Open thread: Food cravings

24th September 2008

posted in Eating Disorders, Health, Nutrition & Fitness |

Food cravings. We all have ‘em. So, what to do about them? CNN reprinted a Cooking Light story on food cravings that discusses how to healthily satisfy them. And the overwhelming consensus of experts? Indulge your cravings.

One of the prime reasons most dieters fail is because they deny their food cravings. Eventually, the cravings become overwhelming and when dieters inevitably give in, as most human beings will, they overindulge in the objects of their obsession. The same logic applies for people struggling with bulimia. You never binge on carrots and celery; it’s almost always the high-carb foods and sweets you regularly deny yourself that constitute the bulk of a binge. When I first began dieting in earnest (the diet that would develop into an eating disorder), I followed the low-carb Atkin’s plan, only I never went off the induction phase. After eight months or so of no fruit, I switched from counting carbs to counting calories and incorporated fruit back into my diet. It was all I craved for a solid month: plums, nectarines, apples, grapefruit. It’s probably a good thing I never ran into Miss Chiquita.

Food cravings can also be sparked by hormonal changes — which explains why chocolate is a perfectly acceptable remedy for PMS — or by emotional associations with food. Brian Wansink, PhD, director of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab and author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think,” has made a career out of studying our relationships with food. His research finds that positive events trigger cravings more than negative feelings. This makes sense to me; its during those times I have felt most passionate that I was bulimic. It was much easier to abstain from food altogether during those times I felt most depressed and dead inside.

Lately, I’ve been craving a really good Cobb spinach salad sans bacon with bleu cheese dressing. I wish all my cravings were for such foods; it’d definitely make my relationship with food less antagonistic and more palatable. Most of my cravings are for foods that are healthy but should be eaten in moderation, like apples with peanut butter and batches upon batches of yummy granola. Other cravings aren’t so healthy, like longings for ooey gooey melty cheese or my body weight in Robin’s Eggs candies. While Wasink and others encourage people to indulge their cravings, they caution to do so in moderation. I found their tips for curbing cravings to be overall pretty reasonable and realistic. They are, in brief:

Eat regularly. Waiting too long between meals can turn normal hunger pangs into an out-of-control craving.

Delay gratification. When a craving hits, slip your mind into rational gear by saying, “not now, maybe tomorrow,” suggests Roberts. Saying “later” rather than “never” may help decrease the frequency of cravings, she adds.

Keep it real. Eating an apple isn’t likely to satisfy a yen for chocolate. Instead, enjoy what you really want — in moderation.

Practice portion control. It’s easy to overeat if you munch straight from a box of cereal, for instance, or a bag of pretzels.

Choose high-quality foods with nutritional benefits. …If chocolate is your weakness, go for gourmet dark chocolate, which offers beneficial antioxidants along with great flavor.

Keep a food diary. This can help if cravings are frequent and often lead to overeating.

I’m not so sure about the tip to delay gratification. I think this rationale can be abused by people prone to eating disorder and/or dieting behavior. The rest are behaviors I now try to practice myself and I have found that they work for me. For example, now that I eat regularly, my food cravings are not nearly as intense as when I restricted food and denied cravings altogether. Now, if I want something, I have it, but in moderation. I don’t keep a food journal, but I have in the past (apart from the journal I kept during my eating disorder) and I found it to be a helpful way of examining why I ate what I did and what I was feeling at the time I ate it.

So, what are your food cravings? Have you been able to strike a healthy balance in satisfying your cravings without overindulging? If so, how?

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1 On September 24th, 2008, the Lindsay of Babble-on said:

I tend to listen to my cravings. I’ve learned that when my body wants bananas? I should eat some bananas ASAP, unless i want to wake up with lots of leg cramps in the middle of the night. My body is telling me what it needs, and it’s in my best interests to listen.

Sometimes the cravings are confusing. A few months ago, i was craving orange juice at alarming amounts. No matter how much i drank, i still wanted more. I thought it was a vitamin C thing, so i took some vitamin C tablets… and that didn’t help at all. Turns out that my body was looking for something else in the OJ. Eventually it tapered off, and all was well.

Since i tend to crave stuff that my body needs, and most of the stuff i crave tends to not be insanely unhealthy, i generally listen to the cravings.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 9:11 am

2 On September 24th, 2008, Tatiana said:

I’m learning to distinguish between a true craving and a case of the I-Just-Want-Thats. True cravings, more often than not, are for real food, and are actually possible to satisfy; I-Just-Want-Thats are for junk, which I could eat all week and still never have enough.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 9:43 am

3 On September 24th, 2008, Cat said:

Since reaching an excellent point in my ED recovery, all of my cravings have been fat-based: nuts, things with oil in them, avocados, things of that nature. I’m also almost always craving pad thai and beans. Beans of any variety.

Mmmmm…honey-roasted cashews.

I always entertain my cravings when I can and when it’s affordable. Really good soy ice cream is hard to come by, so occasionally I’ll *have* to wait a craving out because whatever I’m craving is unavailable. The number one way I handle cravings is never buying something in the grocery store I *think* I’ll want later — I wait until I want something and take the five-minute walk to Kroger to satisfy.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 9:44 am

4 On September 24th, 2008, Tori said:

Early in my recovery, I had cravings for cashews (not honey-roasted tho) and bananas with peanut butter.

When I was first a vegetarian 6+ years ago, I had the most random cravings for bologna-and-butter sandwiches.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 10:09 am

5 On September 24th, 2008, Christie i. said:

I typically eat what I am craving. If I don’t, I end up eating a bunch of crap for a week trying to fufill the craving and then have binge on the food I was craving to start with. Works out best if I just eat it in the first place.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 10:13 am

6 On September 24th, 2008, The Bald Soprano said:

I used to crave potato chips –then I realized that I felt lousy after eating them, even in relatively small amounts, and that what I was actually craving was something unspecified-salty-and-crunchy. I eat tortilla chips mostly, now, and cheese-and-crackerbread snacks that they have here, but I have a feeling that there’s something less … processed that I am actually craving but haven’t figured out yet. –yes, I tried celery. I still can’t stand the stuff.

I also crave red meat and dark green vegetables starting a few days before my period, and all through it. That was the first craving that I ever figured was for a reason (WAY before discovering intuitive eating!).

Lately I’ve noticed that sometimes I crave bananas and clementines in the winter. Those are the only fruit that we buy out of the local season these days, as a result. I also get cravings for SALAD (with capital letters) from time to time. Sometimes it’s general, and easy to fulfill, but sometimes it’s for a salad that a particular restaurant makes and it’s a bit tricky to get. If I could just learn how to make that salad dressing, i could fake it, but it’s not like they’d give me the recipe. And sometimes it’s for a cucumber salad or beetroot salad that my in-laws make.

The last few days it seems like every time I ask myself what I want when I’m hungry, the answer is “liverwurst” –I don’t know why.

sorry for writing a book in comments…

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 10:33 am

7 On September 24th, 2008, Twistie said:

There are only two circumstances under which I will ignore a craving or put it off for later.

1: I’ve just eaten and am actually full. In that case, I’ll tell myself that when I get hungry again, I can have the desired item as a snack or part of my next meal.

2: I don’t have access to it, at which point I’ll tell myself that I’ll have it as soon as it becomes available.

Other than that, I’ll honor the craving right away.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 11:21 am

8 On September 24th, 2008, integgy said:

I tend to give in to cravings. Sometimes they are cravings for normal food, and sometimes for something like a gooey, cheesy quesadilla. It totally depends. But I find that satisfying my cravings, even just a bit, makes for a less food-obsessive me. And considering how obsessive I am over everything else in life, it’s nice to not obsess over one extra thing.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 11:32 am

9 On September 24th, 2008, Bree said:

When I get my period, which I have now, I usually don’t crave sweets, I crave meat, chicken, and fish, and salty snacks like Doritos, and Pepperidge Farm goldfish. Last night, I ate sausage for dinner, and tonight, dinner will be a grilled bacon-wrapped pork fillet. Sometimes I will get a mad craving for salad too, so it’s not just the supposedly “bad foods.” But don’t get me wrong, when I want some chocolate, I’ll have some chocolate.

And I also do what Twistie does with my cravings. I only ignore them when I’ve already eaten and I’m full or I don’t have what I’m craving.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 11:55 am

10 On September 24th, 2008, The Bald Soprano said:

Ok, now it’s bugging me. Melty cheese is mentioned as unhealthy in the original post, and then a commenter contrasts a cheese quesadilla with “normal food”. What removes cheese’s food-ness when it’s melted? Why doesn’t a quesadilla count as normal food? It’s not even as though quesadillas are highly processed, even! No more so than bread-and-regular-cheese, anyway!

There are few things more lovely than a warm quesadilla, in my opinion. Although I tend to want chicken or fresh spinach in mine in addition to the lovely, gooey cheese.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

11 On September 24th, 2008, Karin said:

Oh, Bald Soprano, I hear you regarding the pre-period red meat craving! Sadly, I’m on a pretty tight budget, so eating the steak I crave isn’t possible most of the time. :-/

I have problems with cravings: Recovering from binge eating disorder, I have a hard time distinguishing between craving things my body needs and craving (and bingeing) because I’m compensating sadness/anger/etc. I try to eat intuitively, but when a craving goes on for days (e. g. pre-menstrual chocolate craving) I start to get scared that I’m slipping back into BED-behavior.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

12 On September 24th, 2008, Rachel said:

BaldSoprano: I should probably have noted that my idea of ooey gooey melted cheese lies specifically on top of the pizza at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. Mmmm… I eat string cheese as a snack sometimes and that’s healthy. Cheesecake Factory pizza? Yeah, not so healthy

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 1:09 pm

13 On September 24th, 2008, The Bald Soprano said:

Karin: I can’t eat steak most of the time, either. I make the cheap version of beef stroganoff, for example (ground beef, sour cream, condensed cream of mushroom soup and noodles –although now that I’m living in Germany, I do it with sour cream and onions and frozen mushrooms), or tacos with hamburger, etc.

Or just bacon cheeseburgers.

Rachel: I’ll buy that about the restaurant pizza. Sadly, pizza here isn’t even a source for gooey cheese, really –they put so little cheese on these things! Except when it’s a Caprese pizza with arugula, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and balsamic salad dressing

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

14 On September 24th, 2008, Cammy said:

When I was doing fieldwork this summer, the food at the research station was mostly beans and various forms of white starch. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the foods we missed…my biggest cravings were definitely for DAIRY, fresh produce, and lemonade!

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

15 On September 24th, 2008, nuckingfutz said:

BaldSoprano: about the liverwurst thing? It’s probably the iron. Liverwurst has a good amount of iron in it, since it’s made from liver. I practically lived on the stuff myself when I was pregnant with my first and INSANELY anemic.

Count me in as one of those that gives in to my cravings – I did that even when I was dieting. My rationale when I was dieting was that if I denied myself, I’d just want more and more and more and would end up eating way more than what I really craved in the first place. Now that I’ve learned more about intuitive eating and HAES, when a craving hits, I don’t even analyze it anymore. Obviously there’s something IN that particular food that I need, or I wouldn’t be craving it (and that goes for chocolate during that time of the month, too; I get insanely hormonal and I know I need that chemical [I can't remember what it is right now, go figure] to help balance me out as much as possible). Although I have to admit that unless it is that time of the month, 99.9999% of the time, what I crave are so-called “healthy” foods. Mostly fruits and vegetables. Hell, last week I had a craving for fresh mushrooms, so I bought a big bag of them from the local fruit/veg shop and had them for lunch. Just the mushrooms, with a little salad dressing in a tiny dish as a dip. Strange, but they were SOOO good!

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

16 On September 24th, 2008, Tiana said:

I tend to go through strange two-week carb craving cycles where I alternate between wanting too many and being disgusted by bread. Really odd. I don’t know why my body does that, but I just follow its lead.

When it comes to unexplained cravings that don’t make sense or don’t want to go away, I always try drinking something first to see if I’m secretly thirsty. Sometimes it really helps.

Also, am I the only person on this planet who is sick and tired of hearing about dark chocolate as a great alternative to light chocolate? Seriously, I just can’t stand the stuff! Ugh.

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

17 On September 24th, 2008, The Bald Soprano said:

nuckingfutz: I’d have thought it was that if it were next week, closer to my period, but this is not the time of the month that I crave iron-rich foods, normally. (Also, what I’m calling liverwurst in English may not actually have liver in it –Streichwurst in German– although I think the stuff we’ve had on hand this week does.) If this continues, I’ll get my doctor to check for anemia (is that how it’s spelled? it looks weird).

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pm

18 On September 24th, 2008, susan said:

I think I rarely truly crave something, but I have many “cravings of convenience”. When making a pb&j for my daughter, I’ll suddenly crave that. When I see dh eating a cookie, I suddenly want that.

Occasionally I’ll crave something non-specific — like “Mexican food” or “Indian food”, but mostly food just always SOUNDS good. I can think of a rare occasion when it didn’t sound great to think of eating a piece of chocolate covered cheesecake from a local restaurant or a homemade flour tortilla!

If I really, really want something I try to have it, but mostly I postpone my cravings (because they’re just due to proximity!).

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

19 On September 24th, 2008, Karin said:

Bald Soprano, when I order a pizza here I ALWAYS ask for “Extra Käse” or “Doppelt Käse”. I don’t know why most German pizzerias guard the cheese like they have to pay extra tax for every gramm they put on the pie. Thankfully, I’ve been able to find a few pizza joints that make verrrrry cheesy pizzas, but of course no comparison to American pizza. If you have a Joey’s (www.joeys.de) nearby, you could try them – greasy AND gooey… *drool*

The funny thing is, your (German) beef stroganoff recipe is what I use to fill tortillas… A very good alternative to steak!

(Sorry for the short thread hijack )

posted on September 24th, 2008 at 7:42 pm

20 On September 25th, 2008, Jagad Guru Chris Butler said:

I recently discovered a root from South America called Yacon. It looks like sweet potato, but is surprising really sweet and juicy. It is supposedly really good for you, with many of health benefits, especially for diabetics. I’ve found that it satisfies my sweet tooth when I’m craving something sweet.

According to wikipedia: “…popular among diabetic people and dieters who consume these products because of its low sugar properties. The low sugar characteristic is due to the fact that the tuber is comprised of FOS (fructooligosacharides), a special type of fructose that the human body can not absorb thus it leaves the body undigested. The syrup is also a prebiotic which means that it feeds the friendly bacteria in the colon that boosts the immune system and helps digestion.”

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 9:58 am

21 On September 25th, 2008, Hagen said:

Ok, I’m confused by this post. I’ve stumbled on to this post through other ‘HAES’ blogs, and I really appreciated the point of view shared here. But this one boggles me. I to am recovering from disordered eating, Have been for a while now. What is bothering me is that this post sounds like a diet post. To me, all foods have nutritional value, they are not all equal in that value. One food is not better – ‘healthier’ than the other really, it just is different in the amount of nutrition one will get from it. Perhaps I need clarification on the way that you are using the word healthy, because it comes across as just another LA diet, weight watchers buzz word. Especially when there is judgment surrounding pizza, cheese etc in the responses.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 10:44 am

22 On September 25th, 2008, Rachel said:

Hagen: There are no bad or good foods and all food has its place in a healthy diet. Yet there are foods that are healthy and foods that aren’t so healthy. I think we can all agree that your body extracts more needed nutrients from a vitamin-packed sweet potato — which has kept many a population from outright starvation — than it extracts from gummi bears, which have relatively little to no nutritional value. To label foods as healthy and unhealthy isn’t to confer a moral value unto them; it’s science, and science itself is neutral.

For me, HAES is about feeding your body the foods it wants and needs to be healthy and perform optimally. It’s also about developing a healthy relationship with food and weight, and part of that lies in knowing how much energy your body needs each day. If I ate Cheesecake Factory pizza every day, I wouldn’t be practicing good HAES nor would it be healthy and kind for my body. My weight would most likely increase to a range that is not healthy or natural for me, thus encouraging problematic relationships with my body, and my body and brain would not get the nutrients it needs to be healthy. And, since many food cravings are triggered by emotions, it’s also not healthy if, say, I eat my body weight in Robin’s Eggs whenever I feel stressed, upset, depressed, etc… It is healthier for me to deny or limit those emotional food cravings and to instead examine the actual emotional issues at-hand triggering them than to mask my feelings through food.

It sounds like you still conflate the word “better” (good) with “healthier,” but the two terms are not synonymous. And just because someone is health-conscious does not mean that they’re dieting. I encourage you to read on about HAES. Best of luck with your recovery.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 11:34 am

23 On September 25th, 2008, Linda said:

Cravings to satisfy nutritional needs should be satisfied, of course (although sometimes these might not look the way we think they should.) Cravings that have a psychological aspect is more what we’re talking about here, right? In that case, the article gets it right, i.e. control=obsession, but then weirdly encourages behaviors that undermine the goal of avoiding that terrible cycle.

For the past few years I’ve been practicing what’s known in some circles as “unfooding” (an unfortunate term, I think, it’s a take on “unschooling” but doesn’t really work in the same way) meaning not regulating food intake in any way. For people who have already been conditioned into dysfunctional thinking about food, some mental/emotional work may need to happen simultaneously, and there’s usually a period of adjustment that feels “out of control” as the body and mind work through residual memory responses to past control.

For me it’s worked beautifully in terms of over-indulging and the associated guilt no longer being an issue, but it’s left behind a void in which I don’t really know what I want (as opposed to what the obsession wanted.) Which has been disconcerting. But I guess (I’m hoping) that just means that I’m still in the midst of the process of recovery in which I rediscover food in a new, mentally healthy way.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am

24 On September 25th, 2008, Pat said:

The strongest craving I’ve ever had in my life, was when I was visiting Asia several years ago. I was eating some of the most AMAZING Asian food (Thai, Chinese, etc) of my Life, yet after a few weeks of that I was craving Mexican food like you wouldn’t believe. I couldn’t stop thinking about it! And sure, under normal circumstance I like Mexican food just fine — but never quite to this extent. This was bordering upon obsessive! All I can think of was that it was a case of “you want most what you can’t have”, or something — likely there was little Mexican food for 1000’s of miles from me, heh….

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

25 On September 25th, 2008, Melissa said:

My food cravings are never consistent except for one thing and that’s chocolate.
So on occasions when I crave I usually eat a few chocolate chips and then I’m good.

Last night I wanted halibut, broccoli and cauliflower- specifically for supper. So that’s what I made. It will probably be a long time before my body starts craving something like that in that specific combination!

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 1:42 pm

26 On September 25th, 2008, emi said:

Rachel, I agree with Hagen that this post sounds a bit diet-y. I understand that you’re saying that healthier is a scientific term, and not meant to mean better or morally superior.

However, suggesting that (for example) apples with PB should be eaten in moderation sounds very diet-y to me – I would think HAES says, if you want an apple with PB, eat it. If you want three in a row, hell, eat them – where’s the harm in that? The only reason I can see for not eating 3 apples w/ PB in a row is the possible caloric excess – surely you’re not saying that they’re unhealthy. And avoiding or even moderating foods due to their high calorie content strikes me as a dieting way or thinking, not a HAES idea.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 2:08 pm

27 On September 25th, 2008, susan said:

Hey — this was on the Small Bites blog….timely…

Food cravings have more to do with rises and drops in specific brain chemicals (i.e.: serotonin) as well as emotional states than nutrition.

Many people find, for instance, that they are more likely to crave fatty and/or sugary foods when they are stressed, sad, anxious, or lonely.

It’s also worth pointing out that most cravings are for particular tastes and textures, as opposed to specific vitamins and minerals.

A craving for ice cream, for instance, does not mean the body is in need of calcium. Nor does a craving for potato chips signify low potassium levels.

If this were the case, people would be just as likely to crave a glass of milk or some baked tofu in place of ice cream, or an avocado or bananas rather than potato chips.

I find that frequent cravings often signify eating patterns that are too strict or limited.

Liberalizing food selection usually leads to less cravings, and, consequently, less chances of losing control once that craving is fulfilled.

Another important factor worth keeping in mind with cravings is to truly identify what is being sought.

A lot of people fall into the trap of attempting to satisfy a craving by eating anything BUT the very thing they want.

If you are craving chocolate, fruit isn’t going to cut it. Neither are whole wheat crackers or peanut butter. Coincidentally, sometimes the avoidal of a craving results in a higher caloric intake than the craving itself!

The key, particularly with fatty and sugary cravings, is to find a small amount that is truly satisfying.

For instance, when I crave chocolate, I have a few squares of an intensely dark chocolate that I love.

Those two squares are less than 100 calories but, thanks to the rich and decadent flavor, fulfill my craving much better than, say, 250 calories of a regular milk chocolate bar.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

28 On September 25th, 2008, Rachel said:

I disagree, Emi, and I’ll explain further using your example: You’re right in that I’m not implying that apples with peanut butter is unhealthy. In fact, I specifically write in my post that it is healthy, but should be eaten in moderation. Peanut butter is packed with lots of nutritional goodies, but it is high in calories and also in fat. An apple with peanut butter? Awesome. Three apples with half a jar of peanut butter in one sitting? Not so awesome. In fact, that sounds more like the makings of a binge.

For people recovering from an eating disorder and/or dysfunctional eating, overindulging can quickly trigger old behaviors. Eating disordered people have a disconnect between what the mind wants and what the body needs. I think we need to first ask ourselves: Does my body really need three apples and a half a jar of peanut butter right now, or is my craving based on an emotional response?

I promote HAES and try to personally follow it, yet I don’t see HAES as code for eat-whatever-you-want. HAES focuses on intuitive eating, which means that you learn to listen to your body and distinguish between physical and emotional feelings of hunger. It also means making healthy food choices that honor and nourish your body and mind. For me, knowing how much energy (calories) my body needs each day to perform optimally is absolutely aligned with HAES. Too much or too little energy can have serious affects on metabolism, blood sugar levels, mood, hormones, etc… I don’t see knowing one’s personal energy needs as very much different than knowing one’s optimal blood sugar levels or blood pressure. If your cholesterol is high, you’d take medication to help lower it. If what you’re eating is negatively affecting your mental and physical health, you alter your diet.

I see healthy eating and HAES as taking in as many calories and nutrients as you need, while dieting is all about restricting calories and specific foods. No food should be off-limits, but some foods should be eaten in moderation. Eating foods in healthy moderation is not the same as dieting, and you can be health-conscious without also being a dieter. Isn’t it about time we reclaimed healthy eating principals from the dieting companies that have appropriated and distorted them?

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

29 On September 25th, 2008, emi said:

Hi Rachel – Thanks for taking the time to write a thoughtful response. I am not 100% in agreement with you, but you do make some very good points – I need to think about this more.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

30 On September 26th, 2008, Ollybeth said:

Late to this post, but if anybody sees this, I have a question. I’ve been thinking of going vegetarian, but I practise intuitive eating, and I’m wondering what I should do if I do go veggie and get cravings for meat? Does that happen? If so, how do you deal with it?

posted on September 26th, 2008 at 7:55 am

31 On September 26th, 2008, Tori said:

Ollybeth:

As I mentioned before, I would get weird cravings for bologna sandwiches. But I’ve never been a super meat eater to the point where I would crave steak or anything like that. (Actually, there were only a few kinds of meat I really cared for at all…) Anyway, I was never around bologna when I craved the sandwiches, but I still had them occasionally (and by occasionally I mean every few months or so) even a few years after I stopped eating them. Weirdest thing. Anyway, I don’t know what meat cravings you have, but if it’s something like chicken nuggets or ground hamburger, Morningstar and Boca make really good meatless versions. (The lunchmeat is kind of another story though…) If you find you like any of those, it’s kind of the best of both worlds because you’re satisfying a craving while also getting a ton of protein. Hope that helps!

posted on September 26th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

32 On September 26th, 2008, Rachel said:

I have to echo Tori, here. There are lots of faux meat products that taste great: I eat Quorn Naked Chik’n Cutlets nearly every day for lunch and I think their Turk’y Roast tastes just like turkey. We use the Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles and sausage crumbles in everything from taco mixes to chili to soups. And the Morningstar Farms veggie sausage links? They taste even better than the real deal, imo. Unfortunately, there are no good veggie substitutes for seafood or tuna, but if you’re willing to learn how to cook with tofu or seitan, you can find recipes that will fool even avowed meat-eaters. And bonus: Most vegetarian products are healthier overall than meat products.

I’ve been vegetarian for more than five years and sometimes I still get cravings for meat, especially crab legs or salmon — I didn’t go veg because I hate the taste of meat. But whenever I think about how the animals were treated and slaughtered to make that meat product, my cravings usually turn to disgust. So, in part, how you deal with those cravings also depends on why it is you went vegetarian.

posted on September 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

33 On September 29th, 2008, Gillian said:

Tiana: THANK YOU! I too am sick of hearing “if you want chocolate, make sure it’s gourmet dark chocolate!” I see little difference between that and “just have an apple instead!” If I want Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, that’s what I’m going to have, dammit. The whole thing about it being OK to indulge your cravings as long as you substitute Good foods (everything you put in your mouth must contain antioxidants! omega-3 fatty acids! low glycemic index!) in place of what you’re really craving still involves dividing food into Good and Bad categories and that’s not HAES. Eating a little milk chocolate isn’t going to kill me.

posted on September 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

34 On September 29th, 2008, Gillian said:

Also to Ollybeth: I’m a vegetarian and I crave meat sometimes, usually if I’m very hungry and I smell meat, like I drive past a Burger King or something. So for myself, it’s usually enough to eat a meal with some protein, then I don’t crave meat anymore. I realize that wouldn’t work for everybody. If you need to eat meat occasionally for the sake of your sanity, I’d say go ahead and eat it, and just be mostly vegetarian. But yeah, what Tori and Rachel said: try meat substitutes because a lot of them are good.

posted on September 29th, 2008 at 3:05 pm

35 On February 23rd, 2009, Amita said:

I’m trying a new thing. When i get a craving, I write it down. Drink some water eat a small variety of food and wait to see if the craving goes away. I know Chocolate and stuff with caffeine are the worse cravings for me. I eat a least one chocolate bar a day or some other sweet stuff. There is no way for me to eat just a square of chocolate and be satisfied, so I’m trying different foods so that the food craving can be satisfied. Like low fat whole grain cereal with milk. (cost me 160 calories but has lots of vitamins), or a piece of low-fat cheese. I’m hoping this works because since I starting eating so much chocolate I gained at least 10 pounds in the last 3 months. No good. I seem to not have any other craving like soda, ice cream so if I can combat this I will be fine. Also, I agree with the reader, if you want sweet gooey chocolate, an apple will not satisfy that.

posted on February 23rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm

36 On March 17th, 2009, On the legalization of food and demand feeding » The-F-Word.org said:

[...] but if I find that I truly want it, I have it. (For tips on how to respond to food cravings, read here.) My recovering disordered brain has yet to legalize all foods, but I find that with the process of [...]

posted on March 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm