How do you curb cravings?

YummieMsYumYum

gum gum gum! chewing gum always helps me. i have this green tea gum thats supposed to help and it taste like mint, so if you dont like tea, no worry!

I've read articles that say chewing gum actually makes you feel more hungry. Basically, because you are chewing your mind/stomach is thinking that you are about to get some food and then it doesn't.

that may be but it still works for me!

josiekat2015

It looks like you've got a lot of opinions here but I'll throw mine in too.

I don't eliminate everything I love and will eat stuff I love but try to keep those to days that I run for an hour which is often on Sundays. The other thing I do is simply apply a value to food. It's either got to be healthy or REALLY delicious to me. A doughnut I can pass up...I don't love them. But good chocolate or ice cream and I'm all over it. However I try not to over indulge and manage the portions. For me it's not sustainable to not enjoy the foods I love.

I've been working out for a long time but eating whatever I want for about one year. I was able to lose almost 15 pounds doing this but now to get the rest up, I've tightened my diet up. At first it's been hard to deny myself cheesy nachos for lunch but now that I'm in the swing of things, I'm craving my spinach salads at lunch.

caperchick78

I don`t label foods as good or bad, meaning nothing is off limits for me. The big thing is I eat more good food more often, but I don`t cut out chocolate or chips just eat it less often. I also wait to see if it really is a craving, or if maybe I`m just thirsty. If it doesn`t go away, I`ll eat it in moderation. I used to obsess about not eating ``bad`` food & I found I would cave & binge. Now I just eat it less often & in the right serving amount.

CA_Underdog

> What do you guys do when you are craving something you know you shouldn't eat? ^_^

Since I have no off-limits foods, I don't run into this situation. I craved hotdogs tonight. So, I got some! Niman Ranch Fearless Fliers, whole wheat buns, sweet and spicy mustard, vine ripe tomatos, and a couple ears of corn made a nice dinner. I washed them down with a beer--yummy! I hit my macro and micro goals for the day and am under 2300mg of sodium, so no sweat.

b_e_l_l_a_a_a_a_a_a

I'm sure this is a different type of thing for everyone. Like someone might have a TINY portion of what they're craving or some people might just ignore them. I tend to just ignore them and put my focus on something else like school work or netlfix, maybe talk to some friends. >.> Unfortunately, if I have a small portion of what I'm craving I am 99% positive I'll just eat the whole thing.:sad:

larovers

I know this is old..and most people do not do this anymore but I HAVE to .....eat 6 times a day. I have found that is the only way I do not allow myself to get too hungry to give in. The minute I am too hungry I will eat ANYTHING and Everything. A lot of this also has to do with my macros in balancing my blood sugar. I am not diabetic and I have not had issues medically with blood sugar but I do feel like I tend to feel like I may eat my own shoe when hunger hits. Just recently I got this under control...I was like you and literally could not turn off cravings. I also stick to the same foods daily so I know my macors....I know...boring but this does not mean you have to do this...just maybe eat more often and make sure you balance protein with carbs and fats right. I go for 40 carbs, 30 protein, and 30 fat...that is the only way I feel normal and full. Atkins makes me feel too drained and in a terrible mood, and too many carbs leaves me lazy and tired all the time...and with too many cravings. I am not a good cook and always in a rush with work so I do a lot of protein shakes and stuff (which I know is not the best but it really works for me). This is my typical day:

morning: whey protein powder shake (usually chocolate or strawberry) with almond milk, a fruit, and healthy fat (like peanut butter)
lunch: egg whites or just two eggs with Ezekial toast with a pat of grassfed butter (yes I eat eggs for lunch but I love them!), fruit on the side
mid afternoon snack: quest bar (love these!) taste awesome and so much protein, low sugar and tons of fiber
after workout: recovery shake with protein powder (I use plantfusion), coconut water, and a scoop of nanogreens
dinner: my dinner varies every night but I usually eat salmon or chicken with a lot of veggies and a carb like rice or potatoes
after dinner snack: 1/2 cup of cottage cheese mixed with chopped up tomatoes (cottage cheese has casein protein that feeds muscles and slow digesting so curbs appetite for a long time).

So, yes I eat a bit weird but the macros are great for me and I love what I am eating and I can stick to eat and do not feel hungry. hope that helps.

hayleemaelee

I have the same problem, always have such strong cravings too!

If I am hungry, I'll eat something healthy instead and won't want food any more. Or sometimes I give in a little, or get a healthier version of what I am craving.

If I'm not hungry but still craving something, I will do something to distract myself. Working out, work, going to the store to grab something I need, etc.

Drink lots of water, it'll help you from craving so much since you will feel less hungry throughout the day!

shubec85

I curb my cravings by having a stick of gum, or fruit flavored water....

bellevie86

I've learned over the last four months that I'm probably a carb addict. When I eat carbs I want more carbs, I'm like a mad woman, I want something salt then after that something sweet over and over till I feel my belly hurt and it bloats me so much I can't sleep . My crack carbs were chips ahoy cookies, ice cream, lays potato chips. I can't have these because moderation is not even possible for me once I have one! I'm doing low carb high fat and this works for me, not for everyone but so glad I tried this. I've lost a few lbs so I'm happy! Thanks for letting me share :drinker:

Ugh me too! I looooove salty foods but after I eat salty foods I always crave something sweet. If I eat dinner, I always want dessert afterward. My husband has been helping me stay away from doing that, but sometimes I can't help myself. I think I'm getting better though. And chips are my favorite snack! If I have a bag of chips in the house, I can't help myself! I will eat half the bag! Thats why I've been steering clear of having chips in the house. I recently purchased some quaker oats rice crackers! They've been doing a good job at curbing my craving for potato chips. ^^

One of my biggest weaknesses is Lay's Dill Pickle chips. So I portion them for one serving or if I'm low on cals maybe half a serving and log em.

Also, for the dessert thing, I have found some really good low cal pudding (60-90 cals) that cure that sweet tooth I get after saltiness. OR...sometimes I get 40 cal fudgesicles, or a skinny cow treat. If I'm trying to be good I get an organic pink lady apple or an ambrosia apple. Before they were just apples but now that I've reset my body a bit and lowered my sugar intake a nice apple really tastes like candy!

bellevie86

gum gum gum! chewing gum always helps me. i have this green tea gum thats supposed to help and it taste like mint, so if you dont like tea, no worry!

I've read articles that say chewing gum actually makes you feel more hungry. Basically, because you are chewing your mind/stomach is thinking that you are about to get some food and then it doesn't.

This is true for me. If I haven't eaten in a bit and you gimme a stick of gum, ten minutes later my stomach is growling and I'm salivating and starving. Always been that way for me!

triumpet

I had the same problem! Don't keep junk food in your house, but allow yourself to have some once or twice a week. That being said, when you go to buy it, make sure you've eaten before hand or you could find yourself filling your trolley with all sorts of bad food.

triumpet

Cravings only last 20 mins max, so if you don't have cr@p in the house your less likely to go buy it, by the time you get to the shop the craving will have gone

bridgie101

I'm getting old and slowly winning the battle of attrition with my weight I hope (at last?) but there are a few things I've noticed along the way.

Some people, when they go on a diet, become immediately obsessed with food. They think about it, they wallow in it. They plan all manner of meals and snacks and treats and motivations and goals... and basically, are exposing a kind of sick relationship they have with food.

The trick when dieting is to think LESS about food, not more. And the easiest way to do that is to make certain rigid rules:

(a) always the same breakfast. Routine is vital to forgetting. habit is unconscious.
(b) prearrange a lunch, take lunch to work and leave your wallet at home. Lack of opportunity breeds lack of temptation. If you know you can't have a thing you don't give it head-room.
(c) don't plan treats and snacks. The more often your mouth has stuff in it, the more obsessed you become with having stuff in your mouth. Eat your alotted number of meals a day and no more.
(d) prearrange dinner, organise it in MFP food section before eating it. Juggle options until it comes in under calories. you may 'gain space' by swopping peas for broccoli, for instance, so that you can have that hot chocolate for supper that you love so well.
(e) end on a high note. If there is a little treat you can give yourself for supper, for me it is hot chocolate and 2 shrewsbury biscuits, then make it happen, lock it in, make it part of your ritual. it need not require many calories, but it needs to be your only treat for the day.

I am on a diet at the moment which has 2 maintenance days a week which is key, because I'm never very long away from being able to eat that chocolate, or that biscuit, or that cake. I can't have it today but I can have it on Sunday... So on a Wednesday and on a Sunday i may eat maintenance calories but on the other days I eat the calories calculated by my diet. The system involves dieting more ruthlessly at the beginning of the diet, when motivation is high and calorie stores are huge, and then as time goes by and weight comes down, raising the daily calorie allowance slowly towards a maintenance level until finally you're balancing out, smoothly, into maintenance at goal weight.

Perhaps if you have trouble with temptation, cravings, needs, then this is the way for you. Your fat cells can only express fat at a certain rate, so the fewer you have of them (ie the less you weigh) the less fat your body is capable of offering up. If you are at a large deficit the only thing your body can do to meet those calorie needs is consume some other part of you that you may not want to lose.

levitateme

I've learned to either feel satisfied on less of my favorite snacks or eat something different to satisfy the same cravings.

I love chips. The idea of a day where I don't get to eat potato chips makes me very sad. I've taken to buying popped or hummus chips because I can eat more of them for a lower calorie value. I weigh out portions and put them in sandwich bags so I know how much I'm eating.

In place of chips, I also eat salted or flavored nut & seed mixes, roasted flavored seaweed snacks and I signed up for graze - they send me really tasty portioned out rice crackers, tortilla chips, etc.