How long do your cravings last and does giving in stop them?
I'm experimenting with dealing with cravings. If I'm under my calorie limit then I give in and indulge. But what I find is that twenty minutes or half an hour later I want more! So now I think why give in at all as in such a short time it won't have made any difference and I may as well have eaten air.
Another thing that I do is get busy and distract myself. This works well. After even ten minutes my mind is occupied with something else and the cravings pass. If it comes back a while later I know that it will pass so just distract myself again for a bit.
What pattern do your cravings follow?
Does giving in help you not feel deprived or do you think that it's pointless? I'm beginning to think that it's worse than pointless and that if I do crave something that it could be a habit or an addiction and giving in will perpetuate it.
I am the same way, giving in only buys me a little bit and then i usually feel awful to boot - sometimes something similar but healthy will work, and sometimes not, i usually just have to ride it out through distraction as well
I have recently discovered that it is easier to avoid sweets. Even if I am under my cal goals and eat something sweet, it makes it more difficult for me to turn them down later. Right now it is just easier for me not to eat something sweet, than to eat it and crave more sweet stuff later.
Personally, indulgence leads to more cravings for me. If I consistently eat a diet moderate in fat and without any significant sources of sugar (and/or refined flour) then the cravings decrease exponentially. I'm definitely not one of those people that can have a small amount of chocolate (etc) and go back to happily eating healthy. Even one small amount of junk food will give me a week of horrible cravings.
I like to think of it like alcoholism: yes, normal people sometimes crave a drink or junk food. But in the case of the alcoholic (or a food addict/ obese person) that craving is something that's not going to lead to a healthy end.
That being said, I deal with cravings by finding ways to satisfy myself with low-calorie options. There are thousands of great low-cal recipes out there that will satisfy a craving without you having to eat sugar, fat, and refined flour.
kelly315 good point! i do also call it an addiction, some people are addicted to substances, others to food. i have actually read studies related to dopamine defficiencies. essentially, when you get something youre craving, the brain releases dopamine (as well as seratonin) so it's like a "reward" you feel good- lets say you have a peice of cake. dopamine + seratonin are released, you get your little sugar high, and then the brain chemicals, plus sugar start going down, and you have a little food hangover. you want more.
you know what alchoholics say "if you keep drinking you never get a hangover"? yea, food is like that for people as well, myself included.
ALTHOUGH there are times where i can have something sweet around for weeks, and have one peice/ serving every couple of days and be perfectly happy about it. but i find that this really only works when i just HAVE IT. i dont try to justify it, i dont wait out the craving. i want? i get a little peice, and i have. then i don't feel deprived and dont have a reason to keep coming back for more.
Stimkovs, that sounds to me like you only crave stuff when you think about it/ obsess about having/ not having. When your engaging a certain part of your brain really.
Does not eating stuff ever make the craving for it go?
Stimkovs, that sounds to me like you only crave stuff when you think about it/ obsess about having/ not having. When your engaging a certain part of your brain really.
Does not eating stuff ever make the craving for it go?
oh ya. if i see it, and i want it, but i go NO, or somebody says "but you're on a diet", or anything in any way tells me that this is something i can't have, you can bet your pants im going to have it, not some of it, but all of it.
whereas lets say, if i go out for a coffee, and there's desserts, i can either pass it up- or have one and be okay.
alternatively, if theres a cake in the fridge (outside of my control, long story), a cake that i don't particularly like, i will continuously tell myself it's not something i even LIKE but will end up binging on it anyways.
wierd how the mind works right?
example.
my birthday passed recently, i REALLY wanted a tiffany & co decorated fondant cake. it's 8 inches. we ate maybe, 1/5th of the cake. then i went out with my friends to celebrate (came home uh, inebriated lol), and ate about 1/5th of the cake. hovering over the cake, with a fork. i knew this was going to happen, and i was absolutely okay with it. the cake was beautiful, and delicious, and exactly what i wanted (sorry for the food porn, i wont post pics hahaha) but anyways, this was on friday. saturday- didn't even touch the cake.
today, i really wanted a peice. so i had a peice of cake, enjoyed it. then i put half of the cake in the freezer, and left one peice out in a contained to be enjoyed sometime this week. absolutely no issue.
I incorporate enough "treats" into my daily calories to satisfy my desire for them. If I find myself wanting more, I tell myself to wait 20 minutes. Almost always, the craving goes away by then, because it's not so much a craving for me as it is a compulsion to eat more.
Steph 7409 I find even ten minutes is enough sometimes for it to pass. I like that you call it a compulsion and not a craving. I have my daily treats too, but I'm wondering if there's any point? If I'm only going to want more and it's not for hunger then why have any?
I used to be "unable" to have just a small portion of foods I love. If there was fine chocolate or cheesecake in the house, I HAD to eat it all. Somewhere along the line my mindset shifted. I don't like the idea of giving up my favourite foods forever, so I told myself that I would just BE one of those people who could stop eating after a small portion. I'm far from perfect, but for the most part I'm able to moderate my intake of former trigger foods. So I think habit does play into it, at least for me.
I freeze the 90 calorie Yoplait dessert flavor yogurts and then I have various 90 calorie granola bars. They're small, but they're good. Strawberry or with yogurt 'frosting' for the sweet flavor, ones with pretzel bits for the salty, etc.
When I'm craving a cheeseburger I either do it because I know my calorie allowance is ok that day OR- I make a lean turkey patty with an ounce of cheese.
I try to 'give in' but in the healthier ways.
How long do your cravings last and does giving in stop them?
I have to wait it out either way.
