Tips for avoiding food cravings

vstraughan
vstraughan Posts: 163 Member
in Motivation and Support
Following on from a separate thread, I was curious to know what people do to avoid craving naught food. Is it just pure will power or are there some weird and wonderful tips?

Personally (and probably a weird tip) but I brush my teeth with super minty toothpaste. If it's a I-would-sell-my-grandmother-for-ice-cream type craving then I use mouthwash too. As soon as I've done it, craving seems to have gone away. Not sure if there's something in it or whether its a mental game I play on myself, but it definitely seems to work.

Anyone else?

Replies

  • Pardyqueenxoxo
    Pardyqueenxoxo Posts: 218 Member
    I drink a black coffee or herbal tea, snack on a piece of fruit or veggie.

    Or, I look at old pics of me when I was very over weight and look at pics of my ideal body (Jessica Alba, Michelle Keagan etc)
  • SenseiCole
    SenseiCole Posts: 429 Member
    if I crave something I have it, i think its better to know what you want and eat it insteed of trying to substitute a whole lot of others foods,

    the other thing I do earn the cals so you can have what you want

    why fight it when you are earn the cals to have it, if you want it that bad earn it



    anyone can add me
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    What helped me was realising that food isn't naughty. It isn't bad, or dirty, or fattening. Food isn't the enemy. Eating too much is the problem. The two things that have really helped me not to eat too much food are tracking/calorie counting, and eating the foods that I like and crave.

    Stopping myself from eating certain things just tends to make cravings worse. I decided to stop the endless battle with myself. If I want something, I eat it, in a reasonable portion size. I fit things into my calorie goal. If I go over my calories a bit, it's no big deal, because another day I might be a bit under, and it all balances out.

    I used to be an emotional eater, and eat too much to soothe negative emotions. Actually, I still am an emotional eater to some extent, but I keep it to appropriate portions, and I've learned a lot of other (more effective) ways to deal with my emotions. That helps with the cravings too. Now, I eat chocolate because I enjoy how it tastes and feels in my mouth, and I savour every bite. I don't eat it because I'm feeling bad and need to squash those feelings.

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