Sugar junky in need of healthy substitutions

Hello!!! So, I have a really unhealthy relationship with food- especially sweets... I have had trouble for years with binge eating at night and would love any advice/suggestions as to healthier "treat" options for after dinner or ways to decrease the urge for refined sugar. I love fruit, but I always have this insatiable need for cakes or cookies, and the like, even when I have a piece of fruit for dessert. Any ideas?? Thanks!

It's not a major problem to have a very small amount of something sugary straight after a meal providing you've allowed for it in your calorie target.  'With a meal' is the best time to eat sugar because it has the least impact on blood-sugar levels.  This is important because low blood-sugars mean energy slumps and that's when bodies go looking for 'quick-fix' foods like sugar, starch and fat... it's a cyclical thing. 

You may think you have an unhealthy relationship with food but the chances are that if your diet has contained a lot of refined sugar and starch up to now you've had no option but to eat more and more of it.  Artificially sweetned foods aren't much better, unfortunately.

I'd start a little further back than the sweets.....  Look at your meals in general.  Make sure that you're eating plenty of nutritious foods that release the energy slowly.....  vegetables, wholegrain foods, pulses (legumes), high-fibre breakfast cereals, nuts, seeds.  These foods are satisfying, bulky, nourishing and less likely to trigger sugar cravings.  Avoid foods such as white bread, white rice and anything in a packet that contains more than 10g sugar per 100g...  these are the exact opposite.

If you can't stop at just one small dessert or one cookie and if you don't feel comfortable having them around the house it may be that you have to dispense with them for a few weeks until you form different habits.  A little cheese and a cracker is nice to eat after dinner instead, for example.  And a hot drink such as a fruit tea could give you the sweet taste without the stodge.

Good luck

I am the same way... I tried to stop eating that stuff altogether at first, but found that after hours of obsessing over "craving sweets" I would find myself eating things I didn't even like trying to fill the craving. Uggg!

So I decided instead of letting it beat me, I was just going to work with it! I work a 1/2 cup serving (and yes, I eat it right out of the measuring cup ;o) of the most delicious low fat frozen yogurt into my calories everyday! There are days that I don't need it so I don't eat it, and my deficit is 100 cals higher, but it's there for when I do. One serving is all I need, and I thoroughly enjoy it!

I have also bought a low fat oatmeal muffin mix (just add water) , and will make a dozen muffins and add 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips to the mix... Then I wrap them individually and freeze. They are really tasty, and my kids love them! But I usually find myself going for the fozen yogurt instead ;o)

I like the frozen yogurt idea... I think I'll try that- measuring the serving size of course! I often roam the kitchen trying to find something to quench the craving, and have eaten some pretty gross stuff, like butter melted with brown sugar- straight out of the cup... when I was little I would steal the stick of butter out of the fridge and hide behind the curtain to eat it. ick! I'm glad I got over that one!

Although I understand the physiological component of eating high sugar/carb foods, I really do have some emotional issues with sweet foods, and eating a very small amount of a sugary treat isn't easy for me as I often binge if I have even one bite... Growing up my father was an alcoholic/drug addict, and my mom would compensate for the pain my father caused with sweet foods. If I had a bad day we would make chocolate chip cookies, or fudge and popcorn- sometimes with hot chocolate... even though we weren't allowed to have "junk food" she somehow justified home made desserts, even though they're not much better for your body. Because of this early relationship with food I learned that sweets make the terrible parts of life better. When I fall into a depression (which I have struggled with since early adolescence) it is much more likely that I will seek out solace from sugar, even though I usually feel worse after, the pleasure of consumption and instant gratification win out... I am planning on starting up with therapy again to deal with these issues specifically, but I  would love more ideas for some healthy alternatives so I don't fall back on the really bad sweets for after dinner. Thanks!

I have a real sweet tooth mine I am assuming and hav been told is from years of anorexia and even now gaining weight have been told it takes time for your body and mind to catch up. A few suggestions I have been told by nutritionists. First though how is your diet in general? Is it enough calories and spread through the day. It is key to eat every few hours and no skipping meals. When your blood sugar drops or you get too hungry you will want quick energy and that leads to sugar. Each meal and snack should have some combo of protein/fat/carbs. I think some is adjusting to new tastes as wll. When I was ip at one place it had very limited added sweets and sweetners and when I got out and had some it tasted sickening to me but then as I had more my taste buds changed. I think pre planning is very key till you can establish good routine

Some random suggestions:

sugar free or diet hot cocoa (60 for sugar free, 25 for diet)

pumpkin w/ splenda & cinnamon (1/2 cup is 40 cal)

Sugar free Jello pudding (depending on what flavor ~75 cals per 1/2 cup)

Sweet potato w/ cinnamon. Not sure about the cals, but it's not too bad

Sugar Free Gum

Pumpkin Purree with Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Sugar Substitute like Stevia (you can use butter nut squash or acron squash too)

Decaf Coffee with Sugar Substitute like Stevia (sometimes I make this in "slushie" form by blending it with some ice cubes & stevia - sometimes the consistency is like yogurt - if you use enough stevia... and it's pretty yummy - although I must warn you: all the WHIPPED AIR causes some BURPING & BLOATING for just a little while)... but the taste makes it SO WORTH IT!

I, too, have the same cravings.  I've tried lots of little tricks, and nothing seems to work to really satisfy that craving.   Although I have tried 100 calorie packs of cookie things, or the Hostess 100 cal packs, and thats ok.  The other thing I've tried which isn't bad is low fat yogurt.  Especially banana cream pie, or the lemon flavor.  I know they aren't the healthiest, and too have fake sugar, but I figure I'm getting some calcium, low cal, and better than sweets.