Thank you, I will try a different approach, I crave sugar the most before my menstrual cycle and during my study sessions. I have also noticed that when I work out I don't crave sugar as much. I am gradually working on cutting down on my sugar intake I am not trying to cut out sugar all together because I personally don't believe that it's realistic for me. I am trying to create eating habits that are realistic so I can keep doing it.

My doctor told me when you crave sweet get a piece of hard candy it will take the feeling away. You want crave sweet as much and it less calories.

Sounds good I'll also give that a shot

Fruit snacks and smoothies are my vice smoothies with a meal replacement powder works for me.

From my experience with being addicted to sugar for a long time, I needed to treat it like a drug .. i.e. like giving up smoking. Understand that having carbs or sweets/sugar will start a craving for another .. it is just a matter of time. Not having the first piece of sugar will stop the cycle, however, I needed a period of time to detox (I have found a week with strictly no sugar works well to get it out of my system but need a lot of clean eating with protein and veges) and also keep my stress levels down to an absolute minimum. I have found that high stress & high cortisol leads to sugar cravings something fierce, because it is like my unconscious mind telling my body to try to find the quickest and easiest way to feel happier, and sugar is a very quick way to spike serotonin levels or "happy" hormones I like to call them (but the sugar is seriously toxic to my body). So I know now that when the sweet cravings are coming up for me .. either I've taken on too much, and am in serious need of recharge time or rest time, and need to honour myself more by saying no to a few people and making my food preparation time a top priority. It is my body's way of telling me I'm needing some TLC. So being prepared for healthy nice tasting options is key, especially doing it first thing in the day (or night before where possible), so it is quick and easy for me to grab it when I need it most. I looked at the times of the day when I craved it most, and replaced it firstly with healthier fruit pieces cut up (starting with the most sweet .. then gradually reducing down to the low sugar/GI fruit). Then I would slowly introduce more protein or nuts instead and cut the fruit out. I have found that having protein for breky i.e. an omelette would keep my blood sugar stable all the way through to lunch time .. and sometimes even as late as up till 2pm. Without morning protein, i.e. having toast instead .. I would be lucky to make it through to 10.30am. Unfortunately for me I'm still having major issues with DHEA & Cortisol imbalance so it is like being on a rollercoaster. I'm working on reducing my stress and workload right now and having some more downtime, but last time I did this properly I dropped 20kg pretty easy and had no sugar whatsoever. So hope to get back in control of this soon. Hope this helps.