How to Hack Your Sweet Tooth

If you’re anything like me, the nighttime rolls around and a very serious matter resurfaces to the forefront of your thoughts:

“What am I having as a treat tonight?”

Maybe it’s not even nighttime yet. Maybe it’s your lunch break, the time between difficult tasks, or a rough day on minimal sleep.

The almighty sweet tooth never sleeps, it simply spares you while you are busy focusing on more important things than eating again.

It’s an everyday battle for me. If it feels like a battle to you too, then good. That means you want things to be different too.

What I am going to share with you is how I realistically manage my sweet tooth.

I don’t ignore it, I don’t pretend that a cup of berries will tide me over (yeah, right), and I don’t believe in using willpower against your cravings.

I have to feed the craving somehow, it’s just about doing it in a way that doesn’t punish me later.

Typically, the punishment is a sick stomach, lots of guilt, or even trips to the bathroom sometimes.

For someone else it might be visible weight gain. For another it might be a dangerous insulin spike.

Whatever your reasoning is, it’s good enough. You’re in the right place to fix it.

Here are my two tips to manage your sweet tooth:

Uninteresting Treats

This is a strategy I’ve been using on my weaker self lately with much success.

You obviously have your preferred treats that always hit the spot for you. For me, those are cookies, cupcakes, sweet pastries, and milkshakes (among many more).

Your favorite treats are going to encourage you to make more excuses though.

“Well, this is my favorite, I have to let myself finish them all.”

“I never get to eat these. I’ll just enjoy them this time.”

These are the treats that get you into dangerous territory. The more bites you take, the further you are dragged into deep waters.

My solution is to intentionally buy yourself treats that will do the job, but aren’t good enough to binge on.

I’ve realized that chocolate is usually the main taste I am going for. So if I can get some chocolate in, while avoiding my favorite treats, I can satisfy my sweet tooth without being sorry for what I’ve eaten.

I now buy these little brownies that are made for kids and that is my first defense against the sweet tooth.

They are small enough that I only get a few bites out of them, they only have 10 grams of sugar each, and they are plain, chocolate brownies with great ingredients.

I couldn’t ask for a bigger win here.

Individually Wrapped Treats

My other tip is to focus on little treats that are individually wrapped.

The reasoning here is because you want something that you can easily only allow yourself to have one of or one bag of.

With my chocolate brownie example, those come in a box of six and they are individually wrapped. So when I have a craving, I know to go and grab one so that I’m held over.

The difference between this technique versus telling yourself you’ll only have [enter arbitrary number here] is that if you open a package of Oreo’s or donut holes, there’s nothing there to stop you from overdoing it except for your willpower.

That is the last thing you want to be using to stop yourself because even if it works, you feel more worn down from having to resist and you walk away feeling unsatisfied that you had to stop earlier than you wanted.

It’s Your Turn

It’s all just a mental game.

Sure, you need to stimulate your tastes buds, but these are simple ways to get around it.
The sweet tooth just wants to feel like it got what it wanted, but that doesn’t mean you have to play it’s game.

Implement these strategies into your days so you know exactly what you’re getting into and you’ll find yourself wondering why this was ever a problem in the first place.

PERSONALIZE YOUR FEED
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