What do you do when the cravings or munchies hit ya?

rayflana

I'm looking for some strategies that some of you may use when you get the munchies and don't want to sabotage your day....

Anyone?

LittleMissAngi

Eat ice. Like the little pieces you get from sonic. My ice maker makes it. I just eat half a cup and it clears everything.

kidtechnical

My rule is that if I genuinely feel hungry I'll have a piece of fruit and drink a glass of water (for me usually fizzy). I do this even if it puts me over my calories (I figure it's not going to tip me over nearly as much as my old munchies).

Chenoachem

I drink a cold glass of water and chew gum. If after a bit I feel light headed, I know that I am truly hungry and eat something.

XFitMojoMom

sit ups, push ups, squats.

udallmom101

Walk away from the situation, if you can, and do some sort of exercise. Sometimes I grab a bottle of water and put some lemon juice in it. I have been known to walk out of the kitchen while I am in the middle of prepping food for dinner and get on my treadmill. It's only about 10 minutes, but that 10 minutes really helps!

fuhrmeister

I agree with most of what is posted above. i begin with a gladd of water. If I'm still hungry I have nuts or some veggies. I love sugar snap peas. If i have a real desperate cravign for somthing like chocolate or a cookie I eat it. But just one piece or one cookie. I find if I don't then i just keep eating other "good" snacks that don't satisfy me and eat more calories in the end.

rayflana

Thanks guys. Great tips here...

Tomlette

I just drink water and that usually clears it up. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, and I personally have found that I dry out pretty easily. Doing some kind of activity to take you mind off of it helps, particularly a physical activity.

BUT, if none of that does the trick, munch some fruit or veggies. I'll often have Nutella on Ezekiel bread as a snack as it can be pretty low cal (depending on how much Nutella you use) and filling.

jbrapach

Scientific American 60-Second Science had two interesting articles about this recently.
This one is about how if you clench your muscles, it helps with willpower:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=clenched-muscles-assist-self-contro-10-10-20
This one talks about a study where people visualized eating a treat, then they actually ate less of the treat when it was put in front of them:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=think-more-to-eat-less-10-12-10

gegonzalez77

I follow the advice of Dr Oz.... I limited the variety of foods; therefore, the cravings have been reduced. For breakfast and lunch they are usually a limited number of choices I eat...dinner is a different story. But I have found my snack that satisfies...butter popcorn...yes butter actually butter flavor topping. I eat a healthy (portion sized) dinner but if it doesn't satisfy ...at least two cups of slowly eaten popcorn will satiate me and if I have a sweet tooth...either a popsicle or a piece ...I mean a piece of chocolate... Of course I been watching what I eat since last August of 2009. I started to lose weight prior to signing on with myfitnesspal ( my son-in-law a nutiriounist encouraged me to sign on) so in reality I lost over 70lbs.

MadisonLeavens

I plan my "munchies" into my food plan. I know that at a certain time, I'm going to want to snack. So, instead of being caught by surprise, I have my popcorn already written into my food plan. If that time comes and I don't want it, so be it, but otherwise, it's already planned for, so, I can have it. Hope this idea helps.