How often do you actually eat sweets with Type 2 diabetes?

I have a serious sweet tooth and this is probably the hardest part of managing diabetes for me.

I can do pretty well with my meals during the day, but by evening I start wanting chocolate, biscuits, ice cream, basically anything sweet. If I have something in the house it's very hard for me to stop after one piece.

I'm trying to cut back instead of telling myself I'll never eat dessert again, because I know that probably won't last. But I'm curious how other people handle this.

Do you save actual sugary desserts for weekends or special occasions? Do you have a small amount regularly? Or did you pretty much stop eating them after diagnosis?

I'm Type 2, so especially interested in how other T2 people manage cravings without feeling like they're constantly restricting themselves.

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@anilmehra2 wks ago

I don't completely ban sweets, but I definitely don't keep big packets of them at home anymore. That's where I lose control.

If we're out for a birthday or something I'll have a small piece of cake and enjoy it. For me that's much easier than having a box of sweets sitting in the kitchen all week.

@nidhisharma2 wks ago

This is probably what I need to do. Buying them is honestly the problem. Once they're sitting there I keep thinking about them until they're gone 😂

@rajatmalhotra2 wks ago

Same here. I have much better self control in the supermarket than I do at 10 pm when there's ice cream in the freezer.

@sonamverma2 wks ago

I still eat something sweet most days, just much smaller portions than before. Sometimes it's literally two squares of chocolate after dinner.

Completely banning foods makes me obsess over them, so moderation works better for me personally.

@nidhisharma2 wks ago

That's what I'm hoping to get to. My problem right now is that two squares somehow becomes half the bar 😅

@puneetgupta2 wks ago

I was very strict for the first few months after diagnosis because I was scared of everything I ate. Eventually I relaxed a little.

Now dessert is usually something I have occasionally rather than every day. I don't really call it cheating either. It's just food that I choose to eat less often.

@ishitashah2 wks ago

I like this way of looking at it. Calling something a cheat meal always made me feel like I had failed whenever I ate it.

@anand372 wks ago

Funny enough sweets aren't even my weakness. Give me chips, fries or anything salty and crunchy and that's where my self control disappears 😂

The only thing that works for me is not buying the stuff I know I'll finish in one sitting.

@nidhisharma2 wks ago

I wish I only had one weakness. Unfortunately I can happily destroy the chips and then go looking for dessert afterwards 😂

@nishant-r2 wks ago

I found a couple of lower sugar desserts that satisfy the craving without making me want to keep eating. I still check how they affect my glucose because some things marketed as low sugar definitely don't work well for me.

A small portion after a proper meal usually works better for me than eating something sweet by itself.

@jyotipatil2 wks ago

This has been my experience too. The label can say low sugar and my meter can still have a completely different opinion 😂

@nidhisharma2 wks ago

Good point. I need to start paying more attention to what actually happens after I eat different things instead of assuming anything labelled low sugar is automatically fine.

@atulshah2 wks ago

I mostly save proper desserts for birthdays, holidays or when we go somewhere nice. If I'm going to have something sugary I'd rather have something I really enjoy occasionally than eat random sweets every night just because they're there.

@sakshi292 wks ago

Exactly. I'd rather have one really good dessert once in a while than five disappointing 'healthy' desserts that don't actually satisfy me.

@manoj832 wks ago

My cravings actually became much less intense after I stopped eating sweets every single day. The first couple of weeks were annoying, but now I can have something occasionally without thinking about sugar all evening.

I didn't expect that because I used to think I just naturally had a massive sweet tooth.

@nidhisharma2 wks ago

This gives me some hope because right now the cravings feel constant. Maybe I just need to get through the adjustment instead of expecting them to disappear immediately.