHJ wrote: »

What about sugar-free chocolate pudding?

I've been using the sugar-free hot cocoa mix lately, 50 calories and it takes awhile to drink. Trouble is it's not the chocolate flavor I'm looking for.

I have used this. It is also a great way to get more calcium in.

I often will have chocolate protein powder mixed with greek yogurt. Gives me the chocolate taste I want plus a lot of protein.

OP, if you really need a piece of chocolate candy or cake, and don't trust yourself yet with a whole bag or whole cake in the house, go to the store and buy one small candy bar or one cupcake. Eat it, work it into your daily calorie target, and enjoy.

I do this with potato chips. I tend to crave savory, salty foods more than sweets or chocolate so I buy a single serving size bag and enjoy them.

I like those Fiber one brownies

I've noticed that eating sweet things begets a desire for more sweet things. So if possible, I try to not start. But if I do have something sweet - like 100 calories of good chocolate - I'll have it with my unsweetened coffee after breakfast when I am already very full.

Also, I have added lots of lower calorie sweet options. Ice cream has been replaced by making frozen fruit/veg "soft-serve" in my Yonanas machine. Grating carrots releases their natural sugars so I always have grated carrots in the fridge to snack on whenever a sweet craving pops up. Blending no-sugar Jello with frozen fruit and fresh made yogurt makes a delicious sweet dessert.

Another vote for --->eat chocolate.

I consistently keep different chocolate bars in my freezer and eat chocolate almost everyday. I will say that after losing weight and keeping a better mindset with a better diet --- I don't crave super sweet things often. But when I do, I eat it. I ate two pieces of carrot cake (with cream cheese icing) the other day simply bc it was probably going to go stale soon and I didn't want to just throw it away. Definitely went over my calorie goal that day - but oh well.

As far as the chocolate I usually buy regular sized chocolate bars in the candy section (like nice chocolate bars, not Hersey's --- usually dark chocolate but I do also sometimes feel in the mood for milk chocolate). I then *typically* break them into 6 pieces from the whole and keep that in a ziplock in the freezer. Grab one out when I make my dinner, it's thawed by the time I'm done eating dinner and I nosh.

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Or a somewhat sweeter mix of cocoa and sugar blended with much less milk, more or less to the consistency of unset fudge.

Back in my military days, sometimes we were issued MRE's (meals ready to eat) at meal time. The entree is a subject for a different discussion, but desserts were traded around for favors (think you give me your dessert, I will shine your shoes for next inspection). M&M's were the most popular, but only slightly less so was a variant of the above. Ingredients were Swiss Miss hot chocolate powder, coffee creamer, and just enough water to turn the mixed powders into a type of fudge. Combine with creamy peanut butter, and you have a G.I.'s version of Reese's.

These days I do one of two things when I crave sweets in the evening and haven't already budgeted in space for a dessert. First, I keep a stash of miniature Hershey's bars in the freezer. One is less than 50 calories, and something about being frozen makes it more satisfying than a larger room-temp bar, perhaps because of the additional chewing required when frozen.

Second, I sometimes have a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips around if I plan to make cookies. Measure out a tbsp of the chips into a sandwich bag, then eat them ONE. AT. A. TIME. Between slowing down the pace plus the semi-sweet nature rather than full-sweet, it satisfies after only a small amount, again in the 50 calorie range.

I put 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder and other spices in my oats every morning (with artificial sweetener). I mix 1Tablespoon coca, 1 T chia seeds, 1 pack sweetener, and 1/4 cup water in a small jar for pudding every night. Works for me.