Back-story: This is day 3 of my diet, and so far I've done fairly good except for the white-chocolate bread pudding my husband and I split for desert last night at Biaggi's. Anyway, I'm a total carb-aholic and my absolute favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese. I'm trying to follow the core plan's regimen of 1 serving of pasta, rice, or potatoes no more than once per day.

So, my husband needed the computer for a few minutes, so I laid down on the couch for a brief rest/nap. While there, I started "dreaming" of macaroni and cheese. And I wasn't just eating it. I was gorging myself on it right out of the pan. I actually used to do this as a kid when my parents weren't watching and when I was home alone and then in college, I could eat a whole box of mac and cheese by myself. My husband, Samuel, has taken it upon himself to be the carb police, so there's no way I could have any with him around. I actually began to think, "When will I be home by myself without him so I can make or get some mac and cheese?" I'm so glad he's home now, because if he weren't I would probably be headed to the grocery store for a box.

It made me want to cry. I feel like such a loser! I love food and I love to eat. One of the reasons I'm a complete failure when it comes to dieting because I get so depressed as dieting usually means giving up most of my favorite foods for stuff I try to tell myself is exotic and wonderful (i.e. steamed veggies with tofu. Yum! ) and I completely crash at some point and give in to my craving for something that will make me happy - at least until I step on the scale.

I'm so sorry this has gone on so long, but I needed to get it out. I also had some low-fat popcorn to snack on, which has helped some. I hope this website and forum are the keys to getting me over that craving hump that has stopped me every other time. What do you guys do when you have cravings like these? And have you found healthy, diet-friendly foods to get excited about?

oh honey! i can understand how you feel the first week is always hard! Are you doing weight watchers core plan? if you are then use you weekly allowance points to have just one serving of mac. i hope the craving passes soon. you can do it!

We've ALL been there. Many, many, many times. You are not a loser or a failure - it's really freaking HARD to change bad eating habits. Anyone who says otherwise is full of it.

Hang in there!!! A time will come when you'll be able to pass up that mac and cheese, no problem - sooner than you think.

BTW, what are you eating? Are you staying full?

Oh I can completely sympathize. I love food too! But yes, the cravings do pass if you just hang in there. Or distract yourself with some other food you enjoy that's on plan or by leaving the house to walk. By the time you work up a sweat, and think about how much work you'd have to do to burn off your mac and cheese, it will lose much of its appeal. There will always be temptations but you just have to prioritize in your mind - temporary satisfaction of yummy gooey buttery cheesy heaven? Or being able to fit into those amazing jeans permanently?

And if you do slip a little, then just put it away, work harder, and don't overthink it. It happens. Don't let it spiral out of control!

Well, for starters, I'm not following Core exactly. I have IBS, so I have a few dietary restrictions. For one, I can't eat processed (ie, fat free) cheese. So, I just get the regular block cheese and try to use it sparingly. I don't eat more than 1 bowl of cereal per day, and I only have either rice, pasta, or potatoes once per day. That's the hardest part! I could easily live on pasta and potatoes.

I have been eating a lot of fish, which I enjoy anyway, as well as broth-based soups, tons of fruit, veggies, tofu (as previously mentioned). I'm trying to not eat as much ground beef or pork, but being an Iowa girl it's a little hard to avoid the pork... I've been substituting turkey and chicken for the pork and beef when I can. Like tomorrow I'm making a turkey lasagna. I doubt we'll even know the difference.

I have been staying fairly full. I usually keep a bit of fruit handy for if I get hungry. Grapes are my favorite "eek! I'm hungry!" snack. I also have discovered the 100 calorie packs of cookies and stuff, and those are great at work when I need a sweet snack.

I did core a little over a year ago and lost 10 lbs quite easily...it seems so much harder to get into it this time. I don't know if it's stress or new BC (I'm on yaz, now) or just pure laziness.

Thank's so much for the support, guys!! It has been a huge help!

OMG - How true! That is exactly what I needed to hear!

I love mac and cheese too,it's funny becasue I"m eating some right now. The smart ones mac and cheese, it's not as good as kraft. But I add some Italian seasoning to it, and it makes it a bit more exciting.

I know how you feel, it's hard to not eat your favorite foods. I try to eat my favorites every once and a while in small portions so I don't totally binge if I ever do come across them!

GOOD LUCK!

when I was pregnant all I ever wanted was mac and cheese so now I can't even look at the stuff without someone's eyes lighting up.

"omg! again?!"

But yes. stay strong! Once you learn portion control (which takes awhile when you're not used to it) then you can go ahead and eat mac and cheese. Just as long as you don't overdo it! That's the key!

This thread made me start drooling for mac and cheese! I hadn't had it in so long, but today I had to see what I could do about that while staying OP. I'm not on Core, so I don't know the rules, but this is so easy and it was so yummy, and on Flex it's only 6 points (285 cals). I measured out 2ozs dry whole wheat noodles, so that I wouldn't go overboard by cooking a whole pan. Then all I did was throw in 3 wedges of Laughing Cow Lite Original Swiss. Had to nuke it for a minute and smoosh up the cheese wedges, but it was soooooooo good, and completely satisfied the mac and cheese craving!

You are going to be miserable, and you will never be able to maintain your weight on that diet. You'll probably lose, and lose a lot eating steamed veggies and tofu, but... ugh *shudder* Are you going to eat that forever!? I'm a carbaholic too, but after my last go around with low carb diets, i'll be damned if i'm not going to eat the stuff I love, or bread! How is that proactive? You lose 20 just to pack on 30 when you start eating normally again, even in proper portions.

That's why i'm not on a "diet". I just incorporated more water and much larger portions of vegetables, along with more exercise. I'm losing weight just fine and I didn't have to give up fried chicken or mashed potatoes! Just now I eat a thigh and a cup of mashed potatoes with a bunch of steamed greens (more than enough to satiate my appetite) and leave it at that.

Go get some of those Easy Mac cups. They're 240 calories a cup and you could easily fit that into your calories for the day. Don't deprive yourself or you're not going to make it. Just limit the portion.

Funny about the easy mac cups. I was just shopping yesterday and I compared the nutrition labels for the original easy mac - and the "extreme cheese" easy mac. Surprisingly, they are almost identical except the extreme cheese has more protein in It (i think that's what it was)

So yeah, grab some extreme cheese easy mac cups, perfect portion size for a meal!!!! I love them They have less calories then the smart ones mac and cheese, and taste WAY better.

Sweet! Now if they just had some with whole-grain noodles

If everything was whole-grain and we didn't even know what other kinds of grains were, the world would be a better place

I agree!