Holiday Advice- Curbing Sugar Cravings

I'm a sugar addict.  Always have been.  As a kid, I used to eat all my Halloween candy in less than a week (I'd sneak 5 fun size candy bars into bed with me each night).  In adulthood, the addiction manifested itself in the form of daily iced mochas, cokes, and frozen yogurt covered in oreos and crushed snickers. And don't get me started on those chocolate covered Jo Jo's from Trader Joes!

Then I got pregnant, and didn't feel like poisoning my baby with insane amounts of sugar. I asked my sister for some tips on curbing cravings, and this is what she emailed to me.  Note: she is not a physician, she's just a former sugar-holic who through research and  trial and error has finally freed herself from this addiction.

1. "EAT CINNAMON!"

2. A spoonful of cocunut oil STRAIT or add it to whatever."

3. 1 chromium tablet a day

4. 1-2 l-glutamine tablets on an emtpy stomach per day

5. Eating more protein and meat in general!!!

6. Just cutting out sugar will take your desire away MOST (not all) of the time. At first you will be miserable and depressed for 1 week... then you wont care.

7. A basic multivitamin
8. Drink Kefir milk (basically liquid yogurt with a ton of probiotics in it)

I am going on over a month now with no sugar (other than a few planned deviations - which I will continue to do from time to time as there is no reason to never enjoy such a wonderful thing God has made).

Love, JEN"

So far, I've tried the cinnamon trick (tip #1).  It definitely works!  I simply add a big spoonful to my applesauce each morning and find that I don't want anything sweet for at least several hours. My sister adds cinnamon to green tea.  Cinnamon lowers blood sugar, and it's soooo good for you.

I've also upped my protein intake (tip #5) simply by cooking paleo diet dinners for Joe's sake.  It feels really good to end the day on a carb-free note, and I am less tempted to snack on sweets at night.  I however am not a paleo chick.  It's too hard when you're pregnant and sometimes you just want/need some toast or pancakes.

Recently I've started drinking Kefir everyday (tip #8).  I have to add a bit of raw honey to it or else it's just too tart for me to guzzle down.  I'm not sure if it's affecting my sugar cravings, but I know it's good for me so I drink it!

Any other tips to share?