Sweet cravings are probably the biggest enemy to our weight loss efforts. And for good reasons!
We all know sugar, especially refined sugar, is like poison. It’s really not good for you and it gets you totally hooked. Scientists say it’s even more addicting than cocaine. Now, that is scary!
We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. Went on a fad diet hoping to regain our ideal shape and weight, only to find ourselves binge eating a few weeks later and put back the weight we lost or even worse, develop uncontrollable cravings for sweets and junk foods.
This is usually the case with any fad, unbalanced diet, which strictly restricts the consumption of carbs and sweets.
But what if I told you there was a simple way to reduce or even eliminate sweet cravings when on a diet, or just in general, for health reasons, without compromising your weight loss efforts?
Keep on reading to uncover my simple tips for reducing sweet cravings, while losing weight and keeping it down for good.
Tips for reducing sweet cravings
Add naturally sweet vegetables to your diet, such as butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsley root, and celery root. This will trick your cravings, as your need for sweets is naturally satisfied, without added sugars. Your body doesn’t know the difference. You are giving it what it needs, when it needs it, without compromising your diet. By consuming sweet vegetables regularly and intentionally, your cravings will diminish over time, to the point that you will not even think of sugary sweets anymore (they will actually taste too sweet when attempted to eat, and just a little bit will go a long way).
Eat fresh fruits as dessert and whenever craving sweets. Opt for berries when available, as they don’t have a lot of naturally occurring sugars and are a great source of antioxidants. It’s a win-win!
Eat more protein. Sometimes sweet cravings are a sign that you are not consuming enough protein. Your body mistakenly craves sweets, when in fact it needs more protein. By simply adding more protein to your diet your sweet cravings will dissipate.
Drink more water. Most of the time we crave sugar or carbs because our body is lacking certain nutrients. More often than not, what we lack the most is water. Your cravings could be the result of thirst without even realizing it. So plan to add more water to your diet. Start by adding one extra glass each day, until you consume at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water a day.