Post: #1

I have a sweet tooth.

Every now and then after dinner I'll have some kind of sweets.

But a couple of weeks ago I noticed that I was eating dessert almost every night.

Fuck that.

So I went to the store the next day and bought a few of these bad boys:



I also picked up some honey roasted almonds.

As soon as I feel that irrational sugar craving gnawing at me, I just eat a square or two of the 85% dark chocolate and a few swigs from my can of almonds.

Craving gone.

I'd like to stick with just the 99% dark chocolate (no sugar) and regular raw almonds instead of the honey roasted but I train a shit load and my experiences from going very low-carb while training were not good at all.

So, just trying to reconcile the two. Hope this helps somebody.

Post: #2

Chocolate is just really delicious fat - so use it with that in mind. If you're cutting or on maintenance it's easy to over do it even with 99% chocolate. I'm the same with carbs and training. I need to get some in or my conditioning goes to shit. Personally I found making oatmeal and adding fresh strawberries and a splash of heavy cream completely eliminated my sugar cravings for the rest of the day and gives me enough energy to hit the gym in the evening.

Post: #3

Peppermint candy, gum, and water is good as well for getting rid of cravings.

Post: #4

85% cocoa chocolate gives me the sits, so I have to stick with 75%

Post: #5

Very dark chocolate doesn't really get rid of my sugar cravings. Above 75% - and definitely at 85% (I remember eating the pictured chocolate from Lindt regularly a while ago) - the taste is bitter and not sweet, and it seems I crave the sweet taste and not just the sugar.

Trying to switch to a low carb diet right now and make my way down to 10-12% body fat. I managed it successfully for a while a couple of years ago, but then fell back into my sugar craving habits (and I have a particular taste for chocolate, plus ice cream during the summer) - though thankfully without putting on too much weight.

Post: #6

I guess there isn't truly good in sugar cravings. It makes you fat.

Post: #7

Are there really many men who like sweets? It looks to me such a chick and pre-puberscent thing.

Men like meat. I would trade a chocolate for a meatball anytime. If I ever overeat then it's because of meat.

Post: #8

(10-25-2014 02:52 PM)Mage Wrote:  Are there really many men who like sweets? It looks to me such a chick and pre-puberscent thing.

Men like meat. I would trade a chocolate for a meatball anytime. If I ever overeat then it's because of meat.

I love chocolate, ice cream, cake - and I love meat. Just writing that got me salivating over the thought of a big, dripping steak with fried potatoes and pepper sauce, and after a little break followed up by an almost disgustingly sweet piece of chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert.

As "manly" as a juicy steak looks and tastes, I really don't think that the male body functions sufficiently different from the female body in this regard, that it can't just as well get addicted to sugar highs.

And for both genders go that the more your body gets used to high carb doses, the more it craves them. Not just pure sweets, but it might also be eating too much bread, pasta etc.
Which also mean that even notorious sugar addicts who manage to overcome the initial difficult first weeks when switching to a low carb diet, will then have their sugar cravings subside significantly or maybe even entirely (though they can obviously return soon enough if you start getting careless with the carbs again).

Post: #9

I've eaten a HFLC version of a paleo diet for about six years, and the best way to kill a sweet tooth is to not eat anything sweet for 60 days.

That said I have a big weakness for chocolate and ice cream. For the chocolate I have a tablespoon of coconut butter that is infused with chocolate and espresso. It's almost all pure fat and a spoonful leaves me satiated for hours.

The brand I use is made locally but this is close, http://www.amazon.com/Artisana-Coconut-B...nut+butter I keep this is my carry on and eat it instead of the crap they severe on airplanes.

For the ice cream craving, I just started making my own.

This is the ice cream maker I have,http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice-Sorbet/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414271802&sr=8-1&keywords=ice+cream+maker

This is the recipe use for the base.

3 egg yokes
16 oz heavy cream
1/2 cup coconut sugar or honey
1 teaspoon of vanila

From there you can add whatever you like, I make this often with coco and coffee.

Post: #10

I use 85% Lindt chocolate in moderation as well. I usually break off a couple squares after a big meal, it it really helps settle my stomach, something about getting the saliva going again kills any nausea I might have after consuming a large meal (I'm in bulk mode right now). Alternatively I'll do some peanut butter with a couple drops off honey.

I'm also on a kick lately with pancakes with raw maple syrup for post-workout meal. I do a grain-free pancake with coconut flour, whey protein, coconut milk, honey, grass fed butter, and 7 eggs. All organic ingredients. Tastes amazing, especially after leg day.

It's insane in terms of the amount of sugar/calories, but I only allow myself to eat pancakes/maple syrup right after a hard HIT workout. My perception after listening to Jay on the D&P podcast, is that sugar intake post-workout is alright, especially if its using natural sources - honey, maple syrup, etc. Plus I feel like it motivates me to train extra hard - something to look forward to for cranking out that one last rep.

Post: #11

(10-25-2014 02:52 PM)Mage Wrote:  Are there really many men who like sweets? It looks to me such a chick and pre-puberscent thing.

Men like meat. I would trade a chocolate for a meatball anytime. If I ever overeat then it's because of meat.

Haha I have a similar thinking, but I love Ice cream. I use to have a small obsession with milk chocolate some years ago though, but I don't really get those cravings anymore.

Post: #12

(10-27-2014 10:00 AM)FretDancer Wrote:  

(10-25-2014 02:52 PM)Mage Wrote:  Are there really many men who like sweets? It looks to me such a chick and pre-puberscent thing.

Men like meat. I would trade a chocolate for a meatball anytime. If I ever overeat then it's because of meat.

Haha I have a similar thinking, but I love Ice cream. I use to have a small obsession with milk chocolate some years ago though, but I don't really get those cravings anymore.

Exactly my taste I love ice cream and meat and don't care much about candy cakes and chocolate (white chocolate is better trough!)

However isn't ice cream mainly fat? Doesn't count as carbs IMHO. Sweets = carbs.

Post: #13

After several days successfully on low carbs - including no sweets - I tried one of those 85% Lindts yesterday. Ate all 100 grams (~500 kcal) in a few minutes.

For me it's gotta be cold turkey on the sweets (which I've done a few times in the past, and then backsliding later). Even chocolate so dark it's more bitter than sweet is still too tempting for my sugar cravings if I have it in the house.
Hell, I can't even have bread lying around while I'm trying to switch to a low carb diet.

Post: #14

I like to make fake ice cream.

(frozen bananas, walnuts, cinnamon)





This article describes other flavors of "fake ice cream":

http://www.oneingredientchef.com/one-ing...ice-cream/

and

"Fake" Pumpkin Ice Cream

Post: #15

I've heard from a few medical professionals that almonds do a lot to counter sugar cravings. I've used them for that purpose for a while. Unfortunately good almonds can be expensive... but a lot better than dental work or a freezer full of ice cream.

While I occasionally eat ice cream and chocolate and don't think there's any biological basis for eating those things being a typically female behavior, "having a weakness" or a "sweet tooth" strikes me as a slightly feminine attitude. If you crave something, it's typically due to a lacking nutrient, not a specific food.

Post: #16

Dark Chocolate has helped me as well - same brand in fact

I keep more apples and banana around now though

In the last two years, I've replaced Ice Cream with Gelato; more natural ingredients and less sugar

Post: #17

(10-27-2014 11:49 AM)h3ltrsk3ltr Wrote:  I've heard from a few medical professionals that almonds do a lot to counter sugar cravings. I've used them for that purpose for a while. Unfortunately good almonds can be expensive... but a lot better than dental work or a freezer full of ice cream.

While I occasionally eat ice cream and chocolate and don't think there's any biological basis for eating those things being a typically female behavior, "having a weakness" or a "sweet tooth" strikes me as a slightly feminine attitude. If you crave something, it's typically due to a lacking nutrient, not a specific food.

No amount of sugar from other sources can replace my chocolate cravings. As much as I love fruit, I just salivate for that chocolate, or seasonally ice cream with chocolate or chocolate cake.
As I mentioned above going cold turkey on sugar in general, and a low carb diet is pretty much the only thing that after a while can kill that daily urge for me.

Not sure what it is about chocolate - while some research mentions substances in chocolate that might give a bit more than just a sugar "high", it seems like chocolate addiction specifically (as opposed to the, as far as I know, accepted observation that high carbohydrate doses in general increase the cravings for even more carbs) is generally seen as a bit of a myth.

Perhaps it's the taste as much as the sugar and other ingredients. Because as far as eg. dessert goes, for me nothing even comes close in taste to a delicious, moist chocolate cake.

Post: #18

Almonds, diet soda, and cocoa powder have all helped me kick sugar cravings.

That and cigarettes

Post: #19

Eat dates. They are gods candy and will curb your sweet cravings since they will fill you up and you will get bored of them after a handful or two. It will hit your sugar points but not make you binge out.

Post: #20

(10-29-2014 09:56 PM)kosko Wrote:  Eat dates. They are gods candy and will curb your sweet cravings since they will fill you up and you will get bored of them after a handful or two. It will hit your sugar points but not make you binge out.

Dates are ridiculously sweet. The point is to eat something with little to no sugar to kill the craving, not to eat a ton of sugar.

Post: #21

I think that many people may find this useful, in terms of how hunger and satiation works. I know I have.

http://www.gnolls.org/index

Warning: Paleo geekout imminent

Post: #22

(11-01-2014 01:45 AM)VincentVinturi Wrote:  

(10-29-2014 09:56 PM)kosko Wrote:  Eat dates. They are gods candy and will curb your sweet cravings since they will fill you up and you will get bored of them after a handful or two. It will hit your sugar points but not make you binge out.

Dates are ridiculously sweet. The point is to eat something with little to no sugar to kill the craving, not to eat a ton of sugar.

That is the point. They are so sweet your sugar cravings will shut down within 10-20 mins. You will never binge on them as they are way too sweet and fiberous. You will get sick of eating them after a few.

You get off sugar from purging it from your pallete which takes time (a year at least). "Snacking" isnt a good way to squash it, because snacking means you are dehydrated or lacking in micronitruients. When your at a level of sustenence you dont crave "snacks". So snacking on almonds for example accomplishes nothing as it further reinforces snacking, and does not address that your pallete, still favorable to sugar, is still lurking around. Unless you rid it from your diet almost 100% your pallete and brain won't clense that dominate taste portion out.

What people in the west do is take away the calories via sweeteners which do even more damage since your body has nothing to link the sugar to in regards to marco and micro nutrients and actually then makes you end up craving more to over compensate.

I don't crave sugar much at all because it was never around me as a child. Soda makes me gag because its so sweet for example, I haven't ate candy like gummies I'm years, milk chocolate tastes like shit to me. I'd rather have the dark stuff that makes my taste buds pucker from the bitterness. If anybody can talk on how to not like sugar its me because I don't mess with the stuff. I went through a faze as a kid where I binged on sweets as a rebellion stage from not having it as a kid, got sick of that shit and haven't touched it since.

Most people whom like sweets hate dates because it isn't a processed and more enjoyable form of sugar. You have to work chewing them down only to be rewarded with a dense earthy off the chart sweet taste, not the fake processed sweet taste we are used to.

If your body wants sugar give it the most sweet natural thing on the planet and it will run away from that craving damn quick.

Its like taking a shot of moonshine when you want a drink. You won't want anymore after that uppercut of alcahol.

Even better anology is thinking of dates as a fat chic. More women is better right? No. To much of a good thing makes us humans repulsed. The body is programmed to not like to much of anything. So throwing a nuclear bomb on your sweet receptors may actually make you hate sugar/sweets in the long run.

Dates have a interesting history. And I'm sorry its pure Western ignorance on them which causes hate. They are one of the most lauded and holy foods which defy common logic. Dates have more sugar in then processed table sugar via GI yet they don't raise blood sugar.

Quote:"Nutrition Journal" reports a study in which date consumption was tested on diabetics. The study shows that while dates contain high amounts of natural sugars, they are actually a low-glycemic index food and did not significantly raise blood sugar levels after they were eaten.

Next they are able to digest easily even though they are very fiberous, they also contain a abundance of micro nutrients. Muslims favor them for breaking fast as they are easy on the system, it has 1000s of years of assurance towards health.

But this just follows what nature does further in making sweets hard to come by. Commercial sugars are extracted from extremely tough forage like sugar cane, or tough sugar beets, you can't snack on either of those two as your teeth would break off. So would it not make sense sense to give your body the most potent natural form of sugar if its craving it? Since what your not craving is real sugar, but its chemical and processed alternatives give it the real thing via dates and I can assure you won't crave sugar much after as your body will immediately respond to it and ditch the craving.

Because if this was just about simple sugar fixes one could just eat fruit, but I know that dosnt hit the spot for sugar fans so its the simple issue of having taste recpetors to much in love with fake processed sugar than the real stuff in nature.

Post: #23

Had a snickers bar yesterday (it being Halloween and all). First piece of candy I've had since I started an almost processed sugar free diet in July. It tasted like dog shit to me. At least for me it only took a few weeks for the cravings to go away and now I don't even like the stuff. Keep your fiber up and eat lots of fruit.

Post: #24

The Godiva 85% Dark Chocolate bars are pretty good. They taste better than Lindt. You can get them at 3 for $10, only a little more expensive than the Lindt.

Post: #25

When I went cold turkey on sweet stuff, I found that a quick drink of water followed by washing my mouth out with mint mouthwash helped things.

Alcohol is my downfall, it brings back my sweet tooth. I wake up in the morning feeling like shit, and it's from the sugar not the alcohol.