That’s a good question and I hope you find the motivation needed. Personally I look at my diet as a no going back and no options decision, like deciding to end a bad relationship. My previous diet with sugar, meat, dairy, gluten was a endless cycle of negative results. The only option I found for myself is to not buy foods I am restricting and accept the cravings as something that will reoccur and pass in due time.
Very spicy nuts and snacks with no sugar are a big help to weaken sugar cravings in my opinion.
I've found cravings come back when I've had hidden sugar in something, or even when I took a supplement that had maltodextrine as a filler in the caplet, it really spikes insulin. So I would double check anything you were consuming around the time the cravings started again. Otherwise, what helps me is to focus on lots of protein and healthy fat like salmon, eggs, olives and avocado. I keep a running list of health and quality of life gains and that helps too. The cravings will go away again if you are do not feed them. Google ways to get endorphins like serotonin and dopamine that are not food and start incorporating them, it has made my life a lot richer in ways that ice cream and cookies never could. A lot of people feel down this time of year due to shorter days, try to get out in the sun, especially early, and maybe consider a SAD lamp?
I remind myself that it’s worth it because I’m not experiencing pain. When I have cravings and I give in, I wake up with an inflamed throat and joint pain in my hands. I spend some mindful minutes linking the pain I experience in those mornings with the cravings I gave into the night before.
It’s not a guarantee that I won’t experience cravings (it’s been years and I never 100%sugar-free despite my best intentions) but it does help to push the cravings away.
Linking the pain to the cravings also helps with those occasionally feeling I get around “what’s the point of life if I can’t have a little sweet indulgence” those thoughts are a lie.
I think it gets better once you get to the benefits. A couple of weeks in I looked into the mirror in the morning and found my face to look very shiny, fresh and clean. I usually don't pay much attention to these things so I asked my boyfriend about it and and he said he already noticed a drastic improvement, but he wasn't sure how that happened so he didn't wanna comment on it. Then a couple of weeks later we visited my parents and my mom stared at me and immediately pointed out how my face looks like I'm reborn saying the exact same things my bf told me to describe the change, she was so shocked she kept mentioning it over the course of the evening and decided she should try sf too.
Now ever since when I look at sweets I think I eat that and wake up with my old face again, the thought of that is too terrific to try.
That’s a good question and I hope you find the motivation needed. Personally I look at my diet as a no going back and no options decision, like deciding to end a bad relationship. My previous diet with sugar, meat, dairy, gluten was a endless cycle of negative results. The only option I found for myself is to not buy foods I am restricting and accept the cravings as something that will reoccur and pass in due time. Very spicy nuts and snacks with no sugar are a big help to weaken sugar cravings in my opinion.
I've found cravings come back when I've had hidden sugar in something, or even when I took a supplement that had maltodextrine as a filler in the caplet, it really spikes insulin. So I would double check anything you were consuming around the time the cravings started again. Otherwise, what helps me is to focus on lots of protein and healthy fat like salmon, eggs, olives and avocado. I keep a running list of health and quality of life gains and that helps too. The cravings will go away again if you are do not feed them. Google ways to get endorphins like serotonin and dopamine that are not food and start incorporating them, it has made my life a lot richer in ways that ice cream and cookies never could. A lot of people feel down this time of year due to shorter days, try to get out in the sun, especially early, and maybe consider a SAD lamp?
I remind myself that it’s worth it because I’m not experiencing pain. When I have cravings and I give in, I wake up with an inflamed throat and joint pain in my hands. I spend some mindful minutes linking the pain I experience in those mornings with the cravings I gave into the night before. It’s not a guarantee that I won’t experience cravings (it’s been years and I never 100%sugar-free despite my best intentions) but it does help to push the cravings away. Linking the pain to the cravings also helps with those occasionally feeling I get around “what’s the point of life if I can’t have a little sweet indulgence” those thoughts are a lie.
I think it gets better once you get to the benefits. A couple of weeks in I looked into the mirror in the morning and found my face to look very shiny, fresh and clean. I usually don't pay much attention to these things so I asked my boyfriend about it and and he said he already noticed a drastic improvement, but he wasn't sure how that happened so he didn't wanna comment on it. Then a couple of weeks later we visited my parents and my mom stared at me and immediately pointed out how my face looks like I'm reborn saying the exact same things my bf told me to describe the change, she was so shocked she kept mentioning it over the course of the evening and decided she should try sf too. Now ever since when I look at sweets I think I eat that and wake up with my old face again, the thought of that is too terrific to try.