How to Appease a Sweet Tooth

You shouldn’t feel guilty for craving sweets! It’s a natural, biological urge to crave sugar since it’s the fastest form of fuel for the body.

But as lives become more sedentary and processed foods have less of the nutrients we need, limiting sugar becomes more and more important to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy body. I’ll show you some easy ways to do it.

Honor Your Thirst, Quench a Sweet Tooth

Thirst can easily be mistaken for hunger – I know because I experience it often!! This confusion can mean that you’re consuming hundreds of extra calories a day while your body is simply searching for water in foods to quench your thirst.

To stay healthy, you need to consume enough water to replace the amount you lose daily through excretion and perspiration – and that amount varies from person to person based on their activity level, age as well as the climate they live in. Importantly, not all your water intake needs to come in the form of drinking water since foods contain water as well.

If you’re not getting enough water and don’t feel intense thirst like me, you could be making high-calorie mistakes that could keep you from reaching your weight goals without a struggle. Just have a refillable drink bottle at your work station or counter at home to remind yourself to drink more plain water.

Don’t believe me? If you drink soda pops regularly, replace one soda can a day with double the amount of drinking water. Change nothing else, and you’ll lose weight – because you’re cutting out 300 calories per day from the soda AND reducing snacking based on perceived hunger (that’s thirst instead)!

Zero Calorie Fixes That Satisfy

Normally, when I have a food craving a specific flavor comes along with it – like vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. Why not satisfy that flavor craving with something that is naturally calorie-free? You’ll be amazed how your mind subconsciously responds and receives the desired satisfaction.

Sipping flavored teas are one of my favorite ways to feel full and enjoy a zero-calorie drink that isn’t full of artificial colors, sodium, or artificial sweeteners. On the contrary, these teas are flavored with natural spices and herbs, and have healing properties because they are anti-oxidant rich. Here are my favorite picks:

Chocolate Craving – Mayan Cocoa Spice

Sugar Craving – Sweet Thai Delight

Cinnamon Craving – Aztec Sweet Chili

Vanilla Craving – Rooibos Vanilla

Softening Your Cravings

I was a bona fide sugar fiend when I was kid. A typical summer day would consist of at least 3 cans of sugary soda, a chocolate bar, and perhaps an especially high sugar candy such as a lollipop in the shape of a diamond ring or a vanilla-flavored edible stick to lick and dip into pure powdered sugar.

Thinking back now, I can’t imagine that I ever ate those things or even enjoyed them as much as I did. Now that I’ve kicked my sugar addition and I’m much wiser and happier, I’d like to tell you what happens behind the scenes in your body when you eat the wrong foods or play “blood sugar” jeopardy by skipping meals and eating a lot of white processed foods.

Skipping meals, then eating foods high in sugar and white processed products, and not adding high-fiber foods to your diet can cause your blood sugar to greatly dip or spike. Here’s what’s going on: When you skip meals, your blood sugar drops below normal levels – and insufficient blood sugar reads like a “warning” signal to the brain that the body needs fuel, fast. This in turn can trigger wild cravings for foods you really don’t need – like high fat and high sugar treats – if you would have eaten in the first place.