Tips and tricks for overcoming cravings?

I used to eat chocolate everyday, and have a sweet protein smoothie after workouts, and constantly crave sweet things after meals.... and then it just stopped. I dont remember it stopping, but it did sometime in the last few months. I keep some sort of dessert in the house, right now i have frozen trader joes macarons. they are 40 calories each and i eat one if im craving dessert. Ive eaten 3 in two weeks.

I dont know quite how to explain it.. but for the past few years I had been trying to do a low carb diet, cutting down on breads, rice, noodles etc.. and it wasnt working for me. It made me crave carbs and sugar and cookies etc. But now I dont limit my carb intake, i just eat whatever I want within my calorie goals. I eat sandwiches, pasta, burritos and whatever and now i dont crave chocolate or sweets.

I noticed my worst cravings are around my menstrual cycle, and increasing my iron intake around this time really seems to help.
But I generally just try to keep my protein level high, and balance my macros around 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat (versus MFP's recommended 55 carb/15 protein/30 fat). Quest's protein powder with almond milk and ice blended together have changed my life and helped me to stay full and clean up my snacks a bit! I also frequent dark chocolate (just a few squares every night as a treat), and dry cereal for on the go snacking (I prefer Honey Bunches of Oats due to it's high iron content, and it's sweet and something that lasts me a while).
Different things work for everyone though, you'll get better at handling it with time, just hang in there and don't give up!

After every dinner I make a cup of vanilla decaf coffee and add 1 TB heavy whipping cream. I relax and get comfortable and it keeps me From feeling unsatisfied and wandering the kitchen It also makes dinner last an hour.

I can't remember where I read it, but I read somewhere that fruit flavored gum helps with sweet cravings after a meal. It seems to work for me, and the one I have is only 4 calories

dejababi423 wrote: »

Il drink about a cup of vanilla almond milk!! Fills you up and curves your appetite and its ssoooo good!!!

Yes!

mistikal13 wrote: »

Whenever I feel like a snack after dinner, a tbsp of peanut butter always works for me.

This works for me too! I even eat some before a meal and I get fuller faster.

I actually started feeling terrible eating simple carbs! Sugar makes me bloated! I never noticed this before but I can eat 1 oz of chocolate and my stomach blows up like I am 7 months prego!

I eat complex carbs now and limit simple sugar and I do not know how it happened but because I work out (lift and cardio 5 to 6 days a week) when I eat higher foods in protein and fat I noticed I felt great and if I ate candy/chocolate etc.. I felt terrible. My body rejected me putting this in my body!!

But I do eat bread (multi grain 45 calorie bread), potatoes, cheese, cereal, and other things like this.. My body tells me what it wants and I now listen to it because I HATE the bloating and stomach distention problem... but do not despair I still make "sweet goodies" I substitute sugar and watch the "fake sugar" symptoms that come from sugar alcohols...

It is a catch twenty two!!!! Darned if you do and darned if you don't..LOL

I like to save calories after my meal for a snack cause I'm just like you, I love something sweet after a meal. A piece of dark chocolate is good for me. If I do something like candy , I can't stop myself at one or two pieces, so I like a dark chocolate. The richer the better.

I also drink flavored water and chew fruity gum throughout the day to tackle my sweet tooth.

I overcome my cravings by giving in to them. If that makes any sense, lol. But I don't go HAM on them. I almost always crave for chocolate daily - but I just have a nibble on a square of dark chocolate or Cadbury Oreos (these are the bomb!). 1 square = 28 cals. DONE!