I looovvve sweets! Help!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Definitely get some "medicinal chocolate"- the strong kind they sell in gourmet bars nowadays that says it is at least 75% cacao. This stuff is STRONG. If you eat one or two little squares, you will feel like your sweets cravings are suddenly totally satisfied. Try it instead of a bunch of fatty cookies!

[chickwhorips]

i am fighting with the same problem. since i moved up here i've put on a couple of pounds and my body looks completely different (yes part of that has to do with the fact that i now own a mtb and i run) but i have that same sweet tooth.

i also have to fight with a bf that can eat anything. i sometimes (most of the time) see it as unfair that he can eat anything he wants including 2 twix a day and not gain anything.

i am coming to the conclusion that my body is happy at the weight that it is, i haven't gone far away from this weight in a long long time. also, i've been trying to enjoy a small sweet now and again, not again now. its helping, but its that first week you have to get though that tough time. its not easy. i'm here for ya if you need someone to work though it with.

[Dogmama]

I've been told over & over that if you quit entirely, eventually you will not have a craving for sugar. I did quit awhile back and found it to be true. But, then the afternoon slump at work - somebody p*ssed me off - I'll "just have one" - and I was off to the races again.

I really feel like crap when I'm eating sugar. So, I'll be interested in seeing what others have done. I suppose I'm looking at cold turkey again...sigh...

[mlove]

If it is any consolation, I eat chocolate every day. I am 5'2" and weigh 140 pounds. That said, I wear sizes 6 and 8, down from size 16 (I used to be much heavier). Even though my weight is higher than the chart recommends, all the exercise--biking, running, gym workouts--have made all the difference and I feel good and am much healthier. I do eat really good, expensive chocolate, which is much more satisfying. My DH is happy eating generic semi-Oreo type cookies and other sweet stuff that I don't like. So there is no extra temptation. If you stay fit, your weight shouldn't be a problem.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Have you tried buying a sweet where one piece satisfies you? I'm with Grog & Lisa on this one - I find that a small piece of good quality dark chocolate is enough to give me my chocolate fix. If I have a lesser quality chocolate I could eat the whole box - but quality stops me at one piece. My current favorite is Hershey's Extra Dark (which I discovered after finding that the Cadbury Premium Dark Burnt Almond that I fell in love with in Canada isn't available in the states), with Dove a second choice. (Oh, and I do mean one piece not a whole bar! The Hershey's & Dove chocolates that I both mentioned come in bite-sized bars / pieces).

If I find that there is something (in the sweet family) that I can't stop eating - I don't buy it.

--- Denise

[RoadRaven]

To satisfy the sugar craving - how about dried fruit and fresh fruit??

Still sugary, but more filling and satisfying (both physically and psychologically)

[Offthegrid]

Sorry I'm coming in on this one kinda late. I got serious last month about trying to lose weight again. I track every single calorie that goes into my mouth.

I used to binge on cookies -- and not just 3 or 4 but the entire box at once, so you know I had it bad. But I haven't had a single cookie or donut since sometime in September, I think. My cravings for them are MUCH, MUCH less. I do have Ghiradelli squares (one) once in a while, but they aren't as sweet, so it's much tougher to binge on them. Oh, and I drink chocolate soy milk pretty often, too.

I'm not swearing off sweets forever. In fact I don't even tell myself I can't have them. But if I know for the 200 calories in ONE cookie I could have an entire bowl of oatmeal; or a chicken breast; or a small baked potato, it makes me think really hard about my food choices.

If you can get through 3-4 weeks without, I think you'll find your cravings much less.