How to curb cravings?

fitnessfreakAf07

I always end up giving into my cravings which ends up making me over eat a lot. How do I stop this? It’s making it very hard to lose weight.

AnnPT77

That idea up there about analyzing the situation is spot on.

Trying to lose weight too fast will backfire eventually. Rules of thumb: Don't cut more than 20% of calories below your estimated maintenance calories, maybe 25% if severely obese. No matter the estimates, once you have 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual periods) of experience data, don't lose more than 0.5-1% of current weight per week, with a bias toward the lower end of that unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or complications.

Slower than those rules of thumb is fine, if it's more achievable. Sometimes a slow loss rate will get us to goal weight in less calendar time than a more extreme cut that causes deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether.

There's no need to put any food (that you're capable of moderating) completely off limits. You'll want that food sometimes, someday, so why not try to figure out how to manage it now? (Many of us have certain foods we can't moderate, i.e., once started we'll eat the whole bag/box/thing. Those may have to be off limits at least initially, maybe cautiously re-introduced with a good plan further down the road.)
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There aren't really "diet foods" and "healthy foods" or "good foods" and "bad foods", short of actual poisons or allergens. What mainly matters for health is the overall nutrition on average over a day or few. Most of us can fit a few higher-calorie, less nutrient-dense treats into a reasonable calorie goal, if that makes it easier to stay on the path.

Don't do extreme, punitive, ultra-intense exercise either. It's not t thhe best route to weight loss OR fitness improvement.

On the weight loss front, it can spike appetite. Also, it causes fatigue, making us drag through the rest of the day, rest more, do less, burn fewer calories doing daily life stuff, effectively wiping out some or all of the exercise calories. The sweet spot is enjoyable (or at least tolerable/practical) increases in movement that are manageably challenging to current capabilities, making us feel energized (not exhausted) for the rest of the day (after maybe a very few minutes of "whew" right after the workout).

That's the sweet spot for fitness improvement, too: That manageable challenge is what creates fitness improvement. As we get fitter, we should increase something (frequency, duration, intensity or type of exercise) to keep a manageable challenge always in the picture.

For feeling full, different things work best for different people. Some people find protein filling, some fats, some high volume low calorie foods (like big servings of low-cal veggies). Timing of eating or of particular nutrients can also make a difference. Notice days or times within a day that you feel relatively more full or relatively more hungry than usual in those circumstances. Look at your eating patterns in your diary that day (or even the day before). See if you can find patterns. Experiment. Others can give you ide as to try, but only you can find the ones that work for you in a personalized way.

Timing of eating can matter, too. Different people here do best on anything from one bigger meal a day (OMAD) to near-continuous snack-sized mini-meals spread through the day. Again, pay attention to how you feel, and experiment. You can find your best approach.

Other good advice above: Start. Then stick with it. If something you try doesn't work for you, it's not a failure. You've simply found one thing that doesn't work for YOU - useful knowledge. Try something else. Keep going. Only stopping fails. Keep. Going.

Best wishes!

PAV8888

How much weight do you have available to lose (how far above normal weight are you)? How much of a deficit are you attempting? How much intake are you logging? How long have you been doing this and how fast are you/have you been losing? How do you split your meals during the day? How much sleep are you getting? is there any time component or other commonality to you getting the cravings that end up making you over eat a lot?

cmriverside

There came a point in my life where I had to change. There's no easy way to do that, it takes experimentation, persistence and self-knowledge.

Start logging food.
Review your FOOD diary every day and make changes.

When I lost my 80ish pounds I had to make BIG changes. My whole life, as a matter of fact. Stress, exercise, sleep, what I ate. All of it had to change. It took time to figure out.

Just
Start.

COGypsy

I'd take a look at what's behind your cravings. Are you bored? Are you over-restricting your calories until your appetite takes over? Are you stressed out? Are you getting enough sleep? Identify why you're having these cravings and then you can make strategies ahead of time to avoid them.

csplatt

Know what you are going to crave and decide ahead of time how much of it you will have. Log it as a snack for the day ahead of time and know how many grams you will eat when you want it. You can go ahead and pre weigh it, have it ready in a bowl or in a baggie.

I eat a chocolate peanut butter cookie pretty much daily. But just one. And usually 15 grams of chocolate chips at another time of day.

SRMorris2019

There is no easy way. I have been reducing sweet treats and have found that my cravings have become less.
I have been doing 3 meals per day, no snacks.
I eat fruit as a dessert after my meal.
It gets easier as you do it.
Check out the audio book Atomic Habits on Youtube.
It has a lot of good information

Traquette

As CoGypsy said, try to identify "why" you have those cravings in the first place.

If for example you told yourself to never eat any sweets, and then eventually you crave it so much that you binge, maybe allow yourself some of it inside your plan so you don't crave it as much.

Or maybe your calorie deficit is too big and you get hungry, then maybe adjust your goal to be more realistic.

The important thing is to not be too hard on yourself for giving in your cravings, it happens to all of us ! (I stopped buying ice cream for that reason haha)

naturallykat

Working out why you're craving something is key as others have said. Is it boredom, habit, comfort food, blood sugar going out of whack, nutritional defecit? I crave chocolate bars less when I have cacao in my morning smoothie and watch my carb intake - for me I doubt it's the taste but keeping my iron & magnesium intake reasonable and blood sugar balanced. I keep small individually wrapped dark chocolate bars in the fridge and if I want one more than just a fleeting thought when I see it in passing I have it rather than fight it too hard because for me that leads to binge and restriction. OTOH I can't have crisps in the house as I'll eat the whole multipack at once so if I really want crisps I go out and buy a single packet. The best thing you can do is get to know your own body and what works for you, and a lot of that is trial and error.

naturallykat

I've just seen your other post. You've tagged +50lbs to lose and if i understand correctly you said you were logging 900 calories a day. That's too few for anybody, and you won't be getting adequate nutrition.

Work out your daily energy intake requirements and then a calorie defecit for losing 1-2lbs per week. (MFP can do this for you just plug in your numbers correctly). Include a little of the things your crave in your day to day eating, as well as nutritious food that is going to provide you with your vitamins, minerals protein carbs and healthy fats.