Those pesky cravings!

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_Shelley_
_Shelley_ Posts: 206
in Health and Weight Loss
Like most people, when I began dieting I cut a lot of bad things out of my usual routine. This included my biggest weakness: sweets. While I haven't lost a significant amount of weight since I began my journey, actually I feel like I've gained, I have yet to have any overpowering cravings for the things I have given up...except today!

Today, for the first time in a long time, I craved a little ice cream. While i know that cheating every now and again is not bad I feel horrible for giving into it. And honestly, I feel like crap for eating it! I have a long way to go to reach my goal and have been trying to get there for years. However, I have to stand in my best friends wedding in mid-August and my biggest fear is going home and looking like a fat mess.

Anyway, I was wondering what you all do to lose weight and avoid those cravings.

While I haven't had time to hit the pavement lately because I'm in my last semester grad school and I intern, I get lots of walking done around the hospital where I intern. But still, no loss. My point: tips, pointers, anything?! I'm getting desperate.

Replies

  • iamgonnagetthere
    iamgonnagetthere Posts: 17
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    Same here. It has been 2 weeks and In should have lost 2 pounds but I haven't :(

    To get rid of cravings just think how amazing you will look when you lose the pounds.
    And it is ok to eat sweets sometmies even a little bit.
    I eat some everyday mostly and I haven't gained weight.
  • _Shelley_
    _Shelley_ Posts: 206
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    Everyday when I close out my log and it says "You'll weigh 136 in 5 weeks"...I laugh and say "yeah right".

    I did a crash diet in high school after being made fun of for my weight and dropped a lot of weight fast. It messed up my metabolism so bad that losing weight is beyond difficult! When i gained weight, I gained it fast and a lot of it..I got up to 160 in just a few weeks (30+lbs gain) and got to 150..which is where I've been for 5 years. I'm down to 147 now and that took a month...A MONTH!

    It's just really frustrating to not see any improvements.
  • jessers26
    jessers26 Posts: 17 Member
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    I have horrible cravings too and it makes me so grumpy! All I want is chocolate and ice cream. I gave in today and I also feel terrible. Maybe it's just part of the process? Hopefully the cravings will subside soon! Best of luck!
  • _Shelley_
    _Shelley_ Posts: 206
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    Thank you! And the best of luck to you as well. Maybe it's a female thing...lol
  • Townsend143
    Townsend143 Posts: 14 Member
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    I actually give in to my cravings... if I want chocolate, I either eat a few hersheys kisses or chocolate chips and let them melt in my mouth rather than chow down on the entire bag! Also, for ice cream, I eat Skinny Cows. They are so yummy! I think anything in moderation is probably okay as long as you do it occasionally! :) Good luck!
  • fat_beyonce
    fat_beyonce Posts: 133 Member
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    try and find a healthy version of what you want e.g for icecream you could have wall's carte d'or light icecream it's only got 100 calories in like a whole cup. Or allow yourself one cheat meal a week where you have one meal where you don't have to worry about calories but for the rest of the week you're mega good.
  • _Shelley_
    _Shelley_ Posts: 206
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    I actually give in to my cravings... if I want chocolate, I either eat a few hersheys kisses or chocolate chips and let them melt in my mouth rather than chow down on the entire bag! Also, for ice cream, I eat Skinny Cows. They are so yummy! I think anything in moderation is probably okay as long as you do it occasionally! :) Good luck!

    Those are pretty delicious :) But today..i was ULTRA bad and went for one of those snack size mcflurries. horrible, I know. But if I buy a whole box of skinny cows, I will be more tempted to eat them!
  • suzooz
    suzooz Posts: 720 Member
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    Yes, unfortunately, it is part of the process. I suffer from cravings, too, but not as often as I used to.

    I had to go "cold turkey" from carbs for a couple of weeks -- eating only meats, dairy, and vegetables. I could have as much as I wanted, but very few carbs for those two weeks. That was what initially helped me curb my sweet tooth.

    I have gradually added back fruits and whole grains into my diet, being careful of those things that tend to cause a craving. (Cereal tends to do this to me sometimes -- even the whole grain ones.)

    For those times when I have cravings, I tend to do one of three things:

    1) Exercise to earn back the treat. Most of the time, after I exercise, I am no longer hungry for the treat. Sometimes, I indulge, sometimes, I substitute a piece of fruit for the treat and be done with it.

    2) Sometimes a substitute will do. Just like you, I have cravings for chocolate ice cream. Many times, I can have a South Beach Peanut Butter Cup instead, which is a melted fudgesicle, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and 1 tablespoon of Lite Cool Whip. I have also recently discovered Vita Tops -- both the chocolate muffins as well as their brownies. Surprisingly good!

    3) Other times, I give into the craving if nothing else will do. And I don't feel guilty about it! (Just so you know, I saw that Baskin Robbins has Toffee Pecan Crunch as its June Flavor of the Month. I am planning on having a scoop -- maybe even a double!
  • _Shelley_
    _Shelley_ Posts: 206
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    Yes, unfortunately, it is part of the process. I suffer from cravings, too, but not as often as I used to.

    I had to go "cold turkey" from carbs for a couple of weeks -- eating only meats, dairy, and vegetables. I could have as much as I wanted, but very few carbs for those two weeks. That was what initially helped me curb my sweet tooth.

    I have gradually added back fruits and whole grains into my diet, being careful of those things that tend to cause a craving. (Cereal tends to do this to me sometimes -- even the whole grain ones.)

    For those times when I have cravings, I tend to do one of three things:

    1) Exercise to earn back the treat. Most of the time, after I exercise, I am no longer hungry for the treat. Sometimes, I indulge, sometimes, I substitute a piece of fruit for the treat and be done with it.

    2) Sometimes a substitute will do. Just like you, I have cravings for chocolate ice cream. Many times, I can have a South Beach Peanut Butter Cup instead, which is a melted fudgesicle, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and 1 tablespoon of Lite Cool Whip. I have also recently discovered Vita Tops -- both the chocolate muffins as well as their brownies. Surprisingly good!

    3) Other times, I give into the craving if nothing else will do. And I don't feel guilty about it! (Just so you know, I saw that Baskin Robbins has Toffee Pecan Crunch as its June Flavor of the Month. I am planning on having a scoop -- maybe even a double!

    I did the no/low carb thing too. It helped at first but I was SO tired and had no energy to pull the late nights I needed to. I have started to eat breads again but usually, only in the morning. In the afternoon/evening I try and avoid them. I am attempting to eat 5-6 times a day! Which, in the hospital is hard since I'm running around like a mad women lol.

    Those VitaTop brownies are delicious! And the muffins are pretty fabulous too. But this time...I just gave in. And at least I only did the snack size rather than the huge one! lol

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