How do you beat cravings?

VickyLosing · October 2016

Hi,
so I've started this August and lost 25 pounds so far using myfitnesspal and a kind of low carb diet.
My goal is to eat in a healthy way, so I've dropped sugar completely only eat carbs from vegetables. I do sports 2-3 times a week for 50 to 90 mins.
Well, it all went so well and I never felt really hungry, I didn't have any plateaus and cravings. Until my birthday came up..
Now, eating healthy is something I want to keep doing and I know that if I want this to work in the long run, I should be realistic and not be TOO restrictive. My Mum made some cake and we had guests over, I had two pieces that day and another one the other day because I thought I shouldn't be obsessed. Then I had a little birthday party with friends and someone brought cake, of course I had to have a piece. I didn't go crazy with my calorie intake on either day because I only had salad other than the cake. But the sugar gave me bad cravings somehow... I had another piece of the leftover cake the next day just because I CRAVED it so much. Within the following two days, I ate a box of chocolates (3 ounce) which I had gotten. Arrrrgh.

So, how do you guys stop these cravings? I plan to be more disciplined the following week and plan every bite in advance I hope they just stop...
Did you ever experience something similar? Discuss

singingflutelady · October 2016

I think part of your issue is that your diet is too restrictive. When I cut out things than allow myself to have them I aways overdo it.

VickyLosing · October 2016

Guess that's part of it.I just never felt too restrictive because I didn't miss cake or chocolate at all!

Sabine_Stroehm · October 2016

I think it's a mind set, personally. I overhauled my diet about 14 years ago. Once in a while I indulge in carby-snacks and that usually leads to wanting much more. So I go back to what I know works and in a few days it's not an issue. I don't miss cake when I don't eat cake.

I think there are folks for whom "saving up" for a snack they want, and some who can happily eat certain things (usually sugar/fat/salt) when calories allow for it. I think some folks are happier when they just don't have them. I fall into that camp. I'd rather have no cookies than one. I'd rather have no chips than 10.

Figure out what works for you!

courtneyfabulous · October 2016

I've had sugar addiction my whole life- you can do one of 3 things:

1) you can get all the refined sugar out of the house and just suffer through the cravings until they go away- yes they will go away but it takes a few days to a week.

2) OR you can get all the refined sugar out of the house and can eat fruit or dried unsweetened fruit every time you have a craving for sugar and do not limit the amount of fruit, use it as a stepping stone. Then when you no longer crave refined sweets you can bring your fruit consumption down to a normal level (fruit is not addictive like sugar so this won't be too hard)

3) OR you can still have sweets but in moderation and within your calorie limit- I highly recommend though that instead of eating cake and chocolates, get yourself some yummy protein bars, protein cookies, and flavored protein powder to make shakes. These tend to have less sugar than candy and cake, and the high protein content will be more satisfying and stop cravings. When you just eat really sugary stuff you crave more and more sugary stuff. When you have sweet but high protein stuff you feel full and stop after 1 serving. At least that's my experience. This method doesn't get you off the sugar but allows you to have it in moderation as part of a healthy diet and stay within your daily calories, and not throw off your macros too much.

I have used all 3 of these methods, they all work. Good luck!!

VickyLosing · October 2016

Sabine_Stroehm I think you hit the nail... I'm definitely in your camp. But it just happens with sugar, if I "save up" to something delicious, but non-sugary I don't get cravings at all. I see a lot of people having (carb-loaded) cheat days, how do they do that?

And wow, eating healthy for 14 years sounds so great.

Thanks for the tip, courtneyfabulous. 1) was my plan too, I just have to control myself when grocery-shopping. Do you think 2) will work with artificial sweeteners? I know they're not exactly healthy, but having diet soda for a week surely isn't as bad as entering a vicious circle of sugary snacks, right? Most fruits make my teeth hurt because of the acids.. I might try some protein bars though, if 1 and 2 don't work. I'll save that comment in my journal, thank you. Good luck beating your addiction

mrssto78 · October 2016

Eating carbs releases serotonin in your brain. It literally makes you feel better. That is why, for those of us who are more susceptible to brain chemistry imbalances, once we eat something high in carbs we cannot stop. We crave the happiness. (There are scientific and academic articles on this but I'm just paraphrasing here).

For your next big celebration try cheesecake instead. There are TONS of delicious low carb recipes for cheesecake. (Hope you like cheesecake!)

VickyLosing · October 2016

Well it makes sense for or bodies to love the easily accessible energy that comes with sugar, after all.. I'm glad my body makes sense, from a scientific view. Food industry was faster than evolution, huh.
Oh my- I actually hate cheesecake, haha

next time hopefully, I'll be prepared for the cavings! Maybe I'll rather have a smaller piece and cake that's loaded with fruit, not sugary creams... Do you think having the cake along with non-sugary food will make the effect smaller (since the meal altogether won't be as high in sugar)?

dannybias46 · October 2016

Dark chocolate curves craving. Been in fitness for 22 years

courtneyfabulous · October 2016

VickyLosing wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm I think you hit the nail... I'm definitely in your camp. But it just happens with sugar, if I "save up" to something delicious, but non-sugary I don't get cravings at all. I see a lot of people having (carb-loaded) cheat days, how do they do that? And wow, eating healthy for 14 years sounds so great.

Thanks for the tip, courtneyfabulous. 1) was my plan too, I just have to control myself when grocery-shopping. Do you think 2) will work with artificial sweeteners? I know they're not exactly healthy, but having diet soda for a week surely isn't as bad as entering a vicious circle of sugary snacks, right? Most fruits make my teeth hurt because of the acids.. I might try some protein bars though, if 1 and 2 don't work. I'll save that comment in my journal, thank you. Good luck beating your addiction

Yes I think that might be good too, I haven't tried it that way exactly, but my protein powder is sweetened just with stevia so there's no sugar in it (just whey protein, cocoa, stevia) and I mix it with coconut water (that's lightly sweet naturally but now flavored or sweetened), and it definitely hits the spot for my sweet cravings without containing any refined sugar. Not sure diet soda would be my first choice but that could work, or maybe sugar free candy or gum? There's sugar free protein bars sweetened with artificial sweeteners too.

I feel like being a sugar addict is kind of like being an alcoholic... you never really "beat" it, you just manage it. I think I'm finally to a point where I manage it quite well.

courtneyfabulous · October 2016

dannybias46 wrote: »

Dark chocolate curves craving. Been in fitness for 22 years

I love dark chocolate. But I could eat an entire extra dark chocolate bar and still want more...

VickyLosing · October 2016

I also love dark chocolate! I used to buy Lindt's 85% or 90% cacao a lot. courtneyfabulous I really like sweets but if put a piece of 90% chocolate on my tongue and just let it melt I'm compleeeetely satisfied after one square... maybe you can try not chewing them, the taste is so much better IMO. (Started this after I heard chocolatieres do that all the time).

mrssto78 · October 2016

If you swap fruit for the creams in the cake you are just replacing natural sugars for processed ones. There are low carb cake recipes out there (I actually prefer cheesecake

) Also, lots of bakeries do diabetic recipes with lower sugar content. Unless you are concerned with not eating what everyone else is?

Do you crave often or only when splurging for special occasions?

When I crave I drink a bottle of water and eat deviled eggs. I always have deviled eggs on standby. Lol

Sira125 · October 2016

What you eat also affects the make up of bacteria in your gut. If you eat refined sugars you grow more of those that eat refined sugars. And those suckers are invested in living so they release chemicals that make you want to eat more of what they need. After about a week of low to no sugar I don't crave it anymore.

Note: for me this involved dropping flavored yogurts, sweetened coconut or almond milk, some mayonnaise, flavored instant oatmeals, most breads, and all the stuff people typically think of as sweets. I also dropped artificial sweeteners as I felt they were leading to cravings. This past week I had cake a couple of times and then decided to finish off the flavored yogurt in the fridge. Three days of yogurt in the morning and it was much harder to say no to sweet things.

However I am past that and have a healthier (for me) breakfast made up for everyday this week. I refuse to be led around by a bunch of one -celled organisms that aren't promoting my best interests.

How do you beat cravings?

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