The last few days I have really been craving sweets. Somewhere I read one of those articles about your cravings indicating that you are deficient in something else...does anyone know? I have held the sweets to a "not too bad" level, but I really want to get back to the place I was when doing Atkins where they didn't even appeal to me. That was wonderful! I know this is where the work comes in for me, and I'm trying really hard to resist. Any suggstions or help for dealing with this?

Thanks.

Emily

Oh my gosh,

I came to the sight planning to start this same thread.

Sweets have always been my problem, now that I can eat bread (read as cake) again I'm in trouble! I have a fill tomorrow and the I'm going to talk to a dietician on Monday to get my game plan together. I'll let you know what she says.

Some of the things I have found to satisfy the sweet callings include:

Sugar Free (SF), Fat Free (FF) jello pudding (60 cal)

Edys SF frozen yogurt (100 cals in 4 oz)

100 calories snack packs

Fresh Fruit cut up into bite size pieces

6-8 Frozen grapes

Crystal lite fruit punch

I'm sure others will have suggestions on how they handle sweet cravings as well.

watermellon?

An altoid?

...how about a baked apple in the oven with a bit of splenda and cinnamon. or sugar free fudge pops, or better a slice of apple with some suagr free peter pan peanut butter! yum!!!

I have a Friend that is a nutritionist. She says that in the long run, craving sweets means you need protein. She has me eat medjool dates. When you get good ones they are soft and very satisfying, she said that they have a lot of minerals and Iron and fiber. I can usually eat only one, honestly. Not bad for a goodie. Then she said to load up on red meet. to buy myself an excellent cut of red beef like a fillet minion. broil it and eat it rare. Yummy. I also get good salmon here and the next day I eat that. I eat protein almost exclusively for a couple of days and I am really surprised!

She also told me that if I crave salty things, I need minerals.

If I crave chocolate, I need vitamin e.

If I crave meat, I need b complex. I thought that one was weird but she has been proved right on for me. I understand something about acidophilus complex in the gut that react to red beef and it produces b complex. Its what she said! I really don't know if this is mumbo jumbo but I have managed to do better understanding this.

Oh yeah she reminded me about Candida. Its a real sugar hog and a real downer after you use antibiotics. After you eat sweets if you get a real drowsy feeling:notagree then its likely you have a Candida overrun. If you crave carbohydrates, the refined kind, cookies, cake, bagels and chips etc you might have Candida also. So the last craving, the one for carbs could mean Candida overrun.

She makes me go to the naturpath for a cleanse and gut rebuild for that one.

Oh yea, the reason for the drowsiness :bored is that the Candida takes the sugar and makes alcohol!! If there is anyone that can give clarity or 'debunkness' to all this I would really like to know the real thing.

I love my friend and all, I will still follow her advice its proven right by me but it would be nice to get verification of sorts. I feel silly if I'm passing out" just enough information to be dangerous!":nervous :guess

She also said.. If I get angry to frequently and my moods are out of controll, I could have too much gluten. If you ask my kids, I must be gluten intollerent!!!:angry :cry:p

I have found that if you eat any kind of sugar product it makes you crave more sugar products so for me it takes 3-4 days of absolutely no sugar and then the cravings go away, then I just have to stay away from it all together or it becomes a viscious battle again and again.

Thanks, everyone. I think I had heard somewhere that the craving can mean you need more protein. maybe I need to add another protein shake in somewhere. And I'll try the Vit E, too. I made it through 36 hours without any candy/chocolate and hope it's going to get easier in the next day or so. I think for me it works best to have absolutely none or I just want more and more. I'll try the fruit suggestions...I need to be eating more of that anyway. And I'll get some sugar free fat free pudding when I get groceries tonight. Now that I've made it this far, my pride is kicking and making it easier to keep going. Wish me lots of stick-to-it-iveness!!

Tamryn, I'd love to hear what your dietician says.

Emily

I am just on preop diet now, but last night I was ready to kill or die for ice cream... so I made a substitute.

Chocolate protein shake (Myocel), 4 oz soy milk, 4 oz water, two packs splenda, and a big scoop of low carb peanut butter. Blend it up with ice and OH MY GOSH... Reeces protein shake!!! Yummy!

Ricotta cheese mixed with Peanut Butter is also good.