Trigger Foods & Uncontrollable Cravings

Peschuntz

I'm sure there are others out there like me who simply cannot eat certain foods because they wreak havoc with blood suger and cravings. For example, if I eat a lot of carbs, it creates intense cravings rendering me out of control and no matter what, I cannot will myself to stop eating them. I try to avoid them. Foods that are difficult for me include: most sweets and breads. Even some yogurts will cause my blood sugar to plummet creating uncontrollable urges to ingest yet more carbs.. I'm curious as to how others control their cravings without eliminating these trigger foods completely?

Alysgrma

I feel for you..as I was that way too. Once I decided I wanted to lose weight and set my mind to it..I went cold turkey for 2 full weeks I had NO CARBS AT ALL!!! I stopped anything and everything that had carbs in it. After that 2 wk time I now can eat just a little bit of carbs and not be pulled to eat more. I use to finish a bag of chips, the more I ate the more I wanted, I would eat a full frozen pizza. I could eat a full box of mac& cheese etc etc..now I may have a spoon of it, I try to avoid chips,cookies altogether....unless I make them myself I can eat just 1 slice of pizza with a salad and be satisfied....

Put your mind to it and just say NO NO NO!!!!!

Good Luck!!!

Mary

kpnuts23

I've gone cold turkey on Chocolate and Biscuits for the last 10weeks... they are my triggers... And like you, if i have anything remotely bad carby like crisps.. or even bread.. it sets me off...!

xxx

morganadk2_deleted

Yes for me its bread , especially at that time of the month!

TanMac

I have a hard time giving up or even lowering my carbs..I get massive headaches! There is no way that I could give up bread cold turkey! I am a carb lover. I have been good the last week with lowering my carbs and not giving into my cravings. For example, when I got home from work yesterday I craved an english muffin. I declined and had a bottle of water. I am shocked to see the amount of carbs in foods like apples, bananas and corn. I hope to cut down my carbs slowly...there is no way I can completely give them up!

Grokette

I'm sure there are others out there like me who simply cannot eat certain foods because they wreak havoc with blood suger and cravings. For example, if I eat a lot of carbs, it creates intense cravings rendering me out of control and no matter what, I cannot will myself to stop eating them. I try to avoid them. Foods that are difficult for me include: most sweets and breads. Even some yogurts will cause my blood sugar to plummet creating uncontrollable urges to ingest yet more carbs.. I'm curious as to how others control their cravings without eliminating these trigger foods completely?

If these are trigger foods for you that cause uncontrollable cravings and wreak havoc on your blood sugar, why wouldn't you want to eliminate these foods from your eating plan???

I was in your shoes for a number of years and I said No More!! I stay away from the foods that are not good for me.

Grokette

I have a hard time giving up or even lowering my carbs..I get massive headaches! There is no way that I could give up bread cold turkey! I am a carb lover. I have been good the last week with lowering my carbs and not giving into my cravings. For example, when I got home from work yesterday I craved an english muffin. I declined and had a bottle of water. I am shocked to see the amount of carbs in foods like apples, bananas and corn. I hope to cut down my carbs slowly...there is no way I can completely give them up!

For items like apples and bananas...............You should really consider eating an apple a day. They are that good for you.

Bananas should be eaten on occasion. I usually eat one about once a week.

Corn is a grain and I stay away from it, except for a couple of times in the summer when it is freshly harvested.

BoresEasily

Bananas on occasion? Once a week? I don't think so. They are great for pre/post workout nutrition and they make amazing smoothies. I like my berries and I'm sticking to them.

As for foods that I have a hard time not devouring if in my presence. That's easy.. Chips and pizza. I will devour half a bag or an entire bag of chips with ease without even noticing just how quickly. I even buy healthier chips. I can do with only eating a slice or two of pizza at a time but the calorie intake and sodium intake is so high. I don't avoid carbs as I eat a lot of veggies which are full of carbs but I avoid most refined grains.

shariguymon

I rarely have cravings anymore.
The first thing I did was to eat only natural sugars.......eliminating triggers.

Water is a great help. :drinker:

I actually hardly ever have juices anymore, unless I make them myself with the fiber still present. Generally I have 25g of fiber or more each day.

For me it has been a gradual process.....I never totally eliminated sugars( my strongest trigger food) but found a controlable substitute.

I try to get as close to natural as possible. It seems that processed foods have so much salt, and sugars, and bad fats that send me over the edge. Personally I find that finding a substitute that I can control has worked best.

I didn't try to focus on everything at once, and now I am in control enough that I can have small portions on occasion. I try to not have them readily available all the time. I vacuumn sealed left over Halloween candy so it's simply too much of a bother to get to it. When I make cheese cake or something I really love I do it at group events, so several people can have a little. On breads I make whole grains.

Summary: Water as a helper, not readily available, non trigger substitutes, indulge on occasion when only a small portion is available ( never feel impoverished). Increase fiber, closer to natural, focus on the worst ones first, don't try to do it all at once for total elimination.........

It really only takes a short time comparatively speaking until you can feel in control.............And even now over a year or more I try to keep myself from that state of uncontrolable hunger period and preplan portion size of snacks so I know what I will consume and make the bad ones not easy to get to.

I Know I've probably unloaded too much info, but choose one thing that helps you the most and gradually add more helpers as you learn to know yourself better!

Best wishes to everyone......It's do able and you will get to a point where you are in total control and can have anything you want on occasion, except you will find yourself not really wanting much that isn't good for you! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Grokette

Bananas on occasion? Once a week? I don't think so. They are great for pre/post workout nutrition and they make amazing smoothies. I like my berries and I'm sticking to them.

As for foods that I have a hard time not devouring if in my presence. That's easy.. Chips and pizza. I will devour half a bag or an entire bag of chips with ease without even noticing just how quickly. I even buy healthier chips. I can do with only eating a slice or two of pizza at a time but the calorie intake and sodium intake is so high. I don't avoid carbs as I eat a lot of veggies which are full of carbs but I avoid most refined grains.

Berries are good for you. There is nothing in a banana that you can't get from other sources. They are high on the glycemic index and cause blood sugar spikes in a LOT of people.

If they don't have that effect on you, then good for you. Please keep in mind that you are probably in the minority, not the majority. Many, many people have food intolerances (yes to even natural foods) and craving that food is the first tell tale sign that there is an intolerance. This came from the mouth of an allergist that I was seeing earlier in the year.

I have a mild intolerance to the cruciferous veggies. I crave them like crazy............especially brocolli and cabbage. However, my hands, legs and feet swell up.

Peschuntz

I appreciate all this wonderful feedback. And only one thing is certain - no one piece of advice applies to everyone. We all have different triggers and differing levels of reactivity to those triggers. My hope is that people will continue to post their suggestions because "options buy happiness." That is, someone will no doubt benefit from your observations and experiences. Plus we can all use every piece of ammunition available to aid in our quest for self-control. A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED AND I HOPE YOU WILL CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS THREAD AS YOU SEE FIT.

BoresEasily

A banana is a berry.

Grokette

A banana is a berry.

This is true, however it is not a low glycemic berry like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc........Because of it being a "tropical berry" it is higher in sugar and higher on the glycemic index. Pineapples are also a berry - however higher on the glycemic index due to higher natural sugar content.

The higher the glycemic index, the less often we should eat a particular food.