Sugar craving

[Mazzatron]

Since being pregnant with my second child I crave sugar so much. He is 1 now and I also have a 3.5 year old.

I've never weighed as much as I do now and never been so into sugar.

After my first child I lost the weight easily but I'm really struggling this time around

Has anyone got any ideas / strategies to help me stay away from sugar PLEASE?!
What do you replace sugary treats with?

I have to buy a few treats for the kids and occasionally do baking.

TIA

Oh this like is me! I'm not actually overweight, but since having my son I've had a crazy sugar addiction. I kept it fairly well under control while pregnant because I didn't want to be feeding him tonnes of sugar too... But since giving birth 11m ago I've really gone to town. Are you bf? I do wonder if this is the reason in my case as I have stuck at my pre-pregnancy weight. But it's still not healthy, I hate the feeling of needing it, and now my son is starting to take milk less frequently it has to stop.

I'm going cold turkey. I'm a couple of days in. Not extreme cold turkey as I'm having things like greek yoghurt with a little honey, or a few dates or grapes. But no chocolate, cake or sweets.

I've always had bit of a sweet tooth but it's gotten worse since I had my 2year old. I'm putting it down to tiredness and it's giving me a temporary boost. Fruit doesn't help crave it as fruit makes me more sleepy, it usually has to be chocolate or biscuits.
Maybe have a look at when you're finding you're craving chocolate and seeing if there is a pattern and if you can redirect yourself to something else. For my example is have a coffee/tea or a big glass of cold water instead of the sugar to wake me up.

Stop having it in the house - that's the only way I can break the cycle. Kids don't need sweet treats - a few grapes etc will do, especially at that age. If you were a heroin addict you wouldn't keep a bit in, just in case a friend came round - the temptation is too great.

Also - cut out carbs like rice, pasta and bread - it helps stop your blood sugar spiking and falling. Occasionally I have to have a re-set. It takes about a week and is hell, but you feel so much better after.

Come off it for a month, including fruit juice. then just have it as part of a meal so you don’t get the high, and don’t have it in the house.

This is insane. The OP is asking how to reduce sugary snacks, not low carb.

Bread, pasta and rice when eaten whole meal contain useful fibre. But even when eaten white they are usually served with protein which stops the spikes. It’s a good idea to eat protein with most meals. It is not necessary to cut out all carbs.

It really isn't insane - you can get your fibre from vegetables (which are carbs, but with a low glycemic index). Cutting back on carbs reduces blood sugar spikes. I'm not just making it up!

www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/low-carb-diabetes-diet.html

www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/carbohydrates-and-blood-sugar/

The first step to feel liberated @Mazzatron is to understand you do NOT have a sugar addiction or sugar craving. Do you open the pantry, grab the bag of sugar, and take spoonfuls of it? No. Nobody does, because it is not the sugar, it is the combination of sugar and fat. The sugar and butter in cakes, sugar and fats in chocolate, sugar and cream in ice cream and so on. The same with salt and fat. Have you ever tasted salt-less chips or crisps. How many do you eat? Very very few, yet those are carbs, how come you don't jump on them.

It is the processing and the combination of ingredients . IF you focus on the sugar, there is no way out. Think processing. For the whole family. Take advantage of the summer coming and ditch "treats" in favour of cherries, slices of watermelon and so on.
The only way to cut these dependency on highly processed food, engineered to be irresistible, is to start really eating more whole foods. A cake on Sunday morning, baked with the kids, absolutely fine and healthy. Focus on plants, a lot of plants, instead of food that comes out of a factory plant. Learn to cook a variety of vegetables even some you have never tried before.

It is the countries that demonise carb that are the fattest on Earth. From France to Japan, women eat carbs daily but are very critical of processed food.
Put the focus on what is good for you and your children. Having healthy eating habits is a gift you will them for life. Anything in packets just puts them on your path.
You do NOT have to buy treats for the kids. Have some middle dark chocolate (50%) in the house, and put a piece between slices of bread. Tons of French kids have that after school. Or a real croissant from the bakery, not an industrial baked good. Put fruit pieces on a skewer alternating kiwi, strawberry and banana. They will love it and so will you. Eating crap has been normalised in UK. Focus on doing good to you , your body, your family.

Every time your hand goes on that shelf to buy a snack , sweet or savoury, including the baby food, someone gets a bonus. Job done, another woman, another family hooked. Leave them on the shelf and grab a pomegranate, a melon and if you fancy savoury , olives, a piece of real cheese, not that industrial solidified-fat cheese type, that comes squared and wrapped in plastic.