help me deal with my junk food cravings...

November 8, 2010 1:22 AM

What strategies worked for you giving up sweet junk food?

I've always had a sweet tooth but now I'm pregnant it feels a bit out of control. I almost constantly crave sweets... chocolatey, biscuity, ice-creamy: you name it, I want to consume it ALL THE TIME.

I'm not overweight so that's not so much the issue. Though I have put on 17 kilos since my pre-pregnancy weight - I'm due in 2 weeks so I don't know how extreme that is... it's definitely not dire, but given that the baby only weighs 3-4 kilos I am sure that a lot of that 17kgs is the junk food I've consumed in the last months.

Anyway the point is that I'm not overly-concerned with weight loss, it's more that I just find it a bit disgusting how much sugary crap I eat.

Note - I ALSO eat healthy food, my meals are pretty good - home-cooked, vegetable-heavy, nothing deep-fried etc. It's not that I only eat crap, it's all the crap I eat in between the good food.

So I'm not unhealthy in terms of lacking nutrition, whenever I get blood tests all my "levels" are always good, I don't have gestational diabetes or blood pressure problems or anything like that... also I'm pretty fit, ride a bike everywhere, go to the gym on the reg, etc etc...blah blah...

SO, I just find it really hard not to eat sweet chocolatey junk food and I'm wondering if there's any good strategies people have used to deal with cravings. I'd love to hear any practical suggestions that have worked for you!

posted by saturn~jupiter to health & fitness (28 answers total)

When you go on a low carb diet (which you absolutely should not do and is not what I am suggesting) you give up all sugars - it's pretty hard core. The single best pieces of advice I got were as follows:

1) Sour counteracts the desire for sweet. Sour pickles are your friend. I ate pickles after dinner every single day instead of dessert for weeks while I got used to not having sweets. It worked very effectively to kill the craving for chocolate.

2) Accept no substitutes. IE, do not start wolfing down sugar free JELLO with fake sweeteners in your quest to give up sugar. It just makes it harder because you're not really conquering the craving, you're just fake-feeding it.

The corollary for #2 is that you also have to be careful of hidden sugars - loads of foods have added sugar, including some brands of pickles. Giving up sugar is a big change, right down to the way you shop.

It took about 10 days for me to get on top of this and I still like to have a jar of pickles on hand but it absolutely worked for me. I'm not sure how well it would have worked in pregnancy but it might be a good strategy to try.

TLDR: Pickles.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:36 AM on November 8, 2010 [4 favorites]

When you are NOT pregnant, get checked for insulin resistance. Yes, even thin people can have it. I find that it makes me crazy, CRAZY! for sweets unless I have it well controlled with a combo of diet and meds. 7 Kg is the goal for weight gain in a healthy, normal sized woman during pregnancy.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 1:38 AM on November 8, 2010

I went cold turkey and just ate lots of fruit when I had cravings. After a couple of weeks you will find that sugary sweet junk food is intolerably sweet and you can treat yourself to things like real dark chocolate (not sugary chocolate bars, but the high cocoa low sugar stuff). Trust me once you are passed the first week or two it will be easier, just keep lots and lots of yummy fruit on hand, especially blueberries, strawberries, apples and you can try dried fruit too, as long as it doesn't have added sugar. Once you are used to the natural sweetness of the fruit you can add back in things like molasses (great in plain unsweetened yogurt with some ground flax seeds and a bunch of berries) and unpasteurized honey in moderation, both of which have extra minerals and more nutritive value than refined sugar. The biggest help of all? Get rid of all the sugar in your cupboards and stock your fridge with fruit. If you don't have the junk food in the house you are less likely to cave in to your cravings. No sugar in your coffee or tea either! Banish it from your life and you will feel awesome, I promise!
posted by smartypantz at 1:44 AM on November 8, 2010

Oh yes, and avoid all processed food, sugar is everywhere - try and eat as many whole foods as possible.
posted by smartypantz at 1:46 AM on November 8, 2010

One thing that's worked for me is only eating home-made sweet food, made from scratch. It means that I bake once, maybe twice, a week and then maybe eat a bit too much on those days, but otherwise don't have much at all the rest of the week. Also, I can control what comes into the sweets I eat, which is nice. Of course, this is only in an effort to reduce, not eliminate, sugar intake.

Should be noted that there can be side effects to this route, such as now I'd really like an ice cream machine.
posted by coraline at 2:06 AM on November 8, 2010 [5 favorites]

Darlingbri - I LOVE the suggestion of replacing sweet with sour. That is exactly the kind of strategy I was hoping someone could give me. It is something I can DO, rather than NOT DO... which I like. I will totally try it.

PorcineWithMe - if my cravings are still crazy after I give birth I will do this - thanks. (I gotta say I'm not sure about 7kg, to be 8 months preg and have only gained 7kg seems unlikely to me!)

smartypantz - Keeping junk food out of my house is easy enough, but I live very close to all kinds of convenience! Also, I do eat plenty of fruit, I crave fruit a lot and eat it but that doesn't stop me craving junky sweets as well... dark choc is a good idea though.
posted by saturn~jupiter at 2:11 AM on November 8, 2010

coraline - that's also a great idea. I don't really bake but I keep wanting to. A much healthier approach - you can use natural sweeteners other than refined sugar...
posted by saturn~jupiter at 2:13 AM on November 8, 2010

I have recently started drinking a big mug of hot chocolate in the evening around the time when I previously would scoff half a packet of cookies, or a block of chocolate. The milk is full of calcium, and there isn't really much sugar - especially if you make it yourself with cocoa and a teaspoon or two of sugar. I sometimes add vanilla and/or a little whiskey to make it a bit decadent. A couple of marshmallows...

Anyway, I manage to fool myself into thinking I had a big dessert, when really it's mostly milk. It scratches the junk food itch, though.
posted by lollusc at 2:41 AM on November 8, 2010 [3 favorites]

Take it out of your sight. Remove it from the house. If it's not there, cravings are for naught.
posted by smoke at 2:51 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

One of the attractions of sugary food, apart from the sugar, is that it takes no effort to eat. It's already in yummy bite sized or hand sized pieces.

If that's an issue, try preparing bite sized fruit beforehand, like grapes, cherries or raspberries (hard in winter, but the grapes and clementines are nice right now). Wash a big batch and have it sitting on your tv table, so when you get an urge to nibble there's something right there.

17 Kilos is more weight gain than doctors recommend. 9 - 14 Kilos is normal, unless you had a really high BMI (underweight) previously.

That said, you know how it is with pregnancy and "normal' - some women probably just gain a lot and lose a lot afterwards and are not the worse for it.
posted by Omnomnom at 2:52 AM on November 8, 2010

PorcineWithMe: 7 Kg is the goal for weight gain in a healthy, normal sized woman during pregnancy.

Did you drop a digit there? Everything I've ever read either said there was no goal weight at all (and excessive management of weight not indicated by comorbid or complicating issues contributed to unnecessary interventions and stress) to the standard 10-15 kgs depending on starting weight. More for the underweight, less for the overweight. My obstetrician never actually weighed me during my pregnancy and it was because of that research and his own experience over the years.

smoke: Take it out of your sight. Remove it from the house. If it's not there, cravings are for naught.

This is my standard for when I've started up bad eating habits. I also brush my teeth after dinner (instead of at bed time) so I don't want to ruin the teeth brushing by eating sugary crap. After a while I adjust and chocolate can sit in the cupboard for months, and icecream in the freezer for weeks. I also drink copious amounts of tea to keep my hands and mouth busy.
posted by geek anachronism at 2:59 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Thanks people. For the record I was 50kg pre-preg and so now I'm 66/67. I'm not too worried about that.

@geek anachronism - that is a good idea about cleaning teeth after dinner! kind of like eating something sour - something to take one's mind off sweet sweetness. I like it. Tea is a good idea too.
posted by saturn~jupiter at 3:43 AM on November 8, 2010

No, I think I just did bad middle-of-the-night math. 20-25 lbs is the accepted range for healthy weight gain (according to Mayo Clinic). 17 kg is 37 lbs. It's all individual of course - my last pregnancy I gained 12 lbs and had a healthy 8 lb baby who was made (I am sure) completely from chocolate ice cream. Whatever works for your body & baby!
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:02 AM on November 8, 2010

I've never been pregnant, so I have no idea how to deal with pregnancy cravings. But in my non-pregnant experience, it doesn't work for me to completely forbid the things I crave. It backfires and I binge.

It helps me to talk myself through my cravings. If I want ice cream, I'll go into the kitchen and see if there's something healthier I want to eat instead, fruit or yogurt or a handful of nuts. If so, I'm probably just hungry. If I won't settle for anything less than ice cream, it's a craving. I can often distract myself out of cravings, so I'll go play video games or read an engrossing book or something. Anything that involves my hands and isn't likely to show me junk food ads. If I still insist on ice cream after a couple hours of that, then it's time for ice cream - a smaller amount than I think I need, eaten slowly.

My sweet tooth usually can't be satisfied by fruit alone. I've found two exceptions, though: first, frozen bananas blended until they reach the texture of ice cream. Second, dates are totally nature's candy, and pretty filling. I like them plain, or you can try one of the many Fudge Baby variants, or if you don't feel like getting out the food processor you can just dip them in cocoa powder.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:34 AM on November 8, 2010

but I live very close to all kinds of convenience!

I know giving up sugar is difficult but this is just an excuse. Do you really want to give it up? If so excuses like this don't matter. Make yourself a priority and actively take measures not to eat junk.

Or, be more realistic and allow yourself one desert a day -- after dinner, or a desert on weekends. There are all kinds of deserts that are probably healthier than eating from a package -- a couple tablespoons of premium ice cream, a square of dark chocolate, fruit with cream, chocolate covered banana, etc. Also, try a cup of sugar free hot chocolate when you are craving something sweet. It helps to take the edge off.

If you are serious make the effort to cut out all processed sugar for two weeks. You will notice that you no longer crave it.
posted by Fairchild at 5:07 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

You are not going to find a magic answer here.

Willpower and fruit. Fruit is sweeter and more satisfying than any cake and you can sit and eat it from morning til midnight.
posted by fire&wings at 5:13 AM on November 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Just for data points: The increase in blood volume in your body is good for about 10lbs, I think. Plus the baby spends most of the last month packing on lbs.
posted by MeiraV at 6:09 AM on November 8, 2010

but I live very close to all kinds of convenience!

Check the archives here for questions about healthy snacks - if you're getting lured in by packaged convenience junkfoods while you're away from home, look for something tasty and nutritious that you can keep in your bag. And in your desk at work. And that you know is ready-to-go at home, allowing you to keep walking past the bakery on your way home.

On the other hand, studies in mice have found that food tastes better if you work for it including making mice prefer healthy food to junk food. That does go against the idea of having everything ready-to-go, but still, the satisfaction in knowing that you chopped those carrot sticks yourself may last even they wait in the fridge a day or two. And refrigerator pickles are easy to make!
posted by aimedwander at 6:29 AM on November 8, 2010

I have a big sweet tooth too. When I'm feeling out of control sugary cravings though, it's usually as a result of being fatigued (something that definitely occurred during my pregnancy more so than any other time in my life). I recognize that's not a strategy to cut back on eating sugary treats but I've found that identifying the source of my cravings sometimes helps me manage them. A lot of times, if I know it's tiredness that has my body seeking quick energy in the form of simple sugars, I can distract myself through increased movement (even just walking around and putting things away can help). Or, if I must give in, I try to make sure I combine the sweet with some fiber and/or protein (sugar and cinnamon whole wheat toast with peanut butter) so at least it "sticks to my ribs" a bit more and my blood sugar levels aren't careening around like crazy.
Cute pic BTW! Congrats!
posted by notcomputersavvy06 at 6:39 AM on November 8, 2010

When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed sugary treats. My mom made almost everything from scratch, as much made with honey or carob bean or whatever as possible. Then one year we went on vacation to a place that happened to have a candy store with unbelievably cheap candy; a nickel or a dime for all kinds of good stuff. I stuffed myself sick. Literally. I'll spare you the details.

Since then, I can't eat much sweet at once. I just can't face the idea of much sugary stuff at all; thick icings on cake, several pieces of candy, etc is just all too much for me at once. I don't actually recommend stuffing yourself sick, but that's what keeps me from eating sugar junk all the time, even though I do really like chocolate and fudge and cookies and cheesecake and... And I do crave sweets. I just eat them in little, little bits most of the time.

I do find that if I happen to eat more than I'm comfortable with--say, a couple of pieces mid-day and then a couple of pieces before dinner, on an empty stomach--then I'm turned off of sugary stuff for a long while. I've got a bag of after-Halloween sale chocolates in my freezer that I had too much of the day I got it (three pieces at once, to try all the varieties in the bag), and haven't touched since. I'll get around to it again eventually.

So I wonder if that might actually be a workable way for someone else to get over a craving. Not to eat yourself sick, but just to eat a touch more than you ordinarily would--really give in to the craving--until the whole idea of eating any more sugar turns you off.

~ ~ ~

I do kind of wonder, saturn~jupiter, if you might be focusing a bit too hard on something that isn't actually hurting you. If your diet is good, you're not worried about weight loss, and your blood tests are all normal, what damage is the junk food doing? Maybe it's okay for you to eat the way you're eating.
posted by galadriel at 6:46 AM on November 8, 2010

I made up a diet for myself called Sweets on Sunday.

I just picked one day of the week where I allowed myself a nice big treat (like cake or a big candy bar) and the rest of the days of the week I got my sugar fix through fruits. It was difficult at first, going from eating a big sweet every day to just once a week, but after about two weeks it got a lot easier. The cravings definitely subsided.
posted by smirkyfodder at 7:27 AM on November 8, 2010

I've quit a couple of times and both times I just finished off the last of anything sweet in the house and then didn't buy more. When I was crackheading, I'd cheat and put jam on a cracker, but even that tapered off. Both times it just took a week or ten days and then I'd notice that the craving was just gone. So whatever strategy you use, keep in mind daily that your siren's days are numbered. When it feels like you will always have to fight that craving, it's easier to give in. When instead you know that it won't be long now before it will leave you alone, it's easier to stay on track.
posted by Askr at 9:08 AM on November 8, 2010

I have insulin resistance as a symptom of PCOS and frankly, the only thing that works for me is cutting out all sugar and flour. If you are found to be insulin resistant, you can try a million things (I have) and the only thing that has worked to date is total abstinence, the first 3 days of which felt like painful withdrawal...
posted by Sophie1 at 9:52 AM on November 8, 2010

Along the same lines of lollusc (hot chocolate), I've dealt with my nighttime dessert cravings with sugar cereal -- chocolate cheerios, chocolate pebbles, cocoa puffs (I also, obviously, have some chocolate cravings). It's not health food, but it's better than bowl of ice cream or a brownie or several cookies or a candy bar or chocolate cake or etc. Sometimes chocolate milk works for me too. Hey, in 2% milk it's almost a milkshake! Sort of!
posted by The Dutchman at 10:02 AM on November 8, 2010

You should ring your doctor or midwife and talk to them. Because I see a lot of general diet advice here but very little which seems to even acknowledge that you're pregnant, a physiological condition which has very big effects on your metabolism. You have lots going on in there right now. Your baby is growing like crazy and getting ready to be born, your body is getting ready to breast feed (a very energy intensive process), etc.

Average 'you should put on this much weight' don't always mean a lot in the individual, particularly given you were fairly small to begin with. Maybe binging on junk food for the next two weeks is exactly what your body needs, none of us know that and it's kind of dangerous to follow diet advice from totally unqualified strangers at such a time. And maybe it isn't what you need, either way you should find out from someone qualified and who knows your medical history. Hopefully they also have some ideas about why you're craving like this which will let you know what strategies are likely to work.
posted by shelleycat at 10:27 AM on November 8, 2010

A lot of times people get into the habit of having something sweet after dinner, and it's the habit of that post-dinner treat that is more addictive than the treat itself.

I try to have peppermint tea, or a yummy tea with milk (celestial seasonings madagascar vanilla red!) after dinner to replace the desert hankerings.
posted by np312 at 10:44 AM on November 8, 2010

7 Kg is the goal for weight gain in a healthy, normal sized woman during pregnancy.

20-25 lbs is the accepted range for healthy weight gain (according to Mayo Clinic).

Wow, this is misinformation.

There is no 'goal' for pregnancy weight gain. I'm sorry, PorcineWithMe, but I think it is really important to set this straight.

Both of your comments (though I see you hve amended the first) really underestimate the recommended weight gain for pregnant women.

The Mayo Clinic actually recommends 25-35 lbs as an acceptable weight gain for pregnant women who are not underweight/overweight when they become pregnant.

In fact, only if you are *obese* to begin with is it recommended that you gain less than 15 pounds. So, OP, please do not feel that you should have only gained 12 lbs during this pregnancy--that's absurd!

I find that salt and sour really do help to counteract the sweet, as well, and have noticed pickles help me, too. I wonder if that's why we have the cliche of pregnant women craving pickles?
posted by misha at 10:52 AM on November 8, 2010

Whoops. I came here to say a glass of red wine - a nice mix of the sweetness I crave and the bitterness that turns me away from wanting sugar - but then I saw that you were pregnant. Me too. I can't stop eating fruit, either. I really think wanting the taste of sugar is pregnancy-related for me, and maybe for you, too. (Quick access to glucose?)

Anyway, file away the red wine idea for a more appropriate time. It really does work.
posted by Knowyournuts at 4:13 PM on November 8, 2010