Hi,
I have an incredibly sweet tooth. Only when i sat and thought of it yesterday did i realise just how much sweet things i eat. For example, i drink tea with 2/3 sugars, have coco pops for breakfast, biscuits mid morning, at least 2 choc bars during the day and then biscuits, cake, ice cream when i get home from work. If i go to the supermarket i cant help but buy pan au chocolate/cookies/choc brownies. And if i walk past the shop with the dog i pop in to buy a mars bar or choccie bar.
I'm not too worried about my weight as i fluctuate between underweight & ok weight for my height. The Doctor has told me before that i have a high metabolism & although im not diabetic i suffer from bouts of low sugar which is when i reach for chocolate.
I am slightly worried though that one day i will suddenly put on lots of weight due to the sugar & i am aware of diabetes etc. Can anyone suggest any lower fat/lower sugar alternatives for me or does anyone else suffer the same as me and can share their experiences?
Many thanks

I have a very sweet tooth too. ;-) What you are doing is giving yourself a quick sugar boost, instead of a slow sugar intake which is better for you. I am now (sh, don't tell anyone :-) ) 48 and weigh 10 stone 6 pounds. I am only 5' 1" tall, so could do with losing a bit :-D I have just recently cut out all chocolate and am eating a lot more fruit and veg. I have actually lost a few pounds so something is working :-) I weighed between 6 1/2 stone and 8 1/2 stones for years. It's only in the last couple of years that I've put on the weight, so for as long as you are fit and otherwise healthy I wouldn't worry too much about the odd bit, but try to replace the chocolate with an apple, or a pear, or........ ;-) Oh, and don't stop off at the shop when out walking the dog :-D

Oh, BTW, you will probably find that you need that extra bit of chocolate at certain times of the month too ;-) That's when your sugar level needs that boost :-D (my excuse anyway :-) )

I have a sweet tooth too, I have to end every meal with something sweet, no matter how full I am!!

I don't have sugar in tea or coffee tho

sometimes I crave savoury too, but would say on the whole I have a sweet tooth....

I went through a phase of dried apricots and cranberried instead of chocolate (but the apricots gave me tummy ache and bad wind!!!)

as long as you're active and burning off the calories I don't see a major problem, though the older we get the more difficult it is to lose any extra pounds :(

dried fruit can be really nice for a nibble and you can get some yoghurt covered ones that are more sweety like (my bf loves the yoghurt bananas).

i like to make myself feel less guilty by trying to eat natural sugars (its natural, can't be bad!) and so i love baklava. if you don;t know what they are they are pastries popular in the middle east and mediteranian that are stuffed full of honey and nuts. tesco and M+S do them now. sooo yummy. we'e a market in toen right now thats selling them, got me a honeycake in  my fridge, yum!

Me too..........I love sweet things and for treats I eat m&s meringue nests.......
But to stave of those cravings it is important to eat regularly and properly.
As much of your diet has to be unprocessed as possible.

Karen :)

In all honesty, the only way I have found to beat the cravings is to avoid refined sugar altogether.

Sugar is extremely addictive - I managed 14 days without it way back at the start of the year, I haven't managed to beat i again since :-( But I am going to again, starting tomorrow.

The trouble is, every time you have it you get the sugar high (even if you don't feel it); but because it is so refined, your blood sugar level shoots up then drops like a stone because the body has reacted to the sudden rise with insulin - that forces it back down too low, and you crave sugar again.

The same thing happens with the majority of artifical sweeteners as well, annoyingly - to that end I use Sweetex in my tea, it is sodium saccharin - totally undigested by the body, it just passes straight through so no effect on the blood sugar.

You need foods that release glucose slowly - oats are brilliant, brown/wholemeal bread, potatoes.  Potatoes also contain glutamine which is supposed to help stabilise the blood sugar.  Avoid things like white bread - this is too refined and often also contains sugar.  It's hidden in so, so many foods these days.

I have such a sweet tooth...I buy thing and hide them...from myself, in the hope I will forget about them, but I never do.  I am fine if the sweets/chocs are hut, but once open I will eat till finished, my other prob is if it isnt sweet and covered in chocolate, I find it hard to believe it is fattening, (lilke wine, gin etc!) I have put on almost a stone in the last month and feel bad, but keep saying tomorrow.....if I could control my own weight the way I do my dogs I would be nice and slim.

I had a sweet tooth but I'm now diabetic! I have found that since cutting out the refined sugars my tastes have changed. If anyone puts sugar in my tea for instance now I really can't stand it ( I had 2/3 sugars before). I still enjoy chocolate as a treat but once the initial cravings post diagnosis were passed I can live without it. Maybe you should try going completely 'cold turkey' and see how it goes.
I avoid artificial sweetener also esp those that contain xylitol. When I was first diagnosed my mum bought me some diabetic chocolate to cheer me up. Well, the side effects of the xylitol could I say were explosive! and I've heard from others on a diabetic forum that it is a well known side effect. I'd rather not eat the chocolate!!LOL
Angela

Me too - love sweet things but needed to shed some weight. Started a healthy eating/exercise plan with my gym last Sept. At New Year I'd lost 23 lbs and I've kept it all off. I find that if I really need that sweet/sugar fix then I have maybe 5 or six squares of Green & Blacks dark chocolate, and it's normally about 9pm. It's much better quality that the galaxy/dairy milk types - with those I find that you eat them without actually tasting them. It's not cheap but I would find it hard to eat a whole bar in one go !. The cocoa content is much higher than other brands so when you eat it you know you've had it !. It's become a regular evening treat and if you can wait all day for it then you really appreciate it. Waitrose is currently doing it at 2 bars for £2.50 !.
I'm down to 9st 10lbs and I hope to stay that way !.

Can't do chocolate bars. I have to finish the bar, no matter what size it is :-D So I no longer buy them. :-( I can pinch a bit off my daughter though, if she is in a mood for sharing ;-)

I've started eating an awful lot of fruit and veg this past month and have noticed a difference in my tastebuds, and also in my digestion. I was always feeling bloated, but now I'm starting to feel a lot better. I'd like to lose a stone or preferrably 2, but no time scale. Maybe by Chr......!!??!! Next year ;-)

>Maybe by Chr......!!??!!

Aaaaarrrggghhhh! You nearly said It! Before Midsummer too. Go and wash your mouth out!

I get Aldis chocolate.  It's 85% cocoa (mmmmmmm) and 99p for 125g which comes as 5 individual bars.  Good for those with reduced will-power!

Thanks guys. Clearly i am not alone. I enjoy a small bit of dark choclate but cant resist dipping a 6 square bar into a mug of coffee or tea and enjoying the melting chocolate oozing in my mouth...in my defense i dont do this regularly. Infact, guess what i may enjoy tonight :-) :-)

Mouth washed out ;-) Now I need some chocolate to get the taste out of my mouth :-D

> I enjoy a small bit of dark choclate but cant resist dipping a 6 square bar into a mug of coffee or tea and enjoying the melting chocolate oozing in my mouth...in my defense i dont do this regularly

I love doing this too, i feel a choc fest coming on.............:):)

Chocolate digestives dipped in tea...............

Well i bought some of the yoghurt covered fruit pieces.....they were very nice.....followed by a chocolate cookie & a a croissant shortly followed by a piece of cake (it was someone birthay at work :-) )  Doesnt help that ive now started seeing a guy who has sugar addiction almost as bad as mine - quite unusual for a guy. helps even less that he offers everything to me and my will power is too weak to say no!!!!!