[imabehot]

I have not lostany weight. My craving are overbearing. Once I crave I can't stop thinking about it! Please please please help!

[pixelllate]

Just accept that you can't fight them cause those things are delicious. Question how overbearing they are, those foods will always be there and you can have them today or tomorrow etc. If you miss out for one day, its not like you cant have them in the future. There will never be a famine.

[sammymilner]

Chocolate is a big problem of mine too

Never heard of potato chips so I know thats not a problem for me - are they like chips?

Well for me I have found that if you have some dark chocolate it fixes my craving and then I stop wanting it as much. Plus I also find that if you don't give your body what it wants we just end up bingeing - so why not do the chocolate thing in moderation.

Such as having 5 small squares of milk chocolate or having low calorie yoghurts or puddings with small amounts of chocolate. For example I normally have some zero calorie jelly, plus angel delight (diet version) followed by a cadburys flake on top. Its a lot less calories than a big bar of chocolate and is very satisfying.

If you are talking about chips - I have bought an airfryer to make my chips in and they taste amazing and because its literally 1 potato and 1 tablespoon of olive oil they are much lower in calories than going to the chippy.

[ReNew Me]

Originally Posted by sammymilner

Chocolate is a big problem of mine too

Never heard of potato chips so I know thats not a problem for me - are they like chips?

No, what Brits call chips the US calls French fries.

Potato chips in the US are crisps in the UK.

[Palestrina]

Originally Posted by imabehot

I have not lostany weight. My craving are overbearing. Once I crave I can't stop thinking about it! Please please please help!

When your body wants something it won't stop thinking about it until it gets it. The more you fight it the more intense the cravings get. I give in to my cravings but I make sure that I sit down and eat those foods mindfully. I don't open up a bag of potato chips and sit on the couch and go to town. I pour out a serving in a bowl, sit down without distraction and then enjoy every chip. I think about the flavor, the saltiness, the crispness, the texture, and I linger after every chip. By taking the time to enjoy it (rather than scarf it down guiltily) I find myself being satisfied and then not craving it any more.

[LiannaKole]

I don't have any solid advice, since this is exactly what I've been struggling with for years. If you mean cravings where you can't think about anything else until you eat X food, then I'm right there with ya.

Unlike the other people who posted, 9/10 times I cannot eat the food I crave or else I'll spiral out of control. Most often my overbearing cravings aren't for a serving of X or Y, it's for a whole bag/box of it. One serving won't do, and trying to only do that leads to a worse overeating episode than if I'd just resisted. For me, moderation doesn't work most times.

For me, I always feel like I might actually die if I don't eat X food, or my body starts getting achy if I resist too long, I can't think about anything else, and it literally feels like the sensation will never end if I don't give in. I don't know what causes these cravings, but it can be really brutal.

One good things is that, for me, the cravings for specific foods change over time. I used to not be able to have peanut butter in the house without eating the whole jar. Now I have no problem with it.

I have not found a solution other than to give in to the cravings and steadily gain weight. That is not an option for me, and I assume it isn't for you either. But there are a few things that have helped me in the past, and some that I'm trying now.

Things I've noticed have helped are:

1. Don't let yourself get too hungry. It ramps up the urgency of the craving, which is very bad.

2. Distract yourself. Do something you get absorbed in. It doesn't need to be super fun, just something that uses up your attention so you don't think about food. For me, it has to distract me mentally or it doesn't work.

3. Run away. If I start feeling the cravings growing, I will flee the room/house/etc. to save myself.

4. Whatever you crave, don't bring it in the house. This may not work if you don't live alone (I don't, so this is always a fail).

5. White-knuckle through it. Sometime, anyway. There will be some cravings that you just can't shake until they go away, and nothing is enough of a distraction. Just hang on, keep reminding yourself why you don't give in, and believe that the cravings WILL go away eventually. This won't work for every time, since it's very draining on your willpower and energy. But once in a while it's what's needed.

Often it is just time that's needed for some cravings to go away. However, it can be a lot of time, and it may come in waves. I've gone several days with nearly constant, almost overwhelming cravings. It's very tiring, and at the end of the several days it's like I've been hit by a bus. It's very hard to resist that long. And it doesn't even feel that rewarding when I do, honestly. But it's what needs to be done.

Anway, that's a very long answer for what is probably a simple problem. For me, cravings are rough and complex. If it's the same for you, I hope any of those tips help at all. If it's not the same for you, I'm very glad (they're not fun).

Good luck with your weight loss!

[Streudel]

Originally Posted by Wannabeskinny

When your body wants something it won't stop thinking about it until it gets it. The more you fight it the more intense the cravings get. I give in to my cravings but I make sure that I sit down and eat those foods mindfully. I don't open up a bag of potato chips and sit on the couch and go to town. I pour out a serving in a bowl, sit down without distraction and then enjoy every chip. I think about the flavor, the saltiness, the crispness, the texture, and I linger after every chip. By taking the time to enjoy it (rather than scarf it down guiltily) I find myself being satisfied and then not craving it any more.

I totally agree with this. I usually allow myself to have what I'm craving in a small portion every day until I'm tired of it. If I want more than a serving, telling myself that I'll have it again the next day, for breakfast or even at every meal, keeps me from bingeing on it.

Here's my best chocolate tip. Get hooked on the best stuff you can find.

I used to be one of those folks who would eat any and every kind of chocolate. As a kid, I ate Easter and Halloween chocolate until I was ill. Didn't matter if it was cheap dollar store chocolate, stuff that had melted in my car, or old stale chocolate with bloom all over it. Nothing ever lasted in my house. If I bought a bag of mini Snickers, I'd keep hitting them every time I went in the kitchen until they were gone. I'd stuff my pockets, hide the wrappers in the bottom of the trash can because I was ashamed of my eating, but I wouldn't stop.

At some point, I decided to become a food snob. If I'm going to " spend " the calories, only the best will do. I discovered organic Belgian chocolate. M&M's just don't cut it anymore. This Halloween I bought myself Lindt truffles. I didn't touch any Halloween candy, and I still have 6 truffles left out of a dozen.

.Hope this helps. Hang in there, you can do it!

[Palestrina]

Originally Posted by LiannaKole

Unlike the other people who posted, 9/10 times I cannot eat the food I crave or else I'll spiral out of control. Most often my overbearing cravings aren't for a serving of X or Y, it's for a whole bag/box of it. One serving won't do, and trying to only do that leads to a worse overeating episode than if I'd just resisted. For me, moderation doesn't work most times.

For me, I always feel like I might actually die if I don't eat X food, or my body starts getting achy if I resist too long, I can't think about anything else, and it literally feels like the sensation will never end if I don't give in. I don't know what causes these cravings, but it can be really brutal.

3. Run away. If I start feeling the cravings growing, I will flee the room/house/etc. to save myself.

5. White-knuckle through it. Sometime, anyway. There will be some cravings that you just can't shake until they go away, and nothing is enough of a distraction. Just hang on, keep reminding yourself why you don't give in, and believe that the cravings WILL go away eventually. This won't work for every time, since it's very draining on your willpower and energy. But once in a while it's what's needed.

...I've gone several days with nearly constant, almost overwhelming cravings. It's very tiring, and at the end of the several days it's like I've been hit by a bus. It's very hard to resist that long. And it doesn't even feel that rewarding when I do, honestly. But it's what needs to be done.

Anway, that's a very long answer for what is probably a simple problem. For me, cravings are rough and complex.

Reading this post is almost painful. Partly because I've been there and mostly because I know that this is completely avoidable. What you describe here sounds like pure torture, and I can understand that cravings can be intense but these types of cravings have nothing to do with hunger and furthermore nothing to do with your body. If you go to youtube and do a quick search on emotional hunger vs physical hunger you'll begin to get a better idea on how to differentiate between the 2. What you describe is not real hunger, it's clearly non-hunger eating or emotional eating or whatever else you want to call it. It's a psychological state of mind with real physiological consequences, but it is not a food problem and it cannot be solved with food or with the abstinence of food.

I got a lot out of Josie Spinardi's youtube videos, she has a good way of explaining these things much better than I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPcySDVHMzg She calls emotional hunger "fake hunger" it goes by different names, non hunger eating, emotional hunger etc. And just know that you're not alone in dealing with this and you absolutely can stop these cravings by identifying them for what they are rather than being afraid of them.

[superfluous]

The only thing that worked for me is to keep those foods out of the house entirely.

[pixelllate]

Hey Lianna, I whiteknuckle it too. OP to me while doing that method sounds awful and extreme, its really not so bad in my experience. I only have a moment or so where I feel awful about it. Its not nearly as bad as how I feel when I do decide to go with those cravings (regularly) while know that I am sustain a habit that I ultimately don't want when I consider ALL my goals - food and body wise. I don't ever consider myself or anyone else to be a bad person for doing so, its certainly not a crime! However, it does feel better to me to fulfill my ultimate goals - daily craving vs. overall dietary goals.