How do you fight the cravings?

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kjjo18
kjjo18 Posts: 8
in Motivation and Support
I find myself being tempted all the time. I've even caught myself going "Oh I can start over again the next day. The only problem is that day never comes!! I do so good for a week or so, then it comes out of nowhere. Anyone have any tricks?? I am soooooo frustrated.

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  • kjjo18
    kjjo18 Posts: 8
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    I find myself being tempted all the time. I've even caught myself going "Oh I can start over again the next day. The only problem is that day never comes!! I do so good for a week or so, then it comes out of nowhere. Anyone have any tricks?? I am soooooo frustrated.
  • lagavica
    lagavica Posts: 25 Member
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    Ban from your house any food that represents a big temptation for you (i.e. cookies, ice-cream, chocolate). If you don´t have them close is likely that just starting an activity to change from this craving mode like going out for a short walk will be enough.
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
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    Cravings are a pretty big issue for me. I try to concentrate on new foods or foods that substitute herby flavor for sweet/carby flavor (I love garlic and will often choose it over sweet foods). When all else fails, I portion out the sweets in small portions (jelly belly jelly beans in a shot glass, for example), log it, and then work out (even if it's just five min of running in place or on a stairstepper). I feel a lot less guilty if I know I did something to burn it off! The cravings do diminish after a little while (they never disappear completely, at least they haven't for me yet) but that makes it easier.

    The biggest thing is, keep your goal in sight and keep working towards it every day! You can do it! :flowerforyou:
  • eriny
    eriny Posts: 1,509 Member
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    i beat the cravings out (extra workout ) :devil:
  • Vans
    Vans Posts: 388 Member
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    cravings will only occur because you already had something high in sugar....I read this in the SOUTH BEACH book ....it explains why in the first phase of the South Beach eating regiment. If you eat high sugar/carbs....you will then crash and your "cravings" is your body wanting "the high" back again.......

    anywho this is not to say that I have a HUGE sweet tooth and have a hard time.......The one thing I tell myself is...Is it worth eating this, because I will have to do THAT much more exercise to do!! And once I start doing well cheating doesn't even seem like its worth it......

    Another thing that you should keep in mind so you don't feel overwhelmed is to NOT think you need to "eat clean" all the time....Healthy diet 95% with a little treat or two in one week....if you keep telling yourself "need to diet 100%..." then you are setting yourself up for a disappointment because that is pretty much impossible in the world we live in.

    it is hard.......good luck......and just think about HOW HEALTHY you will be when you are in your "old age":drinker: :flowerforyou:
  • rjjarvis
    rjjarvis Posts: 55
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    I fight the cravings by eating when I'm hungry.
    But I only keep relatively low cal stuff around, and I build cheating into my plan.
    I set up 6 meals a day (breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, midafternoon snack, dinner, after-dinner cheating) on the food diary, and I plan to be eating constantly. But each main meal is 300 cals or so (total 900), each between meal snack is maybe 100 (total 200), so that I've eaten about 1100 cals by the end of the day. Then I go to the gym and do my best to burn some cals to earn some cheating.

    The cheating is the last meal of the day, but I don't go crazy. Maybe 300 cals: a 100 cal english muffin, some low fat cheese, some shaved lowfat turkey, etc. Or a weight watchers chocolate eclair (140 cals) -- which by the way are really tasty although diminutive.

    Essentially, I'm eating small meals all the time, but I plan to have cravings and stuff handy to satisfy them --- apples, carrots, Amy's frozen snacks, Amy's frozen burritos, english muffins, lowfat sliced cheese and shaved meat.

    I still manage to net out about 1000 to 1200 cals a day after all of this eating, and some gym time. So far this is working without any profound hunger or desperate cravings that I can't satisfy with the low cal stuff I keep in the house. This is week 2; hopefully I'll still be on message on week 52, because that's about how long I have to comply before I will resemble a normal human.

    So, bottom line, if you are craving, eat, but make sure you are eating good stuff, watch the calories, don't go berserk, and LOG EVERYTHING, even the most grotesque cheating. Then just adjust the next day for your excess.

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