Do you give in to cravings on a diet ( portion controlled) or ignore thsm

jennybearlv

leanjogreen18 wrote: »

jennybearlv wrote: »

It depends on how many calories the food is, how many I have to work with, and if the food is a good value calorie wise. A 40 calorie piece of high quality chocolate? Yeah, I would probably eat it. Grocery store cookies? Yuck, pass. 1000 calorie slice of cheesecake? That's a hard decision.

No brainer for me, I have hubby order it and I take a couple bites:). Come to think of it he maybe packing on a couple of pounds while I'm losing hummm:).

That is a good plan when you only have an extra hundred calories or so, like when the cheesecake is preceded by a Cheesecake factory meal. However, if I've been running all week and not eating back them calories that cheesecake better get in my mouth!

dragon_girl26

It depends on what it is and how often I have been craving it. I love cake and want to eat it every day, so I usually try to ignore that. Tonight I was craving some pizza, so I gave in and had two slices. Much better than the 4-5 I would have had in the past.

Machka9

I analyse the cravings.

Cravings are usually my body's way of saying it needs something ... but what?

So when I crave potato chips, I don't need potato chips ... but I usually need salt. I've discovered that taking a salt tablet, or salting my food more, or eating salted cucumber slices with cottage cheese just hits the spot and the craving for potato chips disappears.

When I crave orange juice, one of two situations is going on. 1) I'm coming down with a cold ... and I'm probably after Vit C ... or 2) I've just finished an incredibly long bicycle ride ... and I probably need Vit C. So I drink orange juice.

staticsplit

Usually, but I try to do one biscuit instead of 4. Sometimes I can tell it's just that I want something sweet, so I have dried or fresh fruit instead. Last night I wanted ice cream, but I mixed it in with yogurt so I could have a bigger bowl without going over my calories.

amusedmonkey

Depends on the calories in that food. If I'm craving sauteed spinach and mushrooms, I will definitely eat it that day. If I'm craving tahini cauliflower I ask myself if it's worth the calories today. Sometimes the answer is yes, other times it's no, and some other times it's later. I treat things that people don't usually associate with dieting exactly the same. A kitkat has 100 calories, so it can fit in almost any day. A slice of mousse cake can have 800 calories so I need to plan carefully, mentally prepare for a higher calorie day, or simply say no if I can't be bothered. A scoop of ice cream is 250 calories so it's not hard to fit, but sometimes I feel a bigger lunch is worth it to me more than a scoop of ice cream. I put all higher calorie food cravings in my "is it worth it today" scale and my decision depends on where it leans.

TimothyFish

Cravings often indicate something that is missing in your diet. I figure it is good to work your cravings in, just reduce consumption of other things to do it.

Ming1951

I have been very good since sept 2016. I have treats built into my menu so I look forward to them everyday. Since the holidays I've been having a little extra of things I don't normally treat myself too but I planned and kept them within my calories. Last weekend girl scouts cookies were delivered had a few but remained within my calories. Yesterday I broke down, then my thought process said ok take the day off from your "diet". I did I ate a box and a half of girl scout cookies and everything else I could get down my throat. This morning I realized that though I have been counting calories for 5 months I still have a problem with portion control and probably always will. So back to the counting board and writing down every morsel that goes into my mouth. My scale is up over 2 lbs but hopefully that can go before my weigh in this weekend.

crzycatlady1

I did ADF (alternate day intermittent fasting), for my weight loss phase, so every other day I was eating at maintenance calorie levels and it was fairly easy to fit in whatever I wanted. My low calorie/fasting days were very structured/planned out, so there were no extras on those days, but if I wanted something not planned I knew I could just have it the next day.