How do you Avoid junk food cravings?

Have you tried looking up recipes to perhaps make a healthy version of what you're craving or perhaps something similar to satisfy the flavors of what you're craving? I find that I really like to make things because it's easier to control portions than buying snacks. I do buy healthier versions of "junk food" snacks as well though because I want this to be a lifestyle change and find that makes the adjustment more feasible for me.

I normally eat raw fruit or make a fruit smoothie/sorbet. Occasionally, I have a tablespoon or two of honey peanut butter.

First off, processed carbs make you crave more carbs. I shoot for whole wheat bread, pasta, tortillas, and crackers. Second, I try not to keep junk in the house, atleast not the stuff I can't resist. For instance, I'm not a big fan of oreos, and I can manage to keep my hands out off of them, so I buy them for the fam sometimes. I try to keep things on hand that I can have, like weight watchers ice creams, or the little caramel cubes, they're only 32 cal's a piece, and it takes a minute to chew them up, so I get my fix. Lol. I try not to eat any junk after dinner, because it just seems to perpetuate itself. I'll eat one thing, and then want something else, then something else, etc. So after dinner, if I get a craving for something sweet, I'll allow myself to have like 2-3 caramels, or a chocolate protein shake with unsweetened almond milk. Also, I've just been having to treat myself like a little kid, and tell myself NO!!! Lol. I really struggled with the cravings for a long time. Also, if you're craving chips, Lays makes a light potato chip made with Olean, but don't eat more than 1 serving, or you'll be in the bathroom the rest of the day. The baked chips aren't too bad on cal's either, but shoot for eating more fruits and veggies. Oh! I do allow myself to eat fruit after dinner, and since it's sweet, that also helps. :happy: Good luck to you! Add me if you like!

fat bombs do the trick for me....I do live alone thought and don't keep ANY crap in house....not much processed food..no cookies, chips....etc...sometimes Ill do sugar free candy or a popsickle

Pepsi Max/Coke Zero seem to help my cravings. Pepsi max being the main one I drink as it has a better effect for me.

I don't avoid my food cravings. I manage them by eating the food that I want, in a reasonable portion size, logging it, and staying within my overall goal. If you know how many calories are in the food you want to eat, you can decide how often you can include it in your diet.

P.S. You're awesome, and you're in charge of what you eat!

I read a book, it was called the Power of Habits. Pretty impressive stuff.
Now I'm carrying a little notebook with me, and everytime I feel the urge to binge,or I crave something, I make a mark in it with the time of the day. You can discover your patterns in this way,
And after that I try to distract myself. Getting out of the situation, or I tell myself ,alright, you can have it after you've done this and that. Most of the time I forget about the cravings.
When it comes back I go through the same process again. For me the key is to distract myself.

TOPIC: How do you Avoid junk food cravings?

Certainly not by visiting this forum. :laugh:

In the last 2 days, I've become obsessed with Cinnabons, finding Chocolate Peanut Butter Pop Tarts, and IHOP pancakes.

I struggle with this as well. My diet is normally pretty healthy, but those cravings do me in. I have learned two things.

1. If I feel like my head will blow off it I don't have potato chips, 99% of the time it means I am hungry and not aware of it. I eat something healthy and the craving is gone. I now carry almonds everywhere I go. If it is nearly meal time, I'll have a meal.

2. The more junk I eat the more I crave it. I am a person who is better off not having any. Having a little is a slippery slope for me. So sometimes I just have to tough it out. But less often than I used to, because now I know it means I need real food.

Fiber 1 90 cal bars to the trick on the sweets. Low Fat buttered popcorn. About 3 weeks ago I had some leftover cheese cake filling from a scratch cheese cake I made for my father in law for his BD. that was his special treat also. I made a smaller cheese cake. Once it was set, I cut it into 1" squares and put them in the freezer. I have had about 2 pieces in 3 weeks. Not bad. I go for quality, not quantity. It is enough to satisfy the craving, but not so much as to feel the guilt.

On the days where I have been really lean on the calories, I allow myself the 11 Doritos in a serving, and/or a slice of smoked gouda, or provolone with my Turkey pastrami, whole wheat, fresh spinach and mustard sandwich. If you haven't tried it, fresh spinach works great with turkey deli meats.

My weight loss started when a friend recommended a book called "The Body Fat Solution" by Tom Venuto. The first 100 pages or so aren't even about nutrition nor exercise, but psychology and motivation instead. For me, the most important 2-3 pages in the book were about "Psychological Hunger vs Physical Hunger", and I think what he has to say on this subject is the answer to your question. I couldn't possibly give you a reply here nearly as adequate as he could, but very briefly:

Physical hunger comes on gradually, usually a few hours after you've had a meal, and indicates it's almost time for another meal. Psychological hunger comes on instantly.

Physical hunger can be put off an hour or two if now is not a convenient time to eat. Psychological hunger demands attention RIGHT NOW.

Physical hunger can be sated by whatever food you happen to have around. Psychological hunger is usually focused on one specific item--anyone who couldn't resist the Snickers bar calling to them while at the grocery checkout knows what I mean here. Once you recognize that sudden craving as a psychological tick, that's it's not really hunger at all, it becomes much easier to say No to the candy bar.

Eating when you feel physically hungry makes you feel good, feel satisfied. Eating in response to psychological hunger doesn't, it only makes you feel guilty.

There's more, but I don't have my copy of the book handy. Everyone wants to borrow it when they see me rocking my new body and crediting that book as the lynchpin of the turn my life has recently taken--yes, I'm boasting, sorry about that. I don't usually read these forums, but this thread's title popped up on my home page, and I thought I could help with this one.

Oh, btw, besides Venuto's book, the second thing I ascribe my success to is MyFitnessPal!

EDIT TO ADD: I don't want to sound like I disagree with those who say, "Go ahead and have it, if you can figure out a way to work it into your calorie budget." I also agree that it's a bad idea to try to swear off candy or ice cream or pizza or anything else for life. It's not a tragedy if go slightly over your daily calorie goal every now and then, as long as those days are few and far between--just go back to crushing and you can erase those teeny, tiny setbacks (again, as long as you're not piling them up!).

i got rid of all the junk food in my house (i live with my parents, my dad just recently discovered hes diabetic and we're all on a diet basically), the most unhealthy food i have is probably breakfast cereal or those 100 calorie thinsation packs.. i don't know i find it weird i don't crave junk that often, and if i do i don't have access to so i just eat whatever i have that is sweet like berries or sugary cereal etc. good luck though!

I agree with the Poster who makes her own treats and freezes them. To me that is a great idea. If frozen they have to defrost so it is not so easy to keep going back for seconds or a third , planning is involved with this idea.

Secondly I like the odd treat and homebaked allows me to control the quality and quantity of what is going into my product, eg homemade cookies using oatmeal and whole wheat flour with some honey or a very very much reduced amount of sugar. Substituting unsweetened apple sauce into the recipe. Cutting the amount of sugar called for in a recipe to 1/3 of what is called for works well for me.

I make it healthier if I can (like someone mentioned burgers, I'll make a low fat turkey burger with whole grains bread and low fat cheese).

Otherwise, I just have some of what I crave (but again... I'll go for a 'healthier' ice cream for example instead of the 300 calories per serving stuff, or a 100 calorie bar of chocolate etc). The key for me is to log it before I eat it, to make sure it's really worth it.

I don't know why it works, but it does (I actually lost 35 lbs doing this and then I allowed myself to gain it all back) -- you can google articles on it if you want. If you are craving sugar and you drink a small 4 oz. glass of Welch's grape juice instead, your cravings are gone. If I drink just a 1/2 cup of Welch's grape juice per day, I don't get any sugar cravings at all.

Here is one article that talks about it but there are many others. I don't find that eating turkey, broccoli or grapes helps me with my sugar cravings but Welch's grape juice does the trick every time:

http://www.becomegorgeous.com/fitness-diet/healthy_diets/healthy_substitutes_for_food_cravings-9793.html