cravings??

When I am craving chocolate (which is almost every night), I make a glass of skim milk with Hershey's syrup in it. Its way less fat and carbs than a candy bar or blizzard that I would rather have but it helps me get through the craving usually.

I am also pregnant so I have a lot of weird cravings that I give in to, but that's my best defense for chocolate cravings.

I hope that helps!

Hi kinmae....I agree with Peekadoo...much better to cook at home as you are in control of the contents of the meal. However, I've learned that sometimes if I postpone a craving for too long, I will binge out on it later. I've found that research and label reading help a LOT regards my trigger foods. I know in advance what the choice will be for a specific craving and can allot for it. I've also found there is no good or bad food, just food I have limited control over and so they are never in my house. I have to make the effort to go get them. Wasteful as it may be, I portion out what I should eat and the rest goes in the garbage, down the disposal or to a friend/neighbor to get it out of the house.

The point is to NOT wait until the craving hits...because it WILL hit. The point is to research and plan in advance what you will do when the time comes ... well, and to implement the plan of course! :bigsmile: Lastly, if you don't implement the plan (it happens, right?), don't beat yourself up...just get up, dust yourself off and MOVE! Hope this helps!

Chocolate milk is good, or just a single square of dark chocolate usually gets me through.

I recently found some protein bars at Costco "Oh Yeah" is the brand name. They taste like a "real" candy bar, but are nutrient dense and high in protein so they are much better for you. Those are working wonderfully well for me right now.

A small treat every once in a while is actually good for you, just be sure you keep it in moderation.

Oh, and in my opinion, any time you can cook from scratch at home, the better it will be for you. This gives YOU total control over what goes in your body, not someone else.

I have found that I don't crave the things I used to hardly at all anymore. I used to be a chocoholic, a diet cokeaholic, pizza, fried anything aholic and an i ce cream aholic.
The way I stopped my cravings was to simply not give into them. I know that that is alot different advice than what others might give, but it worked for me and I seldom eat anything that I used to eat. I ate 3 fried onion rings last night, not because I was craving them but because I cooked them for my husband, I about barfed.
I simply stopped putting the stuff in my mouth and replaced it with fresh fruits and veggies, I don't eat hardly anything processed, no bleached flour, everything is 100% whole grain or 100% whole wheat and the cravings for the junk food I used to eat are all but gone.
Hope this helps you some. I just know for me that the only way to not continue to crave something is to just not put it in my mouth to begin with.

I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth and the thing that works for me is my Shakeology. I know this may sound like a sales pitch, but I start drinking a chocolate shake and my cravings subside. I think it is all the great nutrients and healthy stuff that it is made of. I lost 3 pounds this week! All I did was eat clean and low sodium style and every time I felt a craving welling up, drank a shake or half of one. It was amazing! I think cravings have to do with a lack of nutrients.

I try to keep in mind that I am craving it because my body and mind are so used to having that stuff. Then I think that if I don't eat the junk my cravings will dissipate over time. For some reason, for me I can handle it better if I think it's just some psychological trick my mind/body is playing on me and it's not something I actually "need", I can handle it. "Cause when you're craving something, you feel like your body really NEEDS it... and that's not the case.

From the replies so far, It seems like there's several solutions that have worked for people:

1. Eat what you want but keep it limited to small portions that can fit in your diet.

2. Eat well most of the time but give yourself a treat every now and again.

3. Replace it with similar but healthier choices that you can have more of without disturbing your diet.

4. Suck it up and wait for your body to no longer have those cravings.

How do you decide which one is the best choice for any given craving? Is there a difference for you between milder cravings and more intense ones, in terms of which route you'll take?

I go through stages with my cravings. Like when I'm on a roll losing weight my cravings are way down. When I'm stuck on a plataeu my cravings are off the chart. I can barely control them. A simple way to control my cravings is just to eat one small portion. In my case chips are my weakness. So I ate one serving of whatever chips and the craving is gone. I try to focus on my goal and that also helps me alot. Good luck.