Cravings -- here to stay.
 

Ok. I have a beef. All through this book, and even on the forum, people talk about how their cravings go away... and if they eat certain sugary foods, their cravings are bad.

My cravings have not subsided one single bit. I'm on the 4th day of Ph2, and I'm craving the bad things just as much as I was before I started SBD. I've been eating perfectly -- I didn't have a single cheat on Ph1. Period. (And, yes, my foods have all been perfectly OP -- except when I put 1/4 cup of shaved carrots in soup that I made, but it was so little at a time, it didn't make a difference.)

I still want pizza. I would still kill for a piece of Reduced Fat Orange Loaf from Starbucks for breakfast like I used to before SBD. I still want to drink beer after playing sports. I still want to have chips. I still want fries. I still want a hamburger from McDonalds, garlic bread from The Keg, etc, etc, etc.

Don't even get me started on chocolate bars. I'd eat them for every meal.

What I'm saying here is, what on earth is everyone talking about, that their cravings have gone away? I can hardly see it being possible. :stress:

Phew.........I thought I was the only one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy that you can't get rid of your cravings, MitteNKim, but now I know I'm not the only one who can't get rid of those thoughts.
The first time I was on phase 1, all I could think about was a bun, a big warm whole grain bun with some butter on it. Drove me nuts. I didn't go out to eat or have buns in the house the whole time.
Also, I binge. I can't have a bite of a chocolate bar, I need one. Or if there is two in the fridge, I need two. Eat till it's gone has been my motto for so long, it's so hard to break.
I have a feeling it isn't my body telling me I need to eat the pint of icecream or have that lovely bun, it's my brain being mean to me. I'm trying to look at it like this: It took me almost 28 years to get to this weight, and 28 yrs of thinking about food with the all or none method, so I can't expect to be perfect after only one month. (hopefully it won't take another 28 years though!) :lol:
I hope you can get thru the cravings.....I don't always succeed, but I'm aiming for more success than less.

You definitely aren't the only one. I wish I could say I don't even have a taste for those things anymore but that would be bull. I do. I wanted a big mac and fries so bad the other day!! HOwever, I am thinking maybe it is mental. I am so used to eating that way. Chubbamuma is right when she said we have thought about food for so long that it'll take longer than 2 weeks to stop. It is a habit like any other, we can't expect to be perfect so quickly

While I don't binge, I can't do anything in moderation. I like a whole plate of rice or a whole bag of chips (small bag in my defence....who only eats a few!??) So I guess I do binge, but when I think of binge, I think clearing the fridge. If I could do moderation, I would be so happy.

Keep going mittennkim! :) You can do it. Remember that not all of us are free of cravings!

This is an interesting one...

I found that the cravings did go away for a while, but not completely, and really only if I had enough protein to keep me full and satisfied.

I do think it is like an addiction.....I gave up smoking in 1991 and had not had a SINGLE PUFF since, until a few weeks ago when I took hold of a friend's cig and inhaled. Now why would I do that? (it was FANTASTIC, thanks for asking). I am not back on the tabs, but it did just remind me that once a smoker always a smoker. And it is the same with potatos, I reckon.

good luck with losing the weight.

Can't say that I never have cravings either, but what I have noticed is that they're much harder to control when I let myself get too hungry. The worst times I have with cravings are when I forget to eat my afternoon snack; then that time in between when I get home and when I finish making supper seems like FOREVER, and I find myself stealing things to chomp on from the fridge while I'm cooking. God forbid I go to the grocery store when I haven't had my PM snack! I'll inevitably come home with sushi or a small bag of cheetos, which seem to be my most persistent cravings.

I don't know that I'll ever stop craving those things that aren't healhy, but I really don't think that's supposed to be the point. It seems like, at least to me, that the goal is to create new cravings for healthier food and to make the old cravings just once-in-a-blue-moon things. At least when I think of it that way, it helps me avoid getting into that angry rut of thinking I can never have anything fun to eat again. I really like the food that I eat on SBD, and I think the main key to not feeling neglected is making sure you have a wide variety of food on it and making sure you continue to try new things.

Stepping down from my :soap: now. ;)

Hmmm, well, my cravings have decreased. Not to say that I wouldn't like a Snickers now and then, but it's not controlling me the way it used to. And I've found that I really can have "just a few" instead of stuffing everything in sight into my mouth. If I get a really bad craving for chocolate I might grab a small handful of mini semi-sweet choco chips and that will take care of it. If it's just something sweet in general that I crave then a sugar free jello will usually do the trick. And if I am going to the movies I'll stop by 7-11 and get a small pack of Rolos (there are 6 or 8 in the pack) and take that along and that will be all that I have at the movies. So for me the diet has helped with the cravings. Plus I've learned that it's not the end of the world if I don't eat a whole pound bag of M&M's.

Know what I found? It was the social aspects making me want the junk -- being able to go out after the softball or kickball game, have a beer and a sandwich with fries from the local pub and have a good time. Or being home, alone, "relaxing" on a weekend and wanting that bag of chips.

It's what I like to call "routine eating". I had a routine 2 years ago before I quit smoking. I'd have a cigarette in the car on the way into work, with my coffee, after lunch, at the afternoon breaktime, on the way home. I didn't crave the nicotine so much after 5 days as I did the social aspect -- having a smoke in one hand and beer in the other.

I think the same goes for bad eating. I was perfect the first time on Phase 1. And maybe because I've gone through the quitting of smoking, it was easier for me to curb the cravings? I didn't crave. But once I did dive into something OP, I was a gonner and have been for a month now. That is up until 2 days ago.

So I guess I am saying that for me, I know it's more mental -- more routines to break than actual cravings. And I know that I can't have "just one" either. That goes for cigarettes and junk food!

Okay, okay, so we all lied!! :lol3:

Well, my cravings definitely subsided! I was someone who could eat two cups of chocolate icing in one sitting!
By the end of Phase I, I was actually craving an apple for the first time in my life!
I agree with all of the girls here. And Clovey is right. Sugar is a real addiction. I think it's just something that we may struggle with for the rest of our lives.
:(

My cravings have mostly gone away. Until I'm hungry. When I'm hungry, I tend to gravitate towards the not so good things. I have to pack my lunch every day for work because I would be too tempted to go off plan.

Generally, if I don't allow myself to get too hungry. Eat my meals and snacks when I should I do ok with the cravings. I was really, really bad before.
Sarah

I did find that SBD has helped decrease my cravings for sugar and potatoes.

I will admit that I take the odd notion for some chocolate now and again but I am not having it all the time now and I can walk past a bowl of potato chips without stopping :lol: And it has been 6 months since I ate cheese puffs.

I have also been able to kick my buttertart addiction and can now go to Tim Horton's and have a coffee WITHOUT having a doughnut to go with it. :cb:

i have to say....i woke up this morning and had a craving for chocolate chip cookies....that's the first craving i've had so far and I just started phase 2 today lol

I've also found that stuff I used to pig out on doesn't taste as good anymore - and some of it tastes downright nasty. Honest! For example, I had a few Raisinetes the other day (DH was munching on a bag). I took a handful, at a few, and gave the rest back to him cause they tasted too sweet (never thought I'd say that, lol). However, I'm sure that if I "forced" myself to eat a bunch of them they would start tasting really good to me again.

i can totally agree the craving for sugar is gone for me also i now look at white bread as poison. i have not wanted either since starting this plan in feb. as a matter of fact i haven't bought a bag of sugar since before this plan and it is now all clumpy in the canister. i never realized how much sugar i actually consumed until recently.

i will also agree that i miss the social aspects of eating / drinking more than anything else, and i hate the fact that sometimes the most harmless sounding cheat can send me into weeks of falling off the plan.

When I read in the book that a slice of white bread was worst than a spoonful of table sugar:eek:....it turned me off of white bread...bring on the whole wheat and grain! :T

I do crave cornbread with some honey on it though...