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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
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Firstly, you're not the only one. When I go on too strict a diet, or too high a carbohydrate one, it triggers wild mood swings. I think there are physiological as well as emotional reasons.
(oh, and you might try Pepsi One. I think it tastes more like "real" colas than any other diet. My personal favorite though is Diet Mountain Dew Code Red)
Is it a coke AND a candybar that you want?
Is this a nightly "ritual" for you, and if so how long have you been doing it?
Is it specifically the cola and chocolate that you want, or will any high-carb food do? (In other words is it the caffeine, or the sugar that's the biggest culprit in the craving)?
I don't really need the answers, but the answers or finding them can help you figure it out how to stop them.
Even if you don't know, it's not that big a deal. There are things you can do to try and minimize the impact.
Cold turkey is always an option, but often the symptoms get worse before they get better, so if you're not prepared for that, you could try tapering off. You could dilute your coke each night with higher and higher percentages of caffeine free diet coke (and if you later want to wean from that you can dilute it the same way with carbonated or regular water).
Likewise, for candy bars. I generally am not a fan of "diet" candybars, because they often use the sugar alcohols which can give you a bad case of bathroom issues (the last thing you want to kick in during the middle of the night). But you can pick better and better selections. Either switching to the bite size candy bars (first with the number that are equivalent to the full size bar, and then cutting back a piece each night). Or you could switch to dark chocolate that packs more wallop often for fewer calories (but check the label).
A can of regular Coke (12 oz) AND a regular sized (2 to 2.5 oz) candybar have a whopping 400 calories. That's a lot of empty calories. To some degree you might be able to fit small portions of empty calories into your day, and still have a balanced, hunger-controlling diet, but the key is going to be either very small portions, or very occasionally.
If it's the sense of deprivation that you think is bothering you the most, then changeing your viewpoint to your new way of eating is a way to pamper, not punish yourself (you won't believe yourself at first, but keep talking). If budget allows (and it usually will, because what you are giving up, will free up at least some cash) find light options that still seem "indulgent."
For me that means my virgin frozen strawberry daquiri. Frozen unsweetened strawberries go into a blender with some diet mountain dew or Crystal Light lemonade and puree (you can also use your food processor and just add less liquid. It makes a sorbet that you can eat as is, or stir with more liquid into a glass). I used to have to add a little Splenda, but my tastes have changed to the point that I don't need to. The original recipe (from a Healthy Exchanges Cookbook) also included a package of sugar free jello (dry powder), but if you use that it MUST be Jell-O brand or it coagulates oddly (I know I tried it, with both). Personally, I didn't think the Jell-O added anything to the beverage, it just made it super-sticky sweet.
Or my decadent South American shrimp cocktail. Cooked frozen shrimp (from Aldi's under $5 per package will yield several servings), thawed in running water (only takes a few minutes). Stirred into a good fresh salsa with onion and cilantro (also available at Aldi's in the refrigerator section for under $2.50). If you can't find a good fresh salsa then just stir a little green onion and cilantro into Pace or a similar jarred salsa. In the restaurant, they add a generous helping of diced avocado. Occasionally I will do this at home, but with far less avocado. Portion control is very important here, because a whole avocado is pretty high in calorie (I want to say 400 calories an avocado, but you'd want to look that up, as I'm not sure).
Another way I pamper myself is with fresh fruit that "seems" expensive (until you compare it to what you're willing to pay for candy bars, etc). Fresh pineapple (the "gold" hybrids are always sweeter), ugli fruit (a grapefruit/tangerine hybrid that tastes like lemonade - sometimes $2 a fruit. Don't get these very often), fresh blackberries, Queen Anne cherries (the yellow ones)... an apple with a VERY thin shmeer of chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella, but about half the price for Aldi's version, which I think is even better than Nutella).
Beware the hazelnut spread though. I can't have this in the house during TOM at all, because I'll eat to the bottom of the jar in one day (the equivalent of about 5 to 6 candybars). In the winter, I also seem to "abuse" it also, though in the summer I'm usually ok with using it sensibly (don't know why, probably boredom).
I, however, am VERY carb-sensitive. I tend to overeat high carb food (even the "good" low GI carb foods) if I don't monitor my portions in some way (calorie counting, or my preferred method an exchange plan). Sugar and carbs are such a big trigger for me, I have to be very careful. My weight loss would be faster if I gave them up completely, but instead I struggle with finding an acceptable balance. Overall, my diet is relatively low-carb, because it controls hunger better. If I do have something high in carbs (like said, chocolate shmeered apple), I tend to have it for breakfast (ideally right before I'm heading out the door, so there isn't much of an opportunity for "seconds") or as a bedtime snack (I really only recommend this if you know that once you're in bed, comfort will over-ride cravings, so you won't get out of bed to have a snack).
Anyway, just a few suggestions. None of them may apply to you, but you'll find your own ways to pamper yourself, and to wean off or substitute indulgences.
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