Hi all,

I've been doing WW again for a few weeks and have been doing really well so far. My problem is that I'm still craving certain foods that I can't find suitable substitutions for... and the longer it's taking, the worse the cravings are becoming. I'm afraid I'll give in one day and consume a giant platter of these items (I almost did last night. Applebee's Appetizer Sampler... mmm!)

I've been scouring the internet but thought it might be smarter to just ask everyone here, as I'm sure you've all had the same cravings.

Here's what I'm dying for:
Buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, pizza, pasta (spaghetti & meatballs), and sandwiches (my favorite meats are ham, salami, and pepperoni. Unfortunately, I don't like sliced turkey).

It doesn't matter to me if these things are store-bought or homemade, I just need them... lol. Please let me know if any of you have found decent ways to fill these cravings, I'm so hungry!

Here's what I have done for a few of those -

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps (or just make a salad out of it)

Mozzarella Sticks

Texas Toast Pizza Website seems to be down now.. but it's Texas Toast Garlic Bread. 2 Tbl pizza sauce, 2 Tbl Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese, and 3 pepperoni. Comes out to 4 or so points per slice of bread.

Eggplant Parm Pizza

BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizza (I haven't tried this one yet)

For pasta's I haven't done a spaghetti and meatballs one.. but here are some I have tried:

Creamy Bacon Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Mexican Mac and Cheese (Haven't tried this yet)

I did find a WW endorsed spaghetti recipe here:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/r...recipeid=99661

Yum!!! Thank you!! I'm so excited to try these, lol.

I found that when it comes to pizza, a regular slice from the local pizzeria is best (7 points, according to the WW cheat sheet). I've been getting 1 or 2 plain slices and putting my own Hormel Turkey Pepperoni on... 17 slices for 2 points! But, for how delicious the pizza is, I feel like that calculation is off somehow so I've still been looking for alternatives.

Suz, just eat them!

Ultimately, let your weight loss guide how accurate you point value of 17 is. Part of the beauty of WW is that nothing is off limits. Personally, I find that while there are a million recipes to replace the real thing, there is nothing as good as the real thing. I know that if I don't just use my 49 weeklies to have something I truly want then I won't stay on plan long term.

I try to plan for my weekly treat and use my weeklies then. I've found it pretty easy to stay perfectly on plan Mon-Fri, but loosen up on the weekends. So, typically I use all my weeklies/activity points over the weekend.

Zoodles and meatballs are a great sub for pasta...no joke my entire family loves them.

Buffalo chicken nuggets, buffalo chicken strips, buffalo chicken meatballs, buffalo chicken chili and ESPECIALLY buffalo chicken wontons give me that buffalo flavor that I really love.

Using flatout light or really any high fiber/low carb tortilla works awesome at making a good-sized personal pizza and it takes less than 15 minutes.

Mozzarella sticks look great, but you can also experiment with zucchini sticks or try eggplant sticks.

We made mozzarella sticks the other night... they were delicious! We took 1 point mozzarella string-cheese sticks, cut them in half, dunked in fat-free milk, dunked in bread crumbs, baked for 7 minutes... yum!! I got 8 sticks for about 5 points plus. Yay!!

Ok... so they didn't look great... they melted into puddles... but they were delicious puddles

Suz, did you freeze them before baking? That can really help with the whole puddle mess.

It's sort of ridiculous how you can use zucchini as a substitute for carb-y things like "pizza" and "pasta". These "zoodle" things look amazing, and I love zucchini. I wish it was easier to get here. *sigh*

Sunarie: No, I didn't freeze them before baking! It said I should but I was so hungry I didn't bother... I guess that's where I messed up, lol.

I also recently discovered how to make the Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla... one of my other inescapable cravings. It was SO easy! The one from Taco Bell is 14 points and the one I made, which tasted identical, was 7 points. I used a WW whole grain pita (2 pp), 1/3 cup of WW Mexican blend cheese (2 pp), 1 ounce of cooked chicken breast (1 pp), and 1 tbsp. of Kraft Chipotle Mayo (1 pp). Boom! Taco Bell!! Lol.

I'm gonna give those mozzarella sticks another try tonight

I agree with this comment wholeheartedly.

I'm calorie counting, which is similar to WW (although admittedly not exactly the same). But one of the best things about using a counting (points/calories/bites/whateevr) plan is that you can eat whatever you want, and still lose weight.

That said, I know it can be hard to stay within your daily goals while eating higher calorie items, so here is what I do to help with that:

When I really want a certain item, be it sushi, pizza, or anything else, I plan for it. Sometimes I can plan ahead of time, in which case I do my best to have some filling and healthy foods like vegetables about half an hour beforehand. This helps me eat less, because I'm not hungry to start with. It also reminds me that there is always more food around, and I don't have to gorge myself to enjoy myself.

Next, I plan carefully how much I'm going to eat before I start. This means ordering in smaller portions, and NOT ordering extra to bring home for take out, or anything like that. It also means putting away anything I don't plan on eating, RIGHT AWAY. Some people have good success with having the restaurant box up half the food before they start eating. At home, it's easier to just put the excess away in the fridge. I like to do this before I eat, since the temptation can be pretty strong to eat more. But really it's easier to make (or order) a smaller quantity to begin with.

One important thing I remind myself is that I feel good WHILE eating certain foods, but my feeling AFTER eating those foods is the same no matter how much I eat. So there is no point in shoveling a bunch of food into my mouth because it's not more enjoyable in the end than eating slowly, enjoying what I have, and savouring the experience. This reminder-to-self doesn't always stop me from eating quickly, but it does help me stop eating when I've eaten my portion, because I'm happy I've enjoyed the food, and having more of that feeling isn't necessary.

Oo, I'll have to try the taco bell one. I love me some quesadillas. I'll probably substitute southwestern ranch dip for the chipotle mayo, never been a fan of mayo.

For mozzarella sticks I actually have a whole zip lock baggie full of them in the freezer (just the frozen part-skim, cut in half, string cheese, lol).. I pull out a couple if I'm craving them and make them and just keep the rest frozen. So they're kinda ready to go whenever.

I do agree with some others who've stated just to have the foods if you can. The stuff I listed was just things I use to get the same flavors but in a healthier way. The other day I wanted a donut really bad.. well more than the other day really.. I'd been craving donut for over a week. So when I got the chance to pick one up at the grocery store I did. It actually made me feel sick afterwards.. but my craving is gone, lol. Sometimes we'll do taco bell (like today) because I actually like their tacos better than the ones I make at home.. don't ask me why. I do plan for it though, as others have mentioned.