How do you fight off cravings?

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  • NancyYale
    NancyYale Posts: 171 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Everyone handles this differently. For me, I cut out most empty snacks and sugary things, only adding them back in if they were WORTH IT. (Homemade brownies!!) And my tastes changed accordingly, over time. This worked for me, but isn't a fix for everyone.

    By eating more often, and eating a mix of good protein, high fiber carbs and enough fat to satisfy, and cutting out most empty snacky items, I rarely have cravings. And a person should be eating things - "healthy" or not - that they LIKE. If they eat only the most "perfect and healthy" foods around, but don't like them, they're setting themselves up for even worse cravings.

    Cravings can be BOTH mental and physical. But it's the mental bit that's hardest to deal with.

    If you play around with your menus, schedules, and pay attention to what your body is saying you can develop a food plan that makes you feel good, be satisfied most of the time, and promoted WL.

    But there isn't a cookie-cutter one size fits all recipe for that. If there is one, please forward it to me.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
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    johnnylakis wrote: »
    eating Fruit usually does it for me


    Same with me, and the 50 or so calories is very easy to fit in, or just have a bit less of a deficit that day.
    No big deal.
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
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    I give in and then regret it immensely
  • NothingmaN79
    NothingmaN79 Posts: 6 Member
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    I just leave the food that will set me back at the store. Food that goes against my goal is my enemy. Chocolate made me fat. Potato chips made me fat. Doughnuts made me fat. My lack of willpower and self-control made me fat. There is a lot of willpower and self-control involved here. If you give into your cravings by even having LESS of what you crave (chocolate etc.), you will keep craving it. Break the cycle. Have the self-control to say no and eat something healthier.

    Or do what works for you I'm not your dad.
  • Landoficeandsnow
    Landoficeandsnow Posts: 139 Member
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    Whenever I crave something sweet - I drink black coffee.

    Whenever I crave pizza - I eat a chicken.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited August 2016
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    I don't find that foods cause cravings.

    One example of a strong craving I recall having was near the end of Lent, when I had given up meat. I was planning my lamb Easter meal and was really craving lamb (had no urge to break my Lenten restriction, self-imposed though it was, as anticipation was part of the pleasure of the eventual meal). I think the reason for the craving was the combination of not having had it for a while, it being a food I love, and thinking about preparing it. (I love pie and hadn't been eating sweets during Lent either, but didn't crave the planned pie in the same way or any seasonal chocolate treats.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Landoficeandsnow wrote: »
    Whenever I crave something sweet - I drink black coffee.

    Whenever I crave pizza - I eat a chicken.

    I can't decide if this sounds most sad, or most strange.
  • _Bro
    _Bro Posts: 437 Member
    edited August 2016
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    There's really no reason not to indulge in cravings..
    Provided that you can do so and stay in control (read moderation).
    This is the key IMHO...
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
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    NothingmaN79 wrote: »
    I just leave the food that will set me back at the store. Food that goes against my goal is my enemy. Chocolate made me fat. Potato chips made me fat. Doughnuts made me fat. My lack of willpower and self-control made me fat. There is a lot of willpower and self-control involved here. If you give into your cravings by even having LESS of what you crave (chocolate etc.), you will keep craving it. Break the cycle. Have the self-control to say no and eat something healthier.

    Or do what works for you I'm not your dad.

    The part you bolded is the most important bit, in my opinion - chocolate, chips and donuts did not make me fat. Too much of any of those things (along with a multitude of others, including "healthy" foods) made me fat.

    I had less of what I craved (chocolate, mainly) to avoid feeling miserable because I was depriving myself of something I loved. I didn't see it as "giving in" - it took willpower and self control to only eat a small square when I might have wanted more. Now, though, I do NOT keep craving it. I want it much less often than I did when I started this.

    Personally, I feel that this is what works best for me. Other people, of course, have to find their own way of dealing with their food issues.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    I eat what I crave, or I'll just eat something else to distract myself but the craving will still be there... and I'll just end up eating more. What's the point? I just don't necessarily eat it the same day and, if needed, plan it for a day when I know it will fit (for the higher calorie things). And if I end up going a bit over? I just eat less after to make up for it.
  • honorthecolors
    honorthecolors Posts: 33 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    1) Cravings are natural and do not need to be "a problem"
    2) Food is neither "healthy" or not.
    3)Why can't candy bars be incorporated into a balanced diet?
    4) Why do you feel the need to eat 10 times a day?

    I eat 10 times I suppose because I'm hungry. I eat about 3500 calories a day.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    For me I don't deny myself any of my cravings. I still occasionally eat a Wendy's hamburger a slice of pizza, beer on the beach. As long as it fits into my calorie goal I incorporate it into my food.
    I firmly believe that you can't look at this as a diet. Diets suck you're constantly giving up stuff that you like and eventually human nature is going to take over and you're going to go I can't do this anymore. And the funny part and I know other posters have said this I don't crave that stuff as much as I used to. I choose to control it it doesn't control me.
  • mysticwryter
    mysticwryter Posts: 111 Member
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    Usually when I have cravings, it's mostly due to me being bored or that I'm not getting enough water. So I try and substitute the craving with having 16oz of water. I also do a cup of green tea because of the temp, I am nursing the tea, which off-sets my craving....it's weird but it works.
    Also to subside cravings, I also try to incorporate protein and starches in my main meals. As a buffer between breakfast and lunch (I eat breakfast around 0615 and by 0900 I'm hungry) I do a protein shake that gives me 60g of protein. That usually lasts me till about 1145-1200 (lunch break).

    It has helped me so I won't gorge on foods which I know will just get me off the wagon again. Lots and lots of mentality to make sure you know yourself if you are hungry or if you are just bored and looking at food recipes on Facebook, lol.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I have a Quest cravings peanut butter cup :lol::+1:
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
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    STEVE142142 wrote: »
    I firmly believe that you can't look at this as a diet. Diets suck you're constantly giving up stuff that you like and eventually human nature is going to take over and you're going to go I can't do this anymore.

    I agree completely... that's why I was so happy to realise I could lose weight but still eat the things I loved, as long as I was careful with my portions and counted every calorie! If I'd had to stick to "diet foods" and feel that I might never be able to have anything "bad" again, I'd have given up by now. Knowing that (for me at least) food doesn't have to be thought of as good or bad has been instrumental in getting my head around the mental part of this weight-loss business!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    I find that by suppressing these cravings long term they fade. The longer I avoid the trigger foods the more the cravings fade away. Replacements are fruit, hummus with veggies, homemade dressing for salads that has much more and better flavor than the typical bottled stuff..... It has been a process of finding things I like that are calorically acceptable to me, have a decent amount of nutrients, and taste good. I've been at this since.... 2013 I guess? long enough to have a list of go-to foods after which I will feel satisfied rather than just craving more sugar/fat/stuff that doesn't help me in any way.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    NothingmaN79 wrote: »
    I just leave the food that will set me back at the store. Food that goes against my goal is my enemy. Chocolate made me fat. Potato chips made me fat. Doughnuts made me fat. My lack of willpower and self-control made me fat. There is a lot of willpower and self-control involved here. If you give into your cravings by even having LESS of what you crave (chocolate etc.), you will keep craving it. Break the cycle. Have the self-control to say no and eat something healthier.

    Or do what works for you I'm not your dad.

    This!!! Torturing myself with a tiny portion of a trigger food makes matters worse. It's much easier for me to say NOPE, off limits, there are lots of good things I will choose from instead.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    gothchiq wrote: »
    NothingmaN79 wrote: »
    I just leave the food that will set me back at the store. Food that goes against my goal is my enemy. Chocolate made me fat. Potato chips made me fat. Doughnuts made me fat. My lack of willpower and self-control made me fat. There is a lot of willpower and self-control involved here. If you give into your cravings by even having LESS of what you crave (chocolate etc.), you will keep craving it. Break the cycle. Have the self-control to say no and eat something healthier.

    Or do what works for you I'm not your dad.

    This!!! Torturing myself with a tiny portion of a trigger food makes matters worse. It's much easier for me to say NOPE, off limits, there are lots of good things I will choose from instead.

    Yep, same here. For me, it's so much easier and less stressful to abstain than it is to moderate.

    I wish one serving of ice cream or cereal or cookies was enough/satisfying. It's Just not worth it and leaves me wanting more.

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