Why Do We Want Sweets/Cakes/Icecream/Chocolate???

Why do some people want all this sweet food? I am one of those people . When i start eating chocolate i cant stop and i eat tooooo much of it . But some people dont want it . They can live without any cakes or chocolate . I want to be one of them . But how ? Why my body needs all this sugar ? Why do i want it ?

 I have heard about pills for not wanting any sweet food,and if you take them daily you just dont want it . Has anyone tried that kind of pills? Do they help?

If you like sugary foods chances are you'll always like them.... no real getting away from that.  However, there are some things you can do to make your sweet tooth more manageable.

• Deliberately avoid all sugary and artifically sweetened food for as long as possible....  Taste-buds become 'sugar tolerant' meaning their owner needs sweeter and sweeter foods in order to be able to taste them.  By avoiding sweet foods for sufficient time your taste-buds will normalise and sweet foods will start to taste 'over-sweet'.  If you can go 3 days without sugar... then 5.... then a week... the longer you stretch it out the more chance your tastebuds have to readjust.   
• Identify bad habits and find alternatives.  If there are particular situations that you associate with cakes, biscuits etc., work out a non-sweet substitute to enjoy instead. 
• Eat plenty and eat regularly..... Don't try to combat a sweet tooth and go on a diet at the same time.   When energy levels dip because you're reducing calories or skipping meals, sugary foods are instantly appealing. 
• Swap the refined starches and other processed foods in your diet for more wholefoods.  e.g. swap white rice for brown rice.  This means that your blood-sugars become more stable which, in turn, means that your body requires less sugar to cope with the lows.  Better nutrition means you need less to eat... sugar included.
• Avoid alcohol.  Alcohol is converted sugar and won't help sugar cravings.
• Train yourself to enjoy small amounts of richly sweet foods and savour them slowly.   Don't buy 10" diameter cakes or 1lb bags of toffees and expect to be able to eat a tiny piece and put the rest away..... ain't going to happen.  Instead buy one very expensive beautifully wrapped chocolate truffle enjoy it wholeheartedly but leave it at that..
• Chromium supplements.  Some people say that extra chromium in the diet helps with sugar cravings.  May be true, may be bunkum... can't hurt to try.

When i was on a diet for 6-7 weeks,i didnt eat any sweet food at all,because i knew if i have just one , i will want more . So i stayed away from them . But after those 6-7 weeks i felt like i was straving for sugar , i felt like i needed it . So i ate a lot of it,and i gained more than half of what i lost in those 6-7 weeks . And i want it every day . So all weight i lost , will be  all back very soon . I still eat healthy all day,but in the evening i "NEED" sugars .

Chromium supplements are the pills i was asking about, i will have to get them and hope they will make a differeence .

I'm so disappointed in myself,lost weight , and now gaining it all back .And all because i cant stay away from sugars . I knew i would gain some of it back,but didnt think it would be so fast ... Feel like those 7 weeks were for nothing .

everything in moderation. you can enjoy a little something sweet a day if you'd like as long as it fits into your day calorie wise.. ex- a piece of dark chocolate, a scoop of low fat ice cream, sugar free jello w/ ff whipped cream, fruit, etc..  if you deprive yourself of anything eventually it will backfire (well at least in my experience)

On May 13th you  posted that you were 5'6" and  9st 8lbs (134lbs).  May 25th you posted that you are 5'7" and 9st 4lbs (130lbs).   A healthy weight for someone 5'6" is 126 - 154lbs.   5'7" it's a little higher. 

I think your real problem is that you're trying to force your body to be an unnaturally low weight (to fit into size 8 jeans) and the only way you can acheive it is through severe calorie restriction (1000 - 1200 cals you mentioned once).....  A body subjected to that kind of punishment is not a happy or a healthy body.  Deprived of energy for 7 weeks it will send its owner off to look for some badly-needed energy i.e. sugar.  That's a totally predictable outcome... why you'd be surprised or disappointed I have no idea. 

Be happy with the body you've got and look after it a bit better.  Then it'll last you a lifetime.

Inches are confusing for me cos i'm from eastern europe , when i said i was 5'6" i used converter on my phone , when i posted that i was 5'7" i used bmi calculator online . I am 170 cm tall . And in inches it must be somewhere between 5'6" - 5'7" .

Yes, wanted to fit in size 8 jeans,and i can now,but not sure if for long   Size 8 because i like how i look - not too big and not too skiny . I look great .

1000 - 1200 calorie diet lasted only for 2 weeks , and it was before i found out that it was unhealthy , before i registered with CC . Most  diet magazine diets tell you to eat 1000 calories a day,so when i was told by one of CC members that it was unhealthy and to lose weight i need to eat more calories , thats what i done : started eat more calories . You dont know these things until you are told . Now i know it and i will never go on a 1000 calorie diet again . YOU NEVER MADE A MISTAKE & LEARNED FROM IT ?????????????????? WELL , CONGRATULATIONS THEN,I THINK YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE ON THIS PLANET .

why you'd be surprised or disappointed I have no idea. --> after 2nd week (for 5 weeks) i was eating healthy food and eating enough calories , like CC and CC members recomended , and when i reached my goal (size 8) i continued to eat healthily . I still eat healthy food every single day,but the problem i got is SUGAR CRAVINGS .  So of course i am disappointed with myself after eating healthily all day and then in the evening eating lots of chocolate , and i cant help it ! WHO WOULDNT BE DISSAPOINTED ??????????????

Be happy with the body you've got and look after it a bit better. --> I am happy with the body i've got ! And that was the idea for this post !!!! To keep it healthy by stopping eating all the sugars ! I cant stop eating sugars , my body needs it ! And i posted this question so people who got the same problem or who understands a bit more about it ( knows the real reason for sugar cravings) could help me or share their story & how they dealt with it.

I happened across a book review on TV yesterday. It's The End to Overeating by David Kessler. I have a copy on hold at the library. Anyway, he talks of the Unholy Trinity of sugar, fat, and salt and how we are wired to crave these things. Also, the more taboo we make them, the more their reward factor goes up. He was vague about how to break the cycle in the review but since he headed the FDA through 2 administrations, he may have something worthwhile to say. So much of the nutritional advice given in diet books is quackery and peddling, I'm hoping his book is based more on science and common sense.

I understand GI-Jane's frustration since so many people come on here and, whether they mean to or not, promote unhealthy lifestyles by being blind to the mistakes they are making by dieting dangerously.

I'm glad you wised up. I did too. Strangely, my weight loss was given a shot in the arm by by RAISING my calories-whodathunk? But, I never would have done that if I hadn't come here. I agree that you likely don't need to lose any weight but are now faced with maintaining. Hopefully, you can find answers for your sugar cravings.

I just want to put my own in put on this. If you ween yourself off of sweets it works well. Like I used to love my coffee or tea with 3-5 sugars in them, well now Im good with 1-2 depending on oz's. Everytime I got a coffee Id ask for 1 less sugar than b4. I love chocolate also, so with that I switched to dark and everytime I get dark chocolate I always get it with a higher percentage of cocao (sp) I think the darkest I can go is like 60-65% depending on the brand.

I totally second what gem86 has written. I have a HUGE sweet tooth, and I still eat dessert/sweets from time to time but I have managed to wean myself off of the daily sugar habit. e.g i used to love my tea, coffee, oatmeal with sugar-gradually over a period of a month I stopped adding sugar to it and now I cant stand added sugar in them. Similarly I started eating less sugary cereals- kashi go lean, non frosted shredded wheat and now I dont like sugary cereals at all. I wont even go the Splenda route since that'll just make me crave for more sweet stuff.

I figured since I"m covered here, I can still safely indulge in lots of fruit and the occasional icecream/cake/cookie craving. But now it takes me lot less of it to get satisfied since I can't eat very sweet stuff anymore. Another trick- I keep a few werther's hard candy in my desk- if i'm having a sweet craving i'll just suck on it rather than raid the office pantry for candy! Hope this helps.

You and I probably have different tastes, but I'd like to offer my opinion to you.  Try using fruit for your sweets cravings.   Strawberries are the awsomest little fruit out there...they're sweet and comparatively low-cal....you can go overboard on them and not go over 1000 calories.  You might try melting some chocolate (I think 70+% cocoa is the healthiest kind) and dip strawberries in it.  You'll get your chocolate fix, plus extra sweetness AND FIBER!!

Use fruits as your sweetening agents and you can still have cakes/cookies/chocolate --IN MODERATION.

Me personally I've never been able to stand whipped cream, rich frosting/the 3/8" layers of frosting on store-bought cakes, marshmallow or vanilla ice cream.  Blech! Too sweet.

Well done to all of you who gave it up !

I  gave up sugar many many years ago (adding to tea or coffee) And i dont miss it . And it was very simple,i just stopped putting it in my coffee.And when someone adds sugar in my coffee without knowing that i dont want it, it tastes really bad to me now. But with cakes,icecream and all other sugary food its not that simple for me . I can stay away from them for a while (couple months) , but after that i feel like i am starving for it . And then i eat a lot of it,usually in the evenings .

I been eating a lot of fruit today to see if that would make difference,i eat fruit everyday anyway(2-3 portions),but today i ate much more of it(5-6),and i'm ok for now . Usually at this time i start eating all the sugary food,so i think maybe eating more fruit could be the answer to my craving problem.But its only my first day and still early evenng,so i think its too early to say.

Original Post by tomatotomata:

I happened across a book review on TV yesterday. It's The End to Overeating by David Kessler. I have a copy on hold at the library. Anyway, he talks of the Unholy Trinity of sugar, fat, and salt and how we are wired to crave these things. Also, the more taboo we make them, the more their reward factor goes up. He was vague about how to break the cycle in the review but since he headed the FDA through 2 administrations, he may have something worthwhile to say. So much of the nutritional advice given in diet books is quackery and peddling, I'm hoping his book is based more on science and common sense.

This is a pretty interesting book - no magical answers, obviously, but a lot of interesting information. However, at the end, he seems to advocate giving up certain things pretty much cold turkey, which I don't necessarily agree with.  Not to say that can't be helpful for some, but I find it doesn't work too well for me - I need something to look forward to!

I've always had a major sweet tooth but I seem to have it much more under control now.  I'm eating more fruit, counting everything I eat (I know if I leave one thing off, I'll be tempted to leave others off and overindulge), and then I keep individually wrapped miniature dark chocolates in the freezer and have a couple each day.  Tracking everything means you can look at your nutritional analysis and see how much sugar you're consuming - I was eating 2-3 times the recommended amount, easily!  The dark chocolates (I like Dove) are quite rich, and keeping them in the freezer means that I have about 15 minutes to think about eating them before I eat them...frozen chocolates are not very rewarding, so I don't scarf them. I also try to focus more now on really enjoying the calories I do eat...I'm "saving" them for something I really want (like my birthday ice cream cake, or the big meal out over the weekend) rather than using them up willy nilly.  I also just don't buy the other stuff, and so far I've been able to resist it at work and out with friends & family.

My personal opinion (based on research) is that some people get addicted to it.  I know that was my case.  I felt completely out of control around sugar.  I finally gave it up a year and a half ago.  GIVE IT UP????  Yep.  For me moderation is a joke when it comes to cakes, candy, cookies, ect.  I accepted I was an addict and treat it as such.  I've never felt or looked better.  Seriously it has changed my life.  If you are interested I wrote a post on my blog about some of the things I do to avoid having a sugar binge.   Maybe it will be helpful.  I've sort of become an anti-sugar warrior the last year!  Some other good books are Sugar Blues and The Sugar Addicts Total Recovery Guide.

My 2nd day without any chocolate or cakes ! And i dont want it ! I think eating banana and grapes helped me, I didnt eat bananas and grapes before because they are high in sugar , but now that i do eat them,i probably get enough "natural sugars" from them and i dont want any chocolate .

But is it really that simple ? I just cant believe it !? I used to eat so much of all this sugary food in the evenings and now i dont want it !?

I enjoy reading all the suggestions about eating sweets. I also struggle with sweet and a matter of fact I ate this morning 7 oreo cookies plus my breakfast which was 4oz cottage cheese, 1 toast with butter, peanut butter, and jelly on it and I feel I ate all my calories before 7:15 am this morning.  Any suggestions that can break me from this sugar addiction, please let me know.   Terri

A big part of breaking the habit (let's not over-dramatise with words like 'addiction') is simply not having those foods around.  I couldn't eat 7 oreo cookies for breakfast because I don't have oreo cookies in my house.   Maybe start there..... if you don't buy it, if it's not there, you can't eat it.

Hi Terri,

i agree with gi-jane that if you dont have any cookies or anything like that at home - you wont eat them . Thats if you live on your own . But if you got more people living in your house who eat that sort of food,then its a different story.Its hard not eat when you see someone else eating it ...

Eating bananas and grapes helped me to stop . I eat bar of kit-kat sometimes (once a week) but not 10-15 a day like i used to  lol . Just try it,see if it will help you . Or buy chromium supplements . I got it but never used it,cos bananas and grapes helped me with sugar cravings. Just try both,you got nothing to lose :)

 Good luck ;-)