Fighting Cravings

shellyburger
shellyburger Posts: 90 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I hope I'm not the only one in this boat, but sometimes I get such insane cravings for junk food that I can't focus on anything. And it's never just cravings for like some chips, nope it's stuff like a whole meal at McDonalds plus this and that and the other thing. It's enough stuff that if I actually ate it all I would be in such stomach pain. Does anyone have any tips for tackling these feelings?

Replies

  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    Dr Gabe Furhman says that when we adequately nourished our cravings will go away. He recommends the GBOMBS diet of bitter GREENS like collards, kale, turnip tops and watercress. Beans, Onions, Mushrooms. Berries.
    Seeds. Have you been eating for strength?
  • TheCupcakeCounter
    TheCupcakeCounter Posts: 606 Member
    If it is McDonald's another poster mentioned that getting a kids meal instead of an adult meal is pretty decent.
    After 2 months most of my cravings are gone but a few I had pretty bad were chocolate, buffalo wings with blue cheese, and Cheez-its/chips (basically salt). Whenever I had a craving that wasn't worth feeding I would drink a lot of flavored water or chew on some very strong minty gum. The gum worked the best. I also found drinking hot or iced tea (variety of flavors) with a small squirt of monk fruit concentrate was really delicious and took my mind off of it.
  • missmagnoliablossom
    missmagnoliablossom Posts: 240 Member
    TheCupcakeCounter wrote: »
    If it is McDonald's another poster mentioned that getting a kids meal instead of an adult meal is pretty decent.

    Thumbs up for the Happy Meal!
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    When I do the following, I don't have cravings:

    1. Get sufficient sleep
    2. Exercise regularly - when I get the happy hormones from exercise, I'm not prone to seeking them from food.
    3. Get sufficient protein in relationship to carbs. I'm not low carb, but reducing carbs and upping protein worked for cravings for me. See also http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html
    4. Eat moderate amounts of fruit. This makes me less interested in higher calorie sweets.
    5. Take a magnesium supplement. This can be especially helpful for women premenstrually.
    6. Save foods like chocolate for after dinner, in small amounts
    7. Stay hydrated
    8. Have a calorie deficit that is appropriate for the amount of weight I need to lose. An overly aggressive goal can definitely lead to cravings.
    9. Eat at maintenance when my appetite goes up premenstrually.

    Or learn fasting which has many parts opposite to kshama's suggestion.

    Fasting works for hundreds of millions or billions of people who undergo migration, religious rituals, economic hardships, etc.
  • shellyburger
    shellyburger Posts: 90 Member
    Thanks for the ideas all.

    Happy Meal idea- I don't think that would work for me personally as I do not have the self control to enter a McDonald's and only order that. But I can see how that would work for other people.

    Adequately Nourished- I do feel that I am eating the proper things regularly and that my cravings do not come from a place of actually being hungry if you get what I mean? But that does make sense.

    Fasting- I don't know if that would work for me personally as when I do not eat enough I feel very tired and irritable.
  • shery0812
    shery0812 Posts: 3 Member
    Hey Shellyburger...personally I felt the need to reply to this thread as EVERYTHING you said resonated deeply with me. Why?
    Well...let's just say I'm on a very similar boat (if not the same one), lol.
    My weight loss journey has been haphazard, at best, and at this point, I'm a self-diagnosed binge-eater and food addict. The thing is, I understand and KNOW all about what I have to do to get adequately nourished. That really is the key....
    But I've tried it. Almost everything. Hasn't worked. From rom upping protein to adequate sleep, to moderate exercise to etc and what have you.
    McDonald's and Dominos Pizza's terrible hold still suffocates me and pulls me down.
    Honestly, I think it boils down to more than just mechanically eating the proper foods/nutrients, relying on willpower, etc. ::WARNING, I'm going to get awfully psychological and touchy-feely in the following sentences::

    It sounds terribly cliche, but when people who've been through weight loss journeys constantly harp on "remember your why" and "why you started"...well, they're right and it's true. Because BEHIND the acquisition of proper nutrients and willpower, which we all know we have to have and get anyway, is the part deep inside of you that must crave life improvement more than your comfort zone (ie., binge eating, craving-attacks, what you've gotten used to doing, etc). In the end, that desire, that 'why' in the back of your mind and within your subconscious is what will keep you from pulling by the drive thru and getting that big mac meal (instead of the happy meal :wink: )
    Trust me, it's an ongoing journey and truthfully, it's a flippin' struggle. I have yet to get to the point of holding strong to that inner desire. I've used food to mask the pain for so long that it really has become my crutch. Add all the biological and addictive havoc junk food wreaks on the brain, and well, you have a recipe for disaster. LoL.
    There is hope, of course. There is ALWAYS hope. Just stay strong. When you are driving or cruising past a fast food joint, or you get hit by a 3 PM and 8 PM craving attack, try to remember your 'why'. Try to muster up that desire for change. Try to keep that at the forefront of your mind. Screw willpower. It's an exhaustive resource and totally unreliable. Go deeper than willpower. Try meditating. Journaling. Praying. Whatever it takes to get in touch to --what I've come to refer as-- your inner-core desire. Only then will you (and me) be able to beat those overpowering junk food cravings. ;-)

    Hope my post helped. It was written for you as much as for me. Stay blessed and strong. We can do it!! :smile:
  • IrisFlute
    IrisFlute Posts: 88 Member
    I have no idea if my approach would be helpful to anyone else... but when I feel hungry, and I've done all the obvious things like eating plenty of fat and protein, I think about the fact that the sensation of hunger is a physical signal that my body is doing the right thing. Hunger (at a reasonable, not-famine level) isn't exactly painful, so it's completely bearable -- we just have to reframe it from being a problem to just being a neutral sensation. It's a sensation that I connect emotionally with success. I know hunger isn't exactly the same thing as cravings, but I think they're pretty close.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Lately when I sense a craving which I recognize as unauthorized, I have begun eating a dozen or so big grains of pink salt. Somehow, the sodium input seems to satisfy the hormonal or boredom demand for food.

    I don't think the color has anything to do with it. I hypothesize that the tongue senses something salty and somehow the brain believes that the craving has been satisfied.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    I had that problem more when I started my dieting. Once it was a 1600 calorie combo meal and a week later it was 1700 for a large bag of Doritos. What helped minimize the urge was logging the calories and cutting back a bit for the next 24 hrs. The awareness helped minimize the urge next time.

    Also, you may have your calorie goal set too low. I feel the urges stronger when I'm behind on my calories for the day.
  • pamfgil
    pamfgil Posts: 449 Member
    Avoid watching any advertising for a while if you can avoid driving near the places that also helps
  • shellyburger
    shellyburger Posts: 90 Member
    shery0812 wrote: »
    Hey Shellyburger...personally I felt the need to reply to this thread as EVERYTHING you said resonated deeply with me. Why?
    Well...let's just say I'm on a very similar boat (if not the same one), lol.
    My weight loss journey has been haphazard, at best, and at this point, I'm a self-diagnosed binge-eater and food addict. The thing is, I understand and KNOW all about what I have to do to get adequately nourished. That really is the key....
    But I've tried it. Almost everything. Hasn't worked. From rom upping protein to adequate sleep, to moderate exercise to etc and what have you.
    McDonald's and Dominos Pizza's terrible hold still suffocates me and pulls me down.
    Honestly, I think it boils down to more than just mechanically eating the proper foods/nutrients, relying on willpower, etc. ::WARNING, I'm going to get awfully psychological and touchy-feely in the following sentences::

    It sounds terribly cliche, but when people who've been through weight loss journeys constantly harp on "remember your why" and "why you started"...well, they're right and it's true. Because BEHIND the acquisition of proper nutrients and willpower, which we all know we have to have and get anyway, is the part deep inside of you that must crave life improvement more than your comfort zone (ie., binge eating, craving-attacks, what you've gotten used to doing, etc). In the end, that desire, that 'why' in the back of your mind and within your subconscious is what will keep you from pulling by the drive thru and getting that big mac meal (instead of the happy meal :wink: )
    Trust me, it's an ongoing journey and truthfully, it's a flippin' struggle. I have yet to get to the point of holding strong to that inner desire. I've used food to mask the pain for so long that it really has become my crutch. Add all the biological and addictive havoc junk food wreaks on the brain, and well, you have a recipe for disaster. LoL.
    There is hope, of course. There is ALWAYS hope. Just stay strong. When you are driving or cruising past a fast food joint, or you get hit by a 3 PM and 8 PM craving attack, try to remember your 'why'. Try to muster up that desire for change. Try to keep that at the forefront of your mind. Screw willpower. It's an exhaustive resource and totally unreliable. Go deeper than willpower. Try meditating. Journaling. Praying. Whatever it takes to get in touch to --what I've come to refer as-- your inner-core desire. Only then will you (and me) be able to beat those overpowering junk food cravings. ;-)

    Hope my post helped. It was written for you as much as for me. Stay blessed and strong. We can do it!! :smile:

    Thank you for this comment! This absolutely spoke to me and where I think I am with my cravings. Thank you!
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    I also get cravings and eat a few plates of chips and guacamole (last night) and some candy tonight. Way beyond my calorie allotment. It's very frustrating! This happens every once in awhile. Usually when we have the food in our house.

    My advice is to move on right after the craving incident. Don't let it become a day or two, or more. Keep logging your calories, but get back to the green asap. Your craving episodes should get less and less over time. But they'll probable never completely go away. I'm working on accepting these "failures" and moving on.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    This is usually not the most welcome advice, but it works very well for me: For some people, blood sugar instability is an issue that causes them to crave. The spikes and dives of blood sugar after consuming carbs - especially flour and sugar - can create urges to eat that are very powerful. I got tired of fighting those urges. Actually it's more truthful to say I got tired of not being successful fighting those urges.

    Since I cut out all refined sugar and flour and other high glycemic carbs from my diet, I'm much more in control of my appetite. It's nothing short of miraculous to me that I served pot stickers to my family tonight and had no desire to have one. I happily ate my tri-tip and mustard greens and green beans and sipped my water. No feelings of panic or anguish anymore and it's such a relief.

    When I first made the switch, I was devastated to say goodbye to sugar. I thought I was embarking on a life devoid of pleasure and spontaneity and fun. After enduring the first few hard days though, I felt like I had woken up from a bad dream. Being "addicted" to sugar was a nightmare for me. Eating out of control was not pleasurable, spontaneous or fun. I was a slave to my cravings and all the horrid consequences of eating inappropriately that robbed me of my health and my beauty and my self-esteem.

    I personally think it's a good idea for anyone struggling with cravings to try a low glycemic diet with no refined sugar for a few weeks. Who knows what you will discover? Your experience will be your own.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
    Depending on the craving, I either avoid it altogether or find room for it. I quit drinking soda, and now I don't crave it on a daily, or even weekly basis. I don't drink any of that or sugary drinks except for special occasions. I quit eating out because I didn't have the money. I don't really crave that either, now, but it took a while for that to happen. Now things like Kit kats and Ice cream, I work into my calories (or sometimes go over, lol) but I see those going overs as a work in progress. Some days I'll do better, other days I mess up. With kit kats I never want just one, so when I eat one, it's either right before I leave the house or go to bed, or then I will chew mint gum afterwards until it goes away.

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