Sweet tooth

fishiesintheseaa
fishiesintheseaa Posts: 45 Member
edited December 22 in Social Groups
So the reason that I am a "Not That Heavy Girl" is because I love sweets. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone have tips on how to beat cravings for sweets? I run pretty often and go to the gym, and I think its just my sweet tooth thats holding me back from having the body I really want which is frustrating.

Replies

  • ashprather
    ashprather Posts: 227 Member
    im in the same boat, and unfortunately i have no idea how to get rid of the sweet cravings :( i love chocolate
  • fishiesintheseaa
    fishiesintheseaa Posts: 45 Member
    I just came up with a sort of plan. So theres no denying that I love chocolate and I feel that to completely forbid it would leave me feeling deprived and cause me to try and consume as much chocolate as possible on my off days. Ha ha. So instead, I decided that every night as I am winding down, I will create a habit of having a cup of green tea and 2 small squares of dark chocolate. Like that my craving will be satisfied, and I wont sabotage my progress. Hopefully this works!
  • Janicey7
    Janicey7 Posts: 13 Member
    I too have a sweet tooth, I'm a bad snacker! I love sneaking into the pantry at night especially for Nutella. My weakness. I posted a long list of healthy snack ideas on my pantry door and put DO NOT EAT THAT NUTELLA! At the bottom of the list lol so far it's working. I'd throw it away altogether but my 8 yr old daughter eats it. Having a piece of chocolate every now and then Is not bad at all, in fact dark choc is good for ya! I might try doing that at night too
  • Ejwelton
    Ejwelton Posts: 331 Member
    Me too - I have a terrible sweet tooth.

    I occassionally go cold turkey and give up all chocolate. I did it for three months before my wedding two years ago - I don't know how I lasted. The dessert of our wedding breakfast was a triple chocolate one and when I ate it chocolate has never tasted so heavenly!!

    What I tend to do it when we food shop on a Saturday I buy a small pack of buttons or small bar of Green and Blacks dark chocolate. That way its a small portion and once it's gone it's gone. It's my small treat for the week and means I'm not being tempted by an opened bar in the fridge. If I know it's there I can't leave it and be disciplined to have a square every day!
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    Never cut out anything you truely love. The trick is to have a little bit of sweets once in awhile to satisfy your urges so that you don't get too desperate and go whole hog some day and hate yourself later.

    Make room for yummy snacks once in awhile, I do every other day or so. I love those Jello Chocolate puddings (although they aren't very healthy) to satisfy my chocolate tooth. And to satisfy ice cream urges I go to TCBY or get those Dreyers Fruit bars (80 cals!).
  • fishiesintheseaa
    fishiesintheseaa Posts: 45 Member
    Its really encouraging to see people who are successful with losing weight and not completely depriving themselves of sweets and foods they love. I am going to go to the grocery store today and buy dark chocolate and green tea. Hopefully since I am not depriving myself, I wont feel the need to finish off the tub cookies and cream ice cream sitting in my freezer!
  • stunningalmond
    stunningalmond Posts: 275 Member
    I also have a sweet tooth. I don't deprive myself of anything I love but I have a hard time only having a bit. I'll eat a whole bag of cookies in a night and I wish I had the discipline to only have one or two :p
  • fishiesintheseaa
    fishiesintheseaa Posts: 45 Member
    Stunningalmon, thats my problem too! Once I give in to a craving for sweets, I can't contain myself. One spoon full of ice cream turns into ice cream, pudding, pb&j crackers, and 8 Hersey kisses! Ha ha. But I am hoping that by designting a time of day and specific portion, I can keep my cravings at bay and control myself!
  • blgerig
    blgerig Posts: 174 Member
    I love having dessert and if you look at my diary I have some sort of sweet almost every day... I just try to keep that in mind and leave calories for it :) Frozen yogurt bars or mini ice cream treats have been great... takes the guess work out of the portion size! Certain things I try not to have in the house (pints of ice cream, nutella, brownies)... Definitely all about doing what works for you and finding ways to still have some of the things you love!
  • stunningalmond
    stunningalmond Posts: 275 Member
    Stunningalmon, thats my problem too! Once I give in to a craving for sweets, I can't contain myself. One spoon full of ice cream turns into ice cream, pudding, pb&j crackers, and 8 Hersey kisses! Ha ha. But I am hoping that by designting a time of day and specific portion, I can keep my cravings at bay and control myself!

    YES! Once I have one thing that's junky, it snowballs into me devouring anything I can get my hands on. :p

    I'm going to try your method... one cookie and a cup of tea at night as a snack.
  • jessingh84
    jessingh84 Posts: 13 Member
    I have the same issue; however after watching Dr. Oz I decided to try saffron extract to curb my need for sweets. Its just day one, but so far I feel a bit more control over my eating.
  • kelseyhere
    kelseyhere Posts: 1,123 Member
    Sweets are my #1 one downfall, this is for sure. I can turn down alcohol, bread, cheese, but cookies- that's just crazy talk!
    I just came up with a sort of plan. So theres no denying that I love chocolate and I feel that to completely forbid it would leave me feeling deprived and cause me to try and consume as much chocolate as possible on my off days. Ha ha. So instead, I decided that every night as I am winding down, I will create a habit of having a cup of green tea and 2 small squares of dark chocolate. Like that my craving will be satisfied, and I wont sabotage my progress. Hopefully this works!

    ^I tried this approach and it didn't work for me. What I've learned about myself is that when I have a little bit of sugar, I just want more. So to really be successful, I have to go cold turkey. I'm currently trying the "cheat day" philosophy where I'm very good 6 days of the week, then have one day where I can eat dessert or drink alcohol. The day after my cheat I can still feel the effects of the sugar. For example I had a cheat day on Sunday, and Monday it was really hard to resist the free cheesecake at work, but by Tuesday afternoon I had no problem turning down the free cookies.

    I've also noticed that even the sugar in fruit can make me want other sweets, so I have to avoid eating fruit at night (since nighttime is when my will power disappears). Here's another example- the other night I ate an orange, then I ate coffee fro-yo, then I polished off all of my BF's java chip ice cream, then I drank a soda - all in under an hour! See how it spiraled from a perfectly OK piece of fruit to a 1,000 calorie overload?

    **edited to say that even artificial sweeteners have this affect on me. So that means things like sugar-free Jello pudding are non-nos for me also.

    I'm not saying having a little chocolate each night won't work for you, rather just sharing my experience to show how different approaches are preferable for difference people. Good luck!
  • stunningalmond
    stunningalmond Posts: 275 Member
    Kelsey, I don't feel so bad now, knowing that I'm not the only one who has crazy sugar binges. Last night my one oreo turned into 2/3 of the bag.
  • ChLoE1130
    ChLoE1130 Posts: 1,696 Member
    I'm starting to get better at this. I used to have 4 dark chocolate hershey kisses every single night with a glass of red wine. Then I decided I needed to cut back on drinking so I cut out the wine and the chocolate too. Now I have a bowl of fruit, usually some stawberries and grapes. But, if I am craving something more I just let myself have it, like last night I had a half cup of full fat ice cream, and didn't feel guilty about it and it fit in my cals. I am going to say it took me a long time to get here. Normally a half gallon of ice cream would only last me a couple days. But, now I can half it there and if I am craving it I let myself have a little. Now if I don't let myself have it I will end up going crazy all out on the weekend or something. (Ice cream is my sweet weakness for sure)
  • locaboda
    locaboda Posts: 2
    could you try substitutes for your chocolate cravings?
    like at walgreens they have the calcuim supplements that are chocolate flavored
    there is enough sweetness to remind you of choclate and they are only 15 calories plus it adds calcium to your diet
  • locaboda
    locaboda Posts: 2
    great idea i think i want to try this also
  • summer8it
    summer8it Posts: 433 Member
    I'll eat small portions of dark chocolate (even better when I have enough calories left to have it with some red wine!) but I'm also a fan of Nesquik syrup! I'll squirt out a teaspoon or two and dip strawberries or bananas in it.

    Excuse me, I think I need to go assemble some dessert now....
  • Drizap
    Drizap Posts: 34 Member
    I eat oatmeal with chocolate peanut butter all the time for breakfast and sometimes put a splenda in it. Helps with sweet cravings in the morning.
  • Naporch
    Naporch Posts: 2
    im the same! my family goes to dariy queen at least once a week, and we always keep icecream on stock. and now i work at dairy queen, and my will power is a total and complete zero, so im having icecream about 4 times a week easy, and its really hurting my diet! any advice on how to not pig out on my 20 min breaks?
  • kelseyhere
    kelseyhere Posts: 1,123 Member
    just get outta there! take a walk around the neighborhood, or bring a book with you to read on your break. if you shifts are long and you need to eat during work, just make sure you bring a healthy meal with you so you won't be tempted to eat a chicken strip basket or ice cream
  • emmah1212
    emmah1212 Posts: 4
    I have a horrible sweet tooth too, and also tried the few pieces of dark chocolate a day - i found it was fine most days, but on a bad day, i would eat the whole lot. So now i try not to have it in the house. One thing i find really good for sweet cravings is cinnamon, i often make a huge pot of popcorn, with very little oil, and put on a bunch of cinnamon and a wee bit of icing sugar, mix it up and put it in to little zip lock baggies to grab when i need them - feels like i am having a treat but really u can have a lot of popcorn for not many calories. And without the icing sugar it would be even less - but i usually try not to eat much sugar at all so I allow myself that! Or if i am really feeling like something sweet and desserty, I cut an apple in to small pieces, add some cinnamon and a little honey or brown sugar, and microwave for a minute or two until it gets soft - so good! This is also good with a bit of oatmeal to make sort of an apple crumble :)
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