What Do You Do When You Are Craving Something?

I just eat it, I have found that trying to eat around my craving - i eat other things trying fulfill my stomach, but then end up eating what I wanted anyway.

so now I just eat what I crave, and get it over with. then the next day or the next hour, I eat sensibly again.

Wed. May 14, 9:12am

Eat what you crave but eat a small amount. For example if your craving cheesecake get those mini cheesecake bites and eat 2-3 just enough to get the taste.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 9:43 AM

Depends on what I'm craving. There's no way cheesecake fits into my diet right now - not even 3 bites (and let's face it, those cheesecake bites are not what I'm looking for). So one good way I have to cope with this when the item is especially unhealthy is to look up the nutrition info. Once I've done that and seen how much food I'd have to not eat to fit it into my day, I usually can't justify it and the craving goes away.

If the craving is reasonably healthy, I measure out a portion, log it and have it. Once I've stopped losing weight I may cautiously allow a few more indulgences but right now I'm pretty strict and I think that's a better way for me - I've given in way too many times in the past to cravings and really didn't feel any better for it.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 9:54 AM

sorry OP but I agree with the PP here.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 11:08 AM

I either eat a small bite of it, eat a low cal substitute, or do something else to distract my mouth such as hot water, diet soda, tea, gum, or sugar free halls vitamin C candies. For substituion example, if I'm craving ice cream, I have sugar free pudding or yoghurt with berries on hand. Usually that does the trick. If I want something salty like crackers, I try to eat hummus with celery, a few olives or pickles. Usually my craving has nothing to do with hunger. Sometimes if I drink hot water and just push through the craving and get busy with some task, I notice that in 20 minutes or so I've forgotton about the craving. Especially at work where we have a kitchen loaded with granola bars, chips and chocolates for the taking. I REALLY want to get something from there, and most of the time I can distract from the craving with tea or water. Not always though (0=

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 11:27 AM

I just wait 20-30 minutes. Usually it has passed by then. If not, then I'll have something. Maybe the thing I was craving, or maybe a healthier substitute.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 11:30 AM

That's great if giving into your craving works for you, OP, but for most of us I don't know if that's true. If I give in to my craving I cannot stop at a couple bites and end up blowing my diet.

I agree with the poster who finds no or low-cal ways to work around things. For sweet cravings, I pop some gum, diet soda, artificially sweetened tea or fruit; salty cravings I do a pickle, an olive, or some chicken broth.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 12:16 PM

I can't just eat one bite, or just one taste. It's like trying to tell a smoker who has quite for a month to "just have one drag" or an alcoholic to "just have one shot."

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 2:28 PM

OOOhhhhh PP, AWESOME analogy! I feel exactly like that!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:25 PM

I brush my teeth and drink enough water until I can float...that usually fixes it.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:29 PM

I don't get a difficult craving too often, but when I do, I can usually put it off until I can really appreciate it. The only exceptions are cravings for cheese or red meat...I reckon those might be physiologically-driven.

But if it's for cheeseCAKE (or brownies or ice cream), I can usually put that off for weeks, until there's a birthday or a dinner out when I would find it hard to resist a dessert anyway. It's kind of like halving the damage.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:34 PM

i agree with the teeth brushing...or gum...then whatever you want wont taste as good anymore...

BUT there are plenty of ways nowadays to imitate recipes for your cravings in a low-cal way

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:37 PM

I try to make getting my cravings as hard as physically possible. That is, I don't bring the stuff in to my house. So if I'm craving ice cream, I have to go out to the store or a shop and buy it, and that effort is generally more than I'm willing to make to satisfy the craving.

I also agree with the poster who said that they wait a half an hour. If I'm craving something at work, and can distract myself, I often stop craving it.

~B

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:47 PM

Where do craving come from?

Do you think that craving are a result of a deficiency of something the body needs? What is the source of cravings? Habit? Fantasy of pleasure?

It seems like I go through some sort of craving attack after several weeks of doing "good", but I am not sure this is it.

Is it possible to find a balance in behavior and diet where cravings don't occur?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:48 PM

SKINNY COW ICE CREAM CAKES..THEY ARE GOOOODDD

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 3:52 PM

it far better for me to eat what i want, that one day or one meal isn't going to mess with my diet that much. I have found when i try to eat around a craving, I eat tons of stuff, and then end up eating what i wanted in the first place.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 4:20 PM

I try to wait a 1/2 hour and drink a big glass of water, but after that if the craving just doesn't go away.....I do what the OP does and allow myself the forbidden craving. If I don't, I end up eating everything in sight that is a "healty snack" and end up eating the same amount of calories I would have had if I had just eaten what I was craving in the first place.

You can always make room for indulgences if you count your calories for the day or week. Just cut back on the rest of the day or week.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 4:27 PM

Is there anyone out there who use to have cravings, but doesn't have cravings anymore? What is the difference between when you had them and now that you don't?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 4:29 PM

9:54 poster here - I don't have 0 cravings, but I have found certain things trigger certain cravings and if I can avoid triggering them, I don't have them.

The worst trigger? Soda. I desperately crave heavy, greasy, cheesy, salty, generally 'empty' foods when I drink soda. When I drink water I don't crave those things. Just getting past that has really been helpful.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 6:10 PM

I can't imagine that the problematic cravings most people experience are due to a deficiency or a signal of what our bodies need. I think that's one of many little buzz-phrases that we humans like to use to justify giving in ;) Most of the foods people crave are craved b/c they're a devilish concoction of sugar, fat and salt and our taste buds and brains love those things! Obviously, you've got those people who crave apples and spinach salads, which is great, but giving into those cravings usually isn't an issue :)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 6:38 PM

PP I think after years of fussing with cravings I think you are right. There are just some things in concentrated form that act differently than others. For me, I have to abstain from those things. It is that or have some big debate going on with myself. I prefer the freedom of mind.

Now, dealing with ordinary overeating is something else. I am currently on a quest for balance. I have hope that I will someday be able to say to myself that I don't overeat anymore, my weight remains about the same within a couple of pounds, and I don't want to lose weight.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 7:46 PM

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