Advice: Losing weight/ eating right with cravings??

Melrose437 · March 2013

Hi so first thing to know I'm not looking to go on those crazy super strick diet plans I would just like some advice in dealing with eating without cravings. When I say cravings I mean that every meal I eat is based on me craving it like one day for lunch I will want soup so I'll do everything in my power to eat that for lunch and only if I eat this do I feel like the craving has passed..( so I can eat other meals if I'm not ignoring the craving for too long like I will eat family made meals when they are offered) I am pretty sure it's my head being difficult since my craving are generaly cuisine types, specific meats, crunchy(pizza) or liquid( stew) Most of the time I have no issue eating with my cravings since I don't crave junk food... Haha I'll crave things like carrots or lately every morning I crave eggs at least 3-4 times a week and sometime it goes away for a week but it comes back : ) lost track of my thought so like I said most of the time I have no problem indulging in my cravings but I really want to lose a bit of weight now that I am not sick but well even if I eat healthy at home with good portions every time I say I want to lose weight people even the trainer at the gym I go to says I need to go on some plan to do it but making meals plans never works with me.... So any tips that I can lose weight around my craving issue? * please keep in mind any advice you give should apply for a lifetime action, meaning don't say don't eat this for a while until you lose the weight since yes I want to lose it but I want to built a healthy eating style I can have for years * Thanks for reading : D

Latara_Elric · March 2013

Eating healthy and exercise is the best way. I dont recommend diets and depriving yourself of much needed carlories. I also dont recommend using multiple vitamin supplements to replace food. My pyramid is very helpful, and its saod that working out at least 20 minutes a day for 5 days a week is extremely beneficiary.

Troglin · March 2013

It's good that you crave foods that you can make into healthy options. Most people, myself included, have issues with craving unhealthy options. Cravings don't usually go away - you'll usually feel that something or other sounds good at that particular time. Since you like occasional things like stew or soup, you could look into cooking a larger batch, freezing individual portion sizes. Label the containers with what the food is and the date it was made. So long as you have good containers, your food batches should be able to last a couple months. This way when you are craving a particular dish, you can quickly grab a serving from the freezer. To help prevent caving into bad cravings, or to prevent excess hunger, there are things you can do; 1. Make sure you're always hydrated. We often mistake thirst for hunger, so keeping hydrated will help. If you're to the point where you feel thirsty, you're already on your way to dehydrating - so drink water/fluids even when you don't feel like you need it. You could also try drinking a cup of water prior to meals. 2. Try to break your meals into smaller portions with snacks inbetween. This helps keep your metabolism working hard, which will help burn more energy. You will also be helping yourself not feel so hungry throughout the day, which means you'll be less likely to indulge later. 3. Always, always, always eat breakfast. Never skip breakfast, even if all you have time for is a piece of toast with peanut butter. Skipping breakfast will make you feel more hungry later, your metabolism will be sluggish, and you'll probably feel very tired later in the day. 4. In your meals and snacks, pay close attention to the amount of protein and fiber each provides. These will help you feel full and will also benefit your digestive tract. Too much protein and too little fiber will result in digestive 'distress'. Too much fiber can also cause 'distress' in the tract. The amount of protein an individual needs depends upon their age, gender, and the purpose of the protein (i.e., body builders). The average teenage or young adult female should get about 40-50 grams per day. If you're looking to build muscle, you could add extra protein. The main point is, make sure you're getting good sources of both protein and fiber spaced out through the day. This will help with hunger. 5. Change your diet up. Quite a few people make the mistake of thinking they'll only eat a set group of foods or calories per day. When you restrict your diet based on calories or food types, your metabolism has the opportunity to get used to it. This reduces it's productivity and can lead you to stray off track. So be adventurous with your menu. 6. Don't fret so much about calories. Yes, you should pay attention to how many calories you're consuming, but don't let it guide your entire diet. You should be concerned most with the benefits of the foods you're eating. Some of the best foods are higher in calories (i.e., nuts). Also - keeping your daily caloric intake varying will help your metabolism, so it doesn't get used to the caloric intake on a daily basis. You can use a calorie counter (or do the math yourself) to figure out your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Subtract about 200-300 from the results and multiply that by 7 to find your weekly "allowance". For example, my BMR is about 2000 calories. Subtract 300 would make 1700, mulitplied by 7 to equal 11900. By doing this, you can plan to have some days to be more or less calories. (* By subtracting 200-300, you're reducing the intake which will help lose weight. If you're trying to maintain weight, don't subtract. Also, be careful with how much you cut out. If you cut out too much too quickly, your body will be in for a terrible surprise. You can also use calorie reductions to help get over future plateaus, so keep this in mind when deciding how much to cut out initially.) 7. If you can, eat fresh, organic, and raw foods. Try to avoid processed, pre-packaged foods. For starters, the chemicals/preservatives used in many of these are questionable. You have no control over the ingredients, and you're likely going to consume more in the line of bad fats/sodium/sugars. If you do have to buy pre-packaged foods, try to find foods that don't have a huge list of ingredients and that look like the fresh stuff. 8. Don't feel guilty if you do have a 'lapse' and choose to indulge once in a while. This could lead to feeling powerless or make you feel like you'll never succeed. This gets a lot of people in a cycle of food/diet related depression, and many people give up caring just to get rid of that pain. 9. Don't rush yourself. Listen to your body - if you pay attention to it, it will let you know when it agrees or when it needs more time. Make your changes gradually. A sudden change seems easy to make, but if you're not used to it, you'll have more trouble sticking with it. You can always make foods with healthier options. For example, you could make breakfast muffins with flax seed, almonds, carrots, coconut, etc. These options can help turn even a treat into a healthy, beneficial choice. You could use google to search up healthy recipes, or you could look at your current recipes and adapt them. The ideal lifestyle also includes adequate exercise. If you have concerns, you might want to talk to your doctor about the changes you want to make. Generally they'll give you the okay, but everyone is different. With exercise in particular, pay very close attention to your body. Your muscles will be sore, but if they feel painful or if you get the sense that they might rip, stop immediately. Always stay hydrated before, during, and after exercise. Bananas or a protein-filled snack are good options to eat after a workout. 1. Get more aerobic exercise. Pretty much anything that gets your heart beating faster will suffice. Take the dog for a walk, park further away from the store, walk up and down your stairs, etc. For a 150lb person, walking at a rate of 2mph for only 30 minutes will burn almost 100 calories. 2. Stretch daily. While this isn't going to burn loads of calories*, stretching will help you with flexibility and endurance. You could try this in yoga form, meditating to gentle music, to help with your mental state of mind as well. It can give you time to relax, forget your worries, and just be in a temporary state of complete peace. *For a 150lb person, 30 minutes of stretching would burn about 100-140 calories. 3. Add in resistance training. Resistance bands are great for working different muscles and building muscle. You can get them at pretty much any 'setting' (usually they're in different colors so you can tell their resistance levels apart). You can do all sorts of workouts with them - rowing, squatting, lunging, etc. Google would definitely be helpful to find various options. 4. If possible, add in weight or weight training. Muscle helps you lose fat, and muscle will give you a sturdy, capable body. I personally like kettlebells, as you can use them in your stretching exercises. You can really choose whatever weight options that suit your fancy, and it doesn't have to be a traditional weight if you don't want to buy them. When you go for walks, you could carry a backpack with an appropriate amount of weight. This will make your body burn extra calories and you'd be working out additional muscles. 5. Calisthenics could be your best friend. These exercises use your own bodyweight and rarely rely on equipment or training to accomplish. If you've ever seen those ads for things like Insanity or P90x, they're doing calisthenics. This can be a very hard workout, so you would want to take it slowly. Push-ups, pull-ups, jumping jacks, squats, lunges, crunches, jump squats, etc. Some people consider calisthenics as the same as stretching, and while some are similar, calisthenics are generally faster paced and raise your heartbeat. Google would be a huge source of information regarding calisthenics, and you could definitely find videos to watch. 6. Find programs or activities you like to do, and get involved with those. For example, if you enjoy animals and have the resources and time to volunteer, you could volunteer in a shelter environment cleaning kennels and playing with the dogs. Or maybe your roads are littered with debris, so you could organize a group of friends and you could spend a couple of hours picking up the trash. You'll do something you enjoy while making a difference in both the community and yourself. The biggest point, whether it's related to food or exercise, is to never give up. Don't allow yourself to feel alone - you're not. Reach out to friends/family for help and support. If you have a friend/family member who tries to damage your goals, either verbally, mentally, or physically, try to limit contact with them. There are people in this world who will, out of spite or jealousy, try to harm others. My parents, for example, love to tell me that I'll never reach my goals, and my brother will try to lay the guilt-trip for fast food outings. If you have these types of people in your life, your will might be tested. If they can't accept the changes you want to make, perhaps you'll want to consider changing your life to remove them as well. (Easier for friends, not so much for family.) I've got a metabolic disorder, so I'm constantly researching food items, exercises, and other health related topics. I'm not a professional, but if you do have questions, you can always message me.

tarnish · March 2013

Dang I wish I was in my program of dietetics so I could answer this a lot better. First off I'm glad you are in the mindset of wanting it to be a -lifestyle- change which is more permanent than just a 'diet'. Having this view that you have will lead you to more success and maintaining it a lot longer. Whenever people want to eat healthy they need to keep this in mind! They need to approach it like they are becoming vegetarians. Vegetarianism is a lifestyle and they usually remain vegetarians once they decide it's really for them. Cravings are difficult and what mainly you can do is substitute a bad craving with a good food. Say you want pizza? Make your own pizza! You can find bagels low in fat and calories at the store, buy a low calorie/fat sauce, low fat cheese and pop those suckers in the oven for about 10min- or you can use the microwave! If you want something crunchy, pretzels and air popped popcorn are easy. They are low in fat/cal and you can have a lot more. Popcorn you can have around 4 cups of it popped. Keep in mind I said airpopped- not microwave bags. There is none of that nasty butter coating. There are a lot of seasonings they sell as well for popcorn.Your craving for soup is fine. Soup is pretty healthy

. For sweet things, you can get the jello pudding cups or even buy yourself little candies to have once in a while like suckers or other hard candies. Even a small piece of chocolate is fine from time to time. Exercise is always important. The more in shape your muscles are the more calories they'll burn. If you are a little bit bigger by maybe 40+ pounds of extra weight.. I HIGHLY recommend weight training along with your cardio. Weight training will decrease any chances of loose skin when you lose and not to mention it gives you some nice definition. Keep in mind a little weight training like 30min for 3-4 days out of a week will -not- make you bulky. To get that bulkiness that women in competitions have takes a TON of work until you literally cannot lift anymore. Your 30min workout will not cause that. If you are looking for a practical workout, if you have dogs or horses work with them. Walk your dogs or ride the horses for exercise. Before you get your shower at night (or morning) just do some basic crunches, push ups, squats, planks. Aim for maybe 10 of each to start and then each week add 1. So the second week of doing this you'll do 11 of each. Exercising can cut down a lot of cravings. Usually when I work out, all I want after is vegetables and a little fruit. Some people have a lower appetite after working out. I'm the complete opposite and become very very hungry. It's all about the choices you make when you crave. Lastly, you should be eating about -5- times a day. Yes, 5. What happens when people stop eating or don't eat enough (for instance, when people skip breakfast or those that only eat dinner), your body holds on to your fat more for energy. You have nothing powering you when you skip meals so the body makes sure it hangs on to whatever food you do eat. When you eat more constantly, your body is aware it is receiving the energy and will readily burn it instead of storing it away. So when are the 5 times you should eat? Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. The snacks should be something small like some pretzels, an apple, etc. Eating this many times also makes sure you aren't absolutely starving when you go to eat. Having that intense hunger will usually lead to over eating or eating things you may not have otherwise wanted to. Wow this turned longer than I thought! Sorry if I got into things that perhaps you knew or gave information you didn't quite need. I hope some lurker maybe finds some of this useful. To sum it up for you, try and substitute cravings for bad food into something more healthy. Make the substitutions. Want sweet? Have sweet but low fat/cal sweet like the Jello pudding brand. On another note, I am SOOOOOO jealous you have a trainer. I used to have trainers myself but then we couldn't afford it. I am sad =( I miss it so much and I really want a new one so I can work on bench pressing and working on my arms a little. Fun fact! Did you know someone lived without eating food for weeks? He lived off of vitamins to get the nutrients he needed! Don't try this at home though! This man was over 500lbs and was under strict observation by a doctor!

tarnish · March 2013

Ah Ana posted while I was typing. Ana and I have both lost a ton of weight. Our view points may be a little different but its totally up to what you can and are able to do to remain healthy

For example, Ana mentions not to worry about calorie counting but I do. I'm one of those people that isn't aware of how much I'm eating unless I write it down. Writing down food just becomes second nature to me so its not a bother. This is also why I didn't mention calorie counting. It's simply just not for some people. I mainly just mentioned to glance and find what may be lower in cal than other things. Like why eat something that contains 400 cal when you can find something for 250 cal? If you see the lower one, its fine to grab it. Nuts are yummy as Ana said! I only have those as small little treat things. Protein is good after workouts and fills you up more. Studies say chocolate milk is one of the best things to have after a workout which is interesting! There is no right answer what to do and don't do when it comes to weight loss except to exercise and to eat right. Except, what is eating right? So I think it varies from individuals. What may work for you or Ana may not work for me. Also one of the healthiest and versatile foods is the sweet potato! If you like sweet potato, there are a TON of recipes for different ways to eat it. I do not like sweet potato but I wish I did xD

Trianna · March 2013

I have to point out, with the "low fat" stuff- be careful... they often just lower the fat content by sticking in something else. That something else tends to be more sugar, and in the long run, dietary fat is actually better for you when trying to lose weight then simple carbs are. I weighed in the range of 116-120 before I had my daughter. I'm 5'5. I walked and hiked some and ate whatever I wanted. However, "whatever I wanted" to me is a generally healthy diet that is as minimally processed as possible. No fast food, ever. I still ate things like ice cream though, just, instead of a bowl of almost flavorless generic brand, I'd have a teacup half full of haagen dazs - and eat it slowly. I still eat this way, and it still works for me, I'm just a bit heavier now because of some unfortunate choices of medicines I was put on and a health problem that developed after my daughter was born that prevents me from exercising. Thankfully the weight is starting to come off again XD I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't worry that much about counting the calories, just worry about putting the best quality food you can into your body, and if you practice moderation then cravings shouldn't really be much of a problem.

Melrose437 · March 2013

Thanks for the great answers : ) you guys are really helpful! Didn't know I would have this much interest. Ana- you gave me really good tips! I knew some stuff you said but others you put in new perspective and it helps a lot. : D Tarnish- I do love sweet potatoes better than regular potatoes so I do chose the first whenever I can : ) I love how it taste like it's fatty but it's really healthy : p but like you said it's an aquired taste. Also like how your advice differs a bit from Ana's : ) Trianna- thanks a lot! Yeah my health advisor when i was in a mental health program has this don't count the calories but rather eat better foods and keep exercising I prefer this method since I'm forgetful on certain things not related to studies and books : D I think you guys gave me a good idea others may like, you guys should see a recipe post soon for healthy eating : ) I have this warm green been salad and a few others to share and I love trying new stuff : D

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Advice: Losing weight/ eating right with cravings??

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