I've been trying to think of many ways and ideas to curb the cravings that come with trying to lose weight. When you think about it, if we all could just ignore or make the cravings disappear, we would all be closer to our goal weights!
What do you do when the craving bug hits?
Personally, I try to:
-Drink a ton of water first
-Try to wait 30 mins to see if the craving goes away
-Distract myself with something
-Weigh myself
-Eat a healthier, lower calorie version of what I really want
-Go for a walk, or exercise
-Calculate how many calories I ate that day, and see if I could fit it in
Any other ideas?????? I'm sure we could all use them...
I try on a tight shirt or one of my "inspirational" pieces, that are small but not so much that I don't think I can't ever wear it. Seeing that I'm close to my mini goal of getting in something that I really like is very effective for me to curb the craving.
I'm not quite a 20-something anymore- but I hope you don't mind if I add my tip anyway.
I figure out how many calories the item has- then I do extra exercise (it has to be replacing time that I would otherwise be inactive) until I have burned that number of calories. This accomplishes 3 things:
1.) I get my treat (and hopefully curb the craving)
2.) I get some exercise, and have no net calorie gain from the treat
3.) The next time I have a craving for that item, I have a clear picture of just how much I am going to have to work to "pay" for the treat. I find I'm much more likely to crave 200 cal items then 600 now!
First and foremost, I make sure I eat 3 well balanced meals every day. Then if I want a half cup of ice cream or a couple of small pieces of dark chocolate, I feel justified in doing so. I find that sweet cravings are usually pacified by eating a couple pieces of fruit. Now salty stuff is another story. I do like pretzels and baked chips. I make sure I eat less sodium in all of my other meals to compensate for the excess sodium.
Have some sugar free gum or gum drop. I use this for my cravings for cigarettes and just the action of doing something helps.
So long as you do treat yourself occasionally and allow you to indulge a little I think it could help avoid cravings later on. Have a piece of dark chocolate a couple of times per week as a reward for staying on track.
Drinking water is great. At night if I feel like snacking I have about a teaspoon of lite cordial in a litre of water and just that little bit of sweetness makes me feel as though I have treated myself.
I am not a big sweet tooth but they haven't made a pizza flavoured cordial yet - ewww!
I try to distract myself usually, or talk myself out of it. Sometime I will have a little of whatever I am craving if it isn't one of those foods that it's impossible for me to have a little of. It's hard. Sometimes I will have some coffee or soup because that kills my appitite for the moment.
for a while now Ive been in the aukward position of being hungry or having cravings but not know what for - so I can eating healthier versions like fruit.
but with cravings that are bad, Ill drink, give it a while then give in, not to the extent of 'OMG WAT DID I DO!!' but just enough to satisfy and enjoy
I used to feel like I was going to DIE some of my cravings were so bad!!! Then I made the decision to cut refined sugar from my diet and I can honestly say I don't really crave anything... I've learned to look at food as fuel instead of gratification. Tonight I was cleaning out the freezer and found a tub of chocolate icecream... it would have been a dealbreaker a few months back but I just tasted a spoonful and chucked it, no big deal . It's ok to eat the things you love, in moderation! I've learned that for ME, refined sugar is not ok... fruit satisfies my sweet tooth just fine .
I rarely get cravings, but when I do, I'll be kind to myself.
For me personally, This might not work for everyone, but I let myself have the tiniest bit. If I get a single spoon of strawberry ice cream, It'll satisfy me for the week. It's worth it to me. It tastes so much better when thats all you allow yourself to have. I used to eat scoops and scoops of it, but after you eat so much of it, it all blends into itself and doesn't taste as good! If it's something that I haven't had for a long time, and I just want to have it again, I'll allow myself it.
I think its important to have realistic goals and realistic rewards. I can't expect myself to never want my favorite type of ice cream again. So, I'll let myself have a little bit.
Some of this may seem drastic....but I've been on some serious binges, so i use them all!
I look at the clock and set a time (usually 30 minutes to an hour away) and I pick 2 things I'm going to accomplish before then....if I'm still dying for the food, I eat it
I weigh myself....
I will eat a bite of what I want and throw the rest in the trash (the BOTTOM) of the trash.
I do some online shopping, find something I want on ebay, or amazon and tell myself if I make it through the day and DON'T eat it I can buy this thing instead
-looking at the label is usually enough to scare me off.
- fruit (especially oranges and strawberries) usually curb my sugar cravings. I've also found that iced tea with lemon and Splenda works pretty well, too.
Now the chocolate cravings... Well, there's just nothing I can do about that.
How do you curb cravings?
