8 Tips For Dealing With Sugar Cravings

1. Eat your sweets, naturally.
When you avoid unnecessary sources of sugar, your body will crave them less, and your palate will change to recognize and appreciate more natural sources of sugar.

2. Make sure you're getting enough calories.
Sounds like a joke, right? But often when we're dieting, we restrict too much and end up with cravings. When you don't eat enough, or you eat the wrong things, your body starts looking for fuel fast, as a way to catch up. So what does it do? Crave sugar!

3. Add in protein to every meal.
When you eat a heavy, starchy meal, like a giant bowl of grandma's spaghetti, you're pretty much setting yourself up for a guaranteed gelato craving. All that pasta with no fiber or protein is like a big bowl of sugar.

4. Reduce added sugars.
The slice of multigrain toast you eat for breakfast, and the salad dressing labeled as "light" may be laden with added sugars. This why its so important to read, read, read labels! Avoid sneaky ingredients like "dextrose," "fructose" and "maltose" in your packaged foods, or avoid packaged foods all together.

5. Just run away from your cravings.
For this trick, you can accomplish two healthful things at once: Calm the craving and get in a workout. A British study showed that women who walked on a treadmill when a chocolate craving hit reported a reduction in their desire for the sweet. I also see clients reap a mental benefit here. When you're proactive about doing something good for you, the not-good-for-you something suddenly becomes less appealing.

6. Replace sugar with spice.
Get to know your spices! Amping up the flavor in your meals and experimenting with spices could leave you longing for sugar less. Cinnamon and nutmeg are perfect touches to a plain yogurt or oatmeal. They'll boost flavor in any dish and come along with their own health benefits to boot.

7. Ditch the salt shaker.
When you dine out or eat packaged, processed foods, you're probably consuming too much sodium. This is often true even when you're eating something "clean" like grilled salmon and sautéed spinach from your favorite "healthy" restaurant.

8. Have a chat with yourself.
When it comes to breaking a sweet habit, sometimes having a sit down with yourself helps. Ask yourself, "Am i truly craving this bag of candy or is it just a habit?" If you have a true craving you may be able to avoid with a sweet herbal tea (sans sugar!), a naturally sweet snack like an apple or you should have a go-to portioned best option, like a square of 70 percent dark chocolate. If there is no real craving at all and it is just a habit, well, then replace that activity with a new one.