Sugar Cravings

I had an interesting conversation with a client a couple days ago about sugar, cravings and cheat meals. Everyone has cravings for something sweet sometimes, and there are a few different answers to dealing with them, based on your individual goals, current level of leanness and personality. Some people can have just one, or just a bite, of something. But for a lot of people, rather than satisfying the craving, something with a lot of sugar actually fuels the craving and makes us want more. For special occasions, you absolutely have the option to have something special, particularly if you've planned and allowed for it by balancing it with a little lighter intake the rest of the day; birthday cake, a couple special cocktails on your anniversary, whatever. But on a random Tuesday and something extra isn't in the plan, how are you going to deal with it? One option is simply to find something to occupy your mind for 15 or 20 minutes and see if it passes. By that point, you may be wrapped up enough in whatever you're doing that you forget about it or it passes. I am someone that if I have an open package of something sugary at home, I have a very hard time just eating a little then saving the rest for later. I start to obsess about it and the few bites just add fuel to the fire, and I'll keep grabbing more everytime I walk by. However, I've found a few "sweet" things that I can buy or make at home that don't have a lot of sugar, will satisfy the craving, isn't a huge amount of calories, and won't send me into a sugar-obsessed spiral of overeating. 😂 Something with protein and fat will help you feel more satisfied and help keep hunger at bay for a while, as well. If, after finding something to occupy my mind for a while, if I still really want something sweet, one of these will be my go-to. One of our favorites, Ava LOVES them, is a super simple protein bites. Just mix together protein powder, peanut butter, and a tiny bit of water to make a fudge-like consistency, roll into small balls, then refrigerate for a few minutes to help them set up. If you need to watch your calories a bit more, using reconstituted PB2 or a similar brand also works well. A couple of our favorite store-bought "treats" are QFC/ Fred Meyer/ Kroger brand Low Cow Ice Cream bars, which are only 90-100 calories each and have about 7g of protein. Another favorite, which is really a whole snack on it's own because they're roughly 200 calories each , but are really tasty and kill a sweet craving well, are Power Crunch bars. We find them at most grocery stores and are very similar to sugar wafers. Some of our favorites are red velvet, lemon meringue, wild berry and chocolate peanut butter.