Losing weight and then eating rubbish!

TezzyP

I have a problem which I need help with, if you can help?
When I lose weigh, I find I start craving crisp! This was my problem to my weight gain, crisp, chips and pringles.
I get greedy when it comes to eating them, I carry on even when I am full and stop when I start feeling sick.
I managed to stop eating them for a month and lost a good amount of weight.
I then started eating crisp again and sure enough, the weight crept back on, not as much but enough.
Every time I lose weight, like now, lost 3 pounds, I have to have a packet of crisp which turns into about 4/5 packs
Any ideas to help with these cravings. Please don't say stop buying them, which is right, but any ideas to help with craving?
I have managed to lose 21 pounds over 5 months. Still need to lose another 7 pounds and don't want to keep sabotaging my good work.
Many thanks in advance.

estherdragonbat

Can you divide the chips into single-portion baggies and ration them out? I find that with many foods, if I log in advance, "I'm having 28 grams of jelly beans" and the beans are weighed and measured, I can stop. It's when I've got the open bulk bin bag of 500 grams that I've got a real problem.

Teabythesea_

How many calories are you eating in a day? Is it possible you're over restricting resulting in a binge?

kshama2001

TezzyP wrote: »

I have a problem which I need help with, if you can help?
When I lose weigh, I find I start craving crisp! This was my problem to my weight gain, crisp, chips and pringles.
I get greedy when it comes to eating them, I carry on even when I am full and stop when I start feeling sick.
I managed to stop eating them for a month and lost a good amount of weight.
I then started eating crisp again and sure enough, the weight crept back on, not as much but enough.
Every time I lose weight, like now, lost 3 pounds, I have to have a packet of crisp which turns into about 4/5 packs
Any ideas to help with these cravings. Please don't say stop buying them, which is right, but any ideas to help with craving?
I have managed to lose 21 pounds over 5 months. Still need to lose another 7 pounds and don't want to keep sabotaging my good work.
Many thanks in advance.

What's your goal weight and how many grams of protein do you eat per day on average? I get cravings for other things when I don't have enough protein.

I also get cravings when I undereat, don't exercise, and don't get good sleep.

csplatt

I just don't buy chips because I AM THE SAME WAY. There's nothing like party food, especially chips and dip, for me. My plan is to really be successful for several months, then portion out chips into measured quantities (which is sad really, how many you get in a serving) with measured amounts of salsa for a week... then back to no chips. It's just a matter of knowing myself and choosing not to give myself that kind of access. Now we do keep Doritos and Cheetos, etc. in the house for the kids. I just make sure as I'm logging my food, I don't eat any of it. Seeing success on the scale over the course of a month is way better than a chip binge.

suziecue25

Crisps can be bought in 16g multipacks so not so bad to control.....its the wretched Pringles which are so moreish...could you try bagging a tub of your favourite Pringles into 16g servings?

You've obviously been doing well....congratulations on your weight loss to date.

vanityy99

Coffee helps to curb my cravings.
Or chewing gum.

lin_be

Prelog your meals each day and include a serving of crisps. Look at it as your treat for the day! That’s what I do with ice cream. Something to look forward to. Right now it’s cookies for me, husband made some and they are so good! So I’m setting aside 250 cals for a cookie until they’re gone. Also, take the crisps out of the bag when you eat them so you know when you’re done.

I think you’ll find that it doesn’t satisfy you as much as it once did and you’ll start to use those saved calories for more satisfying things. At least, that’s what I’ve experienced before, you of course may be different!

meembee

i will second pretty much everything said above, as great points were raised:

- are you eating enough clean, micronutrient dense calories? if you're missing vitamins and minerals, your body can start sending you signals of cravings that your brain might not interpret accurately, and instead ask for chips. i, for example, can go for stawberry cheesecake when my body was asking for vitamin c and BERRIES.

- are you getting enough protein and fats? these two macros dont spike your blood sugar as sharply as carbs do, and help with the feeling of satiety so youre not hungry shortly after a meal. a quarter avocado, 1 or 2 tsps coconut oil, eggs, chia seeds, flax, etc.

- are you eating enough calories overall for your size and goals? over restriction leads to binges. you might also be at a stage in your weight loss where increasing your intake by 150 to 250 of clean calories could push you through the plateau without sabotaging.

- allow yourself a preportioned amount of foods you crave so you dont get on the binge bandwagon. if you feel like a small bag only leads to large bags, then you might unfortunately try to "detox" first before allowing your body to have that. breaking the loop of craving -> reward can help you stop associating the feelings of satisfied cravings with your "problem foods."

- have crunchy snacks available to satisfy salty crunchy cravings. roasted chickpeas, toasted pistachios, oven fried sweet potato fries, baked kale chips. these are definitely NOT pringles or doritos, but reaching for them when cravings happen can help rewire your brain to ask for cleaner foods.

hope this helps, and dont give up!! 21lbs in 5 months shows determination and hard work. you clearly have it in you to be full-on bad *kitten* beast mode. just rewire your brain.

Mslmesq

Honestly, it sounds like much more than a craving. If you cannot stop eating them even when you are full, and you begin that process every time you lose some weight, it sounds like self sabotage. I’m not saying this in a bitchy way cause I’m a firm believer in therapy, but do you have a therapist and have you spoken about this with him/her? Cause I think that’s a good place to start.

Je55ica_79

I just avoid foods that cause me to binge it's not worth it so I try not to buy it. I have kids so sometimes I treat them to the stuff I can't have but I true to buy small amounts so they eat them all before I let myself cave and eat them. If I slip up and over indulge I forgive myself and start a new day tomorrow.

PAV8888

If you're talking four individual packs that's not even 1200 calories so the only Spike in your weight will come from water retention due to the extra sodium.

So if you do this one day then there is no problem. if you do this several days in a row then you may no longer be in a deficit if you can't compensate!

If you're talking four family packs then you're talking a "binge". There are many components to binges but a very basic trigger is prolonged and particularly excessive under-eating.

And you've lost a good amount of weight and you haven't done it particularly slowly.

If these last 7 pounds you want to come down are within the normal weight range for your height or would be putting you from low overweight into the normal range I don't think that switching from one pound a week to half a pound a week is particularly unreasonable.

As many of us are fond of saying, you can have anything you want. You just cannot have it in unlimited quantities and all the time.

Budget some crisps in your weekly calories.. and don't bring home more than your budget

rheddmobile

First, as you say, don't buy them. You may be able to add them back into your diet later but right now you can't moderate them. Then work on finding lower calorie foods which satisfy the same cravings. For example, I like sliced salted radishes when I'm craving chips, which I need to avoid because I am diabetic. Baked kale chips and seasoned nori are other low calorie crispy foods.

Then take a look at what your calories and macros are doing when you are craving - are your calories too low? Do you need to add more fats or carbs (found in chips) to recover from exercise?

Also, take a look at your lifestyle. If you eat them late at night when tired, consider just going to bed earlier instead of filling up on carbs attempting to boost your energy levels. If you eat them when bored, find something to do such as walking which doesn't allow you to eat at the same time.

In my experience, if you cut them out, eventually the craving will go away and you can work on adding them back in with moderation.