when you realize youre having a craving, how do you prevent eating?

it seems like i can tell when im hungry from when im upset or just bored wanting to eat, but how do you actually stop yourself from giving in? ive tried distactions but i need something stonger, something to actually take my mind off of eating and not just doing something else. ive also tried reading but that seems to make me think about other things and still distact me from what i should be doing do you think i could have adult add?

Tue. Oct 4, 9:35pm

if you, or anyone else, figures this out, call me!

seriously, i just posted something similar in the "A theory of mine...why the 10 pounds comes back" post (see the ranting, raving lunatic who ate 25 small cookies tonight). how are we supposed to stop/break the habits entirely?

what are we supposed to do that will replace our "hunger" or "cravings"?

i'm at a loss but apologize for posting both here and in the other post; i felt like the two related somehow.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005, 9:55 PM

what I've been trying...

I think, atleast with myself, that although I have picked apart my relationship with food and know when I'm hungry and when I just want to eat for other reasons, I've been doing it for so long that both feelings = hunger to me....it has become a need as basic and important as hunger. I'm not quite sure how to fix it but I've been trying to train my body to eat at the right times. Its really hard for me to resist cravings in the evening when the day is done and there isnt much to do...but in the mornings I tend to eat when i wake up not because I even want to but because its a normal routine.I've been trying recently to wait to eat from when i wake up to when my body really tells me I need food,sometimes that isnt til noon or later. This helps me with my self discipline with out leaving me deprived of the need I spoke of earlier. Its still hard for me in the evenings but being able to truly distinguish the signs of hunger (ie tummy growling etc) helps me to avoid unnessasary eating throughout the day...which leaves room for a little bit of bored eating.
I've also been finding that its dangerous to make false promises to yourself. I know that if I say I'll only have one handful of chips or cereal so its ok, it turns into 10 handfuls,the one hanful or one bite promise never works. Eating something whole is a much better bet...I know after dinner if you feel like snacking your not gonna justify a turkey sanwich but a bowl of popcorn or 10 heaping spoons of icecream feels ok...in the end the sandwich is a better bet. I try to leave alot of safe foods around the house because I know that even if I eat 10 pears it will atleast have more nutritional value than a whole bag of chips. Sorry to ramble so long hope I've been somewhat helpful:)

Tuesday, October 4, 2005, 10:32 PM

I totally agree; eat something

I love to eat, and I love to snack. When I have a craving to eat something, I can't distract myself with things other than food. So I eat something. But I eat something healthy, or at least something not really fattening. If I want something salty, I eat some pretzels or low-fat popcorn or Baked Lay's potato chips. If I want something sweet, I eat a WW ice cream dessert or a Slim-Fast snack bar or a Nabisco 100-calorie pack of Oreo thin crisps. That way I feel satisfied and not like I'm depriving myself. The only time I don't give in to cravings is after dinner. I trained myself to just not eat after dinner (and after a few weeks I stopped getting after-dinner cravings, so it became habit).

You CAN still eat. Just make healthy choices. You will not be depriving yourself, yet you will be saving yourself hundreds of calories and fat grams. It worked for me.

Kate (kissmekate02 - spotlight clubs group)

Wednesday, October 5, 2005, 9:17 AM

I have this problem as well. I have noticed a pattern though with when I feel like this and it is usually between 4pm to dinner. So lately what I have been doing is either having a small snack of something healthy or like Kate said WW ice cream hits the spot, then I try to leave the house and do something productive.

Wednesday, October 5, 2005, 10:19 AM

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