Hi! I’ve written a blogpost about cravings, listing all the tips and strategies I’ve read in various fitness magazines: www.fitnesstreats.com/2013/04/usual-and-unusual-strategies-for-controlling-sweet-cravings
It’s kind of a long post but you may find some new ideas to control your sweet tooth. 

Hi Lucy,

Sorry for my very late reply! I also often crave a treat after dinner. Let’s face it: willpower is lower in the evening and we often tend to think that we “deserve” a treat just because we had a busy day. 

• Fruit is a good choice after dinner if you feel like you need something sweet to bring closure to your meal. Try to go for low-calorie, low-sugar fruits like grapefruit, melon, apple, berries. Fruits that are higher in calories like mango or bananas can better be eaten for breakfast, or pre/post-workout. 
   
• Chocolate can be okay as a “meal closer” after dinner if you choose a low sugar dark chocolate and if you’re able to control your portions. This means eating only one square and putting it back. - I personally cannot do that, that’s why I just don’t have it in the house ;). When I want to indulge in chocolate, I go for unsweetened dark chocolate. One of my favorite dark chocolate brands is Lindt Excellence 99% cocoa. It’s really strong and many people may not like it but it’s just awesome to get that big chocolate kick without sugar or artificial sweeteners. 
   
• If you need to be stricter with your diet, herbal tea is the way to go. I like dandelion tea as a natural diuretic to help get rid of water weight (for example if your thighs tend to swell a bit the days before your periods). Sage or lavender tea helps me calm down. I also recently discovered corn tea ; it tastes like pop corn :) I basically like trying different kinds of herbal teas to keep things interesting. You can find many new varieties in ethnic or natural food supermarkets.
    
   
• Finally a way to deal with evening / late night cravings is to distract yourself with something else. Watch your favorite tv-show, read something your really enjoy, get your mind off the thing you crave. Think as if you were babysitting a child. Suddenly the child starts throwing a tantrum because he wants candy, but there is nothing in the house. So you start distracting him using a toy or something else that he likes. Treat your inner child the same way to get your craving out of your mind. 

After indulging I try to eat some kind of protein and complex carbs immediately. This helps me avoid the sudden increase and decrease in my blood sugar. When your blood sugar skyrockets up and then shoots back down, your body releases insulin and cortisol, both things which will help you store body fat and can cause crankiness and mood swings.

If you add some protein and complex carbs in the same meal as the sugary treat, you’ll get a bit less side effects. A meal that contains only simple sugars will cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, usually within an hour, and a fast drop. By contrast, a protein meal would take longer to be released into the bloodstream and would keep blood sugar levels elevated for a longer period of time.

Timing is also everything when you eat simple carbs. Eating a treat when you’re physically active or eating it right after a workout when your glycogen levels are depleted is a good way to burn it off.

Hi! According to me there are two kinds of people:

- Some folks can eat one cookie, enjoy it, and move on to the next thing. They just aren’t addicted to desserts/sweets. Cookies’ portion control is not an issue for them.

- Other people (like you and me) want more than one cookie after eating the first one. Even when they eat a few cookies and put the box away, they still remember that the box is there in the pantry screaming their name.

It doesn’t mean that these people have less self-control than the first categorie. I know I have a lot of self-discipline when it comes to many things (my workouts, my job).

Sugar has a drug effect on them and changes their physical and mental state. When they eat one cookie, they want another. This leads to internal dialogues like: “Should I have another cookie? Life is short – maybe I should? blah blah blah…”.

People belonging to this categorie have an “all-or-none” mindset. Their best options to save calories and eliminate time-consuming internal dialogues about food are:
- saying no, eating no cookie at all, giving the whole cookie box away
- buying only one small individually wrapped cookie and eating it before or after a workout to decrease sugar’s addictive effect.

If it’s free of sugar, sugar substitutes, artificial sweeteners and low in sodium, if it’s basically sparkling water, yes it’s way better than any kind of soda. 

Hi Jessica,

Sorry for my late reply. I’m enjoying the holidays at my parents’ place and I’m a bit less online. However, I wrote 2 posts a few days ago that may answer your questions.

This post is about my fitness/diet holiday plan: http://fitnesstreats.tumblr.com/post/14453299971/hi-there-i-love-what-youre-doing-on-your-tumblr

Although I ate way too much chocolate these last couple of days, I’m not disappointed in myself so far because I feel great, relaxed and energized and I’ve taken the time to do a Jillian Michael’s workout every morning.

This is my favorite detox food after overeating: a plain simple leek soup http://fitnesstreats.tumblr.com/post/14457031847/the-detox-leek-soup-i-was-talking-about-in-my

Enjoy the holidays! xxx

Elise