Hi Reader,

For a long time, I felt like I couldn't keep cookies in the house. If they were in the cabinet, I was thinking about them. I'd have one, then another standing at the counter, then decide I might as well finish what was left so they'd be gone and I could "start fresh" tomorrow. So mostly I just didn't buy them. That made cookies feel rare and a little dramatic, and I rebelliously consumed them whenever I got the chance.

What changed things for me was slow and kind of boring. I started eating enough during the day. I let myself buy cookies again, and then buy them again after they were gone. Somewhere along the way they became ordinary. Now it's a food I have when it sounds good, and then I move on with my night without any guilt or shame.

I wrote a new post this week about why so many of us feel like we always want sweets, and I wanted to share a few pieces of it with you.

Wanting sweets is about as human as it gets. Babies prefer sweet tastes from their very first days. Your brain runs mostly on glucose, so sweets are a quick, delicious source of energy. When you haven't eaten enough, that pull gets a lot stronger. Coffee for breakfast, a small lunch at your desk, no afternoon snack, and by 9 pm you're in the pantry with the chocolate chips.

Cutting back tends to backfire too. When sweets are off limits, they start to feel more exciting, and "I'll start over tomorrow" makes tonight your last chance to ever have that thing. The authors of Intuitive Eating call this "Last Supper" eating.

If you've ever wondered if you're addicted to sugar, I get it. It's a common claim, and some headlines even compare sugar to drugs. A lot of that idea comes from studies on rats who were given sugar only some of the time, with long stretches without it in between. Under those conditions, they ate it in a frenzy. When sugar was available steadily, that frenzied eating mostly faded. That matches what I see with clients and what I lived through with the cookies. Once you know you can have sweets tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, they don't hold as much power over you.

In the full post, I also get into food noise, why having dessert every day is completely okay, and six small experiments to try if sweets feel stressful right now.

​Read: Why Do I Always Want Sweets?​

If I had to pick one place to start, it would be the meals that lead up to dessert, starting with breakfast. Making peace with sweets is built on a foundation of meals that leave you satisfied, with a mix of flavors and textures, and enough nutrients to carry you through. Here are a few ideas:

• ​Vegetarian Irish Stew with Lentils and Mushrooms: lentils, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes simmered low and slow, with an optional splash of stout. Great with a thick slice of toasted bread.
• ​Tomato Barley Soup with Kale and Roasted Chickpeas: warm and filling, with crispy roasted chickpeas on top for crunch.
• ​Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Bowl: roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, and quinoa with a creamy avocado-lime dressing. The components keep well, so it's easy to make once and eat a few times.
• ​Crispy Air Fryer Tofu: a quick boil and a light cornstarch coating make it golden and crunchy with no pressing. Pile it into a grain bowl with tahini sauce and whatever roasted vegetables you have.
• And for after: Chocolate Covered Dates with Peanut Butter, a sweet bite to make ahead and keep in the fridge.

Warmly,
Stephanie

P.S. If you'd like more support building trust with your body, my free 5 Days to Food Peace series is one short email a day for five days, all about eating consistently, quieting diet culture noise, and getting reacquainted with your hunger and fullness. If you haven't joined yet, you can get the series here.

Hi there, I'm Stephanie. I'm a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor. I help people move away from food obsession and dieting toward intuitive, embodied eating. I also share satisfying plant-forward recipes and optional vegetarian nutrition information, all without the diet culture noise.

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