Do vegetarians get cravings?
 

My questions are coming from a place of curiosity, because I still struggle with the desire to binge and I have some questions.

First, I know vegetarians eat high protein foods like tofu, beans, and possibly cheese and eggs. But I always assume they eat more carbs like rice and bread. Of course they might be eating whole grains, but I was wondering whether they get intense cravings since (in my ignorant opinion) they eat more carbs.

Also, a question for those carnivores/omnivores out there: when you binge, or think about binging, do you ever binge/think about binging on protein? I crave pastries, donuts, pancakes, etc. but I can never remember a time when I thought "I'm gonna eat 2 steaks, then chicken and a piece if sausage!"

Oh I have, I get major protein cravings when I don't eat enough of it, especially when I am pregnant or breastfeeding.

-------> not vegetarian, though!

I tried to go the veggie route as a weight loss attempt in high school, and yes, I had cravings. It didn't really help my weight loss either cause I still ate a lot of junk food and I definitely craved that, lol. ;)

I am vegan, have been for a year, and I've been a vegetarian for 3 years. I don't crave protein, nor do I eat more carbs. But, I have also read tons of material on how to get all of the right mix in my diet so that I'm not craving things. I eat very little bread. I don't eat cereal or crackers or much processed food. Eating all of the fruits and veggies that I do apparently has given me the right nutrients so that my cravings are kept at bay. I occasionally crave sugar, but then I usually eat fruit.

I've been a vegetarian my entire life and vegan off and on since high school. I don't eat more carbs then the average person and neither do anyone else in family who have been vegetarian their entire lives. I do crave protein(often eggs) and sometimes I crave carbs if I've been doing a lot of cardio.
I think the reasons people get intense cravings for things depends a lot more on whether they are vegetarian or not.....

I could binge on pretty much anything. Including bacon, sausages, etc. Not necessarily carb-heavy stuff.

I eat meat once or twice a year, my parents live next to an organic farm and if the farmer is sending one of his animals to slaughter while I'm visiting or a bit before really, meat needs to hang for a while, I'll eat a little of that but nothing that I haven't seen in a field. The rest of the time I'm low carb and meat free.

As for cravings, there are days when I really have to stop myself from stealing McD's burgers from small children and I walk very slowly past Burger King so that I can have a good sniff. I wouldn't put any of that rubbish into my mouth but it sure smells good. And bacon, bacon sandwiches...

From time to time I try to keep vegan, that's when the real cravings set in for me, I find myself waking up thinking about cottage cheese.

I think it depends on what kind of vegetarian you are. When I was in High school in the 90's there were not as many options and I did not know as much about food as I do now. In many restaurants, veggie options are cheese based. I think if I only ate cheesed based veggie offerings, I would have those cravings
Now, I eat more balanced healthy, local food. I am very aware of the food choices I make. I do not eat much sugar and the times that I can get it out of my life, I do not crave it. If I have a little, it starts a spiral and I do crave it until I get it under control again.
I do not eat very many carbs and when I do I choose whole grains. I find that when something is not in my life I don't really crave it. When I do have something in my diet, it makes me crave it more.

I think as a vegetarian it's very easy to load up on carbs, these days I make a very conscious effort to eat high protein and take care to not eat empty sugar filled carbs.

But if you just look in the supermarkets here it's easy to see why especially a new vegetarian would end up eating too many carbs given the really poor selection of vegetarian products and ignorance over what it really entails.

Very good feedback, I appreciate it.

I am not a vegetarian but am curious about the vegetarian lifestyle. Also, at work this week, some of the healthy choice meal options have been high calorie so I have been getting the healthy option spinach and mushroom pizza on whole wheat crust, with two sides of healthy veggies. The pizza is a good sized slice and only 260 calories and tastes yummy! But it has lots more carbs than I typically eat. I haven't noticed any more cravings than I experience when eating protein plus two veggies. Which is why I wondered about the carb-craving question.