Here are some healthy fixes for cravings that I liked. Here are more swap ideas. And although this dietician seems really cut-throat, this obvious tip to keep it out of sight out of mind might help. My unprofessional opinion, though, is to just have one of whatever treat it is you're craving (to keep you from murdering someone) and don't allow yourself any more by distracting yourself and moving on. That's what some of you have shared, too. Don't binge, obviously, but just have a little bite and that might be all your body wanted. Don't drive yourself batty, don't make yourself have a coronary, just listen to your body's cravings and see if you can satisfy it with healthy fixes. I think being in tune with our bodies is a pretty cool way to eat :) Sorry, that was a lot of rambling without really going anywhere... :) So pass along some tips and tactics for overcoming cravings!
And as always, share some recipes if you've tried something yummy and healthy lately. Last week I made this Feta-Topped Chicken and it was soooo yummy. I'm going to quadruple it the next time I make it and use for leftovers. I used light balsamic dressing instead of regular. I served it with a spinach salad, pureed cauliflower, and multi-grain Rhodes roll.
I get salty cravings a lot, and that's about it. I guess I'm lucky I don't have sugar or chocolate cravings! I used to, but I guess I've worked them out of my system this year. I get my salty fix w/ whole dill pickles, reduced-fat Triscuits w/ cheese, whole-wheat Athenos pita chips, or Jiffy Pop 100 cal bags. My hubby on the other hand gets chocolate cravings :) He finds a good fix for them in 60 cal sugar-free Jello pudding cups. This week we've tried Chocolate Mousse, Boston Cream Pie, and Cinnamon Roll flavored pudding cups.
ReplyDeleteLast week I had lots of salty cravings! This week it hasn't been as bad. My favorite snack recently is pita chips with Hummus. The Babel cheese is good too. I've been working on limiting the size of my snacks, and it's going pretty well. I have trouble stopping with one when I'm eating things like the pudding cups. I don't keep them in the house anymore.
ReplyDeleteYum! That feta chicken looks great!!! So I made a bad choice last night. Halloween is on us and I have to buy candy of course. I should have gotten candy that I don't crave, but of course I realized that all the candy I LOVE is what we got! Chocolate is my big enemy. Yeah, that was stupid! I've already had a bit but I'm counting down the days until it will be gone! ;) My best strategy is honestly to just not have my temptations anywhere in the house at all. My husband can be a tricky one. If he goes and buys himself a treat he always brings me back something he knows I love. He's getting better about not bringing me back treats, but they still pop up occasionally. I think he's finally at the point where he doesn't get offended if I don't eat it, but it was tricky at first asking him to stop. I didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything. Okay, now I'm rambling. I guess my advice for the day is to just KEEP IT OUT OF YOUR HOME and stay away from those temptations until your goals have been reached. Easier said than done, but I think that's what I'm going to have to do.
ReplyDeleteI have tons of cravings... well, ok, I just crave food. But I do have the 'munchies' at night after the kids are in bed and my day is coming to an end - I crave things to crunch on... When I was 'in tune' (I'll get there again) I would have the 100 calorie kettle corn popcorn mini bag. That was great cause it cured 3 cravings - salty, sweet, and crunchy.
ReplyDeleteRecently I've been craving chocolate and cookies... I think my body knows the holidays are coming soon, and I'm hoping that my self control takes over!! I actually do better - for a while - if I don't buy the sweets or have them in the house - but after a while I feel deprived of it, and end up binging. I'm working on just taking one cookie, or one small thing, and letting it go at that... instead of eating a dozen cookies and making myself sick. I find that if I distract myself, it also works better too! That's really the best for me... find somehting else to do and get out of the kitchen!
I do have to share how proud I am of myself - I continued today with the push-up/sit-up challenge, and they were actually easier today! I was surprised! I also started the other core toning exercises today and they were hard, but I know they'll get easier as I do them more often. I'm excited to see the results!
I completely agree with the "Keep it out of the house" method. I also struggle like Nicki with my husband who is trying to be nice and bring me home a sweet treat. I think I am getting him to understand that doing something around the house would mean more to me. I am addicted to food but I have found if I plan ahead I do better. I like to check in the myfitness pal database and see what the calorie count is for food before making/eating something. The more I know about food the more empowered I feel. I can make good choices! I am worth it! We are all worth it!
ReplyDeleteI have been in the mood for fall things, apples, pumpkins, roasted vegetables, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. I baked chicken sprinkled with cinnamon, cumin and chili powder (healthy and simple, it was good but not great). I stirred pumpkin butter into my nonfat yogurt (healthy and yummy). I made pumpkin muffins (not so healthy). I bought apple cider (basically sugar). I roasted beets (super yummy) and potatoes. I made a big batch of steel-cut oats in the slow cooker...a warm, chewy comfort-food breakfast for chilly mornings. Have you had steel-cut oats? They are nutty and delicious! I'd best describe them as steel-cut oats are like brown rice (chewier, more whole grain flavor), old-fashioned oats are like white rice (minimally processed and still good), quick oats are like instant rice (texture suffers from being partially cooked and dehydrated in a factory). Yes, I know, I'm a little over the top about oatmeal; I just love it so much.
ReplyDeleteFuss-free Steel-Cut Oats
Combine 3/4 c. oats, 1 c. water and 2 c. milk in slow cooker. Cook on LOW 4 hours. Makes 4-5 servings. Add a little milk when you reheat them in the microwave. Adorn with fresh or dried fruit, etc.
(Cooking steel-cut oats on the stove takes 1 hour and they have to be stirred frequently so they won't burn...yeah, like we have time for that.)
Haha, after you all said that, my hubby brought home a treat for me early this morning when he got home from work.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely going to try the slow cooker oats, Sarah F.! I love using a slow cooker- I think I over-use mine and might need Santa to bring me an upgraded one! haha...
Thanks for the Oatmeal recipe Sarah F! I'm going to try those today. I love your explanation of the different types of oats.
ReplyDeleteHow funny, my husband does the same thing. He knows I love chocolate covered cinnamon bears, so when he goes out to get his oreos, which I love too, he brings me back my favorite treat. We just gotta keep training them, they'll figure it out eventually! I also had a bad day yesterday with the Halloween candy but it could have been worse, I only had two small pieces but the bad thing it was right before bed. I woke up with my tummy really hurting this morning :( Today I will do better. So I really crave mexican food! It is my all time most favorite dish but as you all know it is very greasy and very full of fat. So on Tuesday I was craving this but I thought there has got to be a better way to make this healthier and then I remembered that I have a slow-cooker recipe for just that but for some reason I couldn't find it so that meant I had to figure something else out for dinner. I had been out running errands all day and around 6 pm I was on my way home and still had no idea what I was going to fix and then I passed Little Caesars and thought I will just grab a couple of 5 buck pizzas which is another craving of mine but I am proud to say I didn't give in to my temptation and instead I went to our local grocery store and grabbed some lemon herb rotisserie chicken, wheat flour tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados and voila...Chicken Tacos a healthier version of my mexican food and then we also had salad on the side. If I would have had more time, I would have made rice or pinto beans to go on the side. My family absolutely loved it! So I have been looking and looking for that slow cooker recipe and still no luck finding it and just now as I was typing this I remembered I shared it with Nicki on our "Family Biggest Loser" website so here it is, enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSPICY SHREDDED CHICKEN-CAFE RIO STYLE
7 chicken breasts ( can be more or less)
2 cans Rotel brand diced tomatoes and green chilis (comes in regular, mild or spicy)
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
lime juice to taste
Optional (if you like it more spicy)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
dash tabasco sauce
Place all ingredients in crock pot except lime juice. Cook on low all day (or on high if you have less time). An hour before you are ready to eat, make some brown rice then shred chicken with fork and place back into pot along with the brown rice to absorb juices. Squeeze in lime juice just before serving. Serve with tortillas, lettuce tomatoes, avocados, rice (can be in the tortilla or on the side), black or pinto beans (again, can be in the tortilla or on the side. Very yummy and good for you!
Good job, Kim!! I'm so proud of you for not buying the $5 pizzas. I know that took a lot of effort to buy ingredients and cook, after running around and getting home just in time for dinner. Your shredded chicken looks great. It would also be good with pork (a lean roast like boneless center-cut loin, which has been on sale often the last couple months).
ReplyDeleteI think the "greasy, fatty mexican food" is what we get at American-Mexican restaurants or quick & tasty recipes we make at home (perhaps the culprit is using too much cheese? and our American go-to ground beef). Here are some healthier versions of my favorite restaurant splurges, which I thought turned out great.
Baked Chicken Chimichangas www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1741,128182-244195,00.html I made them in the toaster oven since I was only making two.
Quesadillas de Camarones (Shrimp Quesadillas) thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/quesadillas-de-camarones/ I used a minimal amount of oil & butter, and half as much cheese as she did. Note: Pioneer Woman's recipes are normally not diet friendly.
Elise has a lot of Mexican and Tex Mex recipes on her site. simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mexican_and_tex_mex/ I especially liked the carnitas, chile verde, mexican tostada, mom's chicken enchiladas (use canned red enchilada sauce), quesadilla pie, and tomatillo chicken stew.
Hope one of them pleases you and your family!