What are your favorite craving crushing foods?

For sweet cravings, fruit with yogurt usually works for me. Gum also does the trick.

Plain Greek yogurt with a little monkfruit, strawberries, and blueberries is great when I'm craving sweets. Same with apples.

Instead of ice cream or candy bars I really like the chobani flips. Especially the s’mores and chocolate chip cookie ones. So good and satisfy the sweetie in me

For salt cravings, I have more salt.

I was wanting something salty mid-afternoon, and fixed this by adding a little more salt to my lunchtime smoothie.

For salt cravings, sauerkraut, pickles, or kim chi are good choices.

On the sweet side, I'm all for the fruit and/or yogurt others have mentioned, or a modest-sized but very good chocolate. Frozen cherries (still frozen) with plain nonfat yogurt and some chocolate PB2 peanut butter was a favored summer treat when I was losing weight.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

For salt cravings, sauerkraut, pickles, or kim chi are good choices.

Exactly this. Or some radish or kohlrabi with a little salt on it.

On the sweet side, I'm all for the fruit and/or yogurt others have mentioned, or a modest-sized but very good chocolate. Frozen cherries (still frozen) with plain nonfat yogurt and some chocolate PB2 peanut butter was a favored summer treat when I was losing weight.

My standby right now is fruit too. In addition to all the amazing fresh fruit, one option I like is to blend and freeze strawberries or raspberries in an ice tray (or you can get popsicle mold thingies, and then eat those if it's hot and I want something a little sweet.

I'm more likely to crave fruit than merely "sweet" anyway.

One trick if you are craving a particular dish is to think about what aspect of the dish you are craving -- all of it, or simply an element? I used to have these buffalo chicken sandwiches from a take out place as an indulgence, but when I thought about it I really just want the buffalo sauce, so now I have other dishes that use that or something similar but don't have all the extra cals. I used to really enjoy coming up with ways to recreate the taste I wanted within the context of my normal dinner/cals, etc.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

acpgee wrote: »

If you are craving a crispy carby snack along the lines of potato chips, I find a lot of snacks sold for deep frying at home puff and crisp up in the microwave. Poppadums (about 60 seconds) and asian prawn crackers (about 30 seconds).

Another option is a few pasta para duros (a wagon-wheel shaped slightly orange-ish looking Mexican pasta, usually available somewhere in a big grocery store that's mysteriously not the pasta aisle - bulk produce area, in my store, near other Mexican/South American specialities; or in a specialty grocery).

Traditionally, they're deep-fried, but I like to take a few, dampen with water, then coat with a popcorn salt/chili powder mix, and microwave flat on a plate (watch closely: like the puppodums, they shift from done to burned fast). They puff up and are crunchy, salty and spicy. (The duros by themselves are very neutral tasting.) Obviously, different spices could be used, or a little lime juice instead of water would be good.

Great idea to dampen and coat with flavoured salt. Vietnamese rice papers (sold for soaking in water for wrapping up summer rolls) also crisp and puff to a nice texture in the microwave but I found them a little bland. In the US do they also sell corn chips to deep fry at home? I wonder if you could make fat free tortilla chips in the microwave?

acpgee wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

acpgee wrote: »

If you are craving a crispy carby snack along the lines of potato chips, I find a lot of snacks sold for deep frying at home puff and crisp up in the microwave. Poppadums (about 60 seconds) and asian prawn crackers (about 30 seconds).

Another option is a few pasta para duros (a wagon-wheel shaped slightly orange-ish looking Mexican pasta, usually available somewhere in a big grocery store that's mysteriously not the pasta aisle - bulk produce area, in my store, near other Mexican/South American specialities; or in a specialty grocery).

Traditionally, they're deep-fried, but I like to take a few, dampen with water, then coat with a popcorn salt/chili powder mix, and microwave flat on a plate (watch closely: like the puppodums, they shift from done to burned fast). They puff up and are crunchy, salty and spicy. (The duros by themselves are very neutral tasting.) Obviously, different spices could be used, or a little lime juice instead of water would be good.

Great idea to dampen and coat with flavoured salt. Vietnamese rice papers (sold for soaking in water for wrapping up summer rolls) also crisp and puff to a nice texture in the microwave but I found them a little bland. In the US do they also sell corn chips to deep fry at home? I wonder if you could make fat free tortilla chips in the microwave?

I haven't seen raw corn chips here, but have seen uncooked whole tortillas. There may be chips at the appropriate specialty grocery shops, but I haven't checked.

I've been obsessed with making tortilla pizzas. Take a tortilla (corn or whole wheat usually for me), then top with whatever pizza stuff you want. I like reduced fat red pesto, artichokes, assorted veg, some grated cheddar or goat cheese. Grill for 10 min. Voila.

Also a big fan of yoghurt, berries, Pb2 or real peanut butter, bit of cereal or one biscuit for crunch. Or tonight I had 50g of ice cream but bulked it up with 100g of yoghurt. Or I'll have oatmeal with chocolate protein powder and fruit as a dessert. Sometimes I bake it and it turns into a pancake type thing.

I find trying to eat a meal with all zucchini/courgette pasta not filling enough, so I do half actual pasta and half courgette as a compromise. More filling/less deprivation.

Salt & vinegar rice cakes instead of crisps, or the ones made from lentils or chickpeas so they have a bit more fibre/protein.