Monday, August 4, 2008

Unhealthy cravings

Here is one of the things that I struggle with on Weight Watchers: When I find food that I like, I want more.

For example, the other weekend it was hot, and we went to Coldstone Creamery. I had good intentions of ordering their 100-calorie berry yogurt, but once we went in there, the yogurt looked all icy and the mint ice cream looked creamy and refreshing, and you can pretty much guess what happened from there.

No big deal, though. One small cup of ice cream is not going to kill me, or even derail me from Weight Watchers. So it's fine. I didn't beat myself up over it, and I've moved on.

Except not really. Because now I am seriously craving that ice cream again. Instead of being sated by my delicious mint experience, I have tapped into a whole well of ice cream cravings. In fact, just this past weekend I made Torsten walk with me back to Coldstone so I could try their peanut butter flavor (and oh my god SO WORTH IT).

It's the same reason why I can't keep yummy snacks in the house. Even those damn 100 calorie packs are so frustrating, because I have one, and then I want another one. It's true of everything yummy. It always has been, for me.

I find workarounds with healthy, lower-calorie snacks--everything from sugar-free Jell-O to reduced-fat granola bars to whole wheat pita with hummus and sprouts. All yummy, all healthy, all good things to stop cravings. They work really well with Weight Watchers. I just have to keep that unhealthy stuff out of the house, and out of my mind.

But every now and then, unhealthy food enters my sphere of awareness. Somebody on TV will eat greasy lo mein, and suddenly I am DYING for it. I smell cookies baking next door, and then my purple Kitchen Aid starts beckoning to me from the kitchen. Or, as I said, we stop into Coldstone on a whim one night, and for the next two weeks, I want it constantly.

I've done a good job of controlling the cravings over the past year, and having an allotment of points to do with as I please definitely helps with that. But can I just say that I'm a little concerned about what the cravings are going to be like when I'm pregnant? And I have to say, I'm not holding out much hope that I'll be one of those pregnant women who has a sudden, inexplicable craving for carrot sticks. But hey, never say never, right?

What are your food weaknesses? And how do you control them?

47 comments:

  1. I think the substitution thing you do really is one of the best strategies. But goddammit, carrots just don't taste as good as ice cream!

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  2. I have to say the words "purple KitchenAid" caught my attention. I'm dying for a KitchenAid mixer!!! Red would look great in my house =)

    I have too keep junk food out of the house too. We're very healthy eaters, but if the rare box of Ho Hos shows up, I have to eat at least one EVERY DAY until the box is empty.

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  3. At the moment? Well, all food is a problem for me except the healthy stuff. Why can't I crave veggies? I don't quite know how to handle it because I'm such an emotional eater and I get moody if I'm not having the food that I want.

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  4. oh man, i know what you mean about the cravings! I've been trying to eat better lately, and it's always the stuff that is the worst for you that you crave. And the 100 calorie snack packs? Yeah, my problem is, is that they're not such a reasonable snack when you eat the entire box of them in one sitting. ha.

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  5. Gah!
    I cannot control myself, so i just don't buy anything awful for me...

    oh and i'm lucky (?) that if its too high in fat or grease or whatever i have disastrous stomach and intestine issues making me not crave such item for a long time.

    Speaking of creamy minty icy goodness, last night i had a chocolate mint skinny cow ice cream sandwich and OMG it was so yummy I just couldn't believe it!

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  6. For serious, I really can't wait to be pregnant. I am seriously going to eat everything in sight :)

    I mean, I pretty much already eat everything in sight, but I'd like to have a valid excuse like "I'm eating for two, please stop staring" or "the baby is hungry, and yes I know this is my fourth helping"

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  7. I don't control it, it controls me. That's the crux of the problem. Sigh.

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  8. At least you walked to Coldstone! That helped burn at least a few of the calories, right? :-)

    I know what you mean... There are some foods I let myself have only in specific scenarios (e.g., only on road trips). I try not to buy anything that I know I'm going to scarf down in one sitting if it's in my home. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.

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  9. I've been in a salty mood lately. And cheese. I just love cheese and could eat it at every meal and I do eat a cheese stick for a snack almost every day around 11:00 am.

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  10. I know all about unhealthy cravings. Cheese, ice cream, chips, baked goods, I want it all! Usually I allow myself a small portion. Or, like last time I went to the store I bought sorbet instead of ice cream. It's not the same, but it doesn't help satisfy my sweet tooth.

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  11. My weakness is ice cream. I control my craving my not denying myself. I eat ice cream every day. I only buy a pint at a time and that usually will last me about 2 weeks. I'll have 5 or so small bites after dinner and that's it.

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  12. I am the same way: whatever I currently like, I want to eat it constantly. I'll make fudge every single evening, or brownies every day, or we'll constantly be out of fudgesicles because I don't stop eating them.

    During pregnancy I found I did have cravings, mostly for meat/cheese stuff, and I bought a lot of fast food.

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  13. ohhh I so relate to this! and I love that you have a purple kitchen aid! cute! um... but anyways- my weakness is probably a cookie dough blizzard from DQ (esp from my fav location in town. they just make it different and better) I just try to ride out my craving, knowing that in 30mins I will be ok with not having it. Plus the $4 it costs.... well who needs to spend $4 on ice cream all the time?

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  14. The only way I talk myself out of eating something is if it's expensive (playing the "gotta save money" card will get me every time) or if I've already eaten so much that I feel sick. That said... I've recently discovered my first stretch marks. So really, it should be I that is reading the comments, trying to find ways to control my food urges.

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  15. If I get it into my head that I "deserve" something (I've had a bad day, I've been really good about working out/eating healthy lately) then it's really hard to get that unhealthy something out of my mind. I obsess about it until I go get it, whatever it is, and then I eat it and beat myself up for having no willpower. So yeah, I understand how you feel. Basically I try to stay away from eating or even thinking about stuff I shouldn't eat.

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  16. I have the same problem. I like food, all the different tastes and textures. And if I like it a lot, I always want more. I have to keep junk out of the house. I can't even buy a bag of chocolate chips for baking, because I will eat them all. Either because I've had a bad day, I'm stressed, I'm PMS'ing, or whatever.
    I had to laugh about craving carrot sticks. lol

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  17. Well, as you probably clearly see here, it is something that plagues us all!!
    The biggest issue I have with WW (and I say this having spent 5 days recently with my mom who is on it) is that it doesn't in any way encourage you to cut the carbos. I really believe they are inherently addictive! When/where you can, I strongly recommend upping the protein, which fills you up a bit more.
    Sorry for the potentially unwanted assvice. At the end of the day it really comes down to willpower, why we seek comfort in food, and forgiving oneself when you make a choice that is only human after all!

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  18. My food weaknesses are endless. Really, what you should ask me is what are my food strengths? And then I'd tell you I hate cheesecake.

    I've been bad with WW the past few weeks. Not counting points. Not logging what I eat. But, somehow? I managed to lose 2 pounds since my last weigh-in before vacation. So, I think WW is always on my mind even if I'm not strictly abiding by it.

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  19. Mmm, I love the cake batter flavor!

    I could eat an entire bag of Hershey Kisses by myself. In one sitting. One after the other. And feel totally fine afterwards. When I was trying to lose weight I couldn't have ANYTHING in my house, I totally get it. Once it's there, you want all of it.

    Oh, and I've never had Pregnant Cravings! I mean, I wouldn't say eating pints and pints of ice cream is a craving, more like an indulgence in something I love because I am ALREADY huge and miserable.

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  20. the only thing i have truly craved during this entire pregnancy is watermelon. i am seriously on my nineth watermelon since May and i have every reason to believe i'll get to my tenth before i have this baby. at least it's healthy. :)

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  21. Chocolate. There are times when I cannot say no to a hershey bar. I feel like I NEED it to continue on with my day.

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  22. I waver between chocolate and chips. Like right now, someone just stuck three cans of Pringles in the common area (which means they wanted people like me to eat them) and I'm having the hardest time staying away. I secretly want to take one whole can with me, close my door, and eat the entire thing. Buying chips is one thing, but taking part in the freebie foods that seem to multipy around here, that's an entirely different problem.

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  23. So what do you think of Weight Watchers? I have heard really good things about it but have never tried it myself.

    I am a big fan of the 100 calorie pack snacks. The Ritz snack mix is great when I feel like I want a salty snack.

    I have so many food weaknesses that I couldn't even start here. I frequently want ice cream and sweet things after dinner. I just try to stay away from the middle aisles in grocery stores and think about what I am buying. It's very tough though.

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  24. When I was pregnant, I actually craved salads! My current craving is Ranch Southwest dressing on ANYTHING. Doesn't walking to the ice cream shop cancel out the ice cream itself? :)

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  25. I have a confession.
    As I read this I am mixing up butter and sugar for spice cookies.
    So I'm probably not the best person to advise what to do when cravings strike.
    BUT. Whenever it gets really bad I try to channel my desires into creative cooking. Like I'll look on line for a healthy but maybe challenging recipe, and try my hand at it. The activity distracts me from temptation, and the meal satisfies the stomach and provides a little peace of mind.

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  26. I've been eating healthy snacks for so long that I don't crave the really bad stuff. But now i just crave the healthier choices in excess. This whole sharing my sugar intake with the internet is really helpful, I have to say. I mean, I could totally lie about what I'm eating, but I feel guilty about it. So, that has definitely slowed the sugar intake for me personally.

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  27. I can't keep sweets in the house or I will eat it. ALL OF IT. I have no ability to say no to such things. Peanut butter and chocolate anything will basically be the end of me.

    I bet when you are pregnant you will have no cravings. It'll be like the Universe cutting you some slack. ;-)

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  28. How do I control my food weaknesses? HAHAHHAHA. I don't.

    BUT, I don't really have a sweet tooth, and in fact, we still have Halloween candy in our house that neither one of us has touched. I dunno.

    But whenever I get the urge for a Mountain Dew, LOOK OUT. Nothing's stopping me.

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  29. I'm pretty similar. When I have something I know I shouldn't have I just really really want it. The thing I do at home is to not buy the offending item, unless it's a one portion size. Just last night I bought some French burnt peanuts (one of my favs) and ate half of a large container because I just couldn't stop. Next time I'll just buy the one serving size at the gas station and call it a day.

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  30. We've talked about this a bajillionty times, but you know I have the same issues with unhealthy cravings and having absolutely ZERO will power. I just can't have snacks in the house. I'm way too lazy to go out and get them, so I'm safe if I just don't ever buy them in the first place.

    Of course that will not be the case the weekend of September 5th, OH MY GOD.

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  31. I suck at not giving into my cravings. There have been times where I've eaten 2 100 cal packs because they were so good! My weaknesses are definitely chocolate then various salty snacks.

    Hey, at least you walked to Coldstone!

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  32. My cravings change everyday.
    Some days its chocolate sometimes its salty snacks.....

    Although it's never anything healthy.
    Stupid cravings.

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  33. My major food weekness is a certain time of day, when I can fall prey anything sweet or salty, as long at it is decidedly NOT HEALTHY. That is 2pm- 5pm. TERRIBLE. I wish I lock my mouth shut during those hours. I have no restraint.

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  34. I have exactly the same problem. I just keep wanting it! Damn delicious food, damn it!

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  35. MMM I am an ice cream feind! My favorite flavour is the one I made up a few years ago. You get creamy strawberry icecream and smash a packet of oreos into it.

    And that is why I'm not allowed to own icecream.

    Also (v. personal question I know) are you on the pill? Because my doctor told me that the pill tricks your body into thinking that it is pregnant. Suddenly all those peanut M&M's cravings I get made a whole lot of sense.

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  36. today i ate too many pistachios to count!

    i wish i could share my secrets to self control...but since i dont have any, i cant

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  37. Food journal plus not bringing the bad stuff into the house is how I am attacking this very same problem. When I order sweets out I always get asmall to minimize the damage at the scale. But you know this girl! You are a ww success story!

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  38. I am good at not buying bad food but if someone has it and offers it to me, my will power disappears!

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  39. Um I have a trillion food weaknesses. Nachos have to be my number one though.

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  40. Mmmm, I love Coldstones! My weakness? Chocolate, in any way, shape, or form.

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  41. I'm actually completely similar in that.. once I like something, I want more more more. 100 calorie packs are the WORST for me, because it almost always ends up being a 400 calorie snack :/

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  42. i will so never be a carrot-stick craver either. and like you, i basically just keep the bad stuff out of the house... or else i eat it all. usually in one sitting. ;-P

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  43. Oh, if it's here, I'll eat it. No question. For one of my pregnancies (unfortunately only one), I craved fruit and salad. They were the only foods that wouldn't leave this nasty aftertaste that I got every time I ate anything. I was pretty much a human garbage disposal during my other pregnancies, though.

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  44. I go in cycles; ice cream during the summer is one of them, and I swear I put on an instant 5 pounds whenever I start eating any of it.

    Sometimes with sweets I'll get the cheapest, crapiest chocolate there is and stick it in the freezer, and then I'll tell myself that if I'm craving chocolate or sweets I can go have one of those. And usually that will turn me off of sweets for a while.

    Other times I know it's just a bad habit and I'll spend about a week forcing myself not to eat after dinner (my cravings are more typically time-based than object-based) and after about a week or so the cravings go away.

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  45. Sometimes I crave salty things, like tortilla chips. If it gets really bad, I'll compromise by eating a handful (and then putting the bag away so I don't overeat), or waiting for 5 minutes for the craving to disappear.

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  46. Oh gosh. I am also trying to "eat healthier" and yesterday, at 3:30, I got an intense craving for a sticky, hot, soft cinnamon roll. I just ignored it :( Because I wouldn't be able to stop either. It's like opening up Pandora's box for me!

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  47. I find myself unable to control my cravings for Doritos when I have them in the house. Therefore, I can't buy them very often lol.

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