Hi Everyone,

I think I have the BIGGEST, BADDEST sweet tooth in the world!! I can't seem to control myself and always end up eating more than I should. Case in point: I can finish a 100g of Crispy Minis (Caramel Flavoured mini rice cakes) in one sitting and I can eat a whole box of Arrowroot crackers in 2 days! :drool: I know that's not healthy, but either I have to not buy these items and keep them out of my house or else somehow find a way to not only curb my cravings but to also practice portion control. :eat:

As a side note, I'm 5'8" and 124 lbs (female) who leads a pretty active lifestyle (5 days/week of cardio + weights). I am trying to lose a couple pounds too, so I don't think this habit of mine is helping much.

Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated. :tucool:

. Sometimes a cup of green tea helps. Sometimes brushing your teeth is a quick fix. Mostly I just look at pictures of me when I was 240lbs and that is enough to curb any craving. :D

Seriously, when I get a sweet tooth I either eat some fruit, or make a smoothie of sorts by adding berries to a protein shake.Been working so far. I feel your pain though.

Jason

Agree with Jason on this one. Sometimes there is nothing like a fresh piece of fruit. Another thing I am learning is when do you "crave" the food? At your desk at work? Watching TV. Well I took the chair out from my desk the last couple of hours of work in the afternoon (I am a admin assistant) also you would be surprised how much more you get done, also when I am watching TV and I start getting insane cravings I think "our there dishes in the dishwasher I could put away, clean my room and so on and by the time you get back hopefully you will feel a little better....

Trust me when I say I eat more fruit on a daily basis than is recommended...I absolutely love fruit. But the cravings for sugar are always for stupid little sweet things like cookies, candy, etc. I read somewhere that cravings may be attributed to a lack of certain nutrients/vitamins. But I don't know if that's the case in this situation.

I also don't particularly crave something sweet at a specific time of day. It's just whenever the craving hits. Even after I eat a piece of fruit, I still want something sweet that's not "healthy," if you know what I mean.

It's funny because I still try and buy relatively healthy sweet things (i.e. low fat crispy minis or low fat frozen yogurt icecream) which help satisfy my cravings. Plus, I do try to think of other things or to keep myself occupied but I'm constantly thinking about the sweet thing and won't stop until I get it. Man, I think I need help on this one!

Sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles are a couple of items that may help to satisfy your cravings for sweets.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news again (as was the case in your other thread), but low fat items (such as frozen yogurt) often have a lot of sugar in them.

I hear products with Splenda might make an excellent substitute for candy. Again these are still 'empty calories' and a fruit would be much better. Get by with 2 weeks without candy and your cravings will began to cease.

I hear products with Splenda might make an excellent substitute for candy. Again these are still 'empty calories' and a fruit would be much better. Get by with 2 weeks without candy and your cravings will began to cease.


Easier said than done, soltrain. Thx anyway.

First you need to go cold turkey on the sugar stuff. After a week your cravings will diminish. After dinner especially after a fish dinner I eat a sugar free mint patty, or a sugar free popsicel. Splenda is great on oatmeal and in margurattas. You have a suger dependency and you have to break it or when you get older it's gonna show up when your motabolism starts to slow down.

My wife was a sugar holic. She has a stash of sugar free candy but watch out as she learned the sugar alcohols in some of that stuff can make for a very gassy experiance. Eat with caution till you know your limits and read up on all of the different kinds of sugar substatutes because there are at least 10 of them and they all seem to react different.

If you like snickers bars, try out the Triple Delicious high protein bars "carmel Fudge Almond Brownie" flavor from bodybuilding.com You would swear they were not good for you. 30 grams protein with 8 net carbs. one gram sugar.

Try those Atkin's Candy bar haha i tried some of it and it taste alright

You might try increasing your fat intake. I have found that eating more fat helps to keep my appetite under control. Also, if you're doing a lot of cardio your body needs a lot of fat OR carbohydrate for use as energy.

Don't combine fat with carbs when eating, though, as this can lead to easy bodyfat gain. Take your fat with protein, and eat complex carbs with or without protein at another meal.

fruit is a great suggestion, not only is it good for you, but fructose is the sweetest sugar! (thats why High Fructose Corn Syrup is so popular!)

however i find nothing kills my cravings better that a nice big piece of chicken with a ton of vegies, make sure you use some awesome spices, like paprika(sweet hungarian), curry, cummin, corriander and some cayenne pepper, topped with tons of pepper (damn pepper is good) and garlic!

I'll second jason's suggestion of drinkning a cup of green tea. It never fails to halt my sugar cravings.

You might try increasing your fat intake. I have found that eating more fat helps to keep my appetite under control. Also, if you're doing a lot of cardio your body needs a lot of fat OR carbohydrate for use as energy.

Don't combine fat with carbs when eating, though, as this can lead to easy bodyfat gain. Take your fat with protein, and eat complex carbs with or without protein at another meal.

:tu: Good advice.

You might try increasing your fat intake. I have found that eating more fat helps to keep my appetite under control. Also, if you're doing a lot of cardio your body needs a lot of fat OR carbohydrate for use as energy.

Don't combine fat with carbs when eating, though, as this can lead to easy bodyfat gain. Take your fat with protein, and eat complex carbs with or without protein at another meal.

Can you give me an example of a food that combines fat + protein and not with carbs? And another example of complex carbs (with or without protein)? Thanks, I appreciate it. :claplow:

Ok, not the best advice health wise but...

I get massive sugar cravings. I used to be able to eat a massive bag of haribo in about 10mins !!! However, ive cut down and it DOES get easier. However, if i get a craving i have ONE boiled sweet. These last ages and taste great. Ok, they are pure sugar, and ill probably be accused of giving you an easy option, but if its the difference between one sweet every now and then, or a bag every now and then, i know what id choose. And one sweet isnt the end of the world. Ive lost weight doing this. :nod:

Good luck.

Can you give me an example of a food that combines fat + protein and not with carbs? And another example of complex carbs (with or without protein)? Thanks, I appreciate it. :claplow:

Sure!

Protein/Fat:
Chicken Breast, and have a cup of coffee with heavy cream. If you don't like coffee, you can just take a spoonful of coconut oil along with the chicken.

Whole eggs are an excellent example of protein/fat.

Tuna or Chicken salad made with real mayonnaise is another example. You can make your own, and know exactly what's in it.

Complex Carbohydrates:
Old Fashioned Oats. 100% whole grain breads (watch out for sugar in these... you may have to do some searching, but good breads are out there with little or no added sugar), 100% whole grain cereals (same as with breads... watch out for sugars, but good cereals are available if you look for them), Sweet potatoes, etc.

Sometimes I choose protein/fat, other times protein/carb. For instance, this morning, as a pre-4 mile walk breakfast, I had half a chicken breast, a bowl of old fashioned oats, and a mug of triple strong green tea.

You could also throw a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream in with your protein shakes, that'll help.
Or, use a scoop of your favorite protein powder, and mix that with 2-4 tablespoons of heavy cream, to make power fudge. Add a Tbl. at a time, so that you don't use too much cream. (I've found it takes 4 for me) It'll be a bugger to mix, but once you do, and you get a consistancy like cake icing, throw it in the fridge, and you'll have something to munch when you get that sweet craving again.
:drool:

Don't combine fat with carbs when eating, though, as this can lead to easy bodyfat gain.

Thanks for ruining my oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter! :lol:

Jason

Also, keep in mind that you can use most green vegetables liberally throughout your diet, despite whether the meal is pro/fat or pro/carb. For example, you can use a chicken breast, a cup of broccoli or asparagus, and a tablespoon of olive oil and you have a pro/fat meal.

For pro/carb, you could do egg whites and oats in the morning. Another example: chicken breast, a serving of brown rice, a serving of vegetables (no oil).

Thanks for ruining my oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter! :lol:

Jason

LOL.... I don't think it's necessarily bad to combine fats and carbs... you just have to be careful about it. If you're having that pre-workout, or early in the day, I think you'll be fine. :) So... enjoy!

Avoid all sugar for two weeks. Then eat or drink the most sugary substance in your home. Thats a good enough deterrent. I avoid sugar and last weekend I had a Cherry Pepsi. My teeth felt soft and weird after drinking it. It was such a bad mouth feel that I no longer want to consume sugar again unless its somehow well integrated into my foods.

Avoid all sugar for two weeks. Then eat or drink the most sugary substance in your home. Thats a good enough deterrent. I avoid sugar and last weekend I had a Cherry Pepsi. My teeth felt soft and weird after drinking it. It was such a bad mouth feel that I no longer want to consume sugar again unless its somehow well integrated into my foods.

All these posts have been really helpful with people's different coping mechanisms. It's interesting how everyone has a very personal and unique way of combating their sweet tooth, but I think that a method that works for one, may not work for everyone. I guess I have to come up with my own method of curbing cravings. I think the best thing to do is like most people say, avoid all sugar (i.e. junk food sugar) for 2 weeks and then the cravings should cease on their own.

There are only 2 problems with this: 1) Just yesterday I went out and bought a Raspberry/Banana Frozen Yogurt Smoothie (Frozen Yogurt) which I have to finish and 2) the hardest part about stopping cravings is when you see your friends or other people around you walking around eating sweets or offering you some. Now that's the time that I either cave in and buy some for myself or else take the offer and eat some of my friends' sweets. NOT GOOD.

I'll see what I can do once I finish this frozen yogurt and I'm left with nothing else that's sweet and "unhealthy" in my house! :gl:

I have surrendered to my sugar cravings.

Being happy is more important than being healthy to me. Besides, I'm more likely to stay on a mostly clean diet if I don't have to deprive myself of the things I love in the first place.

This week's snack of choice is strawberry cream pie.

OK... here's a "psychological" tip:

When you see, smell, or think of something that you really like but don't want to eat: tell yourself, "I can have that any time I want it, I don't have to have it right now.

I call this delaying rather than denying yourself, and for me, it has worked for years. Giving yourself permission to have the item removes any desire that may arise from "wanting the forbidden fruit," because the item is no longer forbidden! Saying that you don't have to have it right now re-affirms your control over your own appetite, and takes the urgency out of the craving.

Meanwhile, you can drink some water, go for a walk, or apply some other "craving-destroying" method, and, when "later" comes, you may not even want the food anymore.

Not to brag, but I think my sweet tooth is worse. I went out for lunch a couple of days ago and my "salad" for lunch ended up being a full size chicken one, followed by scarfing down most of my table's appetizer. Then when I got back after lunch over the period of an hour I topped things off with 3 hersheys almond bars. I'd have eaten more, but I felt guilty enough :)

Anyway for me personally I'm all or nothing. If I'm going to indulge, I'm going to do it right. No "moderate" portions for me. If I have to stop after a small amount of junk I'd rather not begin in the first place. As a result my diet consists of most days being strict no-crap, and then a couple of days a week I just say to hell with it and eat what I really like.

I keep no junk food in the house and unless I have intentions of scarfing down a truckload of it I never even will have any. Today for instance I will have nothing garbagy. Tomorrow I have to go out in the evening, so I'll probably just eat a lot all day :)

I guess I'm fairly surprised that nobody commented on the power fudge I suggested. Sweet, high in protein, low carb, of course the heavy cream does have some fat, but... :confused:

i have a sweet tooth too..and i can relate to wanting something when i'm with my friends and they all go for ice cream or other sweets. i'm weaker in a social environment than when i'm byself, so i always make sure i share whatever i end up eating (damage control to some extent) with someone. when i'm by myself and i want to buy something, pinching my tummy and envisioning what i want it to look like definitely stop me from buying it.