How do you turn off cravings?

anxietyfairy

I wanted KFC the other day, and couldn't stop thinking about it for like an hour straight. I ended up buying KFC. Sometimes it tastes great and really hits the spot, and sometimes- not so much.

What makes the cravings go away?

I've heard of having it anyway and fitting it around your calories, filling up on healthy food, waiting it out, or putting as many steps between you and food as possible (for example, go for a walk, ring a friend, have a nap, eat some fruit, drink some water, have an actual meal, read a book etc then decide if you still want the craving.)

It just seems like the cravings don't go away and I feel powerless. I'm wondering if I should go to overeaters anonymous but I don't really want to apologize to people for eating, and I still want to eat treats occasionally, so I'm not sure how that would work out.

ninerbuff

I don't think you can if they are something you really enjoy and associate with happiness. So IMO, that's where discipline kicks in and you figure out what's more important to you. Eating what you want to or meeting the goal you want. As a former bodybuilder, dieting for a contest was really tough because it's usually 4 months of prep and the closer you get to a contest, the less food you eat and the blander it gets. No fried foods, low fat, low carb, low salt, etc. And that takes a lot especially if you have a lot of friends who socialize around food.
So I think you really have to learn how be disciplined on how much to eat if you want to indulge and learn to be satisfied if you do.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

yirara

You can try to work it into your deficit. Or go over for a day. Like, I sometimes crave a bag of crisps. And when I do get one I won't have a proper dinner because I'd otherwise go over my calories. So it's not meant as a punishment of sorts but my craving for crisps has gone down, because having them means I can't have too much other food and might go hungry.

SafariGalNYC

When you crave something… what desire is it quenching? Salty food? Sweet? The feeling of comfort? Decide what it’s filling for you…

If you feel powerless… drink some water, figure out the underlying issue and decide that you would prefer to end the cycle.

Satisfying a craving is a choice. How you satisfy it is your power.

AnnPT77

An option some people here have used that you didn't mention: Schedule the craved food for a future time, later in the week maybe. (Maybe cut a few extra calories in the days between to budget for a bit extra eating that day.) If you still crave it then, eat a moderate portion.

I usually did something like that, or simply got a very small amount of the craved thing, ate it, and fit it in. Usually the first few mouthfuls of the thing are the most satisfying anyway. (I get that the minimum order of KFC is still fairly caloric. Throwing away food is not an ideal thing for various reasons, but in my case I figure pasting inches on my hips isn't great, either, so sometimes I eat only part of a thing.)

About powerlessness: You know without anyone telling you that in reality you have complete control over what you put in your mouth, chew, and swallow. Yes, it can be hard to exercise that control.

We feel powerful when we successfully use the powers we have. Someone here once compared changing one's eating habits to training a puppy: The more frequently a person gives in to the puppy and doesn't require them to do what's desired, the worse-trained and more pester-y that puppy is going to be. Consistency in requiring the desired behavior eventually breaks the cycle. In other words, ignoring a craving gets easier every time a person does it: It's a skill we practice.

I'm not a fan of permanent complete self-denial of treat foods. I think it's important to manage the frequency and portion sizes. Figuring out how to do that is hard, but it is somewhat like that puppy-training scenario: We need to make a plan of what we're going to do, and stick with it.

My suggestion, if sticking with it doesn't work, is to re-analyze the plan: What were the triggers that made things go sideways? (Social situation, habit, boredom, emotions, etc.) What other ways could the trigger situation be handled - non-food ways, ideally. Spend only a few minutes thinking of a new plan to handle that trigger more usefully next time it occurs. Rehearse the plan vividly in your head a few times, like a mini-movie. Then next time the situation arises, put the new plan into action with as little self-questioning as possible, treating it as a decision that's already been made.

Best wishes!

acpgee

For KFC specific cravings, use the Chicago Tribune herb and spice mix
https://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=b95f6681-512a-4a04-be01-5ddfb2dcbcc7
Dip chicken in any of (or any combination of) buttermilk, yoghurt, beaten egg and air fry the chicken.

Corina1143

KFC was my one craving I couldn't satisfy any other way. My very wise dietitian told me to schedule a "cheat-treat" meal once a week. My choice KFC or something else. Not both. She reminded me that I had worked hard all week cutting calories, and it would be very easy to undo the whole week in one meal if I wasn't careful. She looked at the nutritional numbers KFC provided with me. We experimented with different combos to find a happy medium that came close to fitting my nutritional goals and mostly satisfied my cravings.
It was really hard for 2-3 weeks. But my attitude changed. For instance I didn't mind not getting to have fried okra this week because I knew if I still craved it next week I could have it. I'd just have to sacrifice something else, and this week I chose mashed potatoes and corn. It got much easier, and I could apply it to different things.

LMKID

Well, that is a question that I have found an answer for (at least for myself). I started reading about why it's bad for me. For example, if I was craving KFC (because we happen to live near one and can smell it fairly often), then I was searching google "why is KFC bad for me" and then I would read that information - well after reading all about why it was bad for me" - well it really turned me off of KFC - ah for good. So, the more I read about why it is bad for me - the more it seems to work for me, and I seem to stick to what is good for me.

AdahPotatah2024

Same here..health, plus the way it's cooked and I am sort of disgusted with the mass production of chicken and beef. & if that wasn't enough, the fast food I used to crave like Wendy's cheeseburgers tasted like cardboard or like they mixed water with the beef the last few times I went there. Fast food is generally way overpriced, in my opinion, for the decreasing quality/taste of foods.

chaney3000

I would say you can't turn off cravings completely. Just have to manage them. I would drink 16oz of water and eat something balanced like a protein bar or Greek yogurt with granola. And after that, if I'm still craving something I would get it or get a healthy equivalent. For KFC, I would say air fry some chicken and just buy the sides from KFC

Hobartlemagne

Eat an entire head of cauliflower.

Thats an extreme approach, but the method is to get really full on calorie-sparse foods that arent engineered to have extreme-delicious flavor

xbowhunter

For me cravings were always about unhealthy sugar filled or highly processed food choices. The junk food industry has learned what additives make their food addictive and get away with making people sick.

I had to shift my mind and see garbage food for what it is literally garbage that even my dog probably wouldn't eat. well maybe... lol

Does anyone crave broccoli? The answer is no because it doesn't trick your brain in to wanting more... It's a food you actually benefit from and don't generally overeat it

Now I can sit in front a bowl of chips and I see it as poison and want nothing to do with it.