How do you resist urges?
beth0277
Posts: 217 Member
What do you all do to help you through an urge to eat bad? I brought my lunch today and I'm eating it, but I really want to go get some junk food. How do I retrain my brain? What tips work?
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Replies
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Sounds silly but sometimes drinking water will help me.0
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Drinking lots of water and herbal tea. Doesn't mean I completely stop eating junk food - but I think it has helped me significantly reduce my intake0
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I log it first and see if I'm okay with the number that pops up. If I am, I go for it. If not, then I don't. It helps that I prelog the entire day (week, actually), so I can immediately see the effects of an unplanned morning or afternoon snack.0
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Practice man, practice!0
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Chew some gum.0
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I go for a walk or find something else to distract me. I also make myself wait to a certain time. I'll tell myself, "if you wait until 2:00, you can have it." Then I try to do the distraction thing. Usually, it works and I forget.
I also drink lots of water.
And I agree with logging it first. If it fits in your whole day, no reason to pass on it unless you want to save those calories for something else.0 -
Keep your eye on the prize. It helps me to have goals. One big one at the end and many small ones along the way. I have mini goals, that have consisted of, getting into a size smaller piece of clothing, losing a certain percentage of body weight, getting to the weight listed on my drivers license, being under a certain round number on the scale, and the most important mini goal is eating at a caloric deficit for the day. Stay focused on that, you have a new chance to achieve it every day! Do you want to achieve it today? Will that "junk" food help you achieve it? Maybe it will. Will a treat now still leave you enough room in your calorie allotment to stay full and nourished the rest of the day? If yes have it. If no tell yourself you can have it another day when it will fit.0
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Learn to sit with the discomfort while you're resisting the craving. Recognizing and accepting that intense discomfort is simply a part of the brain training process has been key for me! You will feel annoyed and uncomfortable when your lower brain says one thing (eat junk now!) and your higher brain says another thing (no, wait!)- but riding out the discomfort is necessary in order to train your brain.
And if you're really interested in the psychology or science behind retraining the brain circuitry in relationship to diet/lifestyle I recommend reading the following books: "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, "Brain Over Binge" by Kathryn Hansend and "Eating Less' by Gillian Riley. All of these have been really helpful to me.0 -
Since i maintain my goal calorie intake to loose weight, it dont matter what i eat as long as the calorie doesnt exceeds, when i want to eat pizza for lunch, then i have to sacrifice dinner or eat a much lower calorie so as not to exceed.0
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have sex.0
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1 - time.
Tell yourself, I can have this if I still want it in [10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60] minutes,
but right now, I'm going to [walk, eat an apple, chew gum, practice piano].
Increase the time.
2 - substitution
When I want chocolate, I rarely go for cookies or a brownie.
Sugar-free, fat-free chocolate pudding made with skim milk.
Hot cocoa.
Sugar-free fudgesickle.
A piece of really good dark chocolate, and savor it.
I also like Mio (flavored water enhancer, no calories, sweet).
3 - plan for it. Give in.
If you've been wanting something in particular, arrange your calories from other
food so you can have the treat.
4 - give in.
Not optimal, but when you make a food forbidden, it has the power, not you.
Just eat it.
Acknowledge you went over your calories for the day, plan some or all of 1 - 3 above for
the next time it happens (because it will), and live with it. It's not the end of the world if
you mess up once in a while.0 -
It depends on what you're defining as "junk," too.
I agree with the advice to acknowledge the feeling and waiting it out.
So you want a cookie right this second. That's fine. How about you have it in, say, 30 minutes, and if you're still hungry? Not hungry, then no cookie. Maybe later in the day.
There is nothing wrong with having sweet treats, or things that are often classified as "bad," like fast food.
I like to have sweet treats at least with dinner. I also often have them with lunch.
Yesterday, I decided I wanted McDonald's for dinner. I took a look at my calories for the week, and there's plenty of room for the meal I wanted. So I got it.
If I hadn't had the calories, maybe I wouldn't have gone at all. Or, perhaps I would have and gotten something different.
There's nothing wrong with the "junk" itself. It's a matter of meeting your goals, and seeing how the "junk" does (or doesn't) fit in.
~Lyssa0 -
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As an example of a healthy substitution, I recently found how to make sweet red bean paste,
which is a Japanese dessert sort of thing (or at least, used in sweet treats).
It's remarkably healthy, since it's mostly azuki beans. Lots of protein & fiber.
I had probably 4 cups of cooked beans and 0.25 cup of sugar.
Sweet enough to satisfy that craving, actually has flavor, and has redeeming nutritional value.0 -
I don't resist cravings, I identify and understand them and then responsibility satisfy them. I will do my best to understand what it is I am craving. If I am craving a candy bar sometimes it is sweet that I want then fruit will satisfy. If it is chocolate that I want then a couple of small pieces can work. I will admit, sometimes it is a goal busting piece of cake then it is just a matter of enjoying it and then getting back on the path0
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You could plan 1, 3 or even 5 days out of the week where you can have "junk" in the place of your healthier lunch or other meal. Make sure you can still reach your calorie goals those days, though. It might be a bit harder if the "junk" is not as nutritious as the other food you had planned...0
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JinxedyJinx wrote: »Learn to sit with the discomfort while you're resisting the craving. Recognizing and accepting that intense discomfort is simply a part of the brain training process has been key for me! You will feel annoyed and uncomfortable when your lower brain says one thing (eat junk now!) and your higher brain says another thing (no, wait!)- but riding out the discomfort is necessary in order to train your brain.
And if you're really interested in the psychology or science behind retraining the brain circuitry in relationship to diet/lifestyle I recommend reading the following books: "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, "Brain Over Binge" by Kathryn Hansend and "Eating Less' by Gillian Riley. All of these have been really helpful to me.
I actually have "The Power of Habit" in my night stand. I'll have to start reading it. Thanks for the recommendation!
So, I made it through the urge. I just "restarted" my weight loss journey after taking about 2 months off for the holidays. It's so hard to get restarted and feels so easy to say "Oh screw it, I'll really start tomorrow". I know with more days in a row this will get easier. I had already tracked my food for the day and felt good about it but then my coworker brought in lunch that she had went out to get and it smelled AMAZING and I thought "Oh, what's one more day, you know what sounds good? Ice cream, and fried food, and candy bars" which is what I would have gotten had I given in. I can appreciate making the room in your "calorie budget" for a treat, and I plan to do that, but I have to get over the hump of just wanting to go balls to the wall. I am okay now. I ate my turkey and light chips for lunch and now I'm back at my desk eating yogurt, but I WAS tempted to just drive right down the road and grab some (a lot) of junk. I think the hard part is with the mentality of "I'll do better tomorrow" then if I did let myself get something, it would have been A LOT to "get it out of my system". I have to be better but this is the second day in a row I resisted so I'm calling that an NSV.
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What I do is I drink a bunch of water because most of the time that makes that "hungry" or "I want that" feeling go away. Also, because I have a food addiction I have little reminders for myself placed in the kitchen and anywhere else I may have food so that I am able to remember WHY I wanted to eat healthier in the first place. However, I am not the type of person to completely deprive myself of a "craving" either. If, like other people have said, I find that I still want it after a certain period of time, then I allow myself to have it and will either do extra exercise for that day or just get myself back on track the next day (if the snack has caused me to go over my calorie limit).0
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Water overload
Gum
Carrots celery
Clementine
Microwave popcorn 100 cal bags0 -
I really like the delayed gratification approach. Telling myself I can totally have that if I want it still in an hour. I researched a lot when I was quitting smoking, the physical craving lasts something like 7 min with nicotine and if you get past that you are good for awhile. Not in anyway saying that food is addictive, or that the timeline is exact, but I have found that mostly the craving is gone by the time I have allotted.0
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JinxedyJinx wrote: »Learn to sit with the discomfort while you're resisting the craving. Recognizing and accepting that intense discomfort is simply a part of the brain training process has been key for me! You will feel annoyed and uncomfortable when your lower brain says one thing (eat junk now!) and your higher brain says another thing (no, wait!)- but riding out the discomfort is necessary in order to train your brain.
And if you're really interested in the psychology or science behind retraining the brain circuitry in relationship to diet/lifestyle I recommend reading the following books: "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, "Brain Over Binge" by Kathryn Hansend and "Eating Less' by Gillian Riley. All of these have been really helpful to me.
I actually have "The Power of Habit" in my night stand. I'll have to start reading it. Thanks for the recommendation!
So, I made it through the urge. I just "restarted" my weight loss journey after taking about 2 months off for the holidays. It's so hard to get restarted and feels so easy to say "Oh screw it, I'll really start tomorrow". I know with more days in a row this will get easier. I had already tracked my food for the day and felt good about it but then my coworker brought in lunch that she had went out to get and it smelled AMAZING and I thought "Oh, what's one more day, you know what sounds good? Ice cream, and fried food, and candy bars" which is what I would have gotten had I given in. I can appreciate making the room in your "calorie budget" for a treat, and I plan to do that, but I have to get over the hump of just wanting to go balls to the wall. I am okay now. I ate my turkey and light chips for lunch and now I'm back at my desk eating yogurt, but I WAS tempted to just drive right down the road and grab some (a lot) of junk. I think the hard part is with the mentality of "I'll do better tomorrow" then if I did let myself get something, it would have been A LOT to "get it out of my system". I have to be better but this is the second day in a row I resisted so I'm calling that an NSV.
Well done!0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »have sex.
+1, even if it's just with yourself0 -
I don't call food bad. I don't have a restrictive diet other than calories.
I pre-log the food and see if I want it bad enough to maybe give up a more filling nutritious food. I choose to eat it or not and move on.0 -
After avoiding fast food and sweets for a bit to get myself under control, I found a lot of it, most of it, so ridiculously salty and/or sweet and just not very good. It made it a lot easier to say no or at least alter my order. Now I'm that person ordering with no mayo or cheese (just to save calories - I already eat a lot of cheese at home) I ask for no salt* on burgers and fries if I get fries, most will sub a side salad for fries, sauces on the side, etc. I take control of the ingredients so I can still have something tasty but with less of an unnecessary calorie bomb.
*no salt because I've found for me that if I eat really salty fast food, I crave more a lot more often.0 -
Water. As a faster it's what gets me through my last 2 hours of my 20 hour fasts. Peppermint tea too.0
Doesn't that cause issues?!? 
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