Everyone has a craving sometime. It might be for pizza, ice cream, tacos, Pasta, or any of the other foods that you used to eat – or overeat – before weight loss surgery. What do you do when a craving hits?

• Wait until it passes, even if it’s a few days.
• Wait a day, and then give in if the craving is still there.
• Make a healthy substitute, such as sugar-free hot chocolate instead of brownies or light popcorn as a salty, crunchy substitute for potato chips.
• Have a bit or two of the real thing, since that is the only thing that will satisfy you.
• Give in. Enjoy your treat, and worry about the consequences tomorrow.

Choose your answer, and explain it in the conversation below. Share your tips for dealing with cravings, and include any recipe swaps that you use to deal with your cravings in a healthy way!

Drink something. Water, Powerade Zero.

Before surgery, I gave in to my craving! That's why I'm here now!

Fortunately I haven't suffered too much from cravings. I've been in my favorite ice cream place with friends and haven't had a single scoop. I drive by my favorite restaurants and go home to eat some healthy food I have there. But I've also been to parties and picnics where there is yummy "no no food". I guess in these situations it isn't so much of a craving as an "impulse buy". In either case, I eat a couple bites and then I'm over it....strawberry shortcake, Mexican crazy corn, potato salad, blackened chicken Alfredo, potato chips, Doritos with taco dip, tiramisu, cheesecake, birthday cake..... And I do this all without guilt. I chose to have a normal happy life after surgery, not to be on a restrictive diet the rest of my life.

Edited July 25, 201412 yr by Kindle

Since surgery I have not had many cravings. Usually when I do, I find something to drink. I have done a good job following the program and I think controlling the cravings has been easier by making sure I eat dense Proteins that fill me up for 3-4 hours at a time.

One food craving that I have experienced is Peanut Butter. Don't ask me why, I did not each much of it before surgery! Luckily peanut butter is on the program. It is easy to give in to the craving by eating it in moderation or using PB2, peanut butter Protein powder.

They will pass. ! I find with the sleeve mind you I am still new since may 30 2014 but with the sleeve I find it is easier to ignore them and then they go away . I remember in 97 how hard it was for me to quit drinking sodas but after about 6 months the cravings started to leave now I don't even think of them .. Look at the cravings like drug with drawl the sooner you stop the maddens the healthier one will be !

drinking something usually helps and I have to talk to myself about how fast I will eat it and how long it takes for me to lose anything I gain.

If a craving hits, I eat whatever it is and move on. If I ignore it I eat everything else and end up eating whatever I wanted to begin with. It works for me and has worked for me for 6.5 yrs

Kindle,

I love what you have said. You respect and expect times when we are around foods that maybe are not the best for us. You resist. You partake with a small portion and then do not beat yourself up about it. I love that you said you refuse to be in a situation where you deny yourself some of our old, not recommend foods. After you consume them it sounds like you spend no time beating yourself up about these minor slips. We are human. We are going to make minor mistakes. But it is the whole process ranging over a week, a month, an 8 week period of time. Given that we can fit into our programs some of you most delicious foods. The band limits our intake for small portions and when you eat small portions you don't feel deprived. Deprivation leads to binging later. So your approach is a good one. Thanks for sharing what works for you!!!

It depends Alex. Giving in all the time is what got me to where I was. I give in occasionally. Usually if I crave something now it's like it was today. I was craving an egg and some ham. I went and bought it and cooked it up. No big deal. Protein is what I need. That said, the tool I have won't allow me to eat 3 candy bars, a liter of soda, and something salty like I used to. It just isn't happening so when I have something it is such a tiny portion that it really isn't a big deal. I do know folks however that have learned how to get a massive amount of garbage into their systems. I don't suggest trying to figure these things out!! Self control feels really good. There is nothing as satisfying as mastering myself has been!!????

Kindle,

I love what you have said. You respect and expect times when we are around foods that maybe are not the best for us. You resist. You partake with a small portion and then do not beat yourself up about it. I love that you said you refuse to be in a situation where you deny yourself some of our old, not recommend foods. After you consume them it sounds like you spend no time beating yourself up about these minor slips. We are human. We are going to make minor mistakes. But it is the whole process ranging over a week, a month, an 8 week period of time. Given that we can fit into our programs some of you most delicious foods. The band limits our intake for small portions and when you eat small portions you don't feel deprived. Deprivation leads to binging later. So your approach is a good one. Thanks for sharing what works for you!!!

You're welcome. And the key phrase is that "it works for me". There are lots of posts here from folks that don't indulge in anything off program. They may have trigger foods that would cause them to crave more once they have a single bite. That's good that they recognize and respect that. Fortunately that doesn't happen with me. Same goes with counting and measuring everything to keep accountable. I chose not to track anything, just make smart choices (90% of the time) I'm definitely not saying my way is the only way, or even the best way, it's just what works for me. Everyone has to find what works for them to be successful long term.

I wouldn't say I've had cravings as much as feeling impulse 'wants'. There are a couple of people at work who keep candy bowls on their desks. I used to CONSTANTLY go get a piece of candy when I was stressed, when I went into their offices, when I was bored... on and on. I told both of them about my surgery beforehand because they would also leave candy on my desk sometimes if they knew I was having a bad day. So, I still have the urge to grab a piece when I'm in their offices (which is frequently) talking to them or even when I walk by and see those bowls. One has Hershey Nuggets and the other one mini Reese's cups -- my two favorite candies.

I don't think there is any substitute I could find because they are really specific tastes (and PB2 in a chocolate shake does NOT a Reese's cup make). So, I just stand there (drooling sometimes), talk to them, do what I need to do and then walk away. Kind of like that "feel the pain and be ok with it" Zen kind of thing. I know eventually the desire to have one will fade and until then, I'll just sit in the uncomfortableness of it all and congratulate myself on making a better choice for my health.

Is it okay to eat 4 0r 5 apples a day???

Is it okay to eat 4 0r 5 apples a day???

I don't see anything wrong with that. I kinda look at it as what would be the alternative. Cookies, candy? The fact that you're asking seems your heads at least in the right place.

I have cravings all the time and usually I feed my craving depending on what it is. For example, just two days ago, I was craving a funnel cake, well there is no carnival in town so that means no funnel cake. But if I'm craving pizza or something I can actually purchase like peach cobbler that I bought a little small container of I eat it. I will eat a slice or two of pizza or buy the pizza bites and I'm good. I have had two spoonfuls of the cobbler and well it's just sitting in the refrigerator. Don't want it any more. In the past, I would have eaten a whole pizza or bought a whole thing of cobbler and cooked from the frozen food section and would have eaten almost all of it. So I'm grateful for my band because it is really allowing me to control how much I eat. So my vote was for giving in to my cravings and worry about the consequences later but I don't worry because I'm not overindulging.

I'm a mix of all the options listed above. In the beginning I was very much against giving in, I walked away from my own bday cake, I delt with these cravings by drinking something or finding something to do until the craving passed. Then I started to realize this isn't a diet. A piece of cake OCCASSIONALY isn't going to make me gain 5lbs., that handful of chips, it's ok, it's all about finding that balance. You can't give into your cravings all the time but it is ok to treat yourself. You can't go through life with deprivation if you do your following a diet not a making a lifestyle change and isn't that we're all looking for when we get this surgery, to get away from the vicious cycle of dietis that never worked and to trade all that in for something that offers balance with permanent results. There are also times when I'm having a serious craving for ice cream and instead of hitting the Baskin Robbins I will run to the store and buy some Skinny Cow ice creams or I will go Yogurtini so I fall into just about all of these categories.

Edited July 25, 201412 yr by enjoythetime