Sweet Tooth problems, any help?

Ok, so i have a major sweet tooth, and it's kinda killing me not to be able to eat anything like cookies or puddings, any ideas what i could have instead?

Try some fruit instead; I like pineapple.  Go for a walk instead of eating.  Find some sugar free substitutes, even though I'm not a fan of artificial sweetners.

Clint

My advice is: if you can handle just one serving, eat some cookies or pudding every once in a while. But if you're the kind of person who can't stop snacking once you start, maybe try something like fruit and whipped cream or sugar free jello.

 I have always had a terrible sweet tooth.  But I have found that it's worse when I have eaten too many bad carbs, like white bread.  That will trigger it so fast.  When I stay away from the bad stuff and stick to whole wheat, veggies and fruit I do much better.  Eating just a little of the sweet stuff will just set me off to want a lot more.  One cookie and I would be off looking for more.  Eating sugar causes you to dump too muich insulin into your system and this just makes you hungry for more sugar to take care of the extra insulin.  Complex carbs release insulin slower and you don't get that same crash that makes you want more.  It's a never ending circle.

So if I feel the need to have something sweet I usually have fruit or I've been having vanilla yogurt, sugar free and fat free with fresh or frozen blueberries.  Yummm.

At night, when I want something sweet, I eat a handful of prunes. They're very high in fiber, too! Or I dringhot milk with a drop of honey, a drop of vanilla, and a pinch of nutmeg.

Today at Walmart I was reading calorie labels (my new hobby)...and I discovered 3 Musketeer "Fun Size" bars...there are 190 calories in 3 bars...so for one it's only about 63 cals. I know one little bar isn't as satisfying as the regular size...but it's good for a taste to get your mind off it....at least for me!

When I feel like a sweet treat I drink fat free lite hot chocolate (which is usually around 50 cals for a serve without milk, but it has some creamer in it). Otherwise I also have a sweet cereal like special K's berry flavour, which is sweet and yummy, but by itself, 30g is only 112 calories - hardly a diet buster :)

Almost any treat isn't bad if you can stick to one serving - thats where I have trouble :P

Hope I helped :)

This! I forgot to say, soy milk (or ordinary, if you drink it) with a teaspoon of vanilla essence is sweet and delicious and high and calcium! And is similarly only around 110 cals if you drink fatfree or skim milk.

I'm much like yourself, and have the most horrendous sweet tooth. And it's not just the sugar I crave, but the texture of cookies and cake. So fruit sometimes doesn't do the trick. But a few years back I had to go on a sugar-free diet. The cravings were awful (I dreamt about eating chocolate cake!) but after about a month they suddenly go. I'm not saying cut out sugar entirely but maybe give yourself a 2 week period of nothing then slowly phase things back in.

Weight Watchers Lemon Cake is delicious, tastes just as good as normal lemon cake and is only 79kcal a slice. I have two at night with a cup of mint tea after my dinner and it satisfies my craving.

And for lunchtime snacks I really like jelly with fruit in it, or greek yoghurt with honey.

The trick is to stop having your daily chocolate / cake snack as standard, so it's part of your normal diet (that's what I am awful at doing) but saving it for special occasions or a Sunday night treat.

Good luck! Sugar cravings are hard to beat but finding a happy medium is normally the best way! If you find eating just fruit isn't satisfying the craving at all, find a really low-fat dieters cake, like Weight Watchers, and limit yourself ot one with a cup of tea.

I've been making a modified version of caramel popcorn as a snack for my 6 year old. 

I basically modified the traditional caramel recipe to use less butter and I make maybe 1/3 cup of caramel for a huge bowl of popcorn. The result is a very light coat of caramel which is sweet enough to satisfy and relatively low in calories. It stays fresh for several days in a ziploc bag.

If I crave a sweet/salty combination, I'll add a handful peanuts to the mixture but this obviously increases the calories and the fat content.

I get mega sweet cravings, as well, and I have 3 things that I turn to:

1. Bryers 1/2 fat vanilla ice cream (doesn't have a bunch of preservatives and artificial sweetners and crap like most diet food, but is just made with skim milk and other reduced cal ingredients) topped with warm berries

2. A sweet cereal, like coco puffs or fruity pebbles.  You get your sugar craving plus get in some good vitamins and minerals.  If you use soy milk, all the better, because you get in some extra protein!

3. Get some reduced fat graham crackers and fat free cream cheese.  Top a graham cracker with a layer of cream cheese and be creative.  I've topped this with berries or reduced fat peanut butter and reduced sugar chocolate syrup.  This is going to have way more preservatives and artificial ingredients than the other 2 options since everything is "diet," but I've found that the graham cracker-cream cheese combination ends up being enough like a cheesecake type thing that it makes me happy if I'm craving a dessert.

I have a sweet tooth too, and have been counting calories for over 3 years now, and have lost 75 #.   (Though that is up a little bit right now).  I eat chocolate every day.  Either 2 dark chocolate hershey Kisses or a Jello sugar free dark chocolate pudding.  I consider this a lifestyle change, and no sweets in my life will not work, it only causes me to go off the deep-end and then nothing with sugar is safe.  Everything in moderation.  I personally like the kisses because they are in small portions.  I like them frozen so they take more effort to eat.

Lonestar, I find this works well too - portion size. It's psychological, but if I have a full chocolate bar, say a large 4-finger kit kat I feel satisfied. But if I have a snack-size Time Out (1/4 of the calories of a kit kat) I feel satisfied as I've still finished the whole bar that in the wrapper, rather than leaving half o the kit kat.

I also agree, I can't cut out chocolate, sweets and cakes entirely but I do reserve cakes and muffins for special occasions (the skinny Starbucks muffins have 400kcal! and regular around 650!) so I've worked out what are low-calorie options on treats and stick to those generally.

When I first started changing my eating habits back in May, I cut out extra sugars 100% for around two months.  No sweets, no treats.  Yeah, then I wanted to jump off a cliff.  I save anything rich for special occasions only, but I have some kind of small treat almost everyday.  The nice part is, since I cut out sugar for so long, sugar-free snacks tasted insanely rich to me.  I usually stick with sugar-free jello pudding (not the fat free, I've noticed fat free has 100cal while the sugar-free has 60cal), 100cal snack packs every once in awhile, sugar-free popsicles (I think the kind I've been getting are the fudge ones from Blue Bunny, they only have 45cal per popsicle and are super good). 

And there's always fruit, but I don't use fruit as a treat.  I usually eat 2 - 3 pieces of fruit throughout the day as it is, but sometimes if I'm really craving something sweet fruit will help settle that craving.  It all depends on what craving I'm having.  If I want chocolate, an orange isn't going to cut it.  But if it's just a generic sweet craving, fruit helps.

I found it too hard to cut the naughty things out completely. So I keep a 100g bar of 70% dark chocolate in my drawer and have 20g a day (105-120 cals depending on the brand). This was a tip from the food doctor. It has helped me LOADS! Also, before I would have eaten the whole bar at once, i have no self-control, but now because i'm so aware of saturated fat and calorie allowences I don't let myself - I can't! :)

I've found the Healthy Choice Fudge Bars (like a fudgesicle) are really good.  They are 100 calories, and taste nearly normal...plus it takes a while to eat it - and that really helps satisfy that craving.

Look for jams, jellies or preserves with Splenda, I find they are usually around 10 calories. I use them to flavor plain yogurt, oatmeal, use with Neufchatel Cheese  28grams=70 cal (14grams=35 cal).

I have Ghossains large whole wheat flat bread 1 sheet=28 calories, cut it down to 7 calories sometimes 14 smear that with the cheese and jam.It takes the edge off.   Not all flat breads rate the same, size and brand may change the calories-Ghossains small fb has more calories. Check labels. http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-neufch atel-cheese-i126451

Delicious Occasional Dessert Options

http://www.phillyswirl.com/products/products. cfm

 7 products, calories range 14 w/Splenda, 48, 57, 68, 88, 93, 160 w/sugar

* 1 product clearly cautions safety for peanut/tree nut allergy.

Excellent Treat Substitute: Look for the Sugar-free syrups,made with Splenda

Everything 0 -NON –ALCOHOLIC SYRUPS

 Da Vinci syrups from Seattle. http://www.davincigourmet.com/

* Torani Syrups, from South San Francisco, Ca.  http://www.torani.com/

Those made with Splenda are difficult to find locally at least in my area of Ohio-

I love Ohio though I miss the Bay. Locally -everything you could ever want.

Order this online-12 by the case, mix any flavors.

Estimate $ 83.40 + 11.95 + tax?= reasonable/expensive but a little goes along way   *at least for me...buy what I can’t here, buy what I want and need Sugar Free / Splenda!

The long and short of it-it is cheaper than purchasing locally if luckily enough I find it. The only grocer locally to carry the Torani, no one has Da Vinci since Sam’s Club stopped carrying it; infrequently carries the product, always in smaller bottles with sugar and charges more with less variety.

>locally purchased bottle of Torani

Irish Cream 2tbls = 1 fl.oz

100 cal.,23 grams carbs & 23 grams sugar, sodium 0

375ml=12.7fl.oz for $7

versus

Irish Cream 2 tbs =1 fl oz

** Sugar Free made with Splenda

0 cal., 0 grams carbs & 0 grams sugar, sodium 15 mg

Order Online from Torani: the company website cost break down is :

750ml=25.4fl oz for $7.95  each 

3-Pack (3 x 750 ml bottle) $7.35 per bottle - SAVE $1.80 $22.05 

12-Pack (12 x 750 ml bottle) $6.95 per bottle - SAVE $12.00 $83.40

I enjoy hot water, 1/2 oz. Torani Irish Cream w/Splenda,

Land O Lakes half & half 2 tbls.=40 cal, add 1 scoop of Coco Pure =10cal.

For added body you can try, though I haven’t, top with cool whip regular 20 cal, 0 sodium,0 cholesterol; 1 sugar, 2 carbs, 1.5 fat

Coco Pure      http://www.newvitality.com/shop/coco-pure.asp x

Coco Pure was a gift and I use it as a chocolate replacement treat.

NO SUGAR sweetened with-Xylitol, Stevia.

Pure Cocoa powder, Green Tea extract, Oat Beta Glucan, Resveratrol, Quercetin

The company recommends a daily amount for health reasons.

 I don’t-for me-cost prohibitive.

1-2 scoops a week is satisfying this chocoholic-ok, I would love more though I have will power....sometimes.

When I married three people gave gifts related to the Hippo-In Case Of Emergency- Administer Chocolate, these people did not know each other, but they knew me !!! for my husband’s sake....administer chocolate

YES, I am a chocolate addict!

I am happiest when eating chocolate and now I am down less than a whole bar a month if that!! Happy but...miss chocolate

Months go by...oh the humanity, no one would believe it, I don’t believe it!

I have chocolate in my veins, I bleed chocolate-used to

 I cannot drink coffee – triglycerides spike,no soda but I have substitutes for soda 30 plus years ( when I can find it )Torani, I usually do not drink alcohol-maybe once or twice a year so the Torani SF Irish Cream is wonderfulmmmmm.

 hope this helps...sorry for the looong post, yes, I edited