I've been on my weight loss track for about a month now. So far everything has gone pretty well, it hasn't been too tough. However, this week I have had continual cravings, and feeling like I just HAVE to eat something even if I'm not hungry. What is ridiculous about that is this Friday is my big weigh in for the month and I really can't blow it now. I was wondering if you have any tricks or things you do to get over cravings and the munchies. I try to ignore it as long as I can, but if I can't I either have a very little bit of something bad. Or I make myself a healthier snack, for example if my calories are low for the day I might have half an english muffin with peanut butter. Or if I am low on extra calories I might make some popcorn on the stove with a little bit of olive oil.
If you just can’t control yourself and have to chew something, eat fruits. Apple, peach, grape. Any fruit except banana or avocado. Even if you have to eat lots of them. They will fill you up and take care of the cravings.
You need something sweet?
Cut one apple in a half put some cinnamon and sweeter on top, put it in the oven until it gets soft. It’s delicious and won’t be bad for your diet.
PS: I can’t really explain the reason, but I read in many places to eat fruit in an empty stomach. And also don’t mix them with anything else. Just eat the fruits mix an match them if you want, but don’t have any other type of food with them. Works great for me.
I'm not a huge fan of Wasa crackers, but it's not half bad with the laughing cow.
As far as fruit goes, I may be in the minority here, but it always triggers my hunger pains or makes them worse. While I do eat a lot of fruit, I just can't use it to quiet my tummy.
If you can have snacks, there are tons of options. I find veggies with hummus, cheese, a cup of veggie soup, a seving of almonds, half an avocado all tend to fill me up.
If you can't afford the calories, I've found that taking a walk, even for just 10-15 minutes helps, if only to get me away from the snacks I've also been drinking a lot of flavored seltzer (unsweetened, so 0 calories) and have noticed the bubbles help settle my stomach.
Another great way to curb the munchies is everytime you are feeling like you want something in particular write it down on a piece of paper and then try and make a many healthy words out of the letters as you can. By the time you are done with that your craving has normally passed. It's usually mostly in our head that we want and need these things so changing your thinking while craving usuallyu works. Also drinking lots of water helps me.
Hope that helps ya
When I have the munchies but I KNOW I'm not really hungry I try and distract myself with busy work. Usually I only get the munchies and want to snack when I'm bored or watching tv. If I get up and clean something, organize something or just DO something with my hands my mind drifts away from food as I focus on something else. And if that fails, I get out of the house for some kind of activity so that I'm nowhere near food (and I leave my money at home).
Good idea leaving the house and not taking money! Sometimes I am starvin when I get out of work...and my apartment is less then a mile away. But for those few minutes I think, well I could just stop at Del Taco and get something really quick. By the time I think that I am home so I can just make something for myself! I HATE CRAVINGS
I know I often get "mouth hungry" rather than real hungry, so I either drink water, chew gum, or munch some low-fat popcorn. It seems to do the trick for me.
speaking of cravings. My boyfriends son wanted me to make him some cookies so he can take them home with him tonight. So there i was making some chocolate chip cookies and then ..... I ATE ONE! Actually thought, I can't remember the last time i had a cookie so I guess it is't all bad..but still
One of my biggest issues is TV munching...I don't watch a lot of TV, so when I do (always on the weekend), I'm used to eating because that's what I've always done. I don't think I can actually sit and watch TV without something to eat or drink. That's why when I have the munchies, I read; I chew gum, I make some tea, eat some fruit with a ton of water…whatever keeps me away from my sweet/salty.
I definitely always get "mouth hungry" too! Just last night, a little bit after I'd had dinner I had the WORST craving for something chocolatey... No, not a chocolate rice cake but some real chocolate, LOL. It was very lucky that there wasn't any chocolate around for me to munch on, because I probably would have at least had a little nip of it!
I second (or third, or whatever) the idea of chomping gum with a good flavor instead of munching... For me it's a pretty good trick! Though for some people that actually makes them even more hungry--I guess you'd just have to try it and see how you react, heh.
If you HAVE to have a snack, my personal favorites are natural fruit leather (doesn't make me hungry like fruit does) and these ultra-thin, DELICIOUS crackers from Trader Joe's that are only 130 for 17 of them (and somehow they magically taste salty but are actually pretty low in sodium)! Those crackers are a lifesaver, man. Haha. I also love soy yogurt (I'm a vegetarian, not vegan but I avoid dairy when I can); it has a few more calories than regular yogurt BUT usually has tons of protein! OOH OOH and another thing I love is to munch on baby spinach! Totally a guilt-free snack because 2 cups of it has like 15 calories... Muahaha. I also love having salsa with pretty much everything, heh.
Hmm, I wrote a lot, so I really hope some of this helps you! Good luck curbing those darned cravings!
Its also good to know your munchy triggers. Like I mentioned mine was boredom and tv. And if you know you are going to be doing something that triggers munchies plan for it. Sundays are my lazy days and if I rent movies I know I'll be watching tv and I know I'll want to munch, so I buy good munchie foods and I plan my menu for "grazing". And example would be when the Newest Harry Potter movie came out on DVD, we got it and I bought 100 calorie popcorn bags, diet soda, lots of veggies and low cal dips, and I pre-portioned out the chips into servings in zip lock bags. While we sat and watched the movie everything I chose to munch on went into my food journal, so I was able to have my movie night and munch too.
Dealing with cravings and munchies
I've also been drinking a lot of flavored seltzer (unsweetened, so 0 calories) and have noticed the bubbles help settle my stomach.
chocolate rice cake but some real chocolate, LOL. It was very lucky that there wasn't any chocolate around for me to munch on, because I probably would have at least had a little nip of it!