Food cravings-what works for you?

I eat low carb when I can afford it.

I don't bring the junk-food in the house.

I don't start off the day with anything even remotely sweet or carby, because I will be craving for the rest of the day if I do. This often means I don't have my first meal until evening. Currently doing intermittent fasting, which means some days I eat nothing at all or very little.

If someone stresses me out, I stress him or her out back rather than feeding my feelings (I learned this one a long time ago, it makes life ever so much more pleasant).

I try to find substitutes (ex: fiber one 90 calorie brownies, almond milk, puffed chips,etc), but this still takes discipline. One a day is okay but a person I knew was eating like 5-8 brownies....not the most healthy thing to do. Also if possible (and this only applies if you have family/ roommates) try to put your healthy snacks in a different cabinet than everyone else. If they are not eating healthy and you want a snack it doesn't help to have to move bags of chips, candy, or cookies to get to a protein bar. Learning how to cook/ bake healthy is an absolute must, and there are tons of information and websites that will help in that regard. Also if you must eat a particular food, then use it as a reward. " If I go extra hard on my cardio then I'll have a....(fill in the blank). Again this shouldn't be the norm, but from time to time its okay. The only other thing I can think of at the moment is to say if you have a "must have" food, buy the smallest portion and not the muti serving bags/boxes. Hope some of these help.

I have a sweet tooth, and recently I discovered that flavoured teas help curb the cravings. David's Tea has lots of dessert flavours, and I love the Salted Caramel, Creme Brulee & Red Velvet flavours. I don't know if David's Tea is available where you are, but I'm sure there is a specialty tea place around you that will have something similar.

ETA: If I eat regularly, the cravings don't get too bad. But if I go too long in between meals and get too hungry, that's when I make poor choices.

I have crappy foods that I crave sometimes. What works for me is to have healthy food MOST of the time, but to make room in my diet for those 'crappy cravings'. If I had to quit them all, I'd likely fail at meeting my goal. Right now, I eat the foods I want, but make them fit into my daily calorie and macro goals. For me, it's easier than not eating them at all. If I couldn't have them, I'd eventually binge on them - so I allow myself those foods, just in moderation.

I remember years ago going through this. I was addicted to sugary treats. Had to have them daily.

For me, I had to quit cold turkey. Once I ate better, I eventually got rid of the strong cravings. Probably took 3 weeks to get to that point. And, I just kept away from sugar for many years after that.

Now, after eating a better diet, I can enjoy a sugary treat once in a while. But, it's by choice. And, I measure it all to make sure I'm only taking a little bit to taste, not another meal's worth.

Good luck!

Having a reasonable calorie goal helps. (i.e. more than 1200)

Water is what works for me. When I'm drinking enough water my cravings usually go away.

I just went to my neighbors house to get a food scale to weigh some almonds. Then he had OREO'S and some other soft baked cookies! I caved. I had two oreos and half of two cookies (so one) I am supposed to be on day two of a detox. Oh well. That's my one slip! I hope. It's just not easy when it's in your face.

An occasional hand full of cookies that takes you over your calorie limit isn't going to effect you much. I think it's the everyday stuff that is counter productive.

Enjoy them and move on and if you think a two day "detox" is what you'd like to do, just pick another two days. (I'm not convinced about detoxing unless you've been poisened but I'm just a bozo on the web)