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!

I actually have a bite or three.

I know that I am not conventional on this site or forum. But for me..it will not subside until I hit it with the real thing. i follow my nuts advise: I live in the real world and eat real food. Mostly I eat clean and that is much better then I ever have in my life. I mostly see everything as a part of my program. Maybe chocolate is questionable. I can't eat like I used to and most of the time I eat by the clock.

Anyone that has been at this for a while and says that they don't have a treat now and then is let's say...not telling the truth! lol

But if it is pop corn or cheese cake, they win a lot!

Okay no picking on me..That is how I feel about it!!!!!!!!!!

I totally understand where you are coming from here.. I have just celebrated my 5 yr anniversary an I am not going to lie it has been a long 5 yrs.. I did great in the beginning but have been stuck the past 3 yrs I have not gained and I have not lost. Truth!..OH I would do it all over again in a minute!

I eat healthy, I work out minimum 4 days a week and that is only because of my job and time restraints. For some reason can not get this weight loss kick started again. I look better, I feel better and I am healthy!! All 3 important things to me. I do enduldge now and then, and sometimes I binge (bad thing) I am a food addict and a self taught chef! I have crazy cravings for sweets and carbs.

I am on the back end of menopause and this has NOT helped at all..

I have come to realize that I am never going to be skinny again nor do I really want to be.. I am striving to be what is best for me..body wise, weight wise and over all health wise.

I try hard not to stess about it at all I now know how to eat, cook, and stock up to stay healthy!

Not going to lie it has been a hard but before I did this Lap Band I commited to the new lifestyle for the rest of my life and to never be on a diet again!!

I am grateful that Kaiser required 6 weeks of classes prior to my sleeve surgery. It helped me to understand why I crave things and what the cravings are related to in the long run. I found the food/activity diary to be indespensible as well to help me make sure that I ALWAYS had a calorie intake deficit every single day. Addtionally, the diary made sure that I was eating enough protein! My surgery was in 2011 and so far I'm down 140! The lessons that I leared in the classes I apply on a daily basis to keep me on track. :-)

Remember before surgery we were always told if we just ate in moderation (the foods we should not) we would lose weight? Well as someone addicted to food moderation was not in my vocabulary, at least not until surgery. Now I can do the moderation thing. I try very hard to eat my Protein and stay lean. If I am craving I try to reason with myself, do the whole internal dialog. But if the craving wins and I am going to eat whatever it is, at least now I do so in moderation. Not being physically able to eat more is a true blessing to me. I am human, I am not perfect. And I have the rest of my life to live with the sleeve. So if the occassional bite or two of a "forbidden" food happens, that is life. Just in moderation! LOL

Remember before surgery we were always told if we just ate in moderation (the foods we should not) we would lose weight? Well as someone addicted to food moderation was not in my vocabulary, at least not until surgery. Now I can do the moderation thing. I try very hard to eat my Protein and stay lean. If I am craving I try to reason with myself, do the whole internal dialog. But if the craving wins and I am going to eat whatever it is, at least now I do so in moderation. Not being physically able to eat more is a true blessing to me. I am human, I am not perfect. And I have the rest of my life to live with the sleeve. So if the occassional bite or two of a "forbidden" food happens, that is life. Just in moderation! LOL

I have watched you struggle and grow in the best ways possible and become this wonderful sensible woman who has learned control and who she really is and can become. I really tip my hat to all the wonderful changes you have made and letting go of a lot of the fear and anxiety of the old you. I admire you so much and where you are today....It has been an honor to follow you from the beginning and watch the new you emerge...

Thank you for allowing me that privilege!

I have recreated all of my favorite foods to be high protein/low fat/low carb with all the flavors & textures I crave. So when I am craving something I have alternatives that do not derail my maintenance.

That being said, cravings are not what they were pre-sleeve. I may crave something for a second, then it's gone. Cravings no longer equal OBSESSIONS!

I do not understand it.. I do not get cravings. Where live there are Candy and cookie machines and Pop machines everywhere. I do love fruits and veggies. I don't eat breads or carbs. The only time I eat any carbs of any kind is with the veggies. June 9th I had my surgery. Now maybe I am still new to this all. But I have been a food addict all my life. If I give into cravings. My addictions win. I had started Overeaters Anonymous before my surgery. And now it is helping afterwards. I know of a few people that have had this type of surgery and have done wonders for years. I also know people that have had it. Lost weight, then ballooned up again and gave up.

I personally need more help then what I get from online. Or from the once a month support groups. Overeaters Anonymous has assisted me in keeping me away from binging every time I am happy or sad. Or it is Groundhogs day. Or Christmas. This is 1 fight I will win. 1 day at a time.

I totally understand where you are coming from here.. I have just celebrated my 5 yr anniversary an I am not going to lie it has been a long 5 yrs.. I did great in the beginning but have been stuck the past 3 yrs I have not gained and I have not lost. Truth!..OH I would do it all over again in a minute!

I eat healthy, I work out minimum 4 days a week and that is only because of my job and time restraints. For some reason can not get this weight loss kick started again. I look better, I feel better and I am healthy!! All 3 important things to me. I do enduldge now and then, and sometimes I binge (bad thing) I am a food addict and a self taught chef! I have crazy cravings for sweets and carbs.

I am on the back end of menopause and this has NOT helped at all..

I have come to realize that I am never going to be skinny again nor do I really want to be.. I am striving to be what is best for me..body wise, weight wise and over all health wise.

I try hard not to stess about it at all I now know how to eat, cook, and stock up to stay healthy!

Not going to lie it has been a hard but before I did this Lap Band I commited to the new lifestyle for the rest of my life and to never be on a diet again!!

I drink several gulps of plain Water, this is so uncomfortable for me that it puts all ideas of eating anything right out of my head, for awhile! if I still want a particular something, I find a healthy way of recreating it. For example, hot chocolate could be a calorie bomb - sugar, fat, salt, milkfat, etc. Instead, I make instant hot chocolate (organic) and use maybe a quarter of the packet, just enough to give it the taste. I use water and then a tiny splash of almond or coconut milk, again, just enough to give it the taste. I don't feel deprived, I enjoy the taste, with a tenth of the calories!

you can also make homemade hot chocolate with

1 T. no calorie sweetener,

1/3 c. powdered fat free milk

1 1/2 T.unsweetened cocoa

and 1 C. Water.

Heat gently while whisking on the stove.

I keep sugar free fudge bars around. I have gotten to where I only eat 1 or 2 a week. I'm a chocoholic and they now satisfy me unless I eat real chocolate then they don't satisfy me.

Edited August 15, 201412 yr by moms2big

My problem is that my husband is skinny and eats junk all the time. He wants me to fix his lunch and I can't get him to get his own cookies or whatever for himself. I put all his junk in the bedroom drawer. If I don't see it I don't think about it or crave it. When I see it is when I start thinking about it and begin craving it until I break down and eat it. Yes it makes me sick to my stomach, unless I am having a hypoglycemic attack. Then eating a small part helps me. The secret is the small part...half a cookie eaten very slow to enjoy the flavor.

Moms2big

Hilarious on "how to eat a cookie". Lol!

honestly i generally don't get too many cravings but i have been at several catered luncheons where something 'looks good' and i will go ahead and take the tiniest little try of it (EXCEPT for sweets, sugar, pop, desserts). none of those.

something like the 1/2 tsp potato salad i had the other day, or a tpsp bbq baked Beans i had yesterday. both sat well. scale is still moving. TINY amounts seems to be key for me.

i am truly following my bariatric program and eating all foods as directed so i don't feel like i'm cheating, but it's funny because i have found myself counting and tracking like crazy on days when i choose a 'looks good' option!

I am a goner when it comes to chocolate. I can't watch anyone eat any kind of chocolate candy in front of me. I can't keep anything like that in the house. The sweetest thing in my house is Greek Yogurt.