Sweet Tooth Support Group

Pascal86

I have been addicted to sugar pretty much my whole life. I basically have to eat something sweet at the end of every meal, and usually many times in between. I've been reading that eating a lot of sugar while you're pregnant can set baby up for excessive weight gain, which is dangerous for birth, and can make them more likely to be addicted to sugar once they're out, and as they grow up. So as I'm finishing the second trimester and going into the third, I'm resolving to significantly cut back my sugar intake, and asking for some support!

I've noticed there's a lot of "I shouldn't be eating this but whatever, I'm pregnant - haha" on this board, and I have been an active participant in this (and will not tell you how many empty Nutella jars there are hiding in my office that I haven't gotten around to throwing away yet), but just wanted to see if anyone is with me in making a little shift in this attitude! By no means do I want to be policing behavior (although if anyone gets mad at me, that's okay, I've been kind of sad nobody's been fighting/entertaining me on here lately), but just wanted to send out a kind reminder that it's fun to commiserate about how hard it is to eat healthily, but will be less fun if any it effects the health/future of any of our babies.

I know personally, I get enough of that behavior from other people in my life - family, friends, etc. are always telling me I can eat whatever and saying, "baby wants a cupcake too!" Duh, baby wants a cupcake, but baby probably doesn't want diabetes, so I need to start thinking twice about all the sweets I've been shoving down my gullet.

Anyone else ready to work on cutting back their sugar intake? Or whatever your particular vice is? 

yogahh

I love sweets. Always have. Always will. Apparently this little girl does too as I cannot go a day without a dessert or three now. Starting yesterday I decided to stick with one dessert a day. I am hoping a bowl of Edy's slow churn ice cream every night will do the trick (half the fat!). Not only do I need to curb it for her, but for me too. I worked so hard to get in shape, I cant see it all come undone because of these ravenous sugar cravings!

This is pretty much me at this point

Pascal86

yogahh said:

This is pretty much me at this point

This has definitely been me with the Nutella. It's the only thing I exclusively eat in secret!

If you want an added incentive, I don't know what the state of your skin is - but the one time I cut sugar out for a fitness competition, I had the most amazing skin of my life. I thought it would be worth it enough to cut sugar out forever, but obviously... no. I like the idea of planning out small sugar rewards to look forward to each day to curb things over the rest of the day. I would love to just eliminate it completely, but I know that can backfire and I'll be right back on the toilet huffing more cookie dough.

yogahh

Pascal86 said:

yogahh said:

This is pretty much me at this point

This has definitely been me with the Nutella. It's the only thing I exclusively eat in secret!

If you want an added incentive, I don't know what the state of your skin is - but the one time I cut sugar out for a fitness competition, I had the most amazing skin of my life. I thought it would be worth it enough to cut sugar out forever, but obviously... no. I like the idea of planning out small sugar rewards to look forward to each day to curb things over the rest of the day. I would love to just eliminate it completely, but I know that can backfire and I'll be right back on the toilet huffing more cookie dough.

Surprisingly, my skin is at its best right now. It must be the "glow". I am drinking a lot more water than normal so I am attributing it to that!

YouGoGlenCoco31

Yes, please.  I need this in my life.  Just let me finish this donut first.  (Seriously, it's bad.)

kp90

Lmao, that GIF is hilarious @yogahh

But ok, I totally get where you are coming from and I agree with you. There is nothing wrong with you wanting to cut out deserts and make a healthy decision for you and your baby. You're putting your baby first (as any mom should) and I don't see why anyone would shame you for that or get mad. Like I said... your body, your baby, your decision. With that being said.. try not to stress yourself out too much with all of that. Also, when you say it can make your child prone to weight gain just remember that your child cannot eat what you do not keep in the house. So if you binge on sugar like most of us all have been, its okay. Everything in moderation. When your child is born teach and feed them healthy decisions, keep them active, etc. Women in history have done WAY worse things than stuff their faces with girl scout cookies and cupcakes (not that it makes their behavior okay.. just sayin') but yes I also would like to watch just how much sugar I consume but it's HARD! If you are able to cut most of it out then I give you lots of props because sugar becomes an addiction for a lot of people.. even though that sounds crazy! More power to you momma! Don't let anyone sway your decision.

valerie4786

Hi, my name is Valerie and I can't say no to sugar. Help me.

businessmama

@Pascal86 I'm totally down. When I had to go on a sodium restricting diet, I had sweets ALL THE TIME because it obviously was not salt. My skin is awful, and I know when I cut back on sugar, I see an improvement, but I am literally addicted - as in, the thought of a bowl of sugary cereal is what gets me up in the morning and how I finish every meal.

Is there a challenge or a goal? I need something to hold myself accountable because I also just read how much sugar intake contributes to breast cancer, which runs in both sides of my family. I want to do so much better (hitting send as I'm sipping my sweet tea).

JennyS86

I would love to join you ladies!  I don't have a problem eating healthy food (now that ms has subsided), but I can't stop eating the sweets after lunch and dinner.  My vice is candy - chocolate or non. Right now I'm on a Good N Plenty binge. seriously?

This past August, we weren't actively TTC (pcos lady here), but I made some "nutrition changes"  (I don't like the diet word), such as reducing gluten and dairy in my diet.  Kind of like a paleo-lite version.  From that point until the morning sickness hit, I felt great and had a lot of energy. I didn't crave sweets like I normally do!  I just wanted to share this little inspirational story. 

I plan to go back to eating this way - but probably not until after nursing. 

Plan for this week:  I eat 2 chocolate-covered pretzels after lunch and maybe a fruit snack or other portion-controlled sweet.  After dinner, I am going stick to one dessert: either ice cream OR cookies  OR candy. 
My weight goal is +15lbs over the next 15weeks - just trying to be a little healthier!

got to start somewhere, right?

Pascal86

@AliciaD39  - Good idea with the challenge, here's one I'm going to try, and I invite anyone else to make their own challenge or join me in mine: Eat only one serving of dessert/day, every day today through next Monday (one week!)... as in, I actually look at the nutrition facts, figure out what the serving size is, and eat only that. In the rest of my day, aim for little-no sugar added in everything I eat.

ETA: I should mention that for me, desserts are the main thing I eat with excess sugar in them - cookies, candy, cake, etc. If anyone else wants to jump in on this, this should also include things like sweet drinks/soda - just a limit of one sugary thing per day.

@valerie4786 - Join us!!

@kp90 - I know it's hard! That's why I'm recruiting you guys to help! And believe me, I have absolutely not earned any props yet. Hoping by the end of the week I can report that things have changed!

Pascal86

JennyS86 said:

Plan for this week:  I eat 2 chocolate-covered pretzels after lunch and maybe a fruit snack or other portion-controlled sweet.  After dinner, I am going stick to one dessert: either ice cream OR cookies  OR candy. 
My weight goal is +15lbs over the next 15weeks - just trying to be a little healthier!

got to start somewhere, right?

I love it, solid plan! My pro tip that I NEVER follow, is that brushing your teeth immediately after eating helps a lot with the sweets cravings after meals. Ugh, going to follow my own stupid advice and go brush my teeth now so I don't eat the half-eaten, stale cupcake in the fridge.

Merciel

I've been trying to stick to one a day. Actually my bigger problem is not buying them -- ever since making the unfortunate discovery that some of the confections in the Whole Foods pastry case are actually pretty good, I've had a tough time making it through the store without grabbing a tiramisu or napoleon just because they look so nice under that lighting and oh, who knows, maybe I'll want one with coffee in the morning...

...and while I can generally do okay about not eating them (because that's 400 calories!), now I have this big stack of desserts sitting in the fridge making me feel like a jackass every time I open the door.

I'm like some idiot dragon collecting a hoard of sugary treasure and then just sitting on it. The best part is, my weight has been skyrocketing all month anyway, so I'm not even eating this stuff and my butt is still expanding steadily every day. Fan-tastic. Really won the lottery on that one.

Anyway if somebody wants to just like hit me with a ruler every time I walk past the bakery section, that would be great.

emilyj77

My name is Emily and I'm addicted to sugar. In addition to making sure I eat at least one serving of veggies a day, I would like to limit my sugar intake to one dessert a day as well as one flavored creamer for my decaf coffee. Can't quite give that up!

LadySamLady

I had a major sugar aversion for the entire 1st trimester but my sweet tooth came back in full force at the holidays. I've been doing pretty well making better choices after getting a lecture about weight gain from my OB at my last appointment. I've cut sugar and carbs out of breakfast entirely and feeling very proud of myself for that.  I tend to give myself lots of credit any time I do make a healthy choice, even if it should be easy to do it.  I definitely allow myself a sugary cheat treat (or two) every day and don't beat myself up about it although I could probably stand to reign it in.

I've got my glucose test on Thursday, fingers crossed I pass!!

LadySamLady

I like the one dessert a day challenge but I expect to fail today (bad attitude, I know) because I had a rice crispie treat earlier and I know I'm going to want a popsicle after dinner....

LadyStardust179

I too have an enormous sweet tooth and very little self control when sweets are available.

Great tip, @Pascal86! I do this sometimes after dinner and it does help me stay away from sweets or other post-dinner, unnecessary snacks. I think one reason it works for me in the evening is because I am usually quite tired and the thought of brushing my teeth one more time before bed is unappealing.

Merciel

Dunno if any of these will work for anyone else, but here are some things I do to kill off sugar cravings. Some work better than others, and I'm still looking for the one that prevents me from buying something shiny every time I walk past the pastry case, but oh well:

-- brush my teeth + use fluoride (good idea anyway since pregnancy does a number on your dental health) -- this is sort of piggybacking on the suggestion earlier, except that toothbrushing alone never stops me, so I have to add the fluoride and its magical power of distorting my tastebuds for half an hour afterward. No point eating dessert if it's not going to taste good, amirite?

-- instead of eating an actual sugary dessert, I'll have a cup of sweet tea (Bigelow Orange & Spice + Splenda is my go-to, but I know not everybody's on board with artificial sweeteners while pregnant).

-- healthier alternative: have a fruit smoothie or a cup of honey-sweetened yogurt instead. This actually works better for me with savory cravings than sweet ones (e.g. if I want a slice of pizza, I'll have pasta all'arabbiata instead; the tomato sauce is enough to satisfy the pizza craving and it's a much healthier choice).

-- psych-out alternative: eat a piece of candy (or a kind of cookie) that I don't particularly like. If I tell myself that my only dessert option is a Chips Ahoy cookie out of the bag, then that's a pretty good guarantee that I won't eat anything, because I cannot stand bagged chocolate chip cookies. That exact version might not work for everybody, but there's got to be some kind of candy that you find absolutely revolting, and candy doesn't go bad (at least not within the timeframe we're all talking about), so keeping that around as your only "break glass in case of emergency" option may be sufficient to ensure that you never do break that glass.

-- laziness alternative: institute a rule that the only junk food you can have is what you cook for yourself. Nothing pre-packaged, nothing that comes in a bag or a box. If you want a cookie, you must bake that cookie from scratch.

That one actually tends to backfire on me more often than not, because I like baking and I can do it quickly enough that it's not much of a deterrent, and then I'm stuck with an entire cake or 36 cookies instead of the one cupcake or one cookie that I might have bought at the bakery, but it works really well for some of my friends so I'll add it here.

yogahh

Merciel said:

Dunno if any of these will work for anyone else, but here are some things I do to kill off sugar cravings. Some work better than others, and I'm still looking for the one that prevents me from buying something shiny every time I walk past the pastry case, but oh well:

-- brush my teeth + use fluoride (good idea anyway since pregnancy does a number on your dental health) -- this is sort of piggybacking on the suggestion earlier, except that toothbrushing alone never stops me, so I have to add the fluoride and its magical power of distorting my tastebuds for half an hour afterward. No point eating dessert if it's not going to taste good, amirite?

-- instead of eating an actual sugary dessert, I'll have a cup of sweet tea (Bigelow Orange & Spice + Splenda is my go-to, but I know not everybody's on board with artificial sweeteners while pregnant).

-- healthier alternative: have a fruit smoothie or a cup of honey-sweetened yogurt instead. This actually works better for me with savory cravings than sweet ones (e.g. if I want a slice of pizza, I'll have pasta all'arabbiata instead; the tomato sauce is enough to satisfy the pizza craving and it's a much healthier choice).

-- psych-out alternative: eat a piece of candy (or a kind of cookie) that I don't particularly like. If I tell myself that my only dessert option is a Chips Ahoy cookie out of the bag, then that's a pretty good guarantee that I won't eat anything, because I cannot stand bagged chocolate chip cookies. That exact version might not work for everybody, but there's got to be some kind of candy that you find absolutely revolting, and candy doesn't go bad (at least not within the timeframe we're all talking about), so keeping that around as your only "break glass in case of emergency" option may be sufficient to ensure that you never do break that glass.

-- laziness alternative: institute a rule that the only junk food you can have is what you cook for yourself. Nothing pre-packaged, nothing that comes in a bag or a box. If you want a cookie, you must bake that cookie from scratch.

That one actually tends to backfire on me more often than not, because I like baking and I can do it quickly enough that it's not much of a deterrent, and then I'm stuck with an entire cake or 36 cookies instead of the one cupcake or one cookie that I might have bought at the bakery, but it works really well for some of my friends so I'll add it here.

Or just eat the dang cookie!

LadySamLady

@yogahh girl you took the words right out of my mouth.

businessmama

I'm starting my challenge tomorrow. I work for a food company and today we had Petit Fours.

lalala2004

I do try to to keep it to one dessert a day, generally. During the holidays it was rough, but I don't think I've done too bad. I would suggest if you want something sweet, to try something healthy and sweet like yogurt or fruit. I never ate bananas before, but now I love them!

js8812

I have such a sweet tooth.  I always have.  It went away completely first tri, but it has come back with a vengeance.  Granny smith apples or other fruits seem to help quite a bit.  I need to join this group...

kwrightnb

Ugh this is horrible but I'm totally in! Why is sugar so damn good ... It's like my body NEEDS it, like you said after every meal and a lot of times in between... My sugars have been high every appointment but on the days I go in i make sure to eat NO sugar .. But they're still really high. So they're sending me for the glucose challenge early next week! Hoping I just have sweet pee .. But looks like I have to stop eating all the chocolate bars !

wsgjmw1

I am not really into candy BUT I have a serious problem with cookies and donuts. I do give myself credit for only having one donut yesterday when i easily could have taken two. YAH!

rlworzalla

yogahh said:

I love sweets. Always have. Always will. Apparently this little girl does too as I cannot go a day without a dessert or three now. Starting yesterday I decided to stick with one dessert a day. I am hoping a bowl of Edy's slow churn ice cream every night will do the trick (half the fat!). Not only do I need to curb it for her, but for me too. I worked so hard to get in shape, I cant see it all come undone because of these ravenous sugar cravings!

This is pretty much me at this point

Ice cream is what I've been having 90% of the nights as my bedtime snack! I'm also very partial to sour candy too.

BabyL52716

I need to be part of this group....its aweful.

balamama

Yup I need this group too. I've been really bad lately (see my TTT re: my milkshake today and OD on Samoas yesterday). I'm going to try really hard to stick to one serving of dessert a day and on limiting any added sugars. Around lunch when I'm craving dessert I've been trying to sub in fruit which has worked, especially fruits like grapes or cut up pineapple which takes a little longer to eat and feels like an indulgence.

nerdymama15

I'm in serious trouble when the Easter jelly beans come out!  I am addicted to Sweet Tart jellybeans.  OMG  I kind of want to tell myself that I"m going to  buy several bags to keep until after baby is born so I binge on them then, but we both know that won't happen b/c I'll negotiate with myself in my head and they will be gone.

dsmith211

I need to be a part of this but I already feel like I might fail. Lol. DH did say he would try and help out by buying less sweets which might help in the short term, but I have a feeling I may end up getting really cranky with him.

Soontobejones33

I need support as well. The problem though is the only thing that taste good, or like anything at all reall, is dessert. I will have massive burst of sugar (ice cream with something cake, cookies, candy. Soda and hot cocoa. All in the same day) and then back off to normal. But when it's the only thing you can taste it's hard to say no. My glucose is in three weeks and I'm freaking out. The nurse was telling me what not to eat and I was like "I'm supposed to fast?" Cause she nixed my typical breakfast just about across the board. I don't like failing test. So cutting back...starting tomorrow. Cause I still have m&m's today

Clauni27

Sugar has a very quick negative effect on my body. Yeah it makes me feel like sh*t sometimes but my weight packs on very fast. I'm not talking about sitting around and eating a tub of Icecream. If I had a scoop of Icecream everyday but the rest of my diet was okay then I would still have thunder thighs and be gaining weight. I'm hoping to cut back to 10g (or less) total a day for my third trimester. Especially since I haven't been trail running since my second month. That was my only form of consistent exercise (a few miles every other day) and now I'm doing good if I go on a long walk once a week. I'm hoping cutting the sugar way back would provide more energy to do a little bit of exercise every day.
When I'm in the mind set its no big deal but the cravings right are ridiculous. I feel like a need a starting point. You know like being locked in a cell for a week with only vegetables and proteins as my source of food.
Help!

kbrands7

I'm in. I'm not naturally attracted to sweets, but when I stress out or get too tired, I turn into a cookie monster.

Pascal86

@Clauni27 - Yes, if only someone would come lock is all in a cell and force feed us a well-balanced diet!!

@Soontobejones33 - When I did a fitness competition, I pretty much just had to give in to the idea that food was for training and sustenance, not for taste. Sounds like you might have to do that to some extent too, if everything besides sugar tastes bad! Maybe you could just allow yourself one window of time per day when you have sweets so you can look forward to that, and eat with a nutrition for me/baby mindset the rest of the day? I know that's a tough situation when everything tastes crappy! 

businessmama

Okay - pumped. I'm not limiting sugar from my meals so much, but from dessert.

Breakfast - Brown Sugar Oatmeal ( yay ) and Coffee w/ cream
Snack - String Cheese
Lunch - Amy's enchiladas with corn
Snack 2 - Apple
Dinner - Omelet and toast

I'll try to throw more veggies in, but it feels good to lay it out!

AdorkablePixie

Merciel said:

Dunno if any of these will work for anyone else, but here are some things I do to kill off sugar cravings. Some work better than others, and I'm still looking for the one that prevents me from buying something shiny every time I walk past the pastry case, but oh well:

-- brush my teeth + use fluoride (good idea anyway since pregnancy does a number on your dental health) -- this is sort of piggybacking on the suggestion earlier, except that toothbrushing alone never stops me, so I have to add the fluoride and its magical power of distorting my tastebuds for half an hour afterward. No point eating dessert if it's not going to taste good, amirite?

-- instead of eating an actual sugary dessert, I'll have a cup of sweet tea (Bigelow Orange & Spice + Splenda is my go-to, but I know not everybody's on board with artificial sweeteners while pregnant).

-- healthier alternative: have a fruit smoothie or a cup of honey-sweetened yogurt instead. This actually works better for me with savory cravings than sweet ones (e.g. if I want a slice of pizza, I'll have pasta all'arabbiata instead; the tomato sauce is enough to satisfy the pizza craving and it's a much healthier choice).

-- psych-out alternative: eat a piece of candy (or a kind of cookie) that I don't particularly like. If I tell myself that my only dessert option is a Chips Ahoy cookie out of the bag, then that's a pretty good guarantee that I won't eat anything, because I cannot stand bagged chocolate chip cookies. That exact version might not work for everybody, but there's got to be some kind of candy that you find absolutely revolting, and candy doesn't go bad (at least not within the timeframe we're all talking about), so keeping that around as your only "break glass in case of emergency" option may be sufficient to ensure that you never do break that glass.

-- laziness alternative: institute a rule that the only junk food you can have is what you cook for yourself. Nothing pre-packaged, nothing that comes in a bag or a box. If you want a cookie, you must bake that cookie from scratch.

That one actually tends to backfire on me more often than not, because I like baking and I can do it quickly enough that it's not much of a deterrent, and then I'm stuck with an entire cake or 36 cookies instead of the one cupcake or one cookie that I might have bought at the bakery, but it works really well for some of my friends so I'll add it here.

These are some very good pointers. I think I will be trying the brush my teeth one. I think that would work great and once I brush my teeth, I don't like anything to pass my lips! I love the feeling of a clean mouth.

The last one wouldn't hinder me either as I love to bake. lol I actually have cupcakes AND chocolate chip cookies, made from scratch, sitting in our dining room. Oops.

AdorkablePixie

I am in! I have SUCH a sweet tooth. It actually went away when I got pregnant but within the last two weeks it has come back with a vengeance. I am usually really good about eating sweets if I can't see them. (I have a drawer at home full of candy and actually need to throw a lot away because it's a year+ old). I have pumpkin cookies from back in August that need to be thrown away.. I've eaten like 4. But my husband bought me home Berger cookies a couple of weeks ago and I think that's what bought my sweet tooth back!

I've also got made from scratch cupcakes and cookies on our dining room table that are AMAZING. I love to bake and I made them.. I am trying to avoid them though, but it's been hard. I've had a cupcake or a cookie almost every night after dinner. I'm usually really good about not eating sweets until the end of the day after the gym. Sometimes I'll make myself have fruit or pretzels though, but sometimes I just go for the sweets.

My usual meal on a day I'm in the office is:

Snack: Golden delicious Apple

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with a little grape nuts

Lunch: Peanut butter and banana sandwich (sometimes a cream cheese, avocado, and tomato sandwich or avocado egg salad)

           Carrots, celery, cucumber with fat free ranch

I do SO GOOD at work.. it's at home after the gym where I have the problem. lol

I think once these sweets I made recently are out of the house it will be back to not having issues. I am honestly tempted to throw them away..

Pascal86

AdorkablePixie said:

I think once these sweets I made recently are out of the house it will be back to not having issues. I am honestly tempted to throw them away..

I always have this problem - I want to eat more nutritiously, but have a ton of sweets, so I'm like, "I'll just eat ALL of this RIGHT NOW, and then it won't be here to entice me anymore." And then usually by the next day I've found another pile of sweets I have to take care of before I can start cutting back.

Pascal86

Also I think it's interesting how many people were so put off by sugar the first trimester. I was totally like this - we had Halloween candy that I normally would have devoured, and it just sat there for like a month. I tried to eat it, but I had that weird metallic taste in my mouth sometimes, and other times it just didn't sound that good. After a while, I was just kind of "eh" about sweets, but now I'm with you ladies, it's back strong as ever!!

Had a good day yesterday though, resisted my stale half cupcake all day, and today I'm thinking about a greek yogurt but going to check the sugar content first, just in case it's one of those with a lot of sugar added.

AdorkablePixie

I wonder if it has anything to do with the sex of the baby? I hear with girls you crave sweets and with boys you don't, so I assumed that's why I just wanted nothing to do with sweets for so long.

Jenly17

Ok, I also have a horrible sweet tooth and I feel like I'm packing on more lbs than I should. I've recently gone back to one of my old tricks (from when I was in my best shape!)that curbs my sweet tooth.

My husband laughs at me when in tell him it's dessert, but humor me...

Here's my go to "dessert":
A cup of plain Greek yogurt, mixed with a tablespoon of chocolate PB2, a tablespoon of agave syrup (low glycemic index) and mix it all together.

If I feel like that's not sweet enough, I'll throw in a couple of semi-sweet chocolate morsels. Between the protein and the sweetness of the agave, my sweet tooth is usually satisfied and I don't feel guilty.

businessmama

I failed big time today. I didn't realize I was a stress sugar eater, but I nearly cussed out my coworker and could feel my blood pressure rise so I went in my office and had TWO petit fours.  TWO!

I'm trying to forgive myself and move on.