Conning Your Cravings: Secret Weapons to Help Keep Sugar Cravings at Bay

by CosMed Clinic Guest Blogger, Michelle Pearl

Have you ever had an all-consuming craving for the Swedish rice porridge Christmas dessert Risgrynsgröt? My guess is that your answer to that would be a big, resounding “No.” This is because you have never tasted it before, so that you have no sensory memory of it.

While some diet peddlers subscribe to the idea that cravings are directly tied to a chemical or mineral deficit in your body, that theory has been widely denounced by most clinical researchers.

What has been proven is that when you eat fat-laden or sugary foods, chemicals called opioids are released into your bloodstream. These opioids shoot right up to tiny receptors in the brain that give you a feeling of mild euphoria. This proves that when it comes to eating fat and sugar, there is most definitely a strong addictive aspect at work.
This explains why it is so difficult for people who have been exposed to the opioid inducing properties of meat to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. One whiff of a sizzling meat patty and your sensory memory goes into overdrive, demanding that opioid burger high. And the most craved food in America—chocolate—is a jam-packed double whammy of both of the most powerful opioid-inducing foods: sugar and fat. So are cake, cookies, and ice cream. Little wonder that so many people find themselves tormented by the very thoughts of these foods!

This also explains why eating a carrot stick or a piece of celery when you are hungry has absolutely no appeal to most people. Put simply, they just won’t give you that food high your brain is clamoring for.

I have found a solution that helps me handle my cravings successfully 90 percent of the time: I dupe the cravings into believing that I am giving into them by eating a cleverly disguised alternative.

I refer to this as Conning Your Cravings. Here are two of my favorite secret weapons to help keep the sugar craving beast at bay:

Michelle Pearl’s STARBUCKS Sweet Tooth Soother

Grande (16oz.), nonfat hot cocoa (no whip cream) and have them replace the vanilla syrup that they normally add with sugar-free caramel.

210 calories, 2.5 grams of fat,  20 grams of carbs, 48 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein.

Michelle Pearl’s Chocolate Cake Fake-Out
Pillsbury® Sugar Free Devil’s Food Premium Cake Mix
~ Substitute 1/3 oil for 2 cartons of Yoplait Light Boston Cream Pie fat-free yogurt
~ Substitute 2 eggs with 1/2 cup Egg Beaters

Mix per directions on the box, spray two round cake pans with cooking spray and spoon the mixture into the cake pans. (It will be thicker than normal cake batter)  Cut baking time to 3o minutes total.

Frost with 1 cartoon of Cool Whip Free whipped topping. If desired, decorate with fresh strawberry slices. Refrigerate completed cake.

Serving size: 1/12 of a two layer cake (without strawberries):
120 calories , 0 grams of fat, 31 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 3 grams of protein

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Author Bio:

Michelle Pearl, is an actual patient of CosMed Clinic who had reconstructive surgery with Dr. Quiroz  after her weight loss. She is also a CPT, GFI, LWMC  fitness expert, entrepreneur, former award-winning newspaper columnist and the author of Wake Up, You Are Probably Never Going to Look Like That; How to be Happier, Healthier and Imperfectly Fit. For more information visit: www.ImperfectFitness.com or visit her blog at www.FedUpFemale.com