How I Accidentally Lost My Sweet Tooth (Without Even Noticing)

Looking back over my life, it seems I’ve always had a sweet tooth.  In the not so distant past, if you had asked me what my favorite food was, I would have said, “Cake!”  (Actually, my favorite food still is cake. But, read on. I actually have managed to lose my sweet tooth.)   

A cookie was always my favorite quick-grab snack, and right around age 30 (the very distant past), my dinner sometimes consisted of cookies. Sshhh, I was single again, and my job was stressful…  Also, DON’T do that.

My snacks weren’t always sweet. I wasn’t completely clueless.  But I often craved sweet (unlike my husband, who scrapes the icing off a cupcake, while I watch in disbelief.) 

Strangely though, recently, I began to notice something, and it took me by surprise because I hadn’t even noticed it for a while.  When I now go to reach for a snack, I tend to crave something that isn’t sweet.  It’s still hard for me to believe, but these days, if you were to give me the choice of some yummy cheese or nuts,  I would probably choose those over a sweet snack.  I was so oblivious to it happening.

Photo by Alexy Almond from Pexels

How did this happen??  I think it really hinges on the fact that I began to use stevia in my coffee every morning, instead of sugar, and I started replacing that late evening cookie or 2 (or3) with a sugar-free chocolate or two.  

Short answer: I quit eating a lot of sugar, and my sugar cravings stopped.  (I know, I know. I had heard it before but somehow didn’t believe it would really happen.)

Without even realizing it, my craving for sugar practically ceased.  I even prefer a salad to fruit now. Believe me, no one could be more shocked than I am.  Given how harmful too much sugar can be, I’m grateful I don’t crave it as much anymore. 

I wish I could say that if you gave me a cookie I wouldn’t want another (or even another, or another.) Which is a good reason not to have a lot of cookies around.  (I do still eat cookies!) 

But, it’s the cravings that are different for me now. I no longer reach for sweet first all the time.  That is a huge improvement for me!

 

Here are some of the snacks I crave now:

(I still need to work on eating more vegetable snacks, but my snacking is much less sugar loaded now.)

Cheese and crackers

Nuts

Pretzels and hummus 

A mandarin (usually 2 mandarins)  (Yes, kind of sweet, but tart too.)

Carrots with natural peanut butter

Baked tortilla chips with salsa

Hard boiled eggs

Many of these snacks need to be portion controlled, because calorie-wise, cheese and nuts, etc., can be pretty calorie dense. And, calories are something I really don’t need.  Also, too many salty snacks aren’t a good thing.  As I said, I still need to work on eating more vegetable snacks!

None of this is rocket science, of course. I think I’m just surprised it could happen to a sweets craver like me.

I thought I would share my experience with you so that, if you have a sweet tooth like I did, maybe you can lose yours, too. (Maybe a little less obliviously!)  

Do you have a sweet tooth?

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Thursday Favorite Things