Can someone please talk to me about cravings

[Skelton]

So, something I very much struggle with is cravings. (Not hunger, I mean those cravings that drive you to eat even when you're not that hungry).

If I follow a low carb plan, it gets rid of my cravings, certainly for a while. But eventually I miss whatever - potatoes, bread, pasta, dessert - and fall of the plan in spectacular fashion. It's this fall off - happens every time - that's made me realise that low carb isn't for me. What's the point of following it for a few days then having a huge binge on forbidden foods?

With No S, of course nothing is restricted, I just have to wait a while before I indulge. But I'm finding that I have carb cravings, because I'm eating carbs. And the cravings are driving me to eat between my 3 meals, eat sweets on N days, etc.

I want No S to work. It's sane. I can live it with it forever. I don't have to worry about counting carbs/cals/points. I dont have to worry that I just ate half a potato and I've ruined my diet. But I am struggling with cravings.

Has anyone else experienced this? Did you find that eventually you could deal with carb cravings? Or are you battling them every day, perhaps even after being on No S for quite a long time.
I'm worried that the only way I'll ever deal with cravings is just to try to eat low carb for the rest of my life, and I don't want that. I want to eat like a normal person. Which my definition is eating regular, moderate portions from all food groups.

[wosnes]

Well, this might sound weird, but cravings aren't a problem. The only bad thing about cravings is giving in to them. Probably the only cravings you have to worry about are sweets/desserts and you'll be able to have them on an S day. Bread, potatoes, rice and pasta you can have at the next meal.

I think you just have to develop the ability to delay gratification. You have to come to the belief that except in very rare instances, eating between meals is just not an option. That has to be your habit.

I very much like sweets. Cookies are what I usually crave. I've found that copying the French and Italians and having fruit and a little cheese at the end of a meal helps. Fruit alone doesn't do it for me, but fruit and cheese does.

Another thing I've learned is that if I eat a lot of processed foods, fast food -- essentially junk food -- I have worse cravings that if I eat real food.

[Too solid flesh]

You might find The end of overeating by David A Kessler an interesting read:

http://www.theendofovereatingbook.com/

I found that learning something about the physical and psychological effects of eating some types of foods, and a better understanding of cravings, helps me to preserve detachment and not act upon cravings. Your mileage may vary.

Best wishes.

[Nicest of the Damned]

Well, this might sound weird, but cravings aren't a problem. The only bad thing about cravings is giving in to them.

This. Cravings, in and of themselves, are not a problem. And cravings don't make you do anything- you have them, and you choose whether or not to act on them.

Cravings are not a sign that you're doing something wrong, that your body needs something, or that your metabolism is slowing down. You are capable of having a craving and not satisfying it right away. If you don't satisfy a craving right now, nothing bad will happen to you because of that. Cravings are thoughts, that's all. Like all thoughts, you have some that it's a good idea to act on, some that it's a good idea to act on but maybe not right now, and some that are not a good idea to act on.

There are people who would like you to think that food cravings are different from other thoughts of wanting things. A lot of these people manufacture food. I wonder why a maker of snack foods might want you to think that it's bad to not eat their product right now if you want it, hmmmm?

I find it useful to tell myself, "Yes, but not now" when I'm having a craving. If I crave chocolate on an N day, I say to myself something like, "You know we can have chocolate on the next S day, which is only a few days from now."

You may not want to keep the foods you crave around, or, if you do, you may want to keep them around in small quantities. The former would make it harder to give in to the cravings. The latter reduces the harm if you do give in to the cravings- there's only a little bit of whatever you're craving in the house, so you eat a little of it rather than a lot.

Make sure you do have what you've been craving when it is allowed. Don't try to get rid of the craving by totally denying it all the time. That's not likely to work in the long term.

[MJ7910]

I like this idea of saying "yes i can have those things on an Sday but not now"... another thought I was having was maybe writing down specifically what you want and then when the Sday gets there go back through the list and read what you were craving earlier in the week, see if you still want it. Having had very powerful cravings I can totally understand how powerful they are. But I think someone on this thread said it very well, they are just thoughts! We don't have to let them have power. Think of some other activities to do so you don't give into the craving. Realize in your mind that another Sday is coming soon. If you have to write it down to get it out of your mind, do it! Not sure if this would work but I really do want to try it.

[Skelton]

That's the thing with cravings, I always feel that they are so strong that they'll overwhelm me if I don't give in to them.
I need to fully accept that I'm in control, it's my hand that opens the fridge door or sweet packet, it's my hand that stuffs the food in my mouth. This is key. Nobody is forcing me to give in to a craving.

So if I give in to a craving so easily, perhaps my motivation isn't where it should be? I've been trying to shift this weight for more than 20 years now and have never managed to do it. I've got no willpower. So I wonder if I'm just not motivated enough. But the thought of continuing to gorge myself, gain weight and have more health problems in the future is very unappealing.

I had a look back at my food journal, and I've noticed that wheat seems to be the worst thing for setting me into an eating frenzy. Sugar does it too but apparently not as much as wheat. My house has been clear of sweets for a couple of weeks now, except on S days, because I realised if it's in the house I eat it. But I think I need to do the same with bread too. So I need to buy it in very small amounts, so if I'm planning a sandwich for lunch I'll just buy one bread roll that morning instead of having a whole loaf of bread in my kitchen.

Anyway, very interesting responses. Thanks all. I'm not planning on giving up No S, so I guess I do need to deal with the cravings. ie accept that I'm craving, plan for it on the next S day, and then get on with my life.

[TexArk]

I learned when I ate low carb that my cravings were under control, but it took me awhile to learn that it wasn't carbs per se that set off cravings; it was wheat that set me off. My husband was the same way. He couldn't eat just ONE dinner roll or 2 slices of sandwich bread. But we both do just fine with rice and potatoes and other starchy vegetables as well as a little fruit as part of our diet.

There are also those wheat/sugar/fat combos that would set me off on S Days. So now if I have a sweet treat, I still usually leave off the wheat and I will usually make it very special and out of the house!

I think your plan of having just enough bread available for one day is a good plan, especially while you are training your willpower muscle.

[Skelton]

I learned when I ate low carb that my cravings were under control, but it took me awhile to learn that it wasn't carbs per se that set off cravings; it was wheat that set me off. My husband was the same way. He couldn't eat just ONE dinner roll or 2 slices of sandwich bread. But we both do just fine with rice and potatoes and other starchy vegetables as well as a little fruit as part of our diet.

There are also those wheat/sugar/fat combos that would set me off on S Days. So now if I have a sweet treat, I still usually leave off the wheat and I will usually make it very special and out of the house!

I think your plan of having just enough bread available for one day is a good plan, especially while you are training your willpower muscle.

TexArk, gosh, that's very interesting about the wheat. It's not just me then.
Just like you describe, it sets me off wanting more bread (or pasta or cake) and then I seem to lose control altogether and want sweets too.
And as you mention, I do fine with rice and potatoes and carrots. I tend not to eat very much fruit because that also triggers me.

So my thoughts are that at this stage, I'm not going to ban wheat completely, but I do think I'll limit it and definitely not eat it daily. Need to find some quick and easy alternatives to sandwiches for lunch. And perhaps only have pasta when I'm out of the house for dinner.

[Nicest of the Damned]

So if I give in to a craving so easily, perhaps my motivation isn't where it should be?

If you give in to a craving and ate something you shouldn't have, or ate too much of something, that means you made a mistake. That doesn't mean you're unmotivated or that No S isn't going to work for you, it means you made a mistake. Mark it and move on.

Buying bread in small quantities is probably a good idea, if you tend to binge on bread.

Don't overload your willpower. You've got so much (which can increase over time, but gradually). Focus on making a few changes to your diet now, three max (the three rules of Vanilla No S, for example). Don't try to make any other changes. If you try to change too many things at once, you'll overload your willpower and end up accomplishing nothing. Once those changes become habits, then you can work on other changes. It will take at least a month, possibly longer, to get a change established as a habit. Developing habits is not a quick process, unfortunately.

There's another interesting thing about thoughts, including cravings. They all go away after some time, even if you don't act on them. You won't be having cravings forever if you don't eat whatever it is you're craving.

[oolala53]

I think you've got the gist.

I just want to add that I think if you make it habit to eat things in reasonable portions (say, the volume of your fist), that will become the default.

And know that it is normal to experience desire for food and also normal not to always eat because you have a desire.

For the first two years, I had almost no ability to resist cravings (I call them urges/ fake hunger urges) on weekends. I kept wishing the urge to eat would go away when I wasn't hungry. I already resisted desires on N days. Eventually, I got tired of being full too much of the time on weekends. Doesn't mean I don't still have them sometimes and give in.

If you don't give in, it will become your default not to. But it might take longer than you want.

Also gotta say that looking forward to a great piece of artisan whole wheat bread or a biscuit was what kept me from buying and tucking into sweets on many an N day.

[Sweetness]

Everyone has such helpful things to say, I'm liking this thread.... ll add mine to the mix. I understand about cravings. I was on a carb restricted diet and remember being amazed how the cravings were under control... For a while. I cant maintain restrictions and counting forever. But when I got back to "normal" eating, I slowly gained all the weight back over 4 or 5 years time. No S is my new normal. I do still have cravings, but usually don't give in, except on Sdays. (I just had an abnormal couple weeks, you can see on my daily thread. And that's Ok cause I'm brushing off those crumbs and getting back to normal now!)

Here's what's been helpful to me. Multigrain bread is better for me than whole wheat- less cravings. Healthy fats at meals helps. I don't restrict them. A few nuts at the end of my meal helps me not feel deprived.

When I have a craving, I usually have some kind of liquid... Milk, or hot tea, or milk with vanilla and stevia, decaf cofee, or healthy hot chocolate (using cocoa powder and vanilla, and sweetened with stevia). Doing something else I enjoy also helps, a walk, calling a good friend, playing a game, etc. you can make a rule... Before I give in,to a craving I will... Have a list of things you must do first. Sometimes just waiting 20 minutes does it. If I give in, it usually results in a mini binge for me. Having the thing I crave is almost never enough, so why start?

Stick with no S it's the best!