I need tips on how to deal with cravings...
ferret150
Posts: 75 Member
I am struggling here. At least twice I have binged on Cashews in the last 2-3 weeks. I have not been able to control myself. I have eaten an entire 8oz can of planters cashews going over my 50g of carbs allotment and certainly taken myself out of ketosis. I have hid this from my boyfriend. He has really been supporting me and I don't want to disappoint him. I am seriously embarrassed that I have had and continue to have these slip ups. How do I get a handle on this and get back into the right mindframe? Any tips.
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What's your caloric deficit? Maybe it's too steep?2
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I totally feel you. I had a slip up recently and binged for an entire weekend. I can't control myself with stuff like that so I don't buy it anymore.4
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I would get cashews out of the house for a while. I still slip up on those and I've been eating this way for close to two years. If I do allow myself cashews, I need to measure them out. That slows me down somewhat. I mix them in with macadamias too. Those slow me somewhat as well.3
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I find that I have two choices when there is a particular food in the house that calls to me.
(1) First I try pre-portioning out the entire package. Sometimes the fact that the siren food item is already portioned out stops me from tucking into it because I know how much time and effort went into portioning it out in the first place. Then, if I still do grab some, at the very least I know how many portions I'm consuming and I do/will log that in my diary but somehow knowing the portion size involved helps ease the anxiety involved where bingeing is concerned. Knowing how many portions I'm consuming / have consumed / will be consuming often goes a long way to helping me stop an eating binge in the making too.
(2) If the above approach ceases to work, I flat out stop buying and bring that particular food item home. If it's not in the house, I can't / won't eat it. ' Nuff said.5 -
Cashews are actually pretty high in carbs for a (so-called) nut.
https://dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts
Perhaps a different kind of nut, and choose raw unsalted if you can... it's likely the roasted saltiness adds to their appeal.
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tinachris14 wrote: »I totally feel you. I had a slip up recently and binged for an entire weekend. I can't control myself with stuff like that so I don't buy it anymore.
I hear you. I say i am buying it for my boyfriend, he loves cashews, but secretly I have been eating them. I never done this before. I don't know what is up with me lately.0 -
canadjineh wrote: »Cashews are actually pretty high in carbs for a (so-called) nut.
https://dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts
Perhaps a different kind of nut, and choose raw unsalted if you can... it's likely the roasted saltiness adds to their appeal.
To be honest I am not even supposed to be eating nuts at all. I get migraines and nuts are a trigger. It is a serious craving that I am having for things that are going to do me harm. I have avoided nuts for years. But all of a sudden I have been eating them like crazy and ending up with worse headaches than I normally have.1 -
Do cravings sometimes come from deficiencies?1
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How long have you been doing LCHF? If you just started I honestly wouldn't set a calorie limit the first couple of weeks. Just a carb limit. After you adapt you usually don't get as hungry or have many cravings.
If I do have cravings due to hormones or whatever I eat more fatty things. Like a big bunless cheeseburger from Five Guys. Almost no carbs but it fills me up so I don't want anything else. Or I have tea with heavy cream between meals.
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How long have you been doing LCHF? If you just started I honestly wouldn't set a calorie limit the first couple of weeks. Just a carb limit. After you adapt you usually don't get as hungry or have many cravings.
If I do have cravings due to hormones or whatever I eat more fatty things. Like a big bunless cheeseburger from Five Guys. Almost no carbs but it fills me up so I don't want anything else. Or I have tea with heavy cream between meals.
I've been on low carb since late July of 2016. But I was on birth control to regulate my periods and they completely stopped them. Now I am off since December 2016, because i had fibroid surgery. So I don't know if that may be it.0 -
Cravings for me sometimes aren't for the actual food. They're for a specific taste combination or texture combination that food provides. Also, I know I want certain flavors or sensations in conjunction with others. Cravings, the voice in your head telling you to eat something, the inability to be satisfied with "reasonable" portions can come from different places/causes. What do the nuts provide you that you like? Salt? Fat? Crunch? etc.3
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Cravings for me sometimes aren't for the actual food. They're for a specific taste combination or texture combination that food provides. Also, I know I want certain flavors or sensations in conjunction with others. Cravings, the voice in your head telling you to eat something, the inability to be satisfied with "reasonable" portions can come from different places/causes. What do the nuts provide you that you like? Salt? Fat? Crunch? etc.
Saltiness and fat and I think the fact that it has been forbidden to me for so long. I feel like I just need to have it, my brain is craving this one specific food. I think my menstrual cycle may be aiding me in these bad decisions too.0 -
Hummmm . . I'm going out on a limb here and say this calorie restriction is very low. If you are a healthy female your minimum should be 1200 and that's minimum! This kind of restriction can cause cravings and binges. I'm 55 years old 5'6" tall and typically eat a lot more than that. Lately I have been under but I go through phases like that and as long as it's not chronic I'm ok with it.
Plug your stats into MFP and see what it gives you for a calorie goal.
** I am not an MD and I am assuming you have no medical reason to be under 1200 cals a day. **1 -
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I agree with too few calories. I struggle with nuts too, and struggle with binge eating. Bingeing and hiding can be seen as eating disorder behavior. What's your take on that? I just don't want to offend anyone.2
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Check out this online summit to get tips from the pros
http://sweetfreedomsummit.com0 -
SuperCarLori wrote: »I agree with too few calories. I struggle with nuts too, and struggle with binge eating. Bingeing and hiding can be seen as eating disorder behavior. What's your take on that? I just don't want to offend anyone.
I do that sometimes...sigh...still. It feels like "eating disorder" when I'm neck-deep in it.
I don't know if it's "eating disorder" but it's definitely "disordered eating."3 -
I agree with the disordered eating concept. When one starts hiding their eating habits from others I perceive it to be a problem. I say that from personal experience of being face first in a tub of "XXX", hiding the container in the depths of the trash can then jumping in the car to replace whatever it is I have eaten.
OP, I will suggest (in addition to the things above by others) ask yourself if you are really buying these cashews for your boyfriend. It was my very kind, considerate husband who suggested to me "Kath, you really don't need to buy XXX and XXX for me". If I want them I can get them". I had been open with him regarding my struggle though not to the degree. It was embarrassing to admit but it helped. Not so much admitting the act itself but the end result of no longer having "XXX" in the house "for him".5 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Check out this online summit to get tips from the pros
http://sweetfreedomsummit.com
Thanks for posting that @Sunny_Bunny_. I've registered for the April Summit.
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SuperCarLori wrote: »I agree with too few calories. I struggle with nuts too, and struggle with binge eating. Bingeing and hiding can be seen as eating disorder behavior. What's your take on that? I just don't want to offend anyone.
I thought about that, but I pushed that thought out of my mind. I guess I'm not ready to even begin to think I have that sort of a problem. But yes it does sound like eating disorder territory, with the hiding and there are many different types.2 -
Thanks sunny bunnySunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Check out this online summit to get tips from the pros
http://sweetfreedomsummit.com
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I agree with the disordered eating concept. When one starts hiding their eating habits from others I perceive it to be a problem. I say that from personal experience of being face first in a tub of "XXX", hiding the container in the depths of the trash can then jumping in the car to replace whatever it is I have eaten.
OP, I will suggest (in addition to the things above by others) ask yourself if you are really buying these cashews for your boyfriend. It was my very kind, considerate husband who suggested to me "Kath, you really don't need to buy XXX and XXX for me". If I want them I can get them". I had been open with him regarding my struggle though not to the degree. It was embarrassing to admit but it helped. Not so much admitting the act itself but the end result of no longer having "XXX" in the house "for him".
Thank you and I agree.2 -
I am struggling here. At least twice I have binged on Cashews in the last 2-3 weeks. I have not been able to control myself. I have eaten an entire 8oz can of planters cashews going over my 50g of carbs allotment and certainly taken myself out of ketosis. I have hid this from my boyfriend. He has really been supporting me and I don't want to disappoint him. I am seriously embarrassed that I have had and continue to have these slip ups. How do I get a handle on this and get back into the right mindframe? Any tips.
I had the same issue with cashews and pecans. I just had to eliminate them because the amount I wanted to eat put me over my limit. I can't eat an ounce of cashews. Same with Almond butter.1 -
I wonder, also, with all the recent changes (getting off BCP is a huge factor here - because it causes such a bad gut situation, which I've only recently learned), if you might not finally be having some kind of bacterial die-off. When I start having insane cravings like that, which are a driving compulsive unavoidable NEED feeling, I start looking deep for the reasons.2
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tinachris14 wrote: »I totally feel you. I had a slip up recently and binged for an entire weekend. I can't control myself with stuff like that so I don't buy it anymore.
I hear you. I say i am buying it for my boyfriend, he loves cashews, but secretly I have been eating them. I never done this before. I don't know what is up with me lately.
@ferret150 - Sometimes designating things in my head or on a shelf as belonging to my guy, and envisioning actually having to STEAL those things from him to consume them helps me snap out of the mindset too. He has his own shelf in the pantry, fridge, and an end table by the couch...1 -
Do cravings sometimes come from deficiencies?
And the answer to this question is absolutely, yes.
¼ cup serving of cashews has roughly: (3)
196 calories
5 grams of protein
1 gram of fiber
16 grams of fat
750 milligrams copper (84 percent DV)
89 milligrams magnesium (33 percent DV)
167 milligrams phosphorus (28 percent DV)
9 milligrams zinc (23 percent DV)
27 milligrams manganese (15 percent DV)
11 milligrams vitamin K (12 percent DV)
2 milligrams iron (11 percent DV)
23 milligrams folate (6 percent DV)
You could absolutely be deficient in copper/zinc (which have to be in balance, I forget the ratio)...
magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, K (Who knew?!?!), and folate/iron tend to go together. I'd look at the nutritional components of your meals and see if you can identify a missing component.
My 2 cents, off the top of my head - most folks are missing zinc, magnesium, k, iron, and folate (NOT FOLIC ACID)...from this list. If you aren't getting enough of these key nutrients, or have cut them out since going low carb, you might have just finally used up stores of them. When I went low carb, cutting out "fortified" cereals and grains, without replacing those nutrients, you'll end up with issues like this eventually.
EDITED TO ADD: when you are deficient in something, your body will crave whatever food it associates with you getting that nutrient into your system. An example - for many magnesium deficient folks, they will crave chocolate. Someone low on iodine might crave salty foods or seafood. etc.1 -
Oh, and an additional note, binge eating, compulsive eating, and most other eating disorders can actually stem from vitamin, mineral, and other nutrient deficiencies. Hunger itself is also based on nutritional holes in your intake. If you eat a huge meal of mainly less than healthy or junk food and never seem to feel full, you may be missing major nutrients, and your body is essentially making you hungrier still, because it needs those nutrients, and it's convinced if you are still hungry, you'll intake what you need... It's very hard, but focusing on whole, unprocessed foods where possible, and a variety of them, will help with this in most cases.
But honestly, if this goes on for a while, I'd consider getting a doctor to test you for the main deficiencies. It could be a relatively simple supplement to add or something.1 -
I'll place my bets on behavioral versus deficiencies. Once I got XXX and XXX out of the house, my "nutrient deficiencies" ceased...
I'm not saying nutrient deficiencies don't exist.
ETA: OP if you think it might be a zinc/copper deficiency eat some beef liver which is one of the highest food sources of the combo. See if the that eliminates the behavior of eating a full can of cashews and hiding the fact that you did.
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@kpk54 - for me, behavioral is definitely a part of it, but it was massively worsened by the nutrient side of things. The fact that the OP has only been off BCP completely for a few months likely indicates massive hormone surges while her body focuses on finding a new level, especially since this is a recent development. I hadn't realized how many things are affected by taking hormonal supplements/replacements/birth control pills....until I started researching recently.
And the behavioral components of binging and hiding it if only recently have surfaced really tell me that there is something else at play, triggering, contributing to, or causing this current issue. If she's been a life-long binger, and this is just her first time with this since going keto, something changed. Again, when it is out of the blue, it tells me something is off...if it's a constant struggle, that's something else entirely.
But I do agree that behavioral is a big thing, particularly for stress eaters/coping techniques, and it doesn't even have to be something most folks are aware of. Mild insecurity, too many changes, job stress, money stress, life stress....life itself...1
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