Give up SWEETS!!!

Help!!!! I'm really trying to do well but I cant seem to give up sweets. I dont really eat much but I eat the wrong things. Even my husband says if I could just give up the sweets I would loose weight. I love chocolate candy bars, cookies, brownies, muffins, and cakes. Basically chocolate and sugar coated carbs! I need to know what has worked for others to wean themselves off sweets and what foods are best to substitute them and satisfy my sweet tooth. Also the same goes for juice and soda. I've tried Crystal Lite and its good but I get tired of it after awhile. I dont like water or milk. Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

yes--don't have any of those things in your house!!! Have your husband (or a good girlfriend) keep you accountable for not buying that stuff (--maybe have your husband see your grocery receipts or something) and then write out the pros and cons of giving up the stuff. I think you'll find the list on cons might not be as long you'd think ;) Good luck!!

same here- i dont buy them! my sister and friend who i live with do sometimes, but alot of the time im at work when theyre eating them or am strong and say no thanks. A little while ago i was in asda and had the worst craving, so i gave in and ate 2 cream cakes! 60 grams of fat!!!!!!!!!!! but  i was super good from then and still lost a pound that week

The only way I can handle a strong craving is to give in to it - sort of.  I go ahead and order the rich dessert, or buy a piece of candy, then have three bites and leave the rest.  Yes, I do throw away a 1/3 eaten candy bar, and yes, I do send back a plate with only three bites taken out of it.  It took me a long time not to see this as wasteful.  I have bought Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and cut them in half, wrapping the remainder in foil for the next time.

Also, I've gone to a lot of trouble to find satisfying alternatives.  The best one for me is Jello fat free, sugar free chocolate fudge pudding.  It's instant and the chocolate fudge flavor is very dark and rich.  I make it with skim milk, so a half cup serving is a half a serving of milk too.  Sometimes fruit will satisfy the sweet craving.

don't buy them!! i don't keep any sweets around, except for naturally sweet things like fruits like pinapple and strawberries and kiwi. Instead i munch on dates or figs or nuts--they seem to curb the cravings, and they aren't as 'empty' as processed sweets. also, if it's night and i'm looking for something warm and sweet, a heated glass of skim milk with honey is awesome. oh, and peanut butter helps too somehow--the natural, only salt-and-peanuts kind. dunno why, but whenever i get a sweet craving, a spoonful of peanut butter will set me straight. good luck!

I'm with claire on this (I usually am, she has lots of good advice)... give in to your craving, but a very small bite... I like Hersheys Kisses for that Reason... you get a small taste of chocolate, and you don't go overboard.

Also, alternatives like sugar-free jello and skinny cow ice cream are GREAT ideas.

Have your husband keep you accountable. Maybe have him hide the sweets and be your.. er.. hook-up! ;D

Gosh, I eat something sweet every day! I would feel .... deprived, I suppose... if I gave up sweets entirely. Not to say I think it's a bad idea to do so, mind you, but it would take way more than trying to lose weight to get me to do so.

So I use the 100 calorie packs of Chips Ahoy, have a little dark chocolate on occasion, get the Nutz Over Chocolate Luna bars, buy the little pudding snacks (not the light ones, the regular ones). A serving of Kozy Shack butterscotch pudding (the little individual servings) is 60 calories. I don't buy things that might tempt me to scarf up the entire package in one sitting. (There is no Ben and Jerry's Phish Food on my shopping list!)

We have the BEST chocolate chocolate chip muffins at work! I used to get one three mornings a week. I still eat them, but only once every two weeks. (I started out with cutting down to once a week.) Will I ever give them up entirely? Probably not, but once or twice a month is MUCH better than three times a week every week, and I plan for them now and incorporate them into my calorie counting.

aprilo98, how about logging what you normally eat over the course of a week and then looking to see what ONE thing you could drop or have less often or substitute a more healthful something for? Might that work for you?

What works for me is not buying it. I'm at the point, though, where I have a bag of uneaten chocolate chips in my pantry. I used them for what they needed to be used for (cookies for a friend), put them back, and haven't touched 'em since.

And that ice cream in the freezer? Yeah, my favorite flavor? Don't need it.

I thought indulging in the craving, just a little bit, would help to subside it, but I found quite the opposite. I find if I eat a sweet treat, I just want more. :-\ It's a "trigger food" for me. Typically I eat something else that satisfies that craving. And generally when I'm "craving" it, I'm just hungry. So I just need to eat healthier foods.

It's been nothing but "A" days for me! Have you tried eating dates to satiate the sweets craving? Strawberries?

Try eating just a little bit and see if your craving goes away. I keep the Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips on hand, but I just can't eat 'em, otherwise I want more.

A better way for me is to "cheat" once every few weeks. Get that damn candy bar -- my favorite is Take 5 -- and eat the whole thing. Lick your fingers and say, "Wow, I needed that." I find I appreciate sweets more when they come around less often, and my palate has started to evolve to different and HEALTHIER tastes.

:)

Liz

Thank you all!!!!!! I've been trying to eat a lot of fruits and veggies. I also have discovered that the 100 calorie packs work well for me. I've already been eating the single serving puddings and jello but I'm going to have to try out the dates, nuts, skinny cow and a few other things. I'm like Liz, if I indulge in the craving I just want more so the alternate options will really help. I really think I can do this though. The biggest thing I need to do is substitute all the bad foods for the healthier choice and that's not sounding like its going to be hard to do.  All the suggestions and food ideas are very helpful. Thanks A LOT!

April

I don't think you should give up sweets all together... Just opt for healthier alternatives Lower calorie options and work it into your daily calorie allotment.  I had fresh rasberry shortcake with light whipped cream yesterday.  It was only 150 calories..those little sponge cakes are only 100 calories a piece..to cut back even more calories skipping the little sponge cake makes it only a 50 calorie treat..  I still eat dark chocolate on occasion too.  Good luck... I feel for you... cutting back on sweets was the hardest thing for me. 

I agree with what a lot of others had said. Ask your husband to make sure you don't go in for the baked goods or candy. I know I'm still struggling with losing the sweets.

My best advice to crave a sweet tooth (like myself) or a craving is eat something really sour, that will surprise your taste buds. My suggestions mixed frozen berries, very sour and low in calories (60 calories a cup)

I've posted a lot of really great information and tips in this thread:

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/8532 .html

Fresh fruit is your best bet. My husband or I would bake a cake every 3 days or so. I just got my taste buds in the habit of expecting sweets every day. Since I've been counting calories, I realized that most of my eating is due to habit & not that I don't "like" the taste of good food. I'm just not used to eating it.

Not anymore! I haven't had sweets since 6/21. Anytime I want something sweet, I mix up a fruit salad. If I want to "splurge", I sprinkle 1tsp of confectioners sugar on it. It really goes a long way! Plus, I've gotten hubby into the habit as well. The best way to avoid temptation is to only have healthy fruit on hand. :)

Good luck & just remember it's more a matter of training your body & taste buds to want something different. After a bit, it'll be second nature!

I went cold turkey. I was crusty for about a week, then mildly cranky the next. After that, I was fine. I don't even crave sweets so much any more.

I have a candy bar in my cupboard that I've had for three months. I still haven't eaten it, in fact I keep forgetting I have it. lol

Anytime I think about having to GIVE UP something...I freak out. So I don't think of it as giving it up but limiting the amount that I consume.  For instance, I LOVE McDonalds,well and SALT. I used to go every week to McDonalds.  I started by limiting myself to once a week, then once every two weeks, etc. and it really helped me.

If you are eating sweets daily, weekly or whatever try to put more time between when you have it. 

Good luck....cravings really bit.  (HUG)

I go with the Skinny Cow ice cream and the fat free chocolate pudding too, but the one thing that has really worked well for me is the SLIMFAST powder mixed with skim milk, it's got a really good chocolate flavor and its loaded with lots of good stuff as well... you can even make milk shakes with it using some frozen skim milk, delish!

All these posts make a lot of since, but here's my two cents:  Sugar cravings are probably as strong as any addiction to most anything else.  To me, I view it as a war.  One has to win this war if one is to lose weight.  As a previous poster says, after two weeks of cold turkey, your sugar urges will be gone, and really after a few days the cravings won't be quite as strong.

So rid yourself of all temptations!  Literally, clean out the fridge and pantry.  Don't rationize and tell yourself you'll start after you've eaten everything, DO IT NOW!  If there are others in the house, they can do without for a while to help you out.  It's not like you're asking them to fast...just do without sweets for a while!

As with any addiction, even after two weeks it is going to be a constant battle, but if you stay in control you can win.  In other words, look at intermittant "give ins" as just that: it's not devastating to eat sweets every now and then, but a steady diet of sweets IS devestating.  So after two weeks, bend but don't break.  AND JUST KEEP IT OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!

april098~I have read your other post I know you don't care for milk.  Is chocolate milk included?  If not, I have gotten cravings under control by having a small low-fat chocolate milk...sweet and chocolately goodness. ;) 

I am not much on sweets or junk food but some times I love a yummie donut or chocolate bar...especially Snickers! Have you tried the almond ones...sooo freaking good...anyhow sorry...Don't beleve your husband. You can have your donut, chocolate bars whatever...but like people say all the time on C-C .."IN MODERATION".  Typically what I do is leave room for "junk food" (i.e. a snickers bar - no king size) on the days I work out/excerise.  I tend to over indulge on days when I don't excerise which messes up my whole calorie intake.  So I only eat Junk food (if I choose to) on days I excerise.  Usually, when I workout my total calories burned for that day is about 2500-3000, which give me more than enough room to have a chocolate bar and/or desert.  Plus I find when I work out, I don't crave as much junk food, so I tend not to over indulge.  This system seem to work for me.  I found if I remove junk food complete, I will eventually break down and binge-out! So for me it's better when I give alittle than to cut off completely. 

Hope this helps.

When I crave, I've been eating rice cakes...the chocolate crunch kind, and true there is a little bit of real (i think) chocolate, but each cake is only 60 cals, 1 g of fat, and 1 g of sugar. It helps with cravings, and i've used the white cheddar flavor to stop eating cheese too.

There have been so many good suggestions and ideas. Everyone on this site is soooo helpful!!!!!

I dont plan to give up sweet completely just substitute my choices for something better and not eat them EVERYDAY. I dont like milk by itself chocolate milk is good though so I'll have to try the powdered Slim Fast shakes. I think, like everyone is saying, that if I can go without for awhile I wont crave them as much anymore. I started using the food log daily and just now realized how many sweets I eat daily. It was a lot more then I thought so got rid of all the sweets and hopefully will be able to control my eating better now that I will see it in black & white. Hopefully I'll be able to give an update in a couple of weeks saying that I've been able to cut back and the craving are about gone. Wish me luck and keep the ideas coming!

April