Thanks for all the support for not eating sugar for a while, and for the tips and recommendations you guys gave me. I really feel like I can do this and it will benefit me greatly. Those of you who have done it or continue to do it inspire me. My first test of sorts will come later today as Kepa and I plan to bake some cookies for his school thing. Oh the temptation! But I think I will make it through alive because I know I plan on having something sweet this weekend on Valentine’s Day. Hopefully that thought will get me through the sugary baking process without letting anything go into my mouth. I will let you know how it goes.
I have to admit… the cravings for sweet stuff have already lessened. Despite the fact that I went to sleep last night with visions of brownies in my head… I’m not doing as bad today already. Take that sugar.
But since I’m feeling extremely helpful this week, I’m going to give out some more tips. These are actually some tips I wrote a while back (while I was at Green Mountain, I think) and figured I could use the refresher course now too. So here we go…
TIPS FOR MANAGING FOOD CRAVINGS
Food cravings. Ahh, the food cravings!
If you don’t get them now and again you are an alien living in a human’s body. Congratulations. For the rest of us food cravings are part of life. We crave a food we miss eating, a food we see someone else eating, a food we see on tv or hear friends discussing. Many different things trigger our food cravings but with practice it is possible to manage those cravings so that we do not overindulge or fall into a cycle of binge eating.
Here are a few tips that might help you better manage food cravings that lead us to eat unnecessarily.
Accept that food cravings happen.
Like I said earlier, if you don’t have food cravings you might be an alien. Almost everyone experiences food cravings regardless of whether they have food or weight issues. It just happens. Don’t freak out about it or feel like you are unusual.
Understand why it is happening.
If you understand what food cravings are and why they are happening it is easier to manage them. food cravings can occur f0r a number of reasons from food exposure (sorry about the food blog pics!) to emotional stress. Take a few minutes when a craving hits to figure out why it is happening. When you figure out why you are having a food craving it is easier to respond to the craving appropriately.
Eat enough.
Hunger causes food cravings. That’s just how it goes. It is a normal physiological reaction. If you are starving yourself to lose weight you are going to cause yourself to crave more food than you would if you were eating three large or five small meals a day. Make sure you are eating enough food each day to eliminate unnecessary hunger induced cravings.
Exercise.
Regular exercise released tension and relieves stress which can cause food cravings. Make sure you are getting more than the recommended amounts of exercise each week to help manage food cravings.
Look at cravings as suggestions.
Hunger is only a suggestion to eat. Just because you feel hungry or feel like you are craving a food doesn’t mean you need to eat or overindulge. When you have a craving try and decide if it’s worth it. Do you really want to eat that brownie? Will it be worth it? Or would it be better to wait? Your body is suggesting a food – that doesn’t mean you have to eat it.
Don’t feel guilty about it.
Food cravings are bound to happen so you shouldn’t feel guilty when you have one or when you give in to one. A single cookie won’t ruin your healthy eating plan. Allow yourself an indulgence now and again when you have a craving without any guilt. Giving in to cravings doesn’t mean you won’t be successful at long term weight loss.
Drink a glass of water.
If you start craving foods try drinking a glass of water. You will make sure you are not dehydrated and that is causing the craving (it’s easy to confuse hunger and thirst). Usually after a glass of water you will forget whatever food that seemed so desirable just a few minutes earlier.
Wait a few minutes.
Cravings have peaks where it feels like you must give in, but if you wait they WILL pass. If you make it past the most intense part of the craving it will actually fade away. Once you know that you can wait out the craving until it subsides.
There you have it! Some tips (from these sources) that can help you get past the moment when the cravings hits.
Do you have any tips you use to manage cravings?
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Great tips and reminders Mary!!
You are doing such a fantastic job!!
.-= Trish @IamSucceeding´s last blog ..Failure… That Is Success =-.
My so very smart little girl! I love the way you dig for the answers and then share them. What about just eating natural sugar, like in fruits.? I need my banannas!!!
You are really, truly, an inspiration and you are doing, as Trish says, a fantastic job.
Mom
Are you not eating sugar now too? Ha. Okay.
Eat your bananas. Natural sugars found in fruits are good. Eat them. Yummy.
Great tips! I am guilty of just thinking the cravings will get worse until i give in ;-)
.-= Lauren @ Eater not a runner´s last blog ..fun day in the bean! =-.
Hi Mary,
Although I agree with 90% of your post, I think not giving into cravings can make the cravings grow stronger. Too often I see people who ate a too much junk food ( and hence gained weight ) completely shun junk food from their diet and ignore all cravings for such food. Instead of the either/or approach i.e “Either I eat 4-5 donuts in a sitting (like I used to) Or I eliminate donuts completely” , a more balanced approach that is all inclusive works better as a long term weight loss solution.
So, if you crave a brownie, have one. And make the necessary adjustments to the day. i.e may eat a salad for dinner ( low carb to offset the brownie ) or walk an extra mile ( about 15 mins. ).
Just my 2 cents.
Did you not read the actual post?
Because Tip #5 is about giving in to a craving – which is okay and going to happen and sometimes should happen. But the point is… if you have a lot of cravings you can better manage them instead of giving in ALL THE TIME.
You’ve probably never read my blog before but I’m all about the moderation and such. That’s okay. Just stick around and keep reading. ;)
Just saying.
Hey Mary,
LOL! I did read the post. However, I forgot to mention the whole point of making my comment. It was that, cravings are not the enemy and elaborating on your #1 and #4, I wanted to say that since you know cravings are going to happen ( instead of being in denial about it , like you said ), its better to plan them out ahead of time. This could be in the form of a cheat meal/snack. So a donut and a hot cup of coffee could be a snack.
As long as your cheat snacks/meals are part of a “plan”, you will feel less guilty when you eat the food you like and you can also combat cravings ( as in, your #4 ) better, knowing that a planned cheat snack is just around the corner.
.-= Harshathlete´s last blog ..The Key to permanent Weight loss or Weight management : The 3 Cs – Commitment =-.
Haha!!
That point would have been helpful. ;)
Those are good ideas for anyone who does have a more structured eating plan. Personally I don’t (nor do I subscribe to the idea of labeling foods “cheating” I think it mess with your head too much). I just eat when I’m hungry. Sometimes that means snacks, sometimes it doesn’t.
Those are great tips! I particularly like the one about realizing that a craving is just a suggestion.
.-= Hanlie´s last blog ..Thank you for the music =-.
Um, you said brownie…twice. They are my kryptonite. If I choose to splurge, cheat, it’s usually for one of those evil, yummy, chocolate…
Great tips!
.-= Kat´s last blog ..The Brown Fat Revolution Book Giveaway! =-.
Sorry. Brownies are actually my main weakness too. I LOVE them. If I am going to eat something sweet I either want those or a chocolate caramel slice – which is a new obsession.
Hi Mary,
My expansion on your great points would be
(1) when I have a craving and I’m not hungry I ask myself “what is it that I really want?” It could be relief from boredom, loneliness, sadness and when I’ve identified the emotion I just sit with it, feel it and realise it won’t kill me. It soon passes.
(2) Sometimes I need the real thing, and sometimes a healthy substitute works. If I crave chips (fries) I am usually good with home made sweet potato fries rather than getting greasy ones from the takeaway.
(3) When I have what I crave and eat it mindfully I sometimes realise it isn’t as good as I imagined it to be and I don’t want it any more (see greasy chips above).
(4) As I don’t have a fully functioning ‘stop when full’ button for craved food, I make sure I stop as soon as it doesn’t taste as good as the very first bite. This is usually only a few bites in and stops the whole ‘eat 17 brownies’ catastrophe.
x
.-= KatieP@head.heart.health´s last blog ..Same Shit Different Day =-.
Those are GREAT additions Katie! Thanks for sharing!
strip it back to the emotion. deal with that.
that is what usually causes my cravings to be honest of food that isn’t healthy for me.
Water as well.
.-= Michelle @ Eatingjourney´s last blog ..Dress A, B or C? =-.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve been struggling with this a lot, and tend to go “overboard” with them!
.-= Lori´s last blog ..Bluesy Tuesday =-.
interesting.
.-= merri´s last blog ..Recipe: Pineapple Upside Down Cake =-.
Gosh I don’t know if I have any tips on managing food cravings. The only thing that comes to mind for me is that when I feel the need to eat something I shouldn’t I try to drink a big glass of water and that sometimes helps. I’ve heard others say it helps to really *think* before they act. Give yourself a 10-15 min. pep talk before eating that food.
PS: Wow girl I just have to say you really are SEO’ing this blog hardcore!!! LOL I think you’re doing great and maybe I need to take some tips from you because your blog posts are spot on and relevant to a lot of people and what they are looking for. Thanks for the good info!
.-= Anonymous Fat Girl´s last blog ..It wasn’t VEGAS, but it was FUN (buffet) =-.
Aw, thanks? Hehe.
ps- I’m currently writing an ebook about how to use SEO and other blogging tips for health blogging. It’s going to be awesome and really helpful for people that don’t get it. So yeah… tips and such to come! ;)
Step #7: Choose another addiction such as alcohol, illicit drugs, or gambling to suppress your need to eat. Wait, is that right?
Great post Mary!
.-= Ryan Sullivan´s last blog ..Day 207: A Plethora of Thoughts =-.
That made me laugh out loud. Are we seriously replacing food habits with other bad habits? I could possibly be down with that.
Let’s see: rules about cravings: these are for me, and just suggestions:
1) Wait. At minimum, I wait for 15 minutes, especially for something I have ON HAND… If I have to go out and get it, I plan for later. “If I still want ice cream on Saturday, I’ll have some then.” A lot of times, I’ll forget I wanted ice cream by the time it comes around to Saturday, but if I don’t, I’ll make plans and go have ice cream.
Which brings me to rule #2
Do NOT substitute. If I want ice cream, popcorn isn’t going to cut it. Neither is one of those low fat, no sugar plastic bars. What happens, if I have an actual craving (as opposed to “I’m hungry, I have 2 points for a snack…”) and I eat a low-fat substitute, it just doesn’t satisfy the craving and I’ll either eat 3 or 5 of those 100 cal pack oreos trying to satisfy my craving for oreos, at which point I really should have just gotten the dang oreos!! or I’ll eat everything in the house that’s healthy, but still waaaay more calories. Now, admittedly, overindulging in scrambled eggs and humus is probably better for me than having 3 oreos, but honestly, 1,000 extra calories is 1,000 extra calories, no matter WHAT it is.
.-= Lynn C´s last blog ..Takes a Little Time (Sometimes) =-.
Lots of people think I’m crazy for this one, but if I get a craving for something, I go to Foodgawker or Tastespotting and look at pictures of food, and sometimes I’ll save the really good recipes on my computer, maybe to trick myself into thinking I have the resources to make it in the future if I want (I’ve told several people about this – sorry if I’m repeating myself over here). Lots of times, just seeing the pictures and imagining how something tastes is enough to deal with the psychological aspect, which I personally think is a HUGE part of cravings (at least my own!).
That’s cool that works for you. I’ve tried it and it has the opposite affect on me. To each their own? We all have to figure out what works for us. ;)
thanks for documenting your journey through this – I’ve been thinking about skipping sugar but am just too scared to actually do it. Instead, I decided to go vegetarian for a week. Good luck & see you on the other side! :)
Great tips Mary. I use most of them. With crazing or emotional eating or whatever, I always walk away for 10-15 minutes to talk to myself. Why do I want this? Am I ruining all my good work on this stupid person or thing? What is the route cause for this craving? What will it take to work it off? Usually I pass but if I don’t, I know the consequences & just get back to my normal routine.
.-= Jody – Fit at 52´s last blog ..Supermarket Secrets That Can Make You Sick =-.
I have been receiving a lot of e-mail lately about diet. In the past, I was never concerned about what I ate. I just went to the gym, trained hard, and that was the extent of my routine.
Why didn’t I see this post yesterday when I caved and made a cake-in-a-mug to satisfy my craving for cake!? Would’ve helped so much…
Thanks, I hope I remember these tips next time a craving comes along.
.-= Early´s last blog ..SparkPeople =-.
I’m a big supporter of the ‘believe the craving will pass’. I read a ton about NYC restaurants every day, and am I general foodie stalker (love reviews and such)..if I gave in to every craving,well, I’d need 2 scales to handle all of my weight! hah.
.-= Andrea@CeleryInTheCity´s last blog ..Eating More to Lose More? =-.
Those are some FABULOUS tips Mary! It’s funny that every single one of those things had to do with our mental state. I am blown away more every day but how much of a mental game this really all is- lookes like you’ve got some good perspective! Love your blog :)
.-= Tiffany´s last blog ..Day #39: Random Ramblings… =-.
Thanks Tiffany. It totally is a mental game… I’m still learning that now.
Cravings are tough. My cravings are strange. I crave salsa. Luckily for me the calories are low. But the chips are not. I like the hot and spicy things, but have to stay away because there aren’t good choices there. I admire you for this natural way of eating though. Don’t think I could ever do it…
Tom
http://www.ihategreenapples.com
.-= Tom´s last blog ..You’re Reading…Why Not Comment? =-.
You could do it Tom. Don’t say you couldn’t… that’s the first step of failure.
And I crave Mexican food and salsa too. I eat it as much as I can, just try to make healthier choices when possible. And I eat spicy stuff all the time. Kepa and I love the spice. If you want to eat spicy and healthy you most definitely can… you just might have to be creative and/or cook for yourself.
Good post, Mary! It’s like you have a photographic memory for the Green Mountain info. It’s so great that you’ve retained so much that you learned in our classes. It makes me happy that you can remember and apply it all back “at home.” Keep up the good work!
To save me from typing, here’s a link to a bit more info on Food Cravings, that may be helpful:
http://www.fitwoman.com/updates/update_coping_fall91.shtml
- Robyn
I eat three full, well-spaced meals a day and yet I still have those cravings. I need to pull myself together and keep fighting the fight.
I have a great diet tip I’ve found really helps me with the weight loss battle: Eat ONE square of Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa or higher) after your meal.
Did you know any Chocolate over 70% cocoa is considered a health food? How cool is that??? I have a HORRID sweet tooth too, but since Dark Chocolate is lower in sugar, I don’t crave it as much as the Milk Chocolate, so EAT less.
So you can still have your cake (Chocolate) AND eat it too. Have a great day!!!
.-= Laura @ MsWonka.com´s last blog ..Funny Friday – Everyone Has Their Price, Mine is Chocolate =-.
I love your blog. You have so much information, but also, I love how you promote personal responsibility.
While trying to take off weight, it’s easy to say things like “people at work are stressing me, that’s why I overeat,” or “high fructose corn syrup is highly addictive, that’s why I overeat,” or “I can’t possibly not eat what my friends are eating while we’re out in a restaurant” to ourselves. And, whereas those influences are there, it’s totally our control how we react.
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