Dieters, How Do You Ignore The Craving To Eat?
Lounge By LittleLinda Updated 29 Apr 2007 , 5:49am by Cakenicing4u
I just pick and pick! Sometime it's not that i'm hungry ... I just think of a flavor or texture I feel like having!
Oh, and that piece of cake on the top left of the cakecentral pages looks so yummy!
Sometimes if I put off eating something (like leftover Easter candy) long enough, I lose the craving. I distract myself with something else and I forget about it.
I also try to drink water instead of snacking. And if I'm really trying to avoid a sugar splurge, I'll compromise and have sugar-free hot cocoa.
And... then there are the times that nothing works and I end up eating ten of those little foil-covered chocolate eggs. Sheesh, I know I just need to throw out that candy, but my DH thinks I am being unfair to the kids. Yep, that's right, I'm eating my kids' Easter candy. If it is in the house, I have to have it. 
Well, the key to successful weight loss (and I'm not there yet) is to NOT deny yourself as that ALWAYS backfires. If you want something, you want it, but give yourself a little. Like, if you are craving ice cream, get a 1/4 cup instead of a 1/2 cup... or those new dibs (pieces of chocolate covered chocolate) to satisfy that craving...
Plus, I'm a HUGE believer that you shouldn't start eating artificial everything just because it has less calories - what are you putting in your body then? So, eat a dab of REAL ice cream and enjoy it, instead eating 1/2 cup of not satisfying ice cream of equal calories as the 2-3 tablespoons.
Successful dieting is NOT about denying yourself, it's about learning to have the thing syou enjoy in moderation and to take it slow - the weight didn't come on in 6 months, it shouldn't come off that fast either.... slower is better for maintenance BELIEVE ME...
Melissa
Sometimes we think we are hungry but we are actually eating because we are bored. If you aren't really hungry but feel like grazing, then do something that will keep yourself busy and your hands busy so you forget about food.
"ignore" -- root of "ignorance" --- to NOT know something, to be in a state of being uneducated, inexperienced.
so...
ignore? now just how would I ever KNOW how it tastes, become EDUCATED as to what's good and what's not, be EXPERIENCED in the finer points of culinary creations if I didn't just
EAT IT! ??????
Doug, you're SO right! I suscribe to a few cooking magazines and there are so many things to try! I've tried not renewing but it hasn't happened.
LittleLinda - we're in the same boat! I see so many people with weight tickers and they've lost so many lbs. How did they do it? How can you bake a cake and not taste the crown while it's hot? 
Linda, if you need support, feel free to contact me. I'm sure we can help each other out! 
Marie
Thanks for the input. I like the ideas of just trying to hold off and the urge might go away. I love the idea of brushing your teeth ... I never want to eat something after brushing and ruin that minty fresh mouth.
Sometimes I write in my journal when I am tempted to eat something I know I shouldn't or if I just need to motivate myself. It helps me to go over the reasons why I wanted to lose the weight in the first place and remind myself how hard I have worked to get to this point. And then I decide if it's really worth it to throw it all away, it never is worth it. Nothing tastes good enough to start sliding down that slippery slope back into the old unhealthy habits and being overweight and feeling depressed and dissapionted in myself. I often think of a verse in the theme song from the "Biggest Loser". "What have you done today to make you feel proud?". Good luck and Best wishes on your weight loss journey. It's NOT easy, in fact is probably the hardest struggle there is to overcome but it is possible! Don't give up on yourself, you are worth it!!!
Anna
I should also mention that slip ups are normal and even okay sometimes. You shouldn't deprive yourself all the time from your cravings because that will leave you feeling deprived. All foods are okay in moderation once in a whle, at least in my opinion. There are just some foods that I absolutely refuse to live with out, cake is one of them!!!! HA! So when those slip ups happen don't be too hard on yourself, just try to make up for the next day by doing an extra lap or something! Nuff said.
Anna
I don't ignore it ... .that's why I'm fat! 
Eating when I'm hungry isn't the problem. THat's why I try to explain to my teenager that the diet pills don't really work. They are designed to "curb your appetite". I don't eat because I'm hungry. I eat because it tastes good! Hunger has nothing to do with it! 
I don't eat because I'm hungry. I eat because it tastes good! Hunger has nothing to do with it!
Oh, that is so my problem! If there's good food in the house (and by good I mean delicious fattening goodies), I'll eat it. I know I'm not hungry, but I just want it. I like to eat and try new foods and flavors, and so I do 
I do also eat when I'm bored, and that's my biggest problem right now. I try to drink water at those times instead of eating, or just keep telling myself that I don't need to eat. Sometimes it works 
-Lisa
indydebi and bluehen92 - I am SO with you on this. Quite often, eating for me usually has nothing to do with being hungry. Many times it is because I'm bored or just want some "comfort" to get through the afternoon at work or whatever. I have not really ever found any distraction method that works.
But now I've gained enough weight that I feel "icky" all the time, my clothes don't fit well, and etc., etc. I try but then fall off the wagon. And eating a "little bit" of the real stuff doesn't work for me - it is a slippery slope. Soon those 2 bites of ice cream seems to turn into a whole bowl. And who can eat 2 pieces of chocolate? I just downed about 10 Hershey's Kisses and while they were good, now I just feel guilty and ickier than ever. Ugh. I'm kind of at my wits end about this one. Sorry to vent.
I have to tell you...if you crave sweets eat a dill pickle, the saltiness does something for the craving...I can't eat a lot of sweets...but I now LOVE dill pickles...used to go to the deli and get those HUGE suckers...but now I just reach into the pickle jar and pull out a few little slices 
and I crunch ice which really gets on EVERYBODIES nerves lol...sorry crunching now
I don't deny myself when I have a craving for something particular. I just portion out a small amount of it to eat, and (here's the hard part), STOP after eating that portioned amount. This way I get to taste what i want, but I'm not going crazy with it.
if i have a craving for somethign particular, I wait it out... if I still crave it after awhile (like a week) i will have it..
and JMO sometimes denying is the way to get through becasue like it has been said we arent eating becasue we are hungry, it may be boredom, just being used to picking, emotions. I am on a new WOE i posted on the diet thread too I think and I hadnt had any cake icing anythig since 3/14. i went to my uncles weddin fully intending to enjoy a good ole piece of cake and it was not good. excuse me, it was nasty to me. (icing was good IMBC) so I didn't.. then wednesday (of this week) i made some cupcakes because I wanted to taste a new icing recipie so I made some for my family and I INHALED one.. and then I stopped.. it was a plan so I did better I believe, than if I hadnt planned to eat it
PS. that cupcake was GOOOOOOOOOD!
It all depends. Sometimes I can ride it out and my craving will pass but there are those times when if I want freakin ice cream, I'm going to have it! In moderation, of course. Or if I did pig out a little more than I wanted to, I just make sure to step up my walking routine.
Black Licorice, like good n plentys... The strong flavor really makes me not want whatever it was, and because it's such an intense flavor, only 6-10 pieces is enough, and that's only 1/3 of a serving.
Or, a really really small bit of whatever I crave... like ONE teaspoon of ice cream, and not a bowl... or a carton.... lol
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%