Post dinner cravings

[whole30texan]

Helloooooo Whole 30 friends!

Newbie here. Day 12. Truly enjoying this process! My one struggle that I seem to battle every night is wanting something "sweet" after dinner. Last night, I had a cup of apple cider (bought some for a recipe), then a box of raisins. Ugh.... The previous night I had a half of a banana with almond butter and raisins. I know these are all "approved" foods but this is certainly not helping my sugar dragon.

A few questions - 

1. Do these sweet snacks warrant a restart? 

2. What suggestions do you guys have on how to battle this post dinner sugar dragon? Is a small serving of fruit okay after dinner? 

Thank y'all so much for your help and I'm happy to be part of the club!!!

[ladyshanny]

Hey @whole30texan - sugar cravings, especially after dinner, are pretty common.

First, make sure you are getting enough sleep. If you are getting sugar-cravey around what should be bedtime, just go to bed. Your body wants sleep but that can manifest as the desire for sugar.

Second, sugar cravings, especially late day ones, can be caused by what you are eating earlier in the day. Why don't you post a few days of typical meal, including portion sizes as related to the template and we can take a look and see if anything stands out.

Restarting is only required if you ingest something that is off plan.

We do not recommend anyone use fruit as a stand in for sugar cravings because all your body knows is that it cried for something sweet and you gave it fruit. Mission accomplished. The only way to kill off sugar cravings is to starve them out or eat the opposite and in that case it would be fat. But let's look at what you've been doing and see if there are some tweaks you can make.

[Kate C Mayone]

Same here.  And I know it's not doing myself any justice when I cave and eat fruit.  I try to keep my fruit basket out of sight and replace the ritual with herbal tea at night.  I have a tendency to overeat so when I'm cleaning up in the kitchen I find myself wanting to instinctually snack on something more even though I just ate.  I have to ask myself the question "Am I really hungry or just craving more".  If I feel like I could honestly eat a plate of steamed veggies then I know I'm truly hungry.  Most times, I'm not though.  Find something else to do to occupy your mind until the craving subsides.  I focus on my kitchen clean-up and then get outta there!  Go for a walk, read a book, brush your teeth and call it a night...anything to redirect your brain.  Also, l find if I eat a lot of fats I'm less likely to crave sweets.  An avocado alongside meal #3 is an easy remedy.

Good luck in slaying your dragon.  Like they say, the best way is to starve it.  

[ElizabethG]

I just want to second the sleep comment made by @ladyshanny. The past few nights I have noticed late night cravings, and could tell the kitchen was calling my name. It was late enough that I new getting in bed was the best option, I took my computer into bed and watched Netflix in order to distract my brain and fall asleep.