sweets

I second the tea recommendation. There are dessert teas with a small amount of sugar or sweetener that taste like chocolate, different nuts, vanilla, even apple pie, cookies, shortbread, you name it. Smells divine and helps stave off the desire for some desserts.

I've heard from several people that eating more fruit reduced their sugary cravings. Worth a shot?

The "eat more fruit" strategy helped reduce my cravings for less nutrient-dense sweets like candy and baked goods. Specifically, I made it a point to eat at least 3 servings of fruit daily for a while, and used some of my limited willpower budget to mostly avoid the candy, etc., for the first few weeks.

After a while, cravings for the calorie-dense, nutrient-poor sweet things were pretty much gone, and some of those foods started tasting too simple, not all that tasty, just over-sweet. I could even be more flexible with fruit servings, and keep that effect. (I do still eat quite a lot of fruit, though . . . because yum.)

I do still eat the occasional candy or baked good, but I'm more selective (many don't seem worth the calories, honestly), and it doesn't feel crave-y or compulsive. It's more like deciding once in a while to have dessert when eating out, or eating a homemade cookie my friend made that looks really good.

I go with the sugar free gel cups. 6 calories. I know they have 0 nutritional value but they give me a sweet fix.