How to you manage CRAVINGS?

First thing is not to have any junk food in the house.

Honestly what worked for me is protein shakes. I had one every day before lunch for the first 2 months pretty much, and it gave me that chocolate taste that I craved... I rarely have them now (I have protein bars instead) but I haven't had a craving since. Sometimes I'll have a piece of chocolate or something, but it's not to satisfy a craving really, more because I have calories left, I'm not very hungry, and I feel like eating something yummy.

Agree, no junk food in the house. Munch out on 0 calorie foods, chew sugarless gum, etc.

sometimes I just brush my teeth .... then I don't want to eat anything because it will taste bad.

I drink Shakeology. It truly helps take away my cravings all throughout the day. Even though I drink it earlier in the day, I find that I have less of a desire for sweet stuff late at night. Let me tell you...anything sweet is a weakness of mine. I just can't help myself! LOL. Shakeology is somewhat like a protein shake, but so much more. When I don't drink it on a regular basis...I find myself searching my house for a late night indulgence.

I plan to have it. But not now, next week. Than I plan the day to minimize the damage. Have a long run, really healthy other meals. . Thats if what I crave is bad, like a piece of Cake or a burger. Is it is something like cheese or chips, I can easily fit it in a regular day - a small portion of course.

I generally just have something similar that won't make it worse/add too many calories. If I'm craving something salty, I'll have some (unsalted) nuts or sunflower seeds. If I crave something sweet, I'll have some fruit or a piece of dark chocolate.

I don't have any foods in the house that tempt me. I don't even have bread in the house any more, because I'd be tempted to make toast with lots of butter! No crackers, chips, desserts, or candy.

I also make sure I have plenty of cut up vegetables to snack on, and I plan out my whole day ahead of time, so that I'm never left hungry without a plan.

The last helpful tip is that when I cut out sugar, wheat, processed foods, I found that I had no cravings, and no energy highs and lows.... I was nice and even all day. The foods that keep you "even" might be different than for me, though.

Sometimes, it's also just habit that gets us into different eating patterns. maybe you can schedule your evenings for a while so that you don't have quiet time when you're bored and food is calling your name from the fridge!

I just have to add even though I agree that in the beginning you may have to rid the house of all trigger food but the question is are you going to avoid these foods the rest of your life or are you going to work on changing your relationship with food so that you eventually have control over the food and not let the food control you... I have spent the last 4 years overcoming my addictions to food and yes in the beginning I hauled in 2 - 32 gallon trash can and rid the house of ALL Foods that I just could not handle having around but over time I worked through those demons and reintroduced ALL Foods back into my life and by doing so I no longer have cravings because nothing is off limits, if it fits in my caloric intake then it fits into my lifestyle. I understand this may not work for everyone at this time but isn't that the place we all want to get too.... Just my 2 cents.......

I usually try to leave enough calories to have something i'm craving, so pre-logging helps me.

I make myself a cup of green/herb tea first ... before I can finish the beverage, I have usually talked myself out of eating what I can't afford (as in my daily allowance).

Me too, although at night I have to drink herbal tea because green tea keeps me awake. I have an assortment of teas to take the edge off at night. Sometimes if I'm craving sweets, it's really hard to talk myself into having tea. But once I start drinking it, it's so satisfying and calming, and it takes a long time to finish. Tea always takes the urge to snack away.

I don't know if this will help at all, but chocolate is my main weakness, but there are other things I like also that are sweet. A few weeks ago I was feeling really frustrated because everyone was bring sweet things to drink and eat into the house, including pop and ice cream, not things a dieting person wants to see in their house. So I tried to find something that I could drink that wasn't horrible and I would feel bad about it.

I found out that Monster makes a drink that has no carbs at all, called Absolute Zero. It has vitamins and things that give you energy during the day, but it doesn't make me feel guilty for drinking it. My mother has used weight watches in the past to lose weight and has backed off a bit. I used her points calculator to see exactly how bad the drink was, and it came up as 1 point for the entire can!! That isn't bad at all considering a bottle of pop the same size would be about 6 points. I don't know if you have ever used weight watches, but 6 points is a lot considering it's just a drink, but it's a good program if you have the money to become a member.

Mom and I also found some chocolate called Ghirardelli chocolate squares, that are dark chocolate and raspberry, they are 1 point per square, so if you need a little something and not feel bad they are great!! Also, the doves dark chocolate are also pretty low ( 1 point also). I don't really like dark chocolate but it does the trick when I feel like I'm losing my mind lol.

Hope this helped you out. And good luck!!

Bekah

I'm not sure how many calories you consume during the day but sometimes under-eating or being overly depriving with what you eat can make those cravings worse. I originally started at 1200 calories and would have terrible cravings and would be more likely to binge. After reading the "In Place Of A Roadmap" forum, I have since slowly upped my calories to about 1800-2000 on workout days and 1500-1600 on rest days and I am so much happier. I'm still consistently losing inches and I have far fewer cravings/late night binges because I'm satisfied by what I eat in the day and have more room for treats in my daily budget.

That being said, I also know from experience that those cravings can be just as much mental/emotional as anything so on that front to help deal with it, I don't keep food in the house that I'm likely to binge on (I will treat myself to them occasionally but instead of having a whole package of cookies I can eat all of in the house, I will buy one cookie from a bakery or something), I will eat something that gets close to the craving but is better for me--Greek yogurt for something sweet, veggies and hummus for something savory, I will pre-log my food so if I'm tempted to give in to something I have to think about what I will not eat later on or if I have eaten everything for the day, I will ask myself if carrots would satisfy my craving--if the answer is no, I know the craving is not from hunger but boredom/emotion/habit and I go distract myself, and for things I want often, the old favorites, I have found healthier versions of them that I can plan ahead to make later. For example, I have a killer homemade taco salad recipe (nachos are a big favorite for me) that gives me the nacho/indulgence feeling with all healthy ingredients I can easily fit into my calories and macros any day. Planning actual treats--non-healthy nachos or whatever your thing is--in advance on occasion helps. I do one cheat meal a week and when I'm tempted to go over my calories during the week, I will think to myself, "Is it worth it being my one cheat meal for the week and not getting to go out this weekend?" I also remind myself how sh*tty I feel about myself when I binge and ask if it's worth it. Over time, it does get easier. You will find what things work for you. You will still sometimes give in so just forgive yourself, learn from it, move on,

This is my waterloo as well. Recent studies have shown that will power is limited and you use it up during the day, too bad. But I keep a set of low cal sugar free snacks that i allow myself to eat at night like 40 cal fudgesicles, yogurt, pudding cups etc. Sometimes tho I want something savory, which is harder.

Of course managing your house so you don't have those things that set you off, but do have those things that work to snack on when your will power is low. I agree too to the idea of a hot drink, some decaf coffee or herb tea can be pretty satisfying.

The fudgesicles reminded me -- Eddy's Fruit Popsicles are a great treat, and are 80 calories a pop.