Tips to kick the sweet/snacky tooth?

[penstamon]

Help! I have always had a sweet tooth which kills my otherwise healthy diet. We eat mostly local organic in-season foods, game or grass-fed/free range beef and chicken, whole grains, etc. but then the snack monster strikes and I want sugar! Also BFing cause me to have a ridiculous appetite that needs to be curbed before it strikes or I will munch well past hunger.

I lost most of my preg weight the first few months without any effort but now we are at a stand still and I'm sure my snacking is not helping. Its not always bad snacks, sometimes its shear volume.

Any advice on how to fight back? My worst times are late morning (after my workout) and late afternoon before dinner/after our walk. I just want carbs! Sugar! Salt! Ack!

[425lisamarie]

I think the longer you resist and don't give in to sugar, the easier it gets. When i'm feeling snacky, crunchy apples do it for me. If I'm in the eating mood i make myself a HUGE salad and by the time i'm done i'm plain sick of chewing for a while LOL

[RosemaryS-F]

Chew gum? I know, it's a Biggest Loser tip, but it seems to work for those guys Also, I always plan a snack in when I'm trying to lose weight--one that is sweet. I like Breyer's Sugar Free Vanilla ice cream--it has 80 calories per serving (watch your servings!) and has some fiber in it. The snack is best between lunch and dinner. A good breakfast at the right time for you (maybe a bit later than you are used to) helps to hold you until lunch.

[sophiesgrandma]

big juicy oranges the minute a sweet attack comes on. Eat the entire inside of the orange. It's both sweet and filling. Have 2 if one doesn't do the trick.

[elizawill]

i like caramel rice cakes. they're 60 calories for 7 mini ones. they're yummy too! hth.

[lil_earthmomma]

Post workout is the best time to have carbs and protein, so have yourself a big yummy smoothie with some protein powder, or nut butter and fruit, or candied nuts etc right after your workout.

For the rest of the day, try a bite of REALLY dark chocolate. I find it's hard to over indulge in dark DARK chocolate.

[medicmama]

I am a huge snacker! Keep those tips coming!

[ithappened]

Im also curious.

I found kettle corn works great for me (I make it myself so its super low cal and almost fat free)

[j_p_i]

I'm a snacker too. I have started limiting myself to fruit or veggies if I want a snack, which seems to help. Also, drinking a big glass of water and then waiting a couple minutes before getting a snack.

[425lisamarie]

If i do just need a snack, I'll eat a spoon full of nut butter/coconut oil. Eating fruit alone just makes me more hungry. If I'm munchie, the worse thing to do is give in to it because I just never stop lol....but if I eat a spoon full of fat, I just tell myself i can't be hungry because fat is so sustaining. Hot tea kind of curbs it too

[philosoikou]

I think the best answer probably depends on your temperament, but I tend to do best with absolutes. So for me, what worked best was to simply draw a hard line: no sweets and no snacks. Three meals a day, period. Pressure valve on the weekends when rules were temporarily suspended.

At first this was so hard. All the time, I was thinking about snacks. But after a week or so, I got in the rhythm of it, and it started to feel like a *relief* not to have to make food choices all day long. All I had to do was prepare three healthful meals for myself (no special rules about those, except to limit them to one plate's worth). I actually started to feel blissfully released from the tyranny of my cravings. If I had one, I acknowledged it, but didn't act on it.

It also became really fun to plan for the weekend, perhaps baking cookies or going out for ice cream. I started to appreciate sweets SO much more.

Anyway, this is what worked for me. It was hard at first, but I adjusted, and ended up feeling SO MUCH BETTER after the inital adjustment period. I also lost a boatload of excess weight, and then stabilized at a nice, trim, fit version of myself (one size smaller than my standard, pre-babies size). It has been life-changing.

Good luck in finding a solution that works for you!

[sapphire_chan]

Protein and fats. If you're craving sweets, most of the time it means you actually need a hit of nutrition. Have some nuts or an egg or something.

And if I'd just remember to do that when I want to eat spoons of straight sugar, I'd weigh considerably less. Seriously though, when I remember, it does cut the sugar craving faster than eating sugar does. And I don't end up craving more sugar in 5 minutes when the insulin spike kicks in.

[WorldsBestMom]

Chocolate, Cake, ice cream. Yeah I definitely need to kick the snacky sweet tooth.

[beebalmmama]

Protein helps me too, especially rich salty ones like nuts and nut butters. But I can't completely eliminate snacks or I want them more. I'm pretty good at moderation and the stuff that I overindulge on, I don't have around the house much.
We also do a lot of fruit smoothies which kicks a sweet tooth for me occasionally.

I second the dark chocolate. (although sometimes I can eat plenty of this....I love it) But it satisfies my really intense sweet tooth craving pretty easily with one piece or a few dark chocolate chips.