curbing the cravings???

Hi all,

I havent had surgery yet (or even a referral for that matter) but am in the works to have my doctor approve it..

In the mean time, i am trying to change my eating habits and have restarted WW again..

I'm hoping that this time, my family can get on board and assist in making our home a no fail enviroment (at least for the beginning)..

My question is:: How can i learn to curb the cravings?? i find that when i get hit with a craving it is very hard to ignore...

for example.. this morning i had a craving for olives and cheese, but this afternoon i couldnt focus on my book i was reading or stay focused on what my daughter was talking to me about..

just wondering what has worked for you??
i am so discouraged and frustrated in my failure... (yep, a pity me post..) 

*sigh*

I took up knitting a long time ago, for one thing it keeps my hands busy and keeps me out of the kitchen. lol 

I find distraction works really well, just getting out of the house or making sure that stuff( the good stuff lol ) doesn't even cross the front door step!!!

But we can never get rid of the cravings completly, we just have to try and crave the better things, good luck !!!!!

 Hi there,

The more carbs you eat the more you crave so try cutting back on the carbs to help eliminate the cravings.

good luck!

I agree with Sandy about how cutting the carbs makes a big difference to the cravings.  Before I had surgery and before the optifast I began eating more protein and avoiding carbs as best I could.  Made a really big difference for me and I lost weight very well.  Keeping the temptation foods out of the house was agreed to by the family as well, which also made it a lot easier.  They can eat them when they are out.

 Hi Mamax5,

It's great your trying to make positive changes now. I don't think completely ignoring your cravings is the best decision, but rerouting your intense thinking about food is better. For example, you said you craved olives and cheese. I don't think that this is an awful snack, especially if it's well portioned, but for me, when I got cravings I would think would I be satisfied if I ate an apple (or substitute another fruit or vegetable) because for me, 8 out of 10 times it was head hunger. If I would be satisfied by eating something else, than I knew I was actually hungry and allow myself to have a small portion (especially if it were a healthy food) and go from there. If an apple wouldn't cut it, than I would refocus my thoughts, i.e. searching the internet, doing something around the house, etc. Just my 2 cents. 

The good news is though once you have surgery, your urge to eat does not exist (at least for me) and you can manage cravings better. Just keep your eyes on the prize. 

Best of luck
 

I know craving and emotional eating aren't necessarily the same thing, but I found that food journalling helped me with my emotinal/boredom eating.  Since I was writing down every morsel of food that went into my mouth, I would grab something to munch on and before I ate it I would think, "I have to write this down" and I soon found myself putting things back because I didn't want to write them down.

Tracy

honestly...I couldn't curb the cravings... or maybe it was the habits...but instead of the wrong snack foods, I now eat sunflower seeds that I have to shell, so my fingers are always doing something.

there is no failure..the only time you FAIL..is if you don't KEEP TRYING.

making small changes is the key, changing the portion size, how you eat the item..I still eat potato chips once a month or so..but now I take the bag, put some in a glad container or a small Corelle dish and put the bag back..if I have the craving to go back for more I either haul out my sunflower seeds or go and mow the lawn etc.

there are a lot of different products Revival Soy chips and beef jerky are a couple of things that I keep on hand..I am a salt fiend and that is my guilty pleasure/indulgence...so I keep those eon hand when the salt craving gets too bad..I can pass on a piece of cheesecake much more easily than I can Cheetos..and that I know is my weakness.

you will train to trick your mind, divert your attention and once you have your surgery you WILL NOT want to sabotage the tool that you have been given.

So don;t start thinking about the negative things yet....you are putting the horse before the cart and truly everyone who has had WLS has struggles and you will be NO different, wonderful support both withing your family and with your friends and on this board are what keeps most people on track.

ALL THE BEST