Cravings
 

What healthy alternatives have you found to replace your craving for that something that you just can't live without?

Love this thread..... My number one craving on a diet is hands down 99% of the time PIZZA!

So I have found that Turkey Pepperoni tastes EXACTLY like Pepperoni and I also use either chicken sausage or a good soy protein sausage and low fat cheese with low fat/low sugar sauce and a personal boboli crust to share with my husband and its almost like the real thing. You just have to be careful to not overdo the cheese.

I also serve with a large side salad that I eat first so when I get to the pizza it is easier not to scarf it down. LOL

Well, this is an alternative but not a healthy one. When I first started, I just did not think that I could give up Cheetos, so I gave myself one ounce of baked Cheetos, 130 calories, per day. This allowance helped me develop a plan I could live with. In time, I cut back to having my baked Cheetos just a couple of times a week.

When I have chocolate cravings, I use unsweetened powdered cocoa sprinkled on things like fresh or frozen fruit, homemade larabars, smoothies, sometimes even in coffee. I also LOVE frozen peaches sprinkled with a TON of cinnamon and sweetener and eaten just like that. It really kills any sweets craving I have.

One of the HARDEST and continually challenging things for me is to let myself give in to the cravings but in very small amounts and only once in a while. It is something I struggle with even 2 years and 2 months into my journey. So, I allow myself ONE bite of my husband's pizza / pasta / chicken nugget or whatever other terrible thing he is having just to get the taste, and then I go have something healthy and delicious for myself.

I try to be very VERY good all day long, so that I can have my special dessert every night which is a treat that I look forward to and has become one of my only cravings - I make homemade "ice cream" by putting frozen strawberries, frozen yogurt cubes, sweetener and almond milk through the food processor until it has froyo consistency, and then I will add a topping or two depending on how many leftover calories I have: coco powder, unsweetened carob chips, almonds, coconut butter, coconut flakes, frozen raisins, etc.

It is all about balance.

I have a problem with craving creamy things (like cheese) and sweets.

Here are some of my favorite snacks to curb cravings:

*Apple sprinkled with cinnamon, sometimes dipped in a small amount of peanut butter
*Celery, peanut butter, and raisins (ants on a log)
*Low fat cottage cheese w/ pineapple ring
*Small handful of natural almonds
*Baby carrots, sometimes with light ranch
*Hummus and veggies for dipping
*Greek yogurt with a small amount of granola and fruit

Oh and if I'm craving cheese, laughing cow spreadable cheese wedges are soooo yummy. Weight watchers has a spreadable jalapeño cheese wedge that only has 35 calories and I spread it on the special k crackers chips...omg. Or the frigo cheese sticks have 60 calories.

I'll have fat free Greek yogurt with sweetener...so thick and creamy, yum! Sometimes I'll put it in the freezer till it thickens more. Or a smoothie with frozen no sugar added fruit and unsweetened almond milk and add a sweetener...I use sweet n low. Or take a sugar free jello pudding cup and put it in the freezer till it gets thick and creamy. All these remind me of icecream and curbs my craving for sweets. When I want something salty crunchy I have special K cracker chips...30 of them only have 110 calories and they taste alot like Pringles. Maybe some hummus for a dip with the cracker chips.

Oh and if I'm craving cheese, laughing cow spreadable cheese wedges are soooo yummy. Weight watchers has a spreadable jalapeño cheese wedge that only has 35 calories and I spread it on the special k crackers chips...omg. Or the frigo cheese sticks have 60 calories.

Wonderful ideas for me to try! I crave SALTY and there is really no healthy alternative for salty unfortunately! :(

Smallsteps....if you're craving salty, how about a pickle? How about the half and half fresh pickles that are still cucumber-y? Followed by a big glass of water, of course ;)

The main things I crave when on a diet are cheese cake and mac and cheese. To the latter, I add 2 cups of cooked broken up cauliflower to at least make it less dense and bulk up my serving. For the former, no-bake cheese cake by www.skinnytaste.com, made the mousse way and without the sugar added. However, the last time I had that crave and I made it, it gave me heartburn and I've not made it/eaten it since. It may have had nothing at all to do with the cheese cake, but that is the last memory I have attached to it. So for now, that craving has subsided.

I love these ideas here, especially the spreadable jalapeno cheese wedge, sounds DELISH!

Oh, I'm a big chips person. and I know someone on here had a recipe for low fat tortilla chips you make yourself. Since, I don't make that kind of time, I grab the mini rice cakes (my fav is sour cream and onion or cheddar) and that satisfies my chips craving :)

I never thought of pickles I will have to try that out!!