Hunger and craving changes? HELP!

Are you at a pretty low calorie goal? Are you eating back your activity calories? I was afraid to eat back my exercise calories for the first few months I did MFP. It worked great until I began feeling much like you feel -- new cravings and hungry all the time.

This natural with dieting I find that substituting with certain foods helps. Like instead of French fries try sweet potato fries, with fried chicken try grilled, and with pizza make your own at home, buy whole wheat dough top it it with fresh vegetables, and garlic powder and all that stuff has no calories in it. I know what you're going through recently I've been chopping celery stalks into celery bites and have been substituting it for chips, and I'll eat with with hummus or spinach dip. I know it's hard but you've got to get creative.

mmjclark04 wrote: »

My cravings are for greasy foods LOL. Like fries, fried chicken, pizza, ect. I just want it so bad and I can't figure out why...I haven't deprived myself for 4 months. I've had a bite here and there if I wanted it and it was under my calorie goal. But I don't over indulge.

My calories are set at 1200. I don't usually eat back my exercise calories but this week I have...I couldn't help it. I have been legitimately hungry. I upped my water intake thinking maybe that was it...but that didn't help.

First of all, congrats on losing 40lbs so far! That's awesome and you should be proud of your achievement!

Secondly, is your goal set to lose 2lbs per week? If so, my suggestion would be to lower it to 1lb/week and be patient. Increase your calorie allowance, and start eating back a portion of your exercise calories. See how things go, both with your weight and with your cravings, for a month or so and then adjust if you feel it's necessary.

Another thing you could do, if you trust yourself not to binge completely, is to give in to the cravings and have a big greasy meal! You might find that it's actually not so appealing once you start eating it, and you may not want it all anyway. And if you do eat it all - it's only one meal and won't completely wreck your progress, although you may see a slight jump on the scale for a few days afterwards due to sodium, water retention and all that other fun stuff. (Even if you do end up on a binge it's not a disaster, you just dust yourself off and get back on track. )

I read your profile and you're aiming to lose for the right reasons - for YOU! You're doing great, just have patience and slow it down a little. I'm sure you can get there without suffering too many cravings, but if you've been at 1200 calories minus your exercise burns then that's probably too little and it's starting to catch up with you now. Your body gave you four beautiful babies - be kind to it now and get it back in shape gently.

I suggest a week or two at maintenance. I believe it's not too great to be low calorie for extended periods. Give your body a bit of a boost for a week or two, then get back at it. Just don't go nuts and eat well OVER maintenance. I think this is also good practice for maintenance anyway.