So, in the past week I've pretty much realized that i'm way too dependent on junk food, more specifially desserts (and more specific than that cookies, chocolate, ice cream ). I don't eat binge on them necessarily, but i do eat a lot of little stuff that just seems to add up through out the day. On that note, isn't it funny how sobering writing down everything you eat can be? Geesh, I had no idea!
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I need help getting ride of the mind set that I can have a dessert after every meal, which is basically what I'm doing now. It's really hard. Any tips on how I can start to make my sweet tooth not as sweet?
You are in charge of what you put in your mouth. I understand those cravings, I have them, too, but I do not want to weigh 204 pounds again.It's a choice.
Oh I hear you! I love sweets, especially anything gooey and chocolaty. I was having dessert with every meal too. It's really hard when the sweets are in the house, I'll eat them. What I did was "purge" my house. I didn't actually throw out anything, I felt that was wasteful. What I did was once something ran out, I didn't replace it or I replaced it with something sweet, but healthy, like fruit. I also allowed myself a dessert once a day. I made sure it was a much smaller serving than I would have originally had and no seconds. I love sweet things too much to give them up entirely and would have ended up binging if I had. This way I weened myself off gradually and didn't feel deprived.
Also, if you have a vending machine dependency, I found it helped to leave my cash at home. You can't get anything out of the machine with no $$!
Since then I've started Medifast, though. Almost everything is sweet, so I'm in heaven! Pudding, shakes, chai...I feel like I'm cheating all the time. The vanilla pudding tastes exactly like cake icing! I'm worried when I stop Medifast I'm gonna want the sweets all the time again. They have a really good transition plan, but I've still got my fingers crossed!
Last edited by LiLi Gettin Thin; 04-23-2008 at 12:20 PM.
I have a major weekness for sweets too!!! I found that the only way to not cheat was to go cold turkey and get rid of it all. It has never worked for me otherwise.
My rules to myself are:
- No junk in the house (gets rid of those instant gratification craving moments where you're walking around the kitchen looking for something/anything)
- No visiting any type of vending machine (if necessary, leave the change at home and don't even pass the machines)
- Bring your own food to work so that there's no impulse purchases at lunch time
- Try to limit sugar from other foods (sugary cereal is my weakness - no matter how determined I am, I will overindulge if it's sweet. So I switched to high fibre - low sugar type of cereal and mix in yogurt. yum!)
Once you break the habit after a couple weeks you'll find it's a lot easier to not have those desserts. Works for me.
I don't know... I kinda believe that you CAN have dessert after dinner... just depends on what KIND of dessert and how many calories you leave for it.
I LOVE SWEETS--- I am not a "salt" person at all. But what works for me--- NEVER bring it in the house unless I'm SURE I want it. And never in large quantities.
To satisfy your sweet tooth, you need to keep portions SMALL and you need to choose a couple choice low cal desserts that work for you.
I love the recipe on here for light peanut butter cups (basically FF cool whip, a small amount of PB mixed together,topped w/ a squirt of chocolate syrup and freeze in cupcake tins-- they come out MEGA creamy--- about 70 calories each) If you limit yourself to one (maybe 2 if you can "afford" it) these hit the spot!
I also love the Popsicle fudge pops that are sugar free- chocolate--- they're like 40 calories for one thin pop- I usually eat two.
Jello Sugar Free chocolate pudding cups-- only 60 calories and it is THICK and delicious! I hate making pudding at home b/c it's not thick enough when it's diet--- not this stuff that's premade!!!
I keep chocolate chips in my cupboard--- I can have 30 morsels for 70 calories.
Or if I REALLY REALLY want cookies, I can make a TINY batch from scratch--- but only a tiny batch--- and never premade cookies. They would NEVER last in my house.
Strawberry shortcakes are not too shabby for a more filling dessert (a little more calories though). slice strawberries, mix with some splenda, put on a little dessert sponge cake (read the labels--- some are WAY worse than others--- I think the ones I use have like 70/80 calories in them) and top with FF Cool Whip. LOVE IT! I had it at a party and went home and typed in the ingredients on FitDay and didn't realize how "not too bad" it was for me!
Some people keep a high quality chocolate bar in the house and break off one square at a time... I know personally I can't do that. The whole thing would be gone. But if you can, give it a try.
Edy's Slow Churned makes a really tasty light ice cream. But you need to be CAREFUL with portions!!! One serving is 1/2 a cup (you know how small that is??) and it's like 120 calories. If I REALLY want ice cream, I leave 240 calories and have a full cup and SAVOR IT SLOWLY... b/c otherwise it goes way too fast and it's not worth it.
I'm an ice cream FIEND and right now, I just decide not to have it in my house. I did buy one half gallon since I started and I did follow my portioning as described above... but I ate it every day until it was gone. I could have done a lot more with those 240 calories per day.
Basically, If you KNOW you are a hard core dessert person, then make concessions for it. If you KNOW that Thursday is going to be ice cream night, then make Thursday "Chicken Salad with light dressing" for dinner night. Leave ROOM for it in your calorie allotment. And know exactly HOW BAD those "treats" are before you put them in your mouth.
What's worked for me is planning EVERYTHING before I eat it. Before I go out to dinner with friends I've looked up the menu online and decided what I can "afford" to eat. Before I reach over and grab some M&M's out of my coworkers candy dish, I do in my office and google the nutrition information of M&Ms... usually I end up not going back there for that handful.
Someone on here has "Failing to plan is planning to fail." And I agree 100% for that. I truly believe that you can eat a fulfilling, healthy, delicious day of food that includes "treats" once in a while. If we say NO forever, we're gonna cave in one day and cave in BADLY.
You can do this. From one sweet-addict to another. I make room for it in my diet when I NEED my sweets--- and I've lost 40 pounds so far!
I am also a sugar addict. I tried completely cutting all sweets at one point, but I was miserable, and who wants to live like that? As the others have said, it's about portion control and finding what works for you.
I love ice cream, so I keep pre-portioned sundae cups in the freezer because I know that my willpower is weaker against the whole carton.
I am also a big fan of these little s'mores I've been making. I use Kedem tea biscuits (32 calories for 2), a kosher coconut-covered marshmallow (32 calories. Of course, any marshmallow would work and without the coconut would have fewer calories) and 8 chocolate chips (18 calories). I put the chocolate chips on one of the tea biscuits, put the marshmallow on top, microwave for 10 seconds, add the other biscuit and I have a gooey, chocolatey snack for only 82 calories. It's not something I eat everyday, of course, but at those times that a piece of fruit just won't cure my sweet tooth, it works.
Can you tell me the brand names of the marshmallows and the biscuits you use? I'm afraid I've never even seen what a tea bisquit looks like.. and never heard of something as delicious as a coconut marshmallow!
I am the same way and its nice to know that there are folks out there that can help me through it...lol That is my weakness and today is my 3rd day on fat smash phase one and I am so proud of myself because sweets is something that no matter how I tried I couldnt over come it but I basically had to do the same thing as another poster. Bring everything to work that you want to eat during the course of the day(healthy stuff) that alone does wonders and if you dont buy it you can't eat it just don't buy junk food! I have two children so I still by some stuff but the healthy snacks wooks well for these too so its all working out...........
I suggest getting/reading the book Eat this not that. I am a huge junk food junkie! I want to eat out all the time. This book gives you 2 of the same basic product but tells you whick brand is healthier. And not gunna lie after reading some of the things it killed my cravings forever hearing how much fat and calories is in something. I bought it at walmart for 13 bucks and it was work it!
I buy Kedem brand tea biscuits. They come in at least chocolate and plain, I prefer chocolate (of course). The marshmallows I use are Manischewitz (sp)brand, but if you want that brand RUN to the store because I only see them during Passover.
The best place to look for the tea biscuits would be in the kosher section, if your grocery store has one. There's usually a small section in stores, if nothing else. Sometimes, in lieu of that, I have seen them in with the "strange" cookies in that aisle. By strange I mean imported (sort of the Beyond the Oreos section of the shelf).
I have seen other brands of toasted coconut marshmallows. I think Jet-Puffed might make them, too. I'd actually prefer plain, since these tend to catch on fire when I use them while camping, but I take what I can find.
It took me a while to break the sweets habit, but now I can walk by the red-velvet slices in the supermarket and not feel the need to put one in my cart. Now I will break off a piece of a chocolate bar or eat a small sliver of cake when I am craving the sweet stuff. But this only works if you can be really good with portion control and you could allow yourself 1 sweet thing per day. This means staying away from the co-worker's candy dishes and break-room temptations the whole day so you can savor your dessert at night. I've taken home break-room temptations sometimes to eat for dessert at night instead of eating them in the afternoon because I didn't want to spoil the meals and snacks I had already planned for that day.
junk food is holding me back...
). I don't eat binge on them necessarily, but i do eat a lot of little stuff that just seems to add up through out the day. On that note, isn't it funny how sobering writing down everything you eat can be? Geesh, I had no idea! 
Any tips on how I can start to make my sweet tooth not as sweet?
