I've never been known for my sweet tooth. Never really had one.

I've been eating clean and working out since October of last year - making good, steady progress. But this week I have been craving sweets ALOT. Like tearing the house apart looking for leftover halloween candy crazy.

Anybody have any healthi-"er" alternatives or suggestions?

My sanity depends on your help.

:)

Yea! I have this problem and the best way to deal with it is, 1) whenever u crave, go do some pushups. 2) try some of those cottage cheese singles. They are flavored, my favorite is apple cinnamon, and they are very sweet and almost have a dessert taste to them...and they stick to macros well (low in fat, high in protein, not too bad in carbs). Finally, if you absolutely crave them, have some sweets. It's not going to throw your diet off if you have a cookie here and there. Try having them earlier in the day, possibly even before a workout, so the energy will at least be used rather than stored as fat.

But the best advice I have is...Stay away from them!!!

Good luck,
Brian

best solution I have found =

fruit!

It's pretty good at dulling hunger because of the fructose/glucose ratio and the fiber and water content, and it's naturally sweet.

I usually crave them right after I have a meal. Don't know why but its a pain. Fruit sometimes helps.

Are you having a cheat meal once a week? It can REALLY help with cravings, and most studies show that unless you go eat 3 pizzas, it will likely actually have a positive (recharging) effect on your plan. I've found my cheat meals really help my progress, and gives me a sense of "if I can just hold off for 3 more days..." so I can have a little greater will power.

One of my very favorite snacks now is sugar free jello (wal-mart brand) with some light cool whip. It's like 30 calories for a huge bowl, and it has some decent volume to it. It really helps with sweet cravings. I make it 3 boxes at a time, and it has fewer carbs and calories than a peice of fruit (granted, no fiber either).

Thanks for the replies.

I do usually have a cheat meal on Sundays (I have Sun, Mon, Tues off from work) so it's a good reward for working hard during the week. And I do find myself, sometimes on Mondays, saying - wow XXXXX sounds great - I'll have to wait until Sunday!

I'm not familiar with the cottage cheese singles - have to look for them this week.

sugar free jello are nice and virtually no calories..or shapers yogurts ..otherwise fruit as suggested above is a healthy alternative......i sadly cant eat one bar of choclate without having another ten!! so its a no go area for me.

One thing to consider is the South Beach Diet. SBD starts off with a 2 week phase specifically designed to stop cravings for sweets. It explains how intake of sugars and certain carbohydrates fuel the craving and desire for more sugars and carbs. So, for 2 weeks you don't have any fruit, juice, soda, white bread, potatoes, sugar, anything baked really. You just eat eggs, salads, cheese, meat, poultry, all the veggies you want. But it really does change your blood chemistry and how you take in carbs.

Please note that the above would be for someone who hasn't been eating exactly clean or has a lot of bread and starches in their diet.

I did it and it stopped my raiding of the pantry at night and my desire for the 3 pm candy bar from the machine at work.

Just something to consider.

Are you lifting weights? Save your sweets fix for PWO meals. It is important to eat some simple sugars post workout to repair muscles. I'm sure more knowledgable folks can elaborate if I am wrong, but it has to do with spiking insulin levels and replacing broken down glycogen in your muscles.

I agree on the fruit. I also like animal crackers, which are low in fat. Low-fat yogurt is also good.

For muffin/cake/brownie type cravings, try this:

1.5 scoops of protein powder (my favorite is Muscle Provider from Bev. International)
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (pure pumpkin, not the sugary kind)
2-4 packets of splenda
1 tsp of vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of chocolate powder (pure choco powder, no sugar)
1/8-1/4 cup egg white

Mix thoroughly, then microwave for 2-2.5mins.

My gf and I have been eating this several times a week.
I put almond butter on mine for extra cals/fats.

Recipe:
Calories - 200-250 for the entire thing

Sugar free bubble gum has saved me from many sweet cravings in the past. I also agree with the other folks posting - Fruit helps a lot.

For muffin/cake/brownie type cravings, try this:

1.5 scoops of protein powder (my favorite is Muscle Provider from Bev. International)
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (pure pumpkin, not the sugary kind)
2-4 packets of splenda
1 tsp of vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of chocolate powder (pure choco powder, no sugar)
1/8-1/4 cup egg white

Mix thoroughly, then microwave for 2-2.5mins.

My gf and I have been eating this several times a week.
I put almond butter on mine for extra cals/fats.

Recipe:
Calories - 200-250 for the entire thing

Ever seen one of those volcano projects where the stuff spews out of the top? I figured out that this stuff would make great LAVA! ;-> I made this in the micro last night and thanks to the baking powder, it expanded to like 4x it's size (and the bowl's)...fun fun...

It seemed to taste pretty good though. I'm going to try to make some actual muffins today in the oven, we'll see how it turns out.