I am really having a problem with chocolate (candy bars, stuff like that, not chocolate milk, etc) and sweets and I just can't seem to get enough. I do fine for a little bit but I just CRAVE the stuff and I know that's the reason I can't lose weight (ok, one of the reasons!).

I bought a box of Chex 100 calorie snack in Chocolate Caramel (comes 6 packages to a box) and I keep one of those on the dashboard of my truck while I am driving my 12 hour shift and those seem to help, but I CRAVE 3 Musketeers Bars and those Mammoth Cinnamon Rolls with frosting...if it doesn't have frosting then I probably will just pass it by.


I drink soda but it is always diet. I drink Diet Mt. Dew for the flavor not for the buzz, so the calories from soda is not a problem for me. I also drink ALOT of diet Green Tea and try to drink diluted Propel water (1/2 and 1/2)...can't stand plain water!! My problem is cheesecake, chocolate cake, any cake, pastry, sweets!!!

Does anyone have ANY suggestions that I could use for substitutes? Fruit won't cut it (unless it has chocolate on it!!) cause I have already tried that.

Help!!

Thanks,
Linae

Honestly, as not helpful as this is, The cravings did not let go of me until I stopped eating the sweets, stopped drinking the soda, etc., until my cravings went away. I know that is not super helpful, but it is the truth. I hope you find another way!!

Sorry, I experience the same thing as Cokia. It was a very HARD few weeks but the cravings did go away...by NOT eating ANY of the stuff. I had given up sodas before I started this so I can't speak to that, per se, but I've read plenty of places that diet sodas make sweet cravings WORSE...so you might be sabotaging yourself on that one. It's hard, no doubt about it, but if you just stop giving in...I mean, just stop...then the cravings DO go away. Promise. But you have to "get real" and stop.

I'll ditto the others. Surprisingly so, by elminating COMPLETELY the foods I craved the most, I no longer craved them. That also means that even if I DO crave them, especially in the beginning - that I don't give into it. I know that sounds harsh, but just because you crave something, doesn't mean you have to actually eat it. You MUST set up rules for yourself and stick to them, no matter what. Cravings alone won't make you get and then remain fat - it's GIVING INTO THEM that will. But have no fear, it really does get easier. Good luck.

Got to add my 2 cents, I too find if I stop eating them, I don't crave them. I am not a soda drinker, but chocolate is my downfall and ice cream. I usually allow myself 2 bars of dark chocolate a month, but don't keep it in the house, because I know I will eat it in one settng.For ice cream, I now only buy fat free frozen yogurt , or italian ice and am doing good with this.
Have you tried having healthier snacks around?? I know Kashi makes a TLC granola bar that is choclate with cherries and great at 120 calories, maybe this might help. When you go to buy something at the store, try and pic healthy choices, don't store junk around the house. Maybe this might help?
good luck . Cheryl

Unfortunately for your sweet tooth, I agree with everyone else!! And, as a diet pepsi drinker I agree that soda seems to add to my cravings, so I have to limit it drastically -- especially the week before my TOM when my cravings go crazy. I've made it through the last three days with no sweets and it is getting better. I constantly tried to tell myself "you can have one, it's not fair, thin people can eat all the sweets they want, etc." but it all boils down to how bad you want to lose the weight. I've realized that feeling healthy, having energy and losing the weight feels 200% better than any "chocolate fix" makes me feel. I also don't think anything can substitute for what you are craving and eventually you will just "eat around" what you wanted, so it's better to learn to not give in at all. As for me, I was never really hungry but just craving a certain taste, so it was easier to find something constructive to do with my time and I could usually forget about it. Good luck.

Give plain water a chance. Maybe put some lemon in it to start with or some Crystal Light for awhile. I wasn't much of a water drinker either, so I started with the Crystal light (those little packets that mix with 20 oz bottles are handy). Then I started cutting that down and now I rarely have the Crystal Light. I drink a lot of water and just prefer it plain now. It took awhile to get used to it, but now I know if I don't drink enough because I feel terrible!

I agree with Cokia. When I completely gave up the sweet things after about 3 weeks the cravings went away. I couldn't have anything sweet or chocolate. Now I have candy bars around me all the time and don't touch them. We have a campground so I can't get rid of the candy in the store.

Good luck to you whatever you try. That is what worked for me. Stop the trigger foods.

Hi,

Have you tried Fiber One Oat and Chocolate bars? They satisfy my chocolate craving, and I"m a real chocoholic! They are 140 calories, and have nine grams of fiber, so they're very filling. They have under 10 grams of sugar in them. They're cheapest at Walmart-two boxes for five dollars.

I can totally empatize-I had made a dessert for a friend over the weekend, and there were some Reeses left over. I did have one (small snack size) just because it was in the house. If we didn't have it here, it would not have occured to me to drive somewhere to get it.

Good luck!
Sherry

Mrstrucker, Sorry to say that I agree with the other posters. I couldn't have succesfully substituted something the first few months. The only way I could do it was to completely avoid sweet things for the first few months. I really only had cravings for the first week or two. After that, it was much easier. After a few months of no sweets, fruit was actually sweet and I appreciated and enjoyed it so much. I've been doing this for over a year and a half, and I'm proud to say that I can now have a little bite of something sweet and not crave it the rest of the day. There was a time when I could never have done that, but I had to break a lot of bad habits first.

Also, my experience with diet soda was that I had to give that up too (at least initially). I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with diet soda, but for me, it was so bound up with all of the other bad habits and bad food choices that I did better when I decided to ditch the diet coke for water. Now I occasionally have a diet coke, but in the beginning, I felt like it kept my sweet tooth "activated".

This is just my experience. I know lots of successful dieters here who drank diet coke everyday and still lost 100s of pounds.

Add me to the group too. Of course when I finally made up my mind this time to go for it, I just didn't plan in those kinds of foods. They were my downfall the past few times I've tried to get it together. If a craving does hit, I tell myself that I'll plan one of those items (in small quantities) in the next day. By the time I'm writing out my menu for that day, the craving is gone.

Do you allow yourself enough treats? Can you fit some of those things into your plan if you are really desiring them so you won't feel deprived?
I agree with the other posters though if it's really a temptation for you and you will go overboard if you start eating those things, it's best to just keep them out of your reach.
I have chocolate about as much as I desire, especially around TOM and I don't feel that there is anything that I can't have. I did give up on the Snickers bars, etc. and will only buy dark chocolate.

Denise

Linae, I can relate. I love cakes, chocolate candy and that sort of treat. Eating those things on a regular basis helped get me where I am today. I made the decision this year to give them up. Completely. Because I know that if I eat a piece, I'll want more. Its been 3 months, and now I wouldn't 'spend' 500 of my daily calories on something like that. Its just too much of my daily calories and its just not worth it to me. The cravings do go away! Hang in there! It does get better!

But I had to find something that I could eat as a treat to keep myself on course. To satisfy my chocolate cravings, I eat fat free ice cream. At 90 calories a serving, its something that I will 'spend' my calories on. Weight Watchers makes good ice cream treats too, for not too many calories. And because I want to lose weight MORE than I want the treat, I can stop at one. I also eat Hershey's dark chocolate kisses, but at 25 cal each...I limit them. And I do not eat any of this if I have reached my calorie limit for the day.

I gave up sodas a long time ago, more for financial reasons than anything else. I have read that the artificial sweetners in the soda can make you hungry. The body tastes the sweetness then looks for the calories. When there aren't any, you get hungry. I am not a doctor, this was in an article someone shared. But to me it makes sense. And if you are exercising, the carbonation can cause muscle cramps. That I learned from athletes and from personal experience. My legs cramps quit when I gave up soda. There are many good reasons to give up or at least cut back on diet soda. Plain water used to give me heartburn. Now soda does!

Nicki, plain water used to give me heartburn, too! I thought I was the only one!!!!

I'm going to dissent slightly (as everyone knows I always do on this topic!) I agree with everyone else that if you absolutely CAN'T keep yourself from overdoing it, you should try eliminating the problem foods that cause uncontrollable cravings. However, I found from the very beginning that I could include small amounts of sweet things every single day without a problem. Because I was counting calories, I decided I would spend my calorie budget on whatever I wanted so I wouldn't feel like I was deprived. I still do this, obviously with an eye toward eating healthier foods whenever possible, but I drink lots of Diet Mountain Dew and I probably eat chocolate every day. Sure, I eat fruit as a sweet option, but if you want to keep eating other sweet things and you're able to force yourself to stay in your calorie limit (that's the important part), you can do it. You know what's been great for me, actually? Little York peppermint patties! 55 calories each! They're my weight loss secret!

I know my view on this is kind of unpopular on the boards, and I do have to say that you shouldn't consider doing it my way if little bites of sweet things will send you into a sugar frenzy where you can't stop eating! But I always like to let people know that it IS possible (with the reminder that the other way is probably far healthier for you, of course!) I just had to do it this way because the kazillion times I tried eliminating foods, it never worked for me. And even though my body might be happier if I got rid of sugar, at least I got rid of 92 pounds, so I think I'm doing ok. I wouldn't have been able to get rid of those 92 pounds if I'd tried to eliminate sweet things, because I would've been pissed off and started shoveling cheesecake down my throat within two days.