How do you resist urges?

starwhisperer6

I really like the delayed gratification approach. Telling myself I can totally have that if I want it still in an hour. I researched a lot when I was quitting smoking, the physical craving lasts something like 7 min with nicotine and if you get past that you are good for awhile. Not in anyway saying that food is addictive, or that the timeline is exact, but I have found that mostly the craving is gone by the time I have allotted.

quiksylver296

beth0277 wrote: »

JinxedyJinx wrote: »

Learn to sit with the discomfort while you're resisting the craving. Recognizing and accepting that intense discomfort is simply a part of the brain training process has been key for me! You will feel annoyed and uncomfortable when your lower brain says one thing (eat junk now!) and your higher brain says another thing (no, wait!)- but riding out the discomfort is necessary in order to train your brain.

And if you're really interested in the psychology or science behind retraining the brain circuitry in relationship to diet/lifestyle I recommend reading the following books: "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, "Brain Over Binge" by Kathryn Hansend and "Eating Less' by Gillian Riley. All of these have been really helpful to me.

I actually have "The Power of Habit" in my night stand. I'll have to start reading it. Thanks for the recommendation!

So, I made it through the urge. I just "restarted" my weight loss journey after taking about 2 months off for the holidays. It's so hard to get restarted and feels so easy to say "Oh screw it, I'll really start tomorrow". I know with more days in a row this will get easier. I had already tracked my food for the day and felt good about it but then my coworker brought in lunch that she had went out to get and it smelled AMAZING and I thought "Oh, what's one more day, you know what sounds good? Ice cream, and fried food, and candy bars" which is what I would have gotten had I given in. I can appreciate making the room in your "calorie budget" for a treat, and I plan to do that, but I have to get over the hump of just wanting to go balls to the wall. I am okay now. I ate my turkey and light chips for lunch and now I'm back at my desk eating yogurt, but I WAS tempted to just drive right down the road and grab some (a lot) of junk. I think the hard part is with the mentality of "I'll do better tomorrow" then if I did let myself get something, it would have been A LOT to "get it out of my system". I have to be better but this is the second day in a row I resisted so I'm calling that an NSV.

Well done!

sherbear702

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

have sex.

+1, even if it's just with yourself

Lounmoun

I don't call food bad. I don't have a restrictive diet other than calories.
I pre-log the food and see if I want it bad enough to maybe give up a more filling nutritious food. I choose to eat it or not and move on.

AmazonMayan

After avoiding fast food and sweets for a bit to get myself under control, I found a lot of it, most of it, so ridiculously salty and/or sweet and just not very good. It made it a lot easier to say no or at least alter my order. Now I'm that person ordering with no mayo or cheese (just to save calories - I already eat a lot of cheese at home) I ask for no salt* on burgers and fries if I get fries, most will sub a side salad for fries, sauces on the side, etc. I take control of the ingredients so I can still have something tasty but with less of an unnecessary calorie bomb.

*no salt because I've found for me that if I eat really salty fast food, I crave more a lot more often.

BoaRestrictor

Water. As a faster it's what gets me through my last 2 hours of my 20 hour fasts. Peppermint tea too.