What is the trick you use to over power your craving? No matter what the craving is... what do you do to stop yourself from indulging or possibly haveing a binge?
I try to distract myself with something else I have to do, or sometimes try to choose a healthier alternative to whatever it is I have a craving for. Getting it off your mind is the biggest thing.
And STAY AWAY from the kitchen! I try to go as far from the refrigerator as possible. That way, I have to consciously go get food and it takes longer.
I wait it out. Distract myself. Come on here. Watch some stupid YouTube videos. Search for new music on iTunes. Take a bath. Chew some gum. Have a cup of tea. For me, it goes away maybe after 30 minutes . . . And then I'm fine.
Having a cup of tea is my favorite method as well - or finding an alternative.
At the moment I am loving hot cocoa with equal. It comes out at about 50 calories for a whole mug full and totally satisfies my potentially far more dangerous chocolate craving lol.
I'll also go for a walk or a run, read a book, dance around my living room - anything to take my mind off the craving.
IF I still feel like it after about an hour I will indulge it. I have found that by that time I usually don't want it any more but if I do then I am quite okay having only a small amount. That way I don't feel deprived and start resenting myself and healthy eating.
I also love hot cocoa. They make the no sugar added Swiss Miss. I haven't tried the diet kind, but it doesn't sound great. Swiss Miss is only 80 calories, no fat. But it is a whopping serving. I only need two tbls for a mug full. A serving is a quarter cup.
I lost a ton of weight in high school without even trying by drinking ice water with a slice of gingerroot and a slice of lemon. Very good for satiating the appetite. It is great for sports because I think gatorade is just empty calories.
I also have a picture of myself that I hate. I look at it a lot to remind me why I am doing this. I was very unhappy at my starting weight and was scared that I would learn to accept the new size. Now I feel like I have already met my goal, even though I am about 25 pounds away. I JUST feel good and like who I am when I control what I do.
I love hot baths. I get some great mags and crosswords and take a nice bath while my son naps or sometimes I take him in with me (he is a 10-month old). Then we both take naps. I think Renee Zellweger said that when she would lose weight after Bridget Jones movies she would walk a lot and sleep a lot. Sleep words wonders for me.
I also have a couple exercise dvds. Jillian Michaels has a heinous one called 30-day shred. I will cheat and still be really sore. I have always considered myself super athletic until I met that dvd.
As far as binging, I have replaced every single food I have or love with much healthier version. That way, the damage is rarely irreversible. I love Snackwells. I love the 100-cal packs. I love omelets so I replace two eggs out of a three egg omelet with egg whites. I have a lot of fudge pudding pops, Jello pudding. Wal-Mart carries a sugar free angel food cake that is soooo low in calories. I put some berries with that and top it with a little sugar free whipped cream by land of lakes. Perfection.
I hope some of these help. I also get on the internet and look at some of the pics of the people who have met their goals. I am amazed every time.
I always take a full 5 minutes to think whether or not I really want to eat what I think I want, and why. If it's not a good enough reason (like, "I'm actually physically hungry"), I try MY BEST not to let myself have it.
Orrrrrrrr I just try to think back to a time when I was a size 16 and think about my now-size-12 jeans and almost always decide not to have whatever it is that's bad.
I grab a water bottle...or what I found works really well, since I do not drink anything but water (milk only with multi grain cheerios), I have cyrstal light packets. If I'm craving something sour, I'll get a lemon lime one and pour it into my water. Only 5 calories, and satisfies my cravings.
i know this doesn't work for everyone, but if i feel a craving that could be potentially bad, i drink a little bit of diet soda. the combination of the sweet and bubbly really fills me up and kills cravings.
My cravings usually happen after dinner, when I'm lounging around after the day's done watching TV or just chilling out on the couch... if the cravings get really bad and I'm dangerously close to eating random stuff in the kitchen (which then can turn into a binge, easily), I just brush my teeth thoroughly and read a book in bed until it's time to sleep. I sleep early anyways, but as long as I'm not on the couch or in the kitchen, I won't eat.
Maybe won't work for people who stay up late... but I wake up at 6am and going to bed around 9:30-10pm is no problem for me! I love sleep!
Another time I've taken the dog out for a quick, brisk walk around the block. He got to pee and I got to refocus on my priorities. I feel safe walking around with him at night because he's a ferocious pitbull
i drink cold water if i am craving....
nust admit it doesnt happen very often anymore....
i tend to eat what i normally do in a day (cereal fruit, salad) and if i get peckish later on eat a home made cake - least i know wot mum puts into them!....
I'm really competitive, so I compete with myself to see if I can overcome the craving. If I don't give in to the craving..I win, if I do give into the craving..I lose. Works every time, because I hate losing.
Another vote for tea! Or something really high in fiber (read: filling) like carrots. If I eat 2-3 carrots there's usually not room for anything else for at least a little while... and hopefully the craving has passed by then.
Or I find something else to do with my hands, like gardening or knitting or something like that.
OR, if I really, really want it, I'll go on fitday and figure out if I can eat a small portion of whatever I'm craving and stay within my planned calories for the day. With something like chocolate, this often works really well. If I'm craving something really starchy or sugary, not so much... it's too hard to stop once I've started.
TEA is so good, really fills your tum *she says slurping one*
PHOTO's on all my old crave, snack points like me at 242 on the busicuit tin, nothing says dont blow it like a picture where u look your worst!