Why is it so hard to kick the sugar!

K

KC5689

Cathlete
Hi Cathe,
I know that you are not a nutritionist but I wanted your thoughts on this. I've tried in the past to stop eating sweets. I love cakes and cookies. Before, I've gone a month w/out eating any to see if my cravings would lessen but I still craved them. When I started eating them again I couldn't tolerate really sweet things but I still wanted sweets!
Why is it so hard to stop craving them? Do you ever not crave these things? I don't come from a healthy eating family so I grew up on sweets and fried foods and now in my adult life I'm trying to eat more healthy but sometimes I feel that cake will be my downfall.
Trina
 
KC5689 said:
Hi Cathe,
I know that you are not a nutritionist but I wanted your thoughts on this. I've tried in the past to stop eating sweets. I love cakes and cookies. Before, I've gone a month w/out eating any to see if my cravings would lessen but I still craved them. When I started eating them again I couldn't tolerate really sweet things but I still wanted sweets!
Why is it so hard to stop craving them? Do you ever not crave these things? I don't come from a healthy eating family so I grew up on sweets and fried foods and now in my adult life I'm trying to eat more healthy but sometimes I feel that cake will be my downfall.
Trina
Click to expand...


Not Cathe here.
Just wanted to say I totally know where you're coming from. I have a terrible sweet tooth and my family didn't eat the healthiest either.

There's been a lot in the news about HFCS. I'm thinking just because I cut out candy and desserts that's not enough.
I've started looking at labels on the foods that I've been eating and that HFCS has been sneaking in. For example I like some extra crunch on my salad so I've been putting 3 Keebler club crackers on my salad. I looked at the label and sure enough right there HFCS.
I just looked at my brownberry bread and again HFCS.
It's in things like ketchup.
Food manufacturers are sneaking it in everywhere and to a sweetaholic like myself that's probably enough to keep me hooked.
I think it's a conspiracy. "They" want to keep us fat, unhealthy and miserable so we are sick and have to generate money for the drug companies and medical profession. Then in turen the government can creat new laws to tax us and up our insurance rates because we're fat, sick, unhealthy. It's a vicious circle I tell ya.

Anyway I'll get off my soapbox.
I'm curious to see what others suggest.:D
 
Hi Trina - just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in...

I love sweets too, but the less I eat them, the less they taste so good. Like you hinted to, they taste too sweet if you haven't had them for a while. I find now that my taste for sweets has changed. I still want something sweet, but it may be an apple or a good, dark chocolate (still sweet, but not nearly as sweet and also good for you in moderation). Sometimes I just want a cookie, or ice cream. I just make smart choices and make sure I really want it before eating it. I don't think that completely cutting out something you love is a good thing. If you like cake, make it yourself so it isn't so rich. I use applesauce in place of oil/butter and it still tastes very good. I can't tell a difference. Cake freezes well so make the little cupcakes and freeze them. When you want cake, thaw one out and enjoy it. Life is too short to give up the good stuff. Just find a way to make it good for you, and keep it in moderation. Go slowly. Changing a lifetime of eating habits won't happen overnight. As you eat more healthy, you will find that you feel better and will like that feeling. The bad stuff won't even taste as good anymore. Good luck!
 
Everything in Moderation

KC5689 said:
Hi Cathe,
I know that you are not a nutritionist but I wanted your thoughts on this. I've tried in the past to stop eating sweets. I love cakes and cookies. Before, I've gone a month w/out eating any to see if my cravings would lessen but I still craved them. When I started eating them again I couldn't tolerate really sweet things but I still wanted sweets!
Why is it so hard to stop craving them? Do you ever not crave these things? I don't come from a healthy eating family so I grew up on sweets and fried foods and now in my adult life I'm trying to eat more healthy but sometimes I feel that cake will be my downfall.
Trina
Click to expand...

Hi Trina! After the roadtrip I'm not so sure this is a secret anymore ;) but I love sugar too. I also didn't grow up in a health conscious household. German food is all about fried wursts, potatoe based pasta, and sodium starch based brown gravy...egads! But I have to honestly say that for me personally I have discovered that "everything in moderation" is a very wise rule to live by. If you overindulge one or two days, pull back the reigns for a couple of days and eat very healthy to get back on track. Likewise, if you have been super strict for quite a while and find yourself craving sugar, then go ahead and give into the craving just enough to satisfy it. You don't have to go nuts. And if you do, then as mentioned above cut back for a day or two and get back on track. I find the more I say "I can't" the more my mind won't stop saying "I want". When I take the pressure off and give in a little, everyone is happy and best of all, my pants still fit :D So I say "everything in moderation".

Good Luck!
 
Trina, I don't know how old you are, but I wanted to share my own experience - I too come from a family not exactly overburdened with healthy eating or exercise habits, and I used to have a sweet tooth that was probably more like a fang. I have noticed, however, that over the past 10-15 years or so, as I've built an abundantly successful workout program that emphasizes consistency and balance of intense cardio, heavy weights and post-session flexibility, my appetite for refined concentrated sweets, fats AND salts has gone way down.

I, along with many here in Cathe-land, am a big believer in cutting down, not out, and if you love a piece of cake or a cookie by all means have a piece every now and then - just don't live on it. I'll bet that if you are progressive with your workout program, and pay just a moderate amount of attention to your food choices and portion sizes, you will rule the cake rather than the other way around.

I'm 47, by the way, to give some perspective.

Also, you'll laugh to know that on the August RT a friend of mine who went grabbed a smushed-up Devil Dog out of a box and gave it to Cathe begging her to autograph it for me. Cathe kindly did so, and I now proudly display my mashed autographed Devil Dog in my office!


A-Jock
 
I find it so refreshing that Cathe believes everything in moderation...that makes me feel so much better in agreeing :) I have tried the super strict, and it is so true, the more you say no, the more you want it. If I have a bad day of eating, I try and make it up for it for the rest of the week, and usually, everything balances out.

I just can't say no to chocolate. I'm convinced it's a sin! ;-)
 
i have been eating healthy for a couple of months.mostly grains,beans(dried or canned occasionally),veggies,and fruits and seafood.nothing fried. everything i make is homemade from cookbooks. because i spend so much time focusing on my cooking i have never really thought of having sweets. i enjoy making my own meals alot.

laura
 
Take cinammon pills to your supplementation as well as a tad bit more protein. I still get an occassional sweet tooth usually on Sundays and TOM. Cinammon works wonders! And 3.00 a bottle from Dollar General.
 
A couple of healthy sweet tooth snacks

Hi All...

I think I have shared these two healthy snacks in the past but just in case, here are a couple of healthy sweet snacks that I absolutely love.

1) 1 cup naturally sweetend Granny Smith apple sauce, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup lowfat cottage cheese. Sometimes I also throw peeled granny smith apple chunks in along with the apple sauce to give it more crunch. Stir it up and scarf it down :D

2) One unsalted rice cake, 2 teaspoons Peanut Butter, 1/2 banana, 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Smear the PB on the rice cake, then sprinkle on cinnamon, and layer on thinly sliced banana pieces. MMMMMM. Wash down with 1/2 cup lowfat milk if desired.
 
Thanks Cathe and ladies for all the helpful advise. I think that the problem has been that I believed that to reach my goals of living a healthy life (and looking like Cathe) I need to eliminate all sweets. However, I see that would be unrealistic. I lost a good amount of weight a couple of years ago -around 25lbs.- and recently put back about 10 after going on a sugar binge all summer. I'm slowly trying to get back into my weight-loss eating plan. Before, I allowed myself one indulgent treat on Saturdays if I ate really well during the week. However, that one sometimes turned into two so I may need to adjust that.
I like the dessert suggestions and will try those when I'm graving sweets.
 
I find that I need to stay away from refined sugar as much as possible or I begin to crave it and it gets out of hand. It sounds like that may be your problem too. If you can get to having sweets that are less sweet, more fruit dependent, then you may find it easier. At least, I notice it helps me a great deal. ;)
 
shanihib said:
I find that I need to stay away from refined sugar as much as possible or I begin to crave it and it gets out of hand. It sounds like that may be your problem too. If you can get to having sweets that are less sweet, more fruit dependent, then you may find it easier.
Click to expand...


ITA!

I think sugar cravings are a perversion of a natural need : our bodies (and our brains) need glycogen, which is why we are attracted to sweet things. Problem is, that worked fine when the only sweet things available were fruits and some veggies. Now processed sugar has taken their place most of the time, and instead of getting natural sugar in a package that contains fiber and vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, we get pure, refined "crack cocaine" sweetener, LOL!
 
shanihib said:
I find that I need to stay away from refined sugar as much as possible or I begin to crave it and it gets out of hand. It sounds like that may be your problem too. If you can get to having sweets that are less sweet, more fruit dependent, then you may find it easier. At least, I notice it helps me a great deal. ;)
Click to expand...

Shani,
I think you're right about refined sugar because I do find that once I begin eating it, I want more and more. I do try to shop at Whole Foods for my desserts because they have a good variety of seemingly healthier options. But, I will be training myself to choose more fruit based desserts. Sometimes, though, I just want that cupcake:O
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top