Sugar cravings anyone else?

DeButterflyx wrote: »

I'm an emotional eater. I tend to sit down at end of the day when kids go to bed and binge on junk.
Today is my first day really trying to stick to my calories with a focus on trying to hit protein target also. I'm at 114g of protein for the day currently but I can feel the urge starting to come on me to eat something sweet. I can tell its mental hunger not physical because when I'm distracted with something for a few mins it disappears until I think about it again.
I have bought some adult colouring books to sit down and chill with while I watch TV in evenings as a outlet for stress and to relax instead of using food.

That sounds like a good plan. If the root problem isn't nutrition or calories, the best solution isn't food. Another thing some people can do while watching TV is simple needlework. That, and coloring books, work best with clean hands, so that's an anti-snacking thing in itself, too.

This next doesn't work for everyone, but I found that when I made it a point to eat 3 servings of fruit every day, my cravings for less nutritious, more calorie-dense sweets were reduced after a time. (I'm not the only one who's found something like that to be helpful, but it's not universal. May be worth a try.)

Also, consider whether evening cravings may be somewhat fatigue related. When we're fatigued, our body is going to seek energy . . . which is food. If you can improve your sleep quality or quantity, that may be worth a try, too. Overly-intense exercise can increase fatigue, too: Stick with a gradual increase in exercise volume and intensity, if you're exercising, paying attention to how it affects your fatigue level and cravings. (Some people find mild exercise to reduce cravings, BTW.)

Stress adds to fatigue, so the coloring might help in that way, too. If there are other ways you can think of to reduce stress, those may also be worth experimenting with, as time goes on. Common stress reducers people mention here are that mild exercise, calming music, meditation or prayer, journaling, a nice aromatherapy bubble bath, etc.

Please tell me this passes because iv the intuitive eating messages I'd read saying "diets don't work" ready to sabotage me and I 100% know my health isn't great atm because of my weight. I can see my resting heart rate is higher than it was a few months ago when I was 1 stone lighter, my hips and lower back hurt now and BP is just OK on medication and I'm only 30

Yes, it can pass, but you can also experiment intentionally to help it pass. Some of the things above relate to that.

In addition, I'd encourage you not to fall for the "lose weight fast" drumbeat. Losing slowly but steadily can be more sustainable. A moderate loss rate you can continue for weeks and months will result in more total weight loss in less calendar time than an extreme approach that includes episodes of deprivation-induced overeating or even makes a person give up altogether. Something in the range of 0.5%-1% of current body weight lost weekly is probably reasonable, with the upper end of that mostly for people who are many tens of pounds overweight.

Very many people do succeed here on MFP. You might want to take a look over in the "Success Stories" part of the Community and read some posts there (especially those in the "Most Helpful Posts" heading there). That helped me, when I was losing. Some of the benefits of weight loss start happening along the way, too: It's not all going to wait until you hit goal weight. This huuuuge thread is excellent for understanding that:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1275030/whats-your-most-recent-nsv/p1

Personally, my high blood pressure started dropping as I was losing; so did my high cholesterol; my over-stressed joints felt less so (very gradually TBH) as I got lighter.

Eating a calorie-appropriate mix of foods (which I hesitate to call "a diet") isn't always an easy thing to transition to, from a subjective/psychological perspective (true of any major change in habits, right?) . . . but the basic mechanics of weight management are pretty simple. Find a way to be reasonably full and generally happy/well-nourished on the right calorie level, and bodyweight will respond. That may not happen instantly, it certainly won't be linear (X pounds every single week), but it can and will happen.

You can do this!

Plus I feel crap about how I look and fed up feeling that way. But this has to be sustainable

You said a mouthful, in the sentence I bolded. In my view, sustainable (i.e., relatively easy) is the key thing, and that will be somewhat individualized in detailed tactics for each of us, because we each have different preferences, strengths, limitations, and challenges. That means we may have to experiment with different approaches along the way, to find the best personal route. Something that doesn't work isn't "a failure", it's an opportunity to learn and adjust. You can do that. Then, try something new. Rinse and repeat. Just keep going.

I'm cheering for you!

P.S. My experience was that the quality of life rewards of being/staying at a healthy weight are truly major. I was overweight/obese for almost 30 years. I've been at a healthy weight for about 7 years so far since, and I'm very determined to stay there. So worth it!

Here's Donna's recent sugar thread, which might have some good tips for you:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10876801/sugar-addict

@DeButterflyx I struggle with exactly the same thing!! I’ve had sweets after dinner my whole life. It doesn’t matter how full I am. Even if I’m so full from a large dinner that I can barely eat a bite, the craving still comes. I follow a lot of body positive / plus size blogs on Tumblr because they make me feel better about my size. But yeah I see tons of anti-dieting, intuitive eating, “listen to your body” stuff and I honestly have mixed feelings about it because it really resonates with me emotionally but I know if I eat whatever I feel like I’ll eat so much I get sick.

I’ve noticed I’m conditioned to associate certain places/times with sweets. After dinner is my ice cream time and the cravings are so intense, I just haven’t been able to stop eating it but I’ve been able to reduce it. I still need to have a little just so to get some relief from the craving.

I lay down after dinner because I eat large portions so I’m really too full to do anything else. So after dinner is my TV time for the next few hours usually until I go to bed. I used to mindlessly snack every time I watched TV. Even if I was super full from dinner, somehow I would still go through bags of M&Ms or boxes of cupcakes. I’m embarrassed to talk about just how much.

It’s so engrained in me from years of habit that couch equals sweets, so I can’t even lay down on the couch without overwhelming cravings for sweets. It sounds funny but I have found that just changing rooms and laying on my bed to watch TV instead of the couch, helps a lot!! I know it’s not the healthiest but I drink a ton of Diet Coke during my TV time now. It helps me keep something sweet in my mouth without the calories.

I really need an accountability partner who “gets” the struggle and will check in with me every day. Can I add you?