Sugar blues

[Dogmama]

I thought this might be topical with the holidays fast approaching

As I get older, I find that I'm much less tolerant of substances that might have mood altering affects. Sugar is one such animal, but I find that I crave it - to the point that I'll completely forget what it does to my body. After the brief high, I get a huge crash and then suffer through crankiness that is proportional to the amount of sugar (almost always chocolate..sigh) that I've ingested. Simple carbs do the same thing but not as dramatically as chocolate. I'm also becoming intolerant of gluten (irritable bowel) but that's another story.

Does anybody else have this? How do you get through the cravings? Yesterday at the grocery store, I put a small chocolate bar in my cart & was eating it on the way home having totally forgotten what it does to me! It was when I felt the sugar rush that I realized what I'd done.

[Selkie]

I find that the Luna bars with chocolate in them satisfy my need for a chocolate fix. Fortunately, they have protein and other things in them so I don't crash. Can you handle milk? A nice cup of hot chocolate is my recovery fuel after a hard ride---it also is a good way to satisfy craving for something sweet.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I use Luna Bars when I'm riding, but as an off-the-bike chocolate fix they just don't work for me. Instead I keep a bag of Dove chocolate (pieces). I find that eating just one piece satisfies my chocolate cravings and keeps me from rummaging through too many calories worth of other useless snacks. According to the "nutritional" information, the dark chocolate Dove pieces that I like are 210 calories for 5 pieces, which pegs my 1-piece treat at 42 calories. Not too bad... and Dogmama, maybe something like this can satisfy your craving but have less of a sugar-effect on your body.

Oh, and I've found that just any chocolate won't work - trying the same thing with something like Hershey's kisses doesn't satisfy me. I need decent quality dark chocolate (yes, you're right, I am fussy!).

--- Denise

[newfsmith]

Some people can be virtuous like Denise, and unfortunately for me, also my husband. It doesn't matter what the quality of the "kick", this time of year if I yield to the slightest temptation, I will binge. I'm already at my winter weight for this year. I didn't get there until January last winter. This will be a long, difficult winter for me, regardless of the weather.

[Trek420]

Luna bars~I don't favor the chocolate ones, they just feel too sweet. I like the more "savory" flavors, citrus, orange, green tea....on longer rides the Cliff bar chocolate mint is my "secret weapon", just enough caffeine to kick in and get me going.

But you're right, seems I don't crave sweets. I'll have coffee with chocolate soy milk or chocolate almond milk in the morning but I don't crave it much. I don't know if it's age realted or just that I'm tryng to do less simple carbs.

As for "mind altering substances" I never could handle alchohol, 1/4th of a glass of wine and I have a buzz. So I don't drink.

[Selkie]

Denise, your self-control is inspiring! I've tried to just have one dark chocolate Dove. TRIED. haha.

Trek-have you tried the Dulce de Leche, Peanutbutter Cookie and Chai Tea Luna bars? They are my new favorites (no chocolate in any of them, though).

[Surlygirl]

How can anyone eat just one dove chocolate? I tend to like the orange, key lime and lemonzest Luna bars. Haven't tried any of the new ones. Also for me an apple pie larabar with tea in the morning is a great way to start the day.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I guess I won't live that down... I'd love to eat the whole bag, but I don't want to deal with the consequences! I give myself permission to have one piece, and that works for me. Maybe it might work for you too...

There are a couple of sentences in Liz Applegate's Eat Smart Play Hard sports nutrition book that really hit home here. She says she's a certified chocohalic. She also says she failed at not eating chocolate. Her solution:

Now, I eat some choloate just about every day. My chocolate fix consists of chunks of dark chocolate dipped in peanut butter. I don't even try to make it low-fat or low-calorie. (Quote from page 132 of Eat Smart Play Hard)

She goes on to recommend that you

Decide what food you really love. Whatever it might be, don't deprive yourself; eat a controlled portion of this food every day.(Quote from page 133 of Eat Smart Play Hard)

and she also says that whatever it is, eat it slowly, and enjoy. And that approach works for me. Like I said before, eating a small portion of what I really crave keeps me from eating a lot of other things that probably add up to more calories than the treat I really want.

--- Denise

[pkq]

Is there any other kind? OK, there is milk chocolate in a pinch!

When I crave, I eat until I don't crave. Sometimes that's one piece and sometimes not. Of course, there is apple pie then apple pie a la mode, oh, and cookies, ice cream, and cheese cake, um, carrot cake, chocolate cake, oooo, chocolate cream pie, and so many other delicious treats.

I was born one big sweet tooth! I only have trouble if my blood sugar drops too low then it's the shakes time. But I don't eat as many sweets as I used to or desire to now. Metabolism slowed down too much when I hit 41. What a bummer!

[sarahkonamojo]

I'm on the Dove dark chocolate thing, but I'm not so good. I have 2 at a time. And I take tiny bites.

And then sometimes I can't resist the m and m's.

But at heart I am a salt aholic. I could kill myself with quality potato chips. Talk about feeling like s**t. But because I could I can't and haven't had a potato chip in a very long time.

The Dove promises are a nice substitute and much healthier, I think.

SKM

[Lise]

For those dark chocolate lovers, like me--have you tried Ghirardelli Bittersweet chocolate? It comes in a big bar, in the baking aisle. One scored section, snapped off in the pantry, and eaten while walking away, does me a world of good. I can't carry the whole big bar out of the pantry with me, cuz I'll keep eating it. I eat some chocolate just about every day. I'd probably lose at least 5# if I quit that, but maybe not. And I'd be unhappier!

I also adore this kind of sesame candy, where they make thin little sheets of sugar/honey just crammed with sesame seeds. In fact, I'm eating some right now! Seeds--good, right? Honey, oh, so natural! Health food! I live in Chicago, where there are a lot of Polish people, and a lot of Mexican people. I work in a clinic, caring for the Mexican people, and the Walgreens down the street carries the candy imported from Poland. Best of all worlds.

In one of the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore gives Harry chocolate to help him recover from a Dementor attack. So many things in life fall under that category, don't you agree?

[CorsairMac]

most of the time when we women are craving chocolate, what we're really craving is Magnesium. Especially if our hormones are doin their monthly dance! yippee skippee! You can always try adding/increasing your magnesium until the cravings die down. or.................

I keep dates in the house, when I'm craving sugar I eat some dates. They're a sweeter fruit and seem to satisfy the craving. Or I'll try PB and an apple or rice cakes. I know it doesn't sound like a good replacement for the sugar but - like you - I KNOW what will happen if I eat it so I'm trying to find something to "eat" that will help me get through it.

On the days I just can't stand it anymore and I'm basically in a "screw the world I'm gonna just eat chocolate Anyway" I've found a chocolate fugde at my local health food store that is fruit-juice sweetened. It's a very deep, rich, dark chocolate fudge that I pretty much just eat right out of the jar! Because they use fruit juice (I think grape...has no "taste" but it does sweeten the chocolate) I don't have the sugar highs/lows/migraines I would get with normal chocolate.

http://waxorchards.com/fudge.htm

(I've been getting the Oh, Fudge! one but I've had some of the others!)

[DirtDiva]

*sigh* Only the Americans would think to put fudge in a jar...

[Lise]

I've found a chocolate fugde at my local health food store that is fruit-juice sweetened. It's a very deep, rich, dark chocolate fudge that I pretty much just eat right out of the jar! Because they use fruit juice (I think grape...has no "taste" but it does sweeten the chocolate) I don't have the sugar highs/lows/migraines I would get with normal chocolate.

My mom is 69 years old (she'll be 70 this month, but she'd kill me if I advanced her age even 16 days!). She's been an avid bicyclist since age 55 or so. (In my family we experience adult-onset athleticism) She adores fudge. She was diagnosed diabetic 2+ years ago, and is just this year really getting a handle on it. Denial is tough. She got motivated to stop sneaking sweets and start checking her blood sugar when she got so ill that she couldn't ride her bike any more. Now she's working with a doc and RN that she really likes, and feeling so much better.

She won't be able to eat much of this fudge at a time, but boy, oh, boy will she be tickled when I bring her some. Thanks, CM, for the link--turns out they sell it at the Whole Foods in my neighborhood!

Did I mention Mom's birthday is in 16 days?! Plus, I think a jar for my own fridge. You're right, tlkiwi, it's not really the same as fudge candy--it's more like a thick fudge sauce.

One more note about chocolate--I just made mole for the first time (mole-ay). It's a Mexican sauce made with dark chocolate, raisins, chipoltle peppers, and so on. You eat it with chicken and tortillas. I need to tweak it a bit yet, but it is yum. A recipe from an exercise mag, so low fat (probably why it's not as delicious as I've had in restaurants).

Hmmm, long ride tomorrow to work off the chocolate!

L.

[RoadRaven]

*sigh* Only the Americans would think to put fudge in a jar...

*nods head enthusiatically yet increduously in complete understanding...*