(Alan) wrote in message . com...
Just starting out on a regime of reducing sugar intake in particular
and carbohydrates in general. However a couple of times I've lapsed.
Typically what happens is that I feel very well for 12-24 hours but
then my energy levels seem to fall away and I crave sugar, chocolate,
etc. - to the point where I dash to the shop to buy something to take
the craving away.

Here are some thoughts of mine - what has worked for me.

1) "Meat, not sweets". Try to only snack on things that have actual
nutritional value.

2) When you start feeling that empty feeling, eat something low carb
that has both protein and fat, instead of sweets. For me, a good,
satisfying snack is a cup of vanilla almond black tea (Republic of Tea
makes a good one) with a little heavy cream and Splenda, or perhaps
some homemade hot cocoa (Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder, hot
water, little bit of heavy cream, Splenda) along with a spoonful of
peanut butter. This really hits the spot. You'll need to ration the
peanut butter though, and it's a no-no on induction.

3) Don't ever let yourself get hungry enough to start getting a sweet
tooth. Eat very filling, high protein meals. I discovered that I was
getting a lot of cravings because I simply wasn't eating enough
protein. This is why low-fat diets often just don't work.

4) Some plans have you do the full-bore low-low-low carb "induction"
or "phase one" thing. There's some value to this: it really kicks
those cravings' a$$. During the first phase of these type of plans
(such as Atkins), you eat as much as you need to of the allowed foods;
the good news is that as your body adjusts to eating lower-carb, your
appetite also starts declining a bit. Once your body is adjusted,
you'll be able to deal with those cravings with a piece of meat or
cheese cubes, instead of with sugar, and you'll do just fine.

5) I have been allowing myself occasional treats - but I ration them.
Moderation is the key. It's just that once you get through the first
withdrawal stages, and get established on your low-carb lifestyle,
it's much *easier* to control how much you eat. Frankly, pig-outs are
just not possible anymore; a whole candy bar would make me gag. Some
LCers report that even cucumbers taste sweet after being LC for a
while.

6) There are some great ideas for low-carb treats on this board, but
my *own* best experience has been to limit the number of these I eat.
You want to get in the habit of eating actual nutritious food that
will give you energy and fill you up. Occasionally you do find food
that meets both requirements (the "chocolate omelette" comes to mind)
but I have had much better experience cutting out even anything
sweet-tasting at first, then adding these things back in slowly once
my cravings were licked.

7) Once your cravings are licked, really, even sweet things will give
you more mileage than they ever did; raspberries with
Splenda-sweetened whipped heavy cream are my favorite heavenly treat
now. I crave *those*!

8) Some of us find that the craving for chocolate is a separate matter
from the craving for sweets. That's why many of the lc treat recipes
seem to revolve around chocolate. If you must have chocolate,
typically you just... must have chocolate. So if you do eat chocolate
- eat only the best, highest grade stuff. The higher level of cacao in
it (such as Scharffen Berger's 71%), the less sugar there is. Also,
eating "only the best" can make it somewhat self-limiting;
occasionally I treat myself to a cup of coffee and a single chocolate
from a local place that sells very fancy gourmet chocolates - at $40 a
pound, I'm not going to be doing any pig-outs. After eating The Good
Stuff, too, I don't find any storebought chocolate at all appealing.

Hope all this helps.

Dreia
LC since March: 32 down and 10-15 to go!