jello

A small size York peppermint patty has 40 calories if using the sugar free one. A strong taste with the dark chocolate and peppermint, the regular ones are not many more caloies per candy. Really tastes like you had a good treat. BUT, you have to be able to limit the number you take out for a snack. Keep the bag out of site, it helps.

Not a snack, but I chew gum.

Frozen grapes, mint, I'm not a sweet craving person. Grape tomatoes are sweet to me, love to snack on them.

3 bite size candy bars. If I eat that, then I can get past the craving.

I'm doing weight watchers smart points. 0 points for sliced banana or sliced strawberries, 0 points for unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 point for 1/4 cup reddi whip. If I have more points then I can add 1/3 c of breyers all natural vanilla ice cream for 4 points.

If I have the will power, it's usually fruit of some kind; but I like sheilajoyce's choice.

Three strawberries that have been sliced into several pieces topped with two tablespoons of whipped cream. There are only 15 calories in 2 tblspns and less than one gram of carbs. I always feel like I'm having something decadent when I have this snack.

Edited to add that I also sprinkled a few toasted almond slices over the whipped cream. Forgot to include that with my original post.

Like Pam, I also chew gum when my mouth wants something but I'm not really hungry.

When I want something sweet, I like a square of good dark chocolate. I try to have a glass of water and a green apple before having the treat though. I also like dark chocolate covered almonds from Sees as well for something that is not overly caloric and satisfies my sweet tooth.

Skinny Cow. I love ice cream and I know I cheat when measuring. Even if I am using a measuring cup! These are single serve.

That's tough because almost all sweet stuff (excluding artificial sweetened) has loads of calories. The diet that helped me most was to limit carbohydrates. {If it tastes good, spit it out; Its fattening!}. Seriously, What helps me to get over the 'crave' hump is to find something to munch on like raw carrots or celery. If you can take in a little food and wait 10 to 15 minutes, the hunger abates. Munching on a healthy food like a carrot that takes considerable time to chew thoroughly helps since it can burn up time between bites. To extend the time, make sure to chew it thoroughly before swallowing.

Do you know why sleep aids dieting? Because when you are sleeping, you are not eating. On the negative side, you are not burning calories at a high rate either.

I am grateful that I don't have a sweet tooth, but I find frozen grapes a wonderful snack. Just rinse them thoroughly when you get them home, and toss them into a zip lock bag while still dripping wet.

I also love a tangerine, like Halo, etc. for a snack. A slice of sharp cheddar divided up on slices of a crunchy apple is filling.

Have a rice cake with a slice of cheese, ham, or peanut butter.

And drink a lot of water.

I like nuts and I sometimes put a tiny dribble of agave nectar over them

LITTLE? huh? Who says, snacks have to be little? ;)

Moni

Sliced apples with sunflower seed butter

banana topped with teaspoon of Nutella

celery with peanut butter and raisins

qyick oats with brown sugar and

cinnamon

blanched almonds puréed with hot milk, saffron and cardamom and sugar

i am getting hungry thinking just about snacks :)

When I am watching my weight I keep homemade freezer pops on hand. I make them with yogurt, fruit juice and even coffee.

Your sweet craving will pass. Try fruit or whole grain high fiber small portion of carbs like small bowl of oat cereal with sliced fruit. Lean protein with a fiber will help too. A bit of honey in some tea followed by anything high fiber is good. Don't run up your blood sugar with super sweet treats if you can help it, you have the bad mood, hungry or headachy crash to face later. Most people will try to fix the crash with more sweets or caffeine or both. If you get very hungry for sweets late at night, try 8 hours of sleep and a good breakfast with protein and quality fruits and veggies, a fist sized portion of carbs. Stay well hydrated. I like fruit for a sweet craving, but used to over do it on fruit juice.

Try and notice when the sweet cravings come on. Are you just hungry or are you having a crash because you are sweets or too many carbs earlier. Maybe try something slightly sweet and see if it passes. Having stuff sitting there tempting you makes it so much worse.

When I am dieting I eat mini meals throughout the day. A snack would be one of those mini meals or a part of one. For a sweet tooth I would have a serving of ice cream or pudding. I also make mock desserts. One favorite is a single frozen pancake heated up, topped with sliced banana, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a puff of canned whipped cream. Tastes like banana cream pie without the calorie overload.

Hi! I'm Robin and I'm a sugar addict...

Hi Robin!

I deal with my issue by having fresh fruit and an ounce or so of dried fruit everyday. I almost don't eat refined sugar now. When I can't stand it any more, those little york peppermint patties or mini Reese's/Snickers, and I mean mini, not fun size, hit the spot. 42-51 calories for each. It's been working so far. I'm down 37 pounds, 18 more to go (it was 13, but I've moved the goal).

I have handful of dark chocolate chips and peanuts. Takes care of the sweet craving. But, I could eat way more than a handful. So it helps with discipline too!

Pretzels or almonds. And I do keep a little dark chocolate around just in case.

rob333 - Congrats! I lost 42 pounds in 2009 and have kept it off. I know what a journey it is.

Rob....congrats on the loss!

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Greek yogurt=100 calories

20 choc chips=48 calories

Dill pickle= 24

Choc. pudding cup=90 calories

Mug of coffee/Inka w/ carmel flavoring & stevia = 60 calories

1/2 Can of Campbells Gumbo soup =90 calories

Small Apple= 100 calories

Med. Banana= 105 calories

Hard boiled egg= 78 calories

Depending on my workout, my fibit says I should be eating between 1600-2300 calories a day, to maintain my weight.

One string cheese. A handful of pretzels. One granola bar. I have to watch the carbs, and since the weather has gotten colder here, I am succumbing too often to eat carb snacks at night, not good for my blood sugar.

Too much time on your hands? I didn't have time to snack when I was working and raising our DS. I went up to 140 lbs after DS was in HS. DH also gained, but we both got back to better weights by age 50. (125 and 185) Mostly, we stopped *snacking*!

Now I hope to get back up to 110, despite *shrinking* an inch to 5' 5".

chisue, 110 that would be an unhealthy weight (it's even lower than lowest end)? Ideal weight for a small frame 5'5" female is 117-130.

When I worked full time, they gave us an hour for lunch & 2 fifteen minute breaks. And we could eat at our desks. Then I baked & cooked everything from scratch....someone had to eat it. lol

I'm 5' 5", 125lbs. Do you think I need to lose 15lbs?

Chisue wants to get UP to 110.

Maybe I should start a new thread and take a poll...?

I was taught that the general rule for women is to be at 100 pounds for five feet and add five pounds for every inch afterwards. That actually turns out to be my ideal weight- 5'9", 145 pounds.

ETA I was told this was a "rule of thumb."

Maybe she has trouble gaining weight? I didn't see her suggesting weight loss to anyone.

I find if I crave a sweet, I go ahead and have it. A couple of cookies, a small piece of cake or pie and a cup of tea with lemon. Otherwise, I feel deprived and obsess over it and am more likely to over indulge, You know.....you want, what you can't have. If I know I can have it, I'm not as tempted.

Indulging a little bit wasn't working for me last night when I was looking at the candy bowl (for trick or treaters) I've printed out my before picture and it's going right over there by it tonight! I might save out five pieces, one for each workday of the week next week.

piece/square of 85% or more dark chocolate

1 cup of berries with FF reddi whip (strawberries, raspberries or blackberries - 1/2 cup of blueberries).....grapes are high in sugar.

Triple zero greek yogurt with small green apple or 3 clementines

Eating candy, pretzels etc. raises blood sugar which is not good. try to eat lean protein or some sort of protein with everything u eat. just eating carbs at a meal or snack and u will be hungry very quickly.

cheese curds

According to Rita's calculations I am morbidly obese! ugh. I don't feel obese, but the mirror doesn't lie, neither does the nagging doctor. And with cold weather coming I'll be cooking up all the comfort foods. bah, humbug.

Wal-Mart sells an organic white grape that is huge and delicious as a sweet snack.

Nicole -- Unfair! Beautiful AND talented!

Rob -- I know, I know. Even my Wii exercise gizmo lectures me.

It's not happening. I have bone loss due to years of steroids for asthma; spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis; diminished lung function; shortened colon after resection for (benign) polyps. I have never been able to eat a lot at one time; I blame pyloric surgery as an infant.

I exercise. I eat. I'm just not building bone or muscle. More calories only adds more fat cells around my waist -- well, what used to be a waist before I started shrinking.

Sorry if I 'took off' on snacking. I only remember that it didn't do DH or me any good in our middle years. We did better not to eat between meals. Now we have B, L, D, and afternoon tea with cookies -- a 'snack'?

Reading my own writing, it looks like I should snack, or at least spread out my meals into more, smaller portions of 'real food' throughout the day.

:( that's unfair to you chisue

Your body should listen to what you want. drat

On the whole I agree with those who say snacking is a terrible idea. I have found limiting myself to three meals a day allows me to eat anything I want when I am maintaining and ensures I stick to my plan when I am dieting. I only wind up dieting when I fall off the three squares a day plan.

Rob -- Thanks for the sympathy. Not the end of the world. Maybe there's a *diet* for me: "The Rebuild Your Body Diet for Old Ladies"! I hope it doesn't involve those weird looking bottled drinks.

My bro had to gain weight for entrance to some specific thing, and it seems like he ate bananas for a week. Seems weird to me. And it probably wouldn't be good if you were on a heart diet (lots of potassium). But, you're not alone!

i think you have to embrace a diet lifestyle and stick with it. to go on a diet, lose weight and then go back to what u were doing previously is silly. of course you are going to gain the weight back, why wouldn't you???

find something that works for you and stick with it!!

to lose weight and keep it off:

diet lifestyle: 80%

exercise: 20%

you can exercise 7 days a week 3 hours a day and it won't matter if u go home and eat junk. e.g..: processed foods, sugar-laden foods & carb heavy foods.

it all starts with what u put in your mouth and commitment!

1) Sugar-free Jello chocolate and vanilla pudding with a little Cool Whip on top.

2) Cocoa almonds eaten together with dried coconut pieces (tastes like Mounds candy).

DH has spinal stenosis and is diabetic and NEEDS to have surgery. He is in so much pain, some days he can hardly stand. Surgery was scheduled for 10/2/17, but has been postponed until he can get his A1C level down and consistent for two months. He has cut way back on the carbs and I have lost 18 pounds in 4 weeks as a result!!!! He's doing very well with his goal and I'm loving it, too. He definitely has a sweet tooth and dessert. I make sugarless Jello and when it just starts to thicken, I add cottage cheese, some fruit and a couple of tablespoons of sour cream or plain yogurt. He can't tell he's on a diet when he eats that.

Lara bars have no sugar, but the dried fruit in them gives them a sweet taste. My go-to snack is plain yogurt with a heaping tablespoon of almond butter stirred in.

Doesn't dried fruit still have natural sugars?

I'm usually looking for something cold and wet and sweet after dinner. I love ice cream, but I find a dish of applesauce from the fridge with some cinnamon on it is a nice lower calorie substitute.

If I crave something sweet...I eat whatever it is that I am craving (thinking) about. I just don't eat a lot of it. I have lost weight lately...past year....and did that by not dieting. I eat whatever I can think of that sounds good....but I don't eat a lot of anything. About half of what I would normally eat. From here on out, I eat whatever I want. We stayed several weeks following the flood, with a lady who is anorexic. She ate one or two bites, every other day. She is skin and bones but has an unrealistic view of herself and thinks she is fat. She thinks anyone who eats like a "normal" person is a "hog". I told her, at my age...what do I have to look forward to? Dying? I'm going to eat any danged thing I want, and as much as I want. I have found though that I feel better eating less....so I have cut down on portion size.

Love that picture, Nicole! You looked fabulous, and I am sure you still do.

mamapinky0, yes, dried fruit has natural sugars. We avoid real and artificial sugar, but our indulgence is the dried fruit/Lara bars. Not every day, though. Our fitbits help us gauge what we can eat.