***** Sweetooth

[kindaliketennis]

I am a female, 5"5 and weigh on average 136 lbs. I play competitive soccer/tennis and go for runs about 4-5 times a week. Basically, I'm really active and have the potential to have a nice lean body, except for one problem - my sweet tooth.

Since I've never been overweight or even chubby, I've allowed myself to go on junk food marathons, desserts each night, junk throughout the day on certain days etc. A bunch of my less-active (slim) female friends probably think I'm a pig because they hardly ever have junk food.

I want to be slimmer (130lbs) and I know it only requires 2 weeks of eating healthy and continuing to exercise, but my problem is that I always go back to my old junk food habits once I lose my goal weight.

Could you guys please help me stop being so reliant on sweets and learn to control my junk food intake like a normal healthy person?

Thanks so much.

 

[iradical18]

We can't do it for you, you have to do it for yourself. Every time I get a craving for something that I know I don't need I ask myself "How much do you want it?". When I ask myself that I'm referring both to the food and how much I want to live a healthy life and get down to my goal weight. I believe that everyone has the capacity to resist temptation, you just have to be mentally strong enough to do it. I would start by adjusting my goals a bit, sure if you continue to exercise and eat healthy for 2 weeks you'll lose 6 lbs but you'll gain it back soon afterwards when you get back to your old habits again. I tell everyone who is trying to lose any amount of weight that they need to make a lifestyle change, not just go on a diet because that just rings of something temporary. But then again it doesn't really matter if you don't want to keep the weight off.

 

[redsoxrock930]

I hav kinda similar situation, only the problem is exxagerated by the fact that my dad has an insane sweet tooth and he always stocks the house with ice cream and chocolate, i actually eat really healthy all considering but it can be too much at time

 

[Ano]

What the heck, I'll chime in and give some random tips that may or may not work. I'm not a health expert, I'm only slowly beginning to understand how to eat healthy.

If you want some good health advice research the posts by Ano and Tricky. You may also want to search the net for paleolithic diets, glycemic indexes, and diabetes.

A) Get the candy, cake, soda out of the house. If it's not around you can't eat it.

B) Eliminate your refined carbohydrate intake: white bread, pasta, white rice, etc. Eat unrefined carbs: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, oats, etc. Your main source of carbs should be vegetables. You'll be surprised how much better you'll feel when you cut the bad refined carbs out of your diet.

C) Research the effects of sugar on your body. Right now you're crashing and burning. You get a quick energy boost after eating the sweets and then your body crashes and feels tired. You might even feel depressed after coming off a sugar high. Learn more about the harmful effects sugar has on your body and you will begin to see candy, soda, and cake in a new, unappealing way.

D) Find a healthier snack for when you get the munchies. Nuts (almonds walnuts, etc - peanuts aren't a nut), fruits, vegetables, etc.

E) It's probably not a good idea to go completely cold turkey because you'll wind up bingeing. So, maybe limit yourself to one treat a day. Then make it one treat every 2 days. Try that out.

Very good post!!

To the OP, if you want something sweet, eat fruits! (grapes, berries, apples, oranges etc.).

And remember, eat fruits, do NOT drink fruit juices.

 

[ctdeuce]

If you buy the powdered fat free/sugar free jello pudding packets and mix with skim milk, they are real tasty, and usually satisfy my sweet tooth quite nicely.

 

[Kaptain Karl]

Ano, please e-mail me. (Click my Screen Name ... follow the steps.)

- KK

 

[Geezer Guy]

There are lots of sweets you can eat that have zero fat and zero calories.
Limit yourself to those sweets (and still try to cut back a bit).

 

[Serve em Up]

Let me know how that works for you. I never met a sweet I didn't like. I've tried eating lots more fruit and yogurt but it just doesn't have the same sensation that good old processed sucrose has.

Candy, cake, Ice Cream, and oh my god, CHOCOLATE!!!!

 

[zebano]

I like my snacks too, but in my cases it's salty foods that get me the worst (chips). I also had a problem with pop at one point.

Snoopy gave excellent advice, but I'll outline how I handled it. The key for me is to take it nice and slow and convert your changes into habits.

Phase 1: Pop
Step 1 - cut from 3+ glasses of Mt Dew per day to 1 glass per day (I did this for a month and the first week I cheated twice, the last week I didn't cheat at all). I started drinking Green Tea as well which I found I really like.
Step 2 - Switch my 1 cup to Diet Mt Dew (this only lasted a week because I can't stand the diet flavor).
Step 3 - No pop. I still stick to this at work, but once in awhile when my wife and I go out if I don't have a glass of wine I may drink some root beer (approx 1/month - I can live with that).

Phase 2: Foods
Step 1: Get the snack foods out of the house (this may take coordination with your spouse). Now you just have to deal with your job.
Step 2: Stock your workplace with healthy foods (we have fridges provided): I have cashews, natural peanut butter, baby carrots, sliced celery, granny smith apples and clementine oranges (very sweet) which I restock every Monday.
Step 3: I couldn't go cold turkey, the beef jerky and doritos at the snack bar get me about once a month. Initially I decided to allow myself 1 snack per day that wasn't healthy.
Step 4: Change 1 snack per day to 1 snack per week. I bring my lunch, so I also stopped bringing cash for the snack bar.
Step 5: When I go to the snack bar, ask yourself. I did xxx today (in my case biked to work) do I want to ruin that by eating a bag of chips?


My feeling is that you have to indulge once in awhile (Cheesecake on Tuesday was heavenly) or when you break it's a huge binge but the important thing is to think about what you're eating. The more stress you're under, the more willpower you need.

Good luck, you can do it if you want to.

 

[the_flying_wallaby]

I am a female, 5"5 and weigh on average 136 lbs. I play competitive soccer/tennis and go for runs about 4-5 times a week. Basically, I'm really active and have the potential to have a nice lean body, except for one problem - my sweet tooth.

Since I've never been overweight or even chubby, I've allowed myself to go on junk food marathons, desserts each night, junk throughout the day on certain days etc. A bunch of my less-active (slim) female friends probably think I'm a pig because they hardly ever have junk food.

I want to be slimmer (130lbs) and I know it only requires 2 weeks of eating healthy and continuing to exercise, but my problem is that I always go back to my old junk food habits once I lose my goal weight.

Could you guys please help me stop being so reliant on sweets and learn to control my junk food intake like a normal healthy person?

Thanks so much.

one word: fruit
Sweet fruits are all over the place, melons, papaya, pears, apples, mangos, bannanas etc.

eat them

 

[snoopy]

Thanks for the compliment Ano.

It's not all about the OP's willpower, it's chemical. From what I understand the OP's craving for sugar and junk food means that she has a low insulin sensitivity. Her habit of high carbohydrate, high sugar eating has made it difficult for the cells in her body to absorb glucose. But the cells need glucose, hence the strong cravings for sugar, bread, etc.

A high carbohydrate diet is very harmful to your body for all sorts of reasons. The key is to reduce the refined carbohydrates and to make your body have a higher insulin sensitivity. Eat a diet with lots of lean proteins and healthy carbs.

Below are some links to some basic articles. Do more research to find out more details.

I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, go see one if you want some professional advice.

http://www.gdo365.co.nz/health-fitness/nutrition/health-buzz/curbing-your-sweet-tooth

http://www.womentowomen.com/symptoms/cravings.aspx

http://carolinanewswire.com/news/News.cgi?database=columns.db&command=viewone&id=258

 

[JRstriker12]

Yeah,

I have a sweet tooth too. I'm still working on it, but in the past I managed to do better by:

Replacing sweets with fruits. I'd stock up on my favorite fruits and grab and apples or oranges instead of a sweet. If I was craving ice cream, I'd make a yogurt shake with blended fruits - blue berries rock, I also like to toss in pre-cut, frozen mangos that you can find in the frozen section.

Others may disagree, but you can also factor in a cheat meal. For example, maybe once a week, you choose only one meal where you can have that sweet you were craving - in a normal portion.

 

[kindaliketennis]

thanks for all the advice. i especially like the idea of asking myself 'how bad do i want it' in terms of becoming healthier and slimmer.

i would love to be able to limit my intake of sweets to just Sundays. i think if i can accomplish this, then all the rest will fall into place.

the problem with doing the above is that some people tell me that it is like "depriving myself" and that it will lead to bingeing. they instead recommend 'one treat a day' which i can't really do, i dont have the will power and need a more rigid routine.

do you guys think limiting desserts to one day a week is 'depriving', considering that fact that some people Never eat junk food?

 

[blubber]

What kind of dessert or what kind of treats do you normally eat?

What is it that you are having a hard time resisting?

If it's something like ice cream you can try this trick. Don't buy the gallon or 1/2 gallon from the supermarket. Now there is no ice cream readily available in the freezer. If you want ice cream make yourself go out to the local ice cream shop to get a cone.

You'll have to take an extra step if you want the dessert. You have to go outside and go to the ice cream parlor. This added hassle means that you won't get ice cream unless you really, really want it.

I have a problem with sweets too. Yesterday was a really bad day. I had a doughnut in the morning and a devil dog and a funny bone after dinner. I'm embarrassed to mention that I also had some sort of hershey's chocolate covered fudge cookie.

 

[JRstriker12]

thanks for all the advice. i especially like the idea of asking myself 'how bad do i want it' in terms of becoming healthier and slimmer.

i would love to be able to limit my intake of sweets to just Sundays. i think if i can accomplish this, then all the rest will fall into place.

the problem with doing the above is that some people tell me that it is like "depriving myself" and that it will lead to bingeing. they instead recommend 'one treat a day' which i can't really do, i dont have the will power and need a more rigid routine.

do you guys think limiting desserts to one day a week is 'depriving', considering that fact that some people Never eat junk food?

It's not depriving - unless you view it as depriving.

But, yeah, it's hard to stop.

 

[kindaliketennis]

cookies, jujubes, anything with chocolate in it, ice cream if its around...

my sister's house is stocked with junk and whenever im there it aint pretty.

BLUBBER:
what the heck are 'evil dogs and a funny bone's??

 

[blubber]

Apparently these things are only available in the Northeast. I never knew that. Well, you're lucky. Although they are a bunch of pre-packaged processed junk they are tasty, especially the funny bones. I'm more of a cake eater than a candy or chocolate fiend.

I've learned that the easiest way to stop eating this stuff is to not have it around. It's easier to resist when you have no choice. So don't ever visit your sister again, ha.

 

[blubber]

I had the doughnut in the upper left hand corner for breakfast. It was a bad day. I haven't eaten like that in a while.

 

[kindaliketennis]

ur funny...

 

[superman1]

If you're going to have one cheat food a day, try those Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. You could even have two of those.

Personally, I was never much for junk food and don't really have cravings for it. I think all the food I eat is tasty. When you start cooking for yourself, maybe you'll feel the same way, because it is very satisfying to make a nice meal for yourself and then enjoy it.

 

[CanadianChic]

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/food/cook/health/articles/0,,177268_184604-2,00.html

1. Don't ban sugar altogether: Some sugar, judiciously added to wholesome foods, may make them more appetizing, such as a sprinkling of brown sugar on oatmeal or a teaspoon of maple syrup on winter squash.

2. Become a careful label reader: The sugar listed on the nutrition label is a combination of the naturally occurring sugar and the added sugar. If you spot the ending '-ose' on a word, it's sugar in disguise. Examples are sucrose, glucose and fructose. Other common ingredients that are sugar in hiding include syrup, honey, brown sugar, fruit juice concentrate and high-fructose corn syrup.

3. Don't make desserts a regular part of every meal: Save them for special occasions or weekend treats. Buy breakfast cereals only if sugar is not one of the top listed ingredients.

4. Reduce the sugar called for in baking: Sugar can often be reduced by up to one-third.

5. Serve alternatives to sugar: Bagels, wholegrain muffins or tortillas can take the place of doughnuts or brownies.

6. Top cereal with fresh fruit: Fresh fruit adds natural and healthy sweetness.

7. Use fresh fruit to sweeten plain yoghurt: Puréed banana mixed with plain yoghurt is great for a toddler treat.

8. Make your own frozen treats: Just freeze 100 per cent pure fruit juices.

9. Create smoothies: Blitz plain yoghurt with banana and fresh fruits for delicious homemade smoothies.

10. Make your own soft drinks: All you need is soda water and your choice of fresh fruit juice.

I personally wouldn't recommend dropping sugar from your diet altogether. You enjoy sweets and should be able to incorporate them into your eating habits through moderation as opposed to abstinence. You seem to do well for a while but then binge and head right back to where you started from. If you enjoy them in small, moderate amounts as opposed to absolutely nothing followed by absolutely everything you should be able to easily maintain a given weight.

 

[snoopy]

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/food/cook/health/articles/0,,177268_184604-2,00.html

5. Serve alternatives to sugar: Bagels, wholegrain muffins or tortillas can take the place of doughnuts or brownies.

Most people don't realize how bad bagels are. They're very dense. Sometimes the doughnut is less harmful.

Look at this comparison:

http://www.cluckbucket.com/alternate/doughnut.htm

 

[CanadianChic]

Snoopy I agree that bagels are very high in carbs. I eat them as a meal as opposed to a snack though as they are so filling, and if you choose a thin wheat it isn't much when viewed as an entire meal.