Obese and pudding without sugar

[Snacksnacksnack]

Hi, I suppose my aibu is aibu to ask what people have as a sweet evening snack / pudding, that does not contain sugar or sweetners? I'm so bored of just having fruit or fruit with nut butter. I just can't think of anything else - except plain greek yog and fruit. Any suggestions? I've cut out sugar as I'm very overweight (have ptsd and used eating as a coping strategy, have never been overweight before). Any suggestions v v much appreciated! Thanks!

Why has no one pointed out that fruit IS sugar? If you're 'sugar free' but eating fruit, you're not sugar free. A pp said they were sugar free but having roasted bananas - an average banana has 14g of sugar or over 3 teaspoons. Natural sugar is still sugar. In fact fructose is pretty awful as far as sugar types go, though the fibre in fruit does offset that.
Because the way the body reacts to processed sugar and the naturally occurring sugars in whole fruits are so completely and totally different that they are utterly, utterly, utterly incomparable. Remember one of the most sugary foods there is, is human breastmilk, the most perfect food for little humans. All sugars are not equal and assuming that they are (especially when we are wired to like sweet) is a great way to sabotage normal healthy eating.

@MeganTheVegan

If things were that simple there wouldn’t be an obesity crisis would there? I don’t think AIBU is the best place to post this, but please try and be kind.

Unless you have struggled with weight/food issues you have no idea how hard this can be. It’s not as simple as “just don’t eat it”

Ffs this is real problem for OP, a problem that she’s seeking help for and trying her best to deal with. All of this ‘just don’t do it’ talk won’t help and is both unfair and mean-spirited.

There are sugars in fruit, yes, but our body responds differently to it than processed sugar. Bananas and Haribo are not one am the same are they?!

OP when I have a craving for late night sugar, I always go for Greek yoghurt and honey. It hits the spot without feeling a sugar spike, plus is quite filling. A trick my friend taught me, and I use when I’m feeling like I’m in a phase of constantly eating, is to have an entire bag of salad with my dinner, or whole head of broccoli. You still enjoy a proper dinner, but end up so full that you can go to bed without pangs for snacks. Works for me.

I understand how food gets linked in with mental health and well-being. I had a trauma years ago and physically couldn’t eat. So the opposite of how PTSD has affected you, but still the same inexplicable link between eating and trauma. Even now I still can’t eat if I’m stressed or upset. People joke that it’s great - it really isn’t great at all.

You can make pancakes with just bananas and eggs.

When I started dieting I really felt I was denying myself if I didn’t have something sweet in the evening although I was more a biscuit/chocolate eater than puddings.

I bought small individually wrapped chocolate marzipans (niederegger) and had one with a cup of tea as dark chocolate wasn’t doing it. However I wasn’t cutting all processed sugar so it depends on your diet.

I don’t need to do it anymore as that feeling has passed.

Just don't have dessert! It's pretty simple. I very occasionally have a dessert if I'm eating out with friends but usually I only have two courses anyway. I may, if I'm not too full, have a dessert on Xmas Day. That's it. Never had dessert at home growing up.

Dates are very sugary...but just one or two after a meal may help, they are sticky and sweet, almost like caramel.

If you are low carbing, you can mix cream cheese with whipped cream, vanilla and a little sweetener... top with toasted flaked almonds

99%/100% dark chocolate maybe? Or cheese instead?

What about sweetening with Stevia? Isn't that supposed to be good?

They're different, in that as I said fibre plays a role in mitigating the bad effects. Sugar is sugar in terms of how it raises your insulin, shutting down fat burning. Sugar can't be easily stored by the body so any excess is quickly converted by the liver from sugar to fat in the form of triglycerides in the blood which can then travel to fatty tissues. This is true whether the the sugar comes from a banana or Haribo. Of course it's better to have fruit but you're not sugar free if you eat fruit.

I would love to see a link to evidence that the body processes the two 'completely differently' because I don't think that's true. My knowledge is limited though so would genuinely like to see something that shows I'm wrong. As I said, what goes with the sugar is important particularly fibre. But to pretend that fruit sugar is somehow an almost entirely different substance from other sugars is a ticket to staying fat.

And personally i think if you're low carbing generally, that's a lot of sugar gone from your diet in one go, so a late night teaspoon of honey isn't going to wreck everything.

Fage 5% yoghurt with 50g thawed frozen raspberries, a couple of drops of vanilla extract and a good squirt of hermesetas liquid sweetener!

@Booksandwine80 I do understand, I had an old school friend who suffered from obesity. She started a Facebook group at the beginning of 2018 to help her to lose weight. Everybody was encouraging her as she really wanted to live, especially as she had a young DD.

Unfortunately, last November, 11 months in, she died. It was so sad. Obesity is a killer and it's important to be honest about the causes. It's also about educating people that perhaps what they have traditionally eaten is not ideal for weight loss, pudding for instance. No-one NEEDS pudding. And I don't think it's being unsupportive to point that out.

I always crave something sweet after a main meal in the evening.

I either eat a couple of squares of dark chocolate or a tip top or ice lolly. Sometimes I’ll have a banana milkshake - just a small banana and milk whizzed up in the nutribullet but it really feels like a treat.

Get a tub of full fat yog. Mix in proper vanilla extract, add some nuts/peanut butter..

Freeze.

Eat at will - if not frozen completely solid it's like luxury ice cream.

For no fat total 0% works too. You can also add oats, banana, cream cheese - banoffe pie/cheesecake.

Get a bunch of the 0% pots and experiment, freeze and eat one after each meal. Lovely stuff.

I always crave something sweet at night after my tea, but I’m healthy all day and that is my only treat, if you are really healthy all day you should be able to have a small treat at night without worrying about your weight loss honestly, i normally have things like a Freddo or a curly wurly, Greek yogurt and honey just doesn’t compare to the real deal.

Frozen cherries with a square of sugar free dark chocolate (yes it's got sweetener, but it's still pretty good!).

I've just lost 2 stone and I've only been able to do that by working with myself and not against myself.

So if you need/want a pudding then I say have one, just cut down or cut out the sugar. Refined added sugar is a bugger and addictive, whereas fruit is actively good for you, especially the darker types. I find eating the cherries frozen 'freezes' my palate so I don't end up craving anything else, if you see what I mean. Plus they're delicious little beasts.

Alpro unsweetened yoghurt is a good choice for anything creamy, I find. Nicely low calorie, decent protein hit too.

Or you could just get a lolly mould set and freeze some juice, squash or yoghurt and fruit blend.

Oh, and for anyone worrying about the sugar in fruit, yes it does contain fructose, but it also contains fibre and antioxidants. I'm not a scientist so I'm not going to pretend I can read and correctly interpret primary research, but here's what James Wong (who can) has to say on the subject.

I eat all the fruit and veg I like, minimum 7 portions a day, still losing weight. It's not a ticket to staying fat in my experience, quite the opposite. Whoever got fat off eating apples?

Refined added sugar (usually combined with processed carbs and fat), that's the stuff you can well do without.

@MeganTheVegan

Then you should understand more than anyone.

I eat pudding, i also exercise 5-6 times a week. If I want it, I have it- in moderation. There’s no need to deprive yourself of anything.

Oh, and I’ve lost two stone in 3 months so pudding is not evil

Booksandwine80 Tue 10-Sep-19 06:48:40
@MeganTheVegan

If you have no constructive advice why don’t you go away and eat some broccoli?

hahahaha.

OP, it sounds dull but porridge with banana is filling and sweet I find.

All the folk saying, "just have herbal tea and brush your teeth".

Yeah, that's not going to cut it for the rest of your life.

All the folk saying, "just don't have pudding"

What's the plural of genius again?

Try a handful of almonds - takes away the sugar cravings for some reason

I'll second Skinny whips - they are amazing (from B&M) - particularly the strawberry ones....

What about some tinned/frozen fruit set inside sugar free jelly. You could set it into nice glasses/wine glasses to feel fancy!

Or a couple of squares of dark chocolate and a decaf tea/coffee.

Or core an apple, stuff with sultanas and cinnamon and bake, then dollop on a bit of yoghurt.

Frozen red grapes all day long. Taste like little balls of sorbet.

I don't have pudding as such, but I tend to have a cup of tea at about 9:30/10pm and like to have something with it. I have something like dark choc, or a biscuit/choc snack that is around 100 calories. I also really like the yellow packet Proper corn popcorn.