How to Beat Sugar Cravings

Have a sweet tooth that just won’t quit? Here are a few tips to help you beat your sugar cravings without deprivation.

Let’s be real, sugar is freaking delicious and cravings for sweet stuff can be fast, furious, and difficult to ignore. As someone who has always had a pretty strong sweet tooth, I know exactly how challenging sugar cravings can be. Once you get the idea in your mind that you need something sweet, it can feel all-consuming.

While demonizing any food isn’t the way to go in my book, at this point we all know consuming a ton of added sugar isn’t doing our health any favors. So what’s a girl to do? How can we keep our sweet tooth in check without developing an unhealthy relationship in favor of, or in opposition to sugar?

We keep a balanced, holistic approach to understanding what sugar cravings are in order to get ahead of them, that’s how. So if you struggle with sugar cravings, here are five tips to help you overcome them without deprivation.

Understand the difference between a craving and hunger

First, let’s talk about what a craving actually is. A craving is not the same thing as hunger. Hunger is your body’s physiological response telling you that your body needs energy. The key word here is physiological – hunger is something you can physically feel. Signals such as a grumbling stomach, lightheadedness or low energy are all signs of hunger.

Cravings, on the other hand, are often an emotional response and stem from your brain’s desire for a reward – not a physiological need for food. In order to keep cravings in check, it is important to know the difference. Cravings and hunger can occur simultaneously, and together, can be a challenging combination. When in doubt, aim to satisfy hunger first and foremost with nourishing foods that will give your body the energy it needs.

Start your day on a savory note

Once you start eating sweets, it’s easy to just keep that ball rolling, am I right? When it comes to this, nothing rings more true than the feeling you get after eating a sugary breakfast. Starting your day off with a sugary meal causes your blood sugar to spike and crash a short time later, leaving your energy low, making you feel more hungry sooner, and can often make you want to reach for more sugar.

A few days per week, try incorporating a savory breakfast into your day to see how it makes you feel. Remember, breakfast doesn’t only have to consist of foods such as pastries, pancakes, and baked goods. Any food can help you break the fast. Some of my favorite savory breakfast options include dinner leftovers (yup, still just as good in the morning), and breakfast salads.

Slow down on sweet sips

Another way to combat sugar cravings is to avoid drinking your sweets. Drinks with added sugars or even fruit juice can also send sugar cravings into overdrive. Not only can a lot of sweetened drinks be packed with added sugar, but they also spike your blood sugar quickly, because your body is metabolizing them right away (unlike food, which has to be digested). Try sticking with unsweetened drinks (or only having sweetened drinks a few times per week) to help beat sugar cravings.

Up your protein and healthy fat intake

Remember our conversation about cravings vs. hunger above? While the two are different, they are often intertwined and our most challenging cravings to overcome are those that hit when we’re hungry. Aim to have meals that are truly satisfying and don’t leave you feeling hungry 10 minutes later by making sure you’re getting good sources of lean protein and healthy fats with each meal.

Last week on Facebook and Instagram I did a live video talking about the best diet tip no one ever talks about – adding more satiating foods to your meals. Doing so helps you stay fuller longer, and can help combat cravings by helping you avoid the craving + hunger trap (source).

Prioritize rest and recovery

This is by far the most important tip on this list – no joke. Think about a time when you may have had a really hard time prioritizing foods that you knew were good for you in favor of not-so-healthy food choices. Was that during a time of stress?

Stress management and sleep are imperative to living a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that chronic stress has a direct effect on food cravings (source). This is because being under stress may heighten our brain’s desire for rewards, and as we discussed above, cravings are often a response to our brain’s desire for rewards, not a response to physical hunger. Incorporating stress-management practices into your routine to keep stress levels at bay (including having adequate recovery time from high-intensity workouts) can help you make better food choices on a consistent basis.

In addition to stress, sleep deprivation has also been linked to increased cravings and food desire beyond physical hunger (source). Rest up!

Your Turn:

I hope these tips were helpful for you! Now it’s your turn – I would love to hear YOUR tips for managing sugar cravings in the comments below. Let’s discuss.