Craving meat and cheese

I am in my first week back on MFP. The desire to snack on salami lunch meat or cheese is obsessive. What can eat to satisfy the desire to cut a few slices of cheddar cheese or grab a few slices of salami. This is part of my grazing during during the day.

Replies

  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    If you have the calorie room...have some. Both are pretty calorie dense, though, so be careful.
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
    Yeah, don't cut anything out. If I have snacks available in my fridge, I just log them a day ahead or in the morning, so that I know I will be having them, then make sure my main meals have the macros I need to balance it. Nothing wrong with either food if you plan for it and it fits your calorie goal :)
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    Salt and fat is tasty......don't leave them out of your diet.
  • Binky_Muffin
    Binky_Muffin Posts: 191 Member
    Hhhmmm, just eat them in moderation. If you binge on those foods and cannot control the portions, don't keep them in the house. Out of site, out of mind. Find a cheese with a lower calorie count. For salami…the only other alternative I can think of is to cook some turkey sausage and cut it into pieces and eat those instead of salami. I'm guessing the calories in one turkey sausage is a lot less than salami.
  • Docpremie
    Docpremie Posts: 228 Member
    I munch on Sargento's Light String Cheese. Since it's mozzarella the fat grams are good & 2 stick give me 100 calories, 5 grams of fat & 12 grams of protein! That's a win-win. You might also try turkey pepperoni or turkey jerky. I'm not a big fan, but my sister loves to eat it for a snack. She likes to throw the turkey pepperoni in the microwave so it's get crunchy. 1 ounces gives 70 calories with 4 grams of fat & 9 grams of protein. Both are great snack choices to increase your protein intake!
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 671 Member
    I like the turkey pepperoni better than regular pepperoni. They fit in my food plan well for a snack here and there. Good protein.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    It sounds like you are not getting enough protein, which really helps with satiety. If adding lean protein to your diet doesn't help, then turkey salami zapped to a crisp in the microwave is good (line dish with paper towels). Gets rid of some of the fat and very similar to bacon.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Why are you cutting out meat and cheese? There's nothing "unhealthy" about eating meat and cheese. Protein and dietary fat are just as important to proper nutrition as your vitamins and minerals from your fruit and veg. There is way more to eating "healthy" than just eating salads and sucking on celery sticks...way more.

    I eat meat or some other protein source like eggs at almost every meal. I don't eat as much cheese as I used to but I have a good ounce or so at least 3-5 times per week.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    Why are you cutting out meat and cheese? There's nothing "unhealthy" about eating meat and cheese. Protein and dietary fat are just as important to proper nutrition as your vitamins and minerals from your fruit and veg. There is way more to eating "healthy" than just eating salads and sucking on celery sticks...way more.

    I eat meat or some other protein source like eggs at almost every meal. I don't eat as much cheese as I used to but I have a good ounce or so at least 3-5 times per week.

    This. I eat cheese daily. The trick is to weigh and measure it so you know that you're only consuming a certain amount. And an ounce of shredded cheese will go a long way.
    I like to snack on prosciutto wrapped around a string cheese stick or a Laughing Cow cheese wedge. Lunch meat slices are also low cal and high protein and pretty satisfying.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    NOW I WANT A SANDWICH!!!
  • Since your food diary is closed, it's kind of hard to give advice, but I would suggest you check your protein intake. I aim for 100-115g per day, typically, and generally do not suffer from hunger or cravings (unless I've been drinking :drinker:). Protein, as someone else mentioned, helps keep you feeling full, and is also important in retaining lean body mass/muscle when eating at a deficit.

    ETA: Both meat and cheese are excellent sources of protein
  • i buy those cracker barrel snacks cheese sticks, its medium light cheese and 60 calories per stick. Or you can get the marble for 80 calories, or old cheese for 90.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    Why are you cutting out meat and cheese? There's nothing "unhealthy" about eating meat and cheese. Protein and dietary fat are just as important to proper nutrition as your vitamins and minerals from your fruit and veg. There is way more to eating "healthy" than just eating salads and sucking on celery sticks...way more.

    I eat meat or some other protein source like eggs at almost every meal. I don't eat as much cheese as I used to but I have a good ounce or so at least 3-5 times per week.

    This. I eat cheese daily. The trick is to weigh and measure it so you know that you're only consuming a certain amount. And an ounce of shredded cheese will go a long way.
    I like to snack on prosciutto wrapped around a string cheese stick or a Laughing Cow cheese wedge. Lunch meat slices are also low cal and high protein and pretty satisfying.

    Agreed. Two excellent sources of protein, one of which also happens to be a great source of calcium. No,. I would never think to cut out meat and cheese.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    NOW I WANT A SANDWICH!!!

    I'm brining a beef brisket right now for corned beef next weekend for my father-in-laws B-day...I'm going to reserve about 1/2 of it to make pastrami...it's gonna rock.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
    If you don't have the calories for those higher-number options, fix some lean meat with a lot of spice. Protein, for me, stops hunger and cravings. I'll also have a boiled egg sprinkled with Italian seasoning.
  • hararayne
    hararayne Posts: 261 Member
    I love Taco Bell, but found when I added avocado with pretzels to my diet that it's less of an obsession. My friend says that I need "good fats" for satiety and I think she's right. I was craving Taco Bell every day, and now I have it when I want it, but it's not a big deal or a freak out if I don't.

    And by freak out I mean I may have a pretty nasty binge on "healthy" food that takes me way over on calories anyway.
  • sunsetzen
    sunsetzen Posts: 268 Member
    I just finished eating from a cheese/meat platter--prosciutto and parmesan with melba toast. Yum!

    If you have the calories, have your snack.
  • Natmarie73
    Natmarie73 Posts: 287 Member
    I just finished eating from a cheese/meat platter--prosciutto and parmesan with melba toast. Yum!

    If you have the calories, have your snack.

    Oh god I love proscuttio!

    Agree with previous posters that meat and cheese are a healthy part of your diet and you should not cut them out.
  • Roast Turkey CRAAAVING after major surgery...

    Before I had my 6th back surgery and 4th spinal fusion I ate as little protein as possible. Carbs and protein in the form of cheese... melted, like mac and cheese. Some of this has to do with having braces and getting an overbite corrected. A year or more of the process leaves my teeth making contact at only one place which makes chewing really tricky. But protein? Almost an aversion to it. Really.

    So then I have my back surgery to repair a failed fusion. The craving is: only a home roasted turkey breast (perfect in my Ninja) with slices on whole wheat bread, mayo and sweet pickles, sliced. That's it. Every day. Then I alternate to roasting a chicken. Not kidding.

    Half my family is allergic to poultry so, since i got married, I really haven't had tons of occasions to make it and have it. I've probably made up for a decade in the last couple months! And turkey?!? You couldn't have paid me to eat it outside of Thanksgiving or Christmas without stuffing and gravy. And store-bought, in a package, or breast already cooked is repulsive to me.

    I'm not anemic. Of course, it probably really has to do with my body needing the protein to manufacture bone for the fusion. Ironically... I only want to eat real carbs... like potatoes or real vegetables... now I have an aversion to most breads and pastas.

    I seem to be more susceptible to cravings in general and my sugar, ice cream and a specific junky pastry in the breakfast aisle, is sabotaging my weight loss goals.

    There are days I wish I just didn't have to eat at all because I don't enjoy food like I did before but then I'm really glad that there is something that feels so satisfying to eat (except the sweet cravings). Very strange.
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Often when i'm craving cheese or meat, i'm usually craving fat, or just more calories in general. I eat some avocado in a big ol' salad, or sometimes with rice and beans, and the craving usually goes away.