Although I have not been posting many of the daily exercises, I thought this one might spark some good discussion.

From the book:

Day 13: Overcome Cravings

To weaken the intensity and reduce the frequency of cravings, you have to stop giving in to them.

The emotionally painful part about a craving is the struggle you feel. Once you say to yourself with total conviction, NO CHOICE, the craving will diminish.

*****

Beck suggests stuff to do to deal with cravings. Here's a partial list.
*label it
*Stand firm
*distract yourself
*relax
*distance yourself from the food- get it out of the house.

How do you deal with cravings? Any strategies? What do you think of Beck's advice- just don't give into them and they will go away?
How do you feel after you've given in to a craving? Or after you've resisted?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sandy,

quote:

I also think that it is complicated because emotions are inexact and the English language is inexact… and people can wordsmith an emotion or craving… I’m probably not making sense… but I’m thinking of the kind of thing where we will use stress as an excuse to fulfill a wish for a craving.

It made me think of (some of my own, admittedly) things I've read and heard, a lot like the IF..THEN statements you posted, but we play with the words to get rid of the "IF" and "THEN."

I am stressed--I deserve chocolate! vs. If I am stressed, then I deserve chocolate. (Doesn't make near the emotional "sense" once you make it all logical and IF THEN.)

I'm exhausted--I'll order pizza. vs. If I am exhausted, then I will order pizza. (That immediately makes me say, "If I am exhausted, then a pb&j is better for me and quicker than ordering a pizza. Duh.")

I don't have time to cook! vs. If I am busy, then I do not have time to eat healthy. (How about...IF I am busy and am finding it hard to eat healthy, THEN I need to look at my schedule and time management skills.)

It's also funny how to ME, *my* cravings were ridiculous, and NO ONE understood, and EVERYONE was picking on me when they tried to (calmly) explain that a craving is just a craving because they DO NOT GET IT.

And then I did the Beck exercise and was a little embarrassed at myself for getting SO emotionally invested in a food craving.

It reminds me of being REALLY tired at work. You know the kind...where you think if you just close your eyes for 15 seconds, it'll be fine, and you'll feel better and OMG WHAT AM I DOING? I can't SLEEP at WORK!!! Get up! Move! Do something to shake off the sleepiness! But I never applied that kind of mentality to my eating. "It's just chocolate...just one...I'll feel better...I can handle it...OMG. GET UP. Move AWAY from the chocolate."

No one (that I know) excuses themselves from sleeping at work (or in the car, or while watching their kids, etc), but a lot people "just can't help it" or "had to have it" when it comes to food.

I meant to answer this and never got back to it.

quote:

Originally posted by Sandy:
The emotionally painful part about a craving is the struggle you feel. Once you say to yourself with total conviction, NO CHOICE, the craving will diminish.

I’ve found this to be very true. To, sometimes the struggle is the worst part. The “Should I? Shouldn’t I?” is worse than the actual craving.

How do you deal with cravings?
Most of the time, just planning to eat X on Y day works really well. I always have “craving” sorts of desserts or foods planned to eat on the weekends… be it burgers or desserts.

What do you think of Beck's advice- just don't give into them and they will go away?
Hmmmmm… I think that that is mostly true… I can definitely make it go away until Saturday and I can plan what I want and how much is realistic. “Go away” indefinitely… I don’t think so.

Beck suggests stuff to do to deal with cravings. Here's a partial list.
*label it
I think that it is important to label it… is it physical hunger? Stress eating? Simply, “Oooooo! Some chocolate would be nice right now!” Sometimes it is complicated and there are more than one thing going on.

I know that when I was binging on chocolate cake… I WAS physically hungry… and stressed… and I like chocolate… and I was depressed and not thinking all that clearly.

I also think that it is complicated because emotions are inexact and the English language is inexact… and people can wordsmith an emotion or craving… I’m probably not making sense… but I’m thinking of the kind of thing where we will use stress as an excuse to fulfill a wish for a craving.

*Stand firm
I’ve found that this helps. And plan to eat cake on Saturday. I can stand firm until Saturday. And then on Saturday… buy ONE piece of cake… not a cake that serves 24. It is easier to stand firm if you have the right amount of craved food in the house.

*distract yourself
Yeah… this helps. Being busy and happy helps a lot. Most of us have the experience of having some project that we really enjoy or are looking forward to… be it band practice or moving or an exercise class… and noticing, “Gee… I’m losing weight… and not thinking about food as much”.

I think working on being happy helps a lot. I found cravings worse when I was bored and not all that happy. Creating a life that is happy and not boring and interesting with things to do helps a lot with cravings.

*distance yourself from the food- get it out of the house.
I don’t know about that. Keeping a clean pantry helps a LOT.

I also find cravings worse when I’m reading too many food magazines or watching too much TV.

How do you feel after you've given in to a craving? Or after you've resisted?
I don’t think that I’ve given into a craving for a long time. I can’t think of a time recently where I’ve gotten in the car and bought something because “I was craving it”.

I think that resisting a craving or changing a habit it HARD… since that is another one of those complicated situations where there are multiple things going on at once. Yes… I had a craving for the #3 McBreakfast. And yes, I had a habit going… and kind of had turned myself into one of Pavlov’s dogs… “See McDonalds. Pull into drive thru and get #3 breakfast and large coffee”.

I spent 2 hours with ds studying conditional “If - Then” statements and determining if they are true or false.

Things like:

“If a shape has 4 sides, then it is a square” (false… it might be a rectangle)
“If today is Tuesday, then tomorrow will be Wednesday”. (True… Wednesday always follows Tuesday…)

Part of the homework was switching any given statement around 16 different ways… which sometime

“If Fred mows the lawn, then he will have $11”.
“Fred has $11, then he has mowed the lawn”… Well… ummmm… he might have found $11 and the lawn may not have been touched.

I think that many of us have lots of unchallenged If - Then statements.

If I am stressed, then eating chocolate will make me feel better.
If it is after dinner, then it is time for dessert.
If I am paying for the food, then I should finish it and not waste it.
If it is Sunday, then I don’t have to “start my diet” until tomorrow.

Oh... I lost my train of thought... but I think that resisting the craving is hard, but resisting it is rewarding. And I've found eating the craved food on Saturday, after some planning to be very rewarding also. More rewarding then, "The heck with this. I want ice cream... and I'm going to have some now".

this does make sense to me. i think anxiety gets to me. i like the "relax" step.

I wanted to respond to the part about the struggle over weather or not to eat...that really is the painful part for me. Once I decide not to give in to the unplanned Wheat Thins or the chips that happen to be on the buffet table, I feel so much better and less pained.

If I plan the chips and dip as part of my calorie budget, I don't feel a struggle about eating them.

It's the unplanned options that I go around with in my head that start to pile on stress in my life.

We're going to a small amusement park today. I am not eating there, but we are stopping for a fun dinner out. Just knowing my plan and giving myself no choice takes away the strain.