This Simple Trick Stops My Sugar Cravings and Keeps Me Full

If you've been a reader here for very long, you probably know that I've tried desperately to kick my insane sweet cravings problem and usually with little luck.

But this time, I think I may have found the perfect recipe to kicking an incessant, never-ending sweet craving for good. 

Many readers have emailed me -- after I published this post on Shake The Crave -- to say that you too are plagued by the killer sugar cravings and no matter what you've tried, they don't go away. So I thought I thought  I would share my new found trick to really kicking those sugar cravings that keep you up at night salivating over every sugary morsel you can find in the house. Or even worse, those sugar cravings that you can't get relief from, even when you allow yourself to indulge.

Tonight has been one of those nights for me, and after downing 3 of those Captain Crunch Delights from Taco Bell (I think I'm addicted to them and I absolutely loathe that!), and still wanting more and more sugar, I finally got up and decided I was going to make myself so full that even the thought of one more bite would be a turn-off. 

Yea, sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures, and in cases like this one, I'm prepared to go above and beyond to keep myself from devouring more and filling myself full of more junk food.

*I promise to keep this post short and to the point.*

I turned to my trusty Shake the Crave in chocolate flavor, but this time, being that I knew no matter what, I was still going to want more sweets, I took things to a whole new level.

I filled a small glass with cold water (interesting tip: cold beverages speeds the metabolism significantly and 16 ounces of ice water can burn up to 17 calories ) and added my one scoop of chocolate Shake the Crave. 

Then, to make sure I wouldn't still want to give in to any remaining sugar craving, I added a teaspoon of Mila seed (chia seeds) and a few slices of a barely ripe banana. I love them when they're still a bit green.

Then I simply mixed it all up and nearly drained the entire glass of tasty sweetness before my stomach was so full that it couldn't hold any junk food even if I wanted it to.

Like I said, tonight was one of those nights that really called for extreme measures. 

Sometimes, I can just indulge in a little sweet snack and be just fine. But then there's those days where PMS hits and no matter how much you allow yourself to indulge, the urge never goes away.

That's why I went ahead and kicked it. I knew I wouldn't be able to think straight (and I was right in the middle of work when the cravings struck) until my stomach was too full to stand any sweet junk. The good thing about a healthier alternative like this Shake the Crave + banana drink is that I can drink it and get full without getting that miserable feeling that typically comes with over-eating junk.

I wasn't even able to finish the entire glass before I was super full and -- all while still satisfying the sweets craving! That's a real success for me.

Now I'm reveling in the bliss of having finally found a fix for times like this when I can't get enough sweets and can't get my mind off eating them.

I came straight here to share this little "fix" with you guys, knowing that I'm (thankfully!) not the only person out there who struggles with this occasionally. 

I hope this is helpful to others out there who know what it's like to have a craving like this that nearly takes over if you don't give in.  Perhaps you guys can try this type of fix or something similar to help kick the craving as well. 

Please don't forget to share your own tricks to getting rid of intense cravings! And let me know if you try this one (or something similar) with success. I love knowing other peoples' experiences and journies, so don't hesitate to share.

Rice Snax -- organic, healthy snacks

You guys have been with me on my journey to good health and I've talked a lot about new foods I've been trying on my journey to eating more healthy. I've talked about using almond flour in place of white flour, I've talked about Edward & Sons' delicious, organic fruits and more. Right now, I want to talk about the tasty Rice Snax, which is my latest Edward & Sons favorite.

As someone who loves snack foods like chips, but wants to eat healthier (and without hours of cooking required), I adore these Rice Snax from Edward & Sons. They're easy snacks that are perfect for on-the-go, especially for someone like me who stays busy and tends to snack throughout the day rather than sit down for big meals. The only problem with this kind of eating is that it's usually unhealthy stuff. So I went looking for foods that would be way healthier than the processed, chemical-laden junk and something healthier. It took some time and talking to friends before I learned about Edward & Sons. I had wanted to try several of their products & knew that their Rice Snax would be something I really loved. Was I right? I was right!

The Rice Snax come in 4 different flavors -- garlic and onion, lightly salted, Bar-B-Q and Salt & Vinegar. All of those are flavors I have always loved for chips, but the garlic/onion and the lightly salted sounded just perfect for my taste buds. So these are the two I've tried... and loved!

The Onion Garlic Rice Snax are my absolute favorite! I love the lightly salted ones, too, but when you're craving a whole lotta flavor, the Garlic/Onion flavor is amazing.

The best thing about these Rice Snax is they are made of whole grain brown rice, which is healthy and much, much better for you than the refined flours in most chip and snack products. Another great thing is the flavor isn't the artificial junk, it's the real deal! The Garlic/Onion Rice Snax have a nice, tasty flavor instead of only having a hint of flavor. You can actually tell that it's real garlic flavoring, too.

The Rice Snax are crunchy, but not as hard as a tortilla chip, which I like because those tend to hurt my teeth. The Rice Snax are quite filling too!  Where I can keep eating an entire can of something like Pringles on and off throughout the day, I'll eat a handful of the Rice Snax and feel satisfied far before I reach the bottom of the bag. In fact, I think the boxes (2.5 servings per box) stretched a bit longer than just 2.5 servings. I guess real food actually does the trick and satisfies you better than junk food. Who woulda' known?

The Rice Snax are a low-calorie, low-fat snack, so you can basically enjoy the delicious taste without reaping the consequences like you would eating a bag of potato chips. In fact, they contain 0 grams trans and saturated fat.


Ingredients in the Garlic & Onion Rice Snax:

 Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Expeller-Pressed Palm Oil, Maltodextrin (from tapioca), Garlic Powder, Sea Salt, Onion Powder, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Yeast Extract.

*Note, instead of using harmful table salt, Edward & Sons uses sea salt! That's just awesome, in my opinion. Sea salt is such a better alternative health-wise to regular table salt. Plus, sea salt actually has health benefits. Rice Snax are baked, not fried and are topped with natural seasonings.



Nutrition Facts:

Servings per container: 2.5
Serving size: 30 grams.
Calories: 130
Calories from fat: 15
Saturated fat: 0 grams
Trans fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
Sodium: 150 milligrams
Total carbohydrates: 23 grams
Dietary fiber: 1 gram
Sugars: 0 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Iron: 4%

The Lightly Salted Rice Snax are very similar to the Garlic & Onion flavored ones, only without the flavoring. These remind me a little bit of those baked regular chips, which are delicious, making the Rice Snax a perfect alternative.

Ingredients in Lightly Salted Rice Snax:
 Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Expeller-Pressed Palm Oil, Maltodextrin (from tapioca), Sea Salt.

Lightly Salted Rice Snax Nutrition Facts:
The nutrition facts are exactly the same as the ones I listed for the Garlic & Onion Rice Snax except for just a couple of things : Instead of 150 milligrams sodium, the Lightly Salted Snax contain slightly less -- 120 milligrams. Also, the total fat for the Lightly Salted ones is 1.5 grams, and calories: 120 (15 from fat) per serving.

A little about the company:

Edward & Sons Trading Co was founded in 1978 and is  family-owned and run. Their motto is very fitting: " "Convenience without Compromise" ®

I mentioned that their products were all organic, vegetarian and suitable for vegans. Edward & Sons do not tolerate  artificial ingredients in packaged foods so Edward & Sons™ products will never contain artificial flavors or colors, chemical preservatives or hydrogenated fats.

Their  product family encompasses several brands, including Edward & Sons ™, Native Forest®, Let's Do...Organic®, The Wizard's®, Premier Japan®, Let's Do...® and Road's End Organics®

The Healthy Way to Satisfy Your Chocolate Addiction - Sweet Raw Cacao Chocolate Nibs

As someone who probably qualifies as a chocolate addict, I was thrilled to find a healthy alternative to my insane Kit-Kat and Hershey cravings. Navitas Naturals' Sweet Raw Cacao Chocolate Nibs sounded like the perfect way to cut back on some of that processed chocolate and consume something on a healthier scale.

The Outcome: These soft little nuggets are nice midnight snacks. A handful of these often satisfy my intense chocolate cravings. Every once in a while, I just can't resist the occasional Kit-Kat, Hershey bar, or Reese's Cup. However, these little nibs make it easier to forego the processed chocolate for longer periods of time. Making use of natural, healthier alternatives, like these Cacao Nibs has made it possible for me to cut back on the sweets and chocolate I was consuming. 
 
 What are they? 

The Cacao Sweet Nibs are made from pure cacao beans that come from the tropical cacao fruit. The beans have been crumbled, rolled in raw cacao liquor, and lightly sweetened with organic cane juice. 

Taste:  In short, the nibs are a lot like chocolate covered coffee beans. They're semi-sweet with a unique, robust flavor that differs from the processed, sugary chocolate you get in a convenient store check-out line. They remind me of chocolate covered raisins until the dark chocolately dipping melts away, exposing a center that's less sweet and has the texture of crushed coffee beans. Once you start chewing the beans, that's when the robust, slightly bitter flavor appears. The flavor of the beans remind me of the taste of Jack Daniels Whiskey, although nobody else who tried them agreed with me (two other people.) On the other hand, all three of us found them to taste similar to chocolate covered raisins and chocolate covered coffee beans, so that's probably along the lines of what someone could expect if they've never tried these.

Although the Sweet Nibs are great as a snack on their own, you can get creative and add them to smoothies, milkshakes, ice cream, granola, trail mix, cereal, yogurt, coffee, cookies, etc.

                                                How Cacao Nibs Are "Processed"

Organic farmers in Peru hand-select the cacao beans out of the tropical fruit, then they're washed with purified water. After washing, they are partially fermented to remove some of the bitterness, then they go for low temperature processing, where the nutrition within the beans isn't fully destroyed.

Pro's:

•  Raw.
• Vegan.
• Non GMO product verified.
• USDA Certified organic.

• Made by family-owned green business.

• The only ingredients are certified organic cacao nibs, certified organic cane juice, and certified organic liquor.

Health Benefits of Raw Cacao

• Natural, rich supply of antioxidants, such as polyphenols, theobromine, and flavanols. Antioxidants help boost the immune system and protect against disease by fighting off free-radicals. An added benefit is that Theobromine is a cognitive enhancer and it kills streptococci mutans -- one of the strains of bacteria that cause tooth decay. Cacao has more antioxidants than green tea or wine.

• High source of magnesium.