Making a personal decision to start a keto diet can be a little challenging, especially when battling constant sugar cravings that could jeopardize your plan to lose or manage weight. You are not alone — plenty of keto eaters have the same food desires you do. However, you need to learn what to eat when craving sugar on keto if you want to stay loyal to your plan.
You can be on a keto diet and still satisfy your sugar cravings. Here is a look at keto, how you can stay on track, keto snacks for cravings and why you might want sugar while following this eating style.
What Is a Keto Diet?
Usually, your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose for energy. However, when there are little to no carbohydrates in your diet, it uses fat instead. In essence, a keto diet entails significantly lowering carbohydrate intake and substituting fat for it.
A keto diet can remarkably reduce blood sugar and insulin levels. It also has other physical health benefits, such as weight loss for those trying to lose or maintain weight. Interestingly, ketosis is an old method of adapting to a lack of food. Your body will not break down from it — it will only adapt to not getting particular food.
Challenges such as sugar cravings — which are totally normal — are a real thing when on a keto diet, but they can slow down its purpose.
3 Ways to Stay on Track With Keto
As previously mentioned, you can satisfy your desire for sweets while eating keto. You only have to be mindful of what to eat when craving sugar on keto. Below are three tips on how to lose and maintain your weight with keto snacks.
1. Pay Attention to Your Fat Count
Even though you substitute fat for carbohydrates in a keto diet, you must still pay attention to the amount of fat you consume. It is very easy to eat unhealthy fat.
However, eating lobster on a keto diet can be a healthy meal choice. It’s low in fat and carb, which makes it an ideal food for losing weight. You can also get other nutrients such as iron, calcium and selenium when you eat lobsters.
2. Take Your Time While Eating
There are many reasons people rush to eat their food. From trying to be punctual to avoid losing appetite and simply because they enjoy the food, eating in a rush is a normal habit. However, if you are on a keto diet, you should eat at a slower pace. One study found eating your food slowly can aid weight loss because you tend to feel full when you take your time while eating, leading to low-calorie intake.
3. Count Your Carbs
This step is inevitable but essential. Since keto is about reducing carbohydrate intake, it’s crucial to track your consumption. One mistake to avoid is taking too much low-carb food — this is the same as satisfying every one of your sugar cravings.
For example, just because lobsters are low in carbohydrates does not mean they should be the only meal you consume. Try to eat different varieties of low-carb food as much as possible. Switching things up can keep you from getting bored, which may increase your drive to stick to your plan.
Other tips to stay on track with keto include keeping yourself hydrated with weight-loss beverages, eating more green vegetables, cutting down on caffeine, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly.
10 Keto Snacks for Cravings
You need some rewards for staying on a keto diet. However, always remember that these rewards must have a considerable amount of fat and be extremely low in carbs. If you are uncertain about what to eat when craving sugar on keto, below are some food you can snack on:
- Cheese chips: This snack has 1g net carbs per serving and 2g fat.
- Green olives: They contain 0.5g net carbs and 15.3g fat.
- Boiled eggs: There are 0.5g net carbs and 5g fat.
- Nuts: Keto-friendly nuts contain 5g net carbs on average and are rich in healthy fat.
- Dark chocolate: This snack has 2g net carbs per serving.
- Sardines: Each one includes 0g net carbs and 3.5g fat.
- French toast fat bomb: It has 0.8g net carbs each.
- Salad: A cup of salad has 1g net carbs and 0.1g fat.
- Smoothie: Smoothies are great for losing weight. Depending on which recipe you follow, you can include various amounts of carbs and fat in your diet.
- Lemon poppyseed muffins: These treats contain 4g of net carbs at 14g of fat per muffin.
Why Do You Crave Sugar on a Keto Diet?
Typically, craving sugar on keto is a form of withdrawal syndrome whereby your brain tricks you into believing you need to supplement the low carbohydrate intake with something sweet. But, being on a keto diet may be one of many reasons you crave sugar. It could be a coincidence that you started noticing a significant change due to being conscious of what you are eating to stay on track with keto. This will continue until your body gets used to your new diet.
Other reasons you could be craving sugar on keto are stress, hormonal changes, low fat and protein, anxiety, excitement, dehydration and other physical and psychological causes. As long as you understand your body needs time to get used to low carb and learn what to eat when craving sugar on keto, you are on track for success.
Lose Weight With Keto
Being on a keto diet is easy if you’re patient with yourself. Remember, you are not alone and your body needs time to adjust to this new diet before it begins to work. Avoid sugar because it may hinder the desired results while trying to manage or lose some weight.
Eating slowly, having enough rest and regular exercise can produce positive results while on a keto diet. You may crave sugar while on this journey, which is fine! You can reward yourself regularly by eating some keto snacks for cravings, including boiled eggs, cheese chips, dark chocolate, sardines, nuts and green olives. Be brave and start your keto diet today.