Lost two stone, now craving sweet things

[WeeMadArthur1]

I've lost two stone since November and would ideally like to lose one more. But I've suddenly become slightly obsessed with the thought of chocolate, cake and general sweet stuff. It's weird because I've never normally had much of a sweet tooth, I gradually piled on the weight by just eating too much, always having second helpings, adding cheese to most meals, etc and drinking wine.

I've not actually found the last few months as hard as I'd feared, I've changed things like having protein at breakfast so I'm not wanting to snack in the morning, having a filling veggie/lentil soup at lunchtime, etc so I rarely feel hungry, but recently just can't stop thinking about sugary things. I actually ate a whole block of cooking chocolate the other day because it's all there was in the house.

Any ideas why after a good few months I suddenly feel as though I'm always about to fall off the wagon?

Watching intently as I'm in the same boat. If I know there are sweets in the house I can't stop thinking about them. Even things like honey or ham.

It's weird isn't it. I found myself scraping out the remains of the Nutella jar this morning just to get a tiny sugar hit.

I feel so proud of myself for losing the weight I have so far, I can fit into some of my old clothes again, and I feel much less sluggish and tired, but I worry I'm just going to end up undoing all the hard work by giving into the cravings.

Have you tried sweet things that are healthier/more filling to curb it. Eg dark chocolate, dark chocolate covered Brazil nuts work for me - curbs sweet craving but I can only eat so much.

The FAST 800 books have some great recipes for deserts and treats which are similar.

Also congratulations on your weight loss!

Do you know about the idea of a body's set weight?

This is delicious:

thefast800.com/easy-chocolate-mug-cake/

Would a small amount of really good quality very dark chocolate do it for you?

My friend can trick herself by eating grapes to satisfy her sweet tooth. Lidl used to sell ones called Candyfloss grapes that are extra sweet.

I am no expert on anything and you have your own knowledge and history. I am simply someone who has had huge weight fluctuations and eaten it all back on again more than once. This is the sort of thing I have researched:

www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/what-is-set-point-weight

biblio.co.uk/book/obesity-code-bestselling-guide-unlocking-secrets/d/1245907929?aid=frg&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjN-SBhCkARIsACsrBz5VxGli4xRhp7n7eeHFnfmuFQwtOpskBoiefMLqGSLUVZG92ScM43gaAhkgEALw_wcB

Thank you! Dark chocolate is an idea because I'm not so keen on it, so I definitely won't eat as much. My plan so far has just been to try not have any sweet stuff in the house, but that's what led to the madness of me nearly drinking the sugary left over milk from the kids cereal!

@PiffleWiffleWoozle has good ideas, as have others. I'm wondering if you have 'allowed' any sweet treats as part of your new eating plan, or if you have just avoided it completely? I know if I avoided it completely, I would feel quite deprived child For example, I have got a small Lindt bunny for Easter, as I know without any Easter chocolate I would be more likely to cave later for something more calorific, and do more damage.

Well done by the way :)

That's interesting about the set weight. I've tended to fluctuate between the same three stones. Now I'm menopausal I've realised I have to actively calorie count otherwise it just piles back on.

@SpongeBobJudgeyPants I know what you mean, once I know I can't have something I'm desperate for it. I've allowed myself a 'cheat day' every week, where I'll not go completely mad but I'll have a pudding, and won't turn down the offer of a biscuit for example. I'm already obsessing about the chocolate cheesecake I've got planned for Sunday.

This may sound odd but I read that eating pickles can take away the sweets craving (temporarily) and have found that it works.

Are you near the end of your cycle? I realised a few months ago that I genuinely get super strong, impossible to resist (so don’t even try to now) carbs and chocolate cravings in the few days before my period. I’d never clocked it before as I always craved sweet stuff! But I find the effort required to diet fluctuates through the month.

Well done. I follow Noom and part of it is learning how the body reacts to dieting. That is a usual response. Our brains do make us crave more unhealthy foods when we diet. Try to recognise that and divert your thoughts to counteract it. So every time you crave cake do a flight of stairs or something like that.

How did you lose 2st op?

I was exactly the same, lost 4 stone in total which included giving up sugar and then about 6 months in I started really craving it. Started with having a piece of chocolate a day but then just wanted more. So I just make sure I don’t have access to any in the house and have a banana on oat cakes to stave of cravings (which of course is no substitute for chocolate cake but does do the trick

@Sunshiner100 my cycle is all over the shop so I'm not sure, but these cravings have been going on for at least a couple of weeks, but not at all for the previous few months.

@SpringHasSprungYay I used my fitness pal to track my calories and increased my exercise.

@KosherDill that's interesting about pickles, I love pickled onions and beetroot so I'll try that!

@newlabelwriter did your cravings eventually stop or have you just learnt to deal with them?

Frozen grapes give a good sugar hit that you don't keep going back for more of.

I also have a taste of someone else's sweet treat when they have it. It helps keep the deprivation feeling at bay- I can have it, just not a lot of it!

A spoonful of peanut butter works well for sugar cravings.

[quote WeeMadArthur1]@Sunshiner100 my cycle is all over the shop so I'm not sure, but these cravings have been going on for at least a couple of weeks, but not at all for the previous few months.

@SpringHasSprungYay I used my fitness pal to track my calories and increased my exercise.

@KosherDill that's interesting about pickles, I love pickled onions and beetroot so I'll try that!

@newlabelwriter did your cravings eventually stop or have you just learnt to deal with them?[/quote]
Brilliant. Well done OP!

Did you reduce calories every day? Or did you do 5:2 or something?

Just eat loads of fruit

@SpringHasSprungYay thank you. I just put in my weight and target weight into MFP and it worked out calories per day (mine was roughly 1300 to lose one pound per week). So I reduce calories every day but I do have a day off every week where I eat more than the 1300. I do more exercise as well, so if, for example, I run 5k, that burns about 300 calories so I can eat 1600 that day. It's worked well so far and I didn't feel deprived of anything, until the last couple of weeks!

Well done on your weight loss, OP! Is this your first diet, so to speak?
I'm afraid this happened to me and I ended up with BED if I don't eat to appetite. The sweet cravings were my body's way of trying to get me to eat more calories and I'm afraid I didn't manage to resist. Now back to original weight more or less but at least not bingeing as such