Category Archives: Cravings

Accountability, Cravings, Food, Habits, Thought Patterns

Get Thee Behind Me, Little Debbie

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We had another lunch training session at work yesterday and after The Foolish Cookie Incident, I actually started being a little concerned about the boxed lunches a whole 24 hours prior. I was worried about losing another dual to a baked good.

Boxed lunches arrived and I had a great sliced turkey sandwich.  I ditched the top piece of bread and enjoyed it open-faced.  The chip bags were the big single servings (you know – the ones that aren’t really single servings); so, I ate a quarter of those.  The fruit cup was great.  The pasta salad looked good, but I chose not to eat bread and pasta at the same meal.  So far, so good.  Enter the brownie.

The Brownie.  Four square inches of moist, chocolaty wonder, liberally dusted with white chocolate shavings.  If you’re quiet, you can hear the angels sing.

During my Monday Menu Musings, I had explained my problem with the cookie to a coworker.  I just didn’t know if I could face another one down.  At high noon in the bakery, I’m pretty sure that chocolate walnut disc was going to be the faster draw.  That’s when this Great American Woman stepped in and offered to take the bullet for me.

Appearing to be very athletic and fit, she offered, nay, she demanded that I give the cookie to her.  That kind of sacrifice just brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it?  Such a sweet woman!  Of course, I must hate her on principle because she’s beautiful and can still fit into her clothes after eating 440 calorie cookies, but she’s still sweet.

Little Debbie nutty barsTemptation is everywhere, all day, all the time, smiling at us from the snack shelf wearing a Nannette Fabray grin and a cowgirl hat.  We can’t get rid of it; so, we have to find effective ways of dealing with it.  After opening the lunch box, I put the brownie behind the lid so that I couldn’t see it.  I left it out of sight until I could run out of there to give it to Rene. At an event last night, I stood with my back to the M&Ms on an exhibitor’s table.  Although out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind, it does make it easier. Having healthful alternatives close to hand is also good.

I’m not trying to tell you that some hummus and baby carrots are better than an oatmeal creme pie because that would just be crazy talk; however, I am telling you that we don’t have to let Swiss cake rolls determine our fates.  Although I ate an oatmeal raisin cookie at that event, it was my only gastronomic sin of the day. At worst, the net effect of that cookie was break even.

And, sometimes, that’s good enough.

Cravings, Habits, Thought Patterns

From The Black Knight to Varuca Salt

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What a weekend!  I had planned to be at a family gathering; however, about five hours after lunch on Friday, I became violently ill.  The abrupt and violent onset of symptoms, as well as the timing, lead me to believe that I might have had some kind of microscopic hitchhiker on my lunch of salad greens, raspberries and slivered almonds.  Whatever the cause, I was effectively down for the count until yesterday, at which point, my appetite became Varuca Salt.

This happened a couple of times during my first big reduction.  I would have these cravings that made me feel almost panicky.  And what did I crave?  Red meat, the greasier, the better.  Bratwurst cured the cravings both times.  Yesterday, a small burger made from ground chicken and feta did the trick.

Our bodies will often tell us what they need, I think.  Sometimes we call it “having a taste for” something.  Sometimes we call it a craving.  Whatever we call it, I believe it is direct communication from our bodies addressing some deficiency. The communication I got yesterday was urgent – cellular Varuca Salt screaming, “I want it now!”

While we can’t be at the mercy of cravings, we certainly have to address them because they just don’t go away.  From time to time, my body will tell me that it needs Cheetos.  I’m pretty sure it’s lying to me. Still, I have to address the craving before it becomes a monster.  More often than not, some salted nuts will do the trick.  My body just wanted something salty and it asked for what it prefers: Cheetos – the puffy kind.  But, in a pinch, it will take the mixed nuts.

Ice cream cravings can be addressed with a container of yogurt put into the freezer or even a frozen banana.  Chocolate cravings can be annihilated with a small piece of dark chocolate or even an apple.  It depends on if my body wants the chocolate or the sugar.

veruca-salt-2On occasion, though, cravings have fangs.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  I try all the healthful alternatives, but my body just giggles and says, “Nice try, chica. Now, hustle on down to the store and get me some M & Ms.  Chop! Chop!”  So, I hustle on down to the store.

Here’s where the individual servings come in REALLY handy.  I can get a small bag of M & Ms and that will quiet the craving.  I don’t have to get the King Size or the Front End Loader Size.  The regular one is good.  A single serving of a quality ice cream works.  I find that those tiny Haagen Dazs work better than the same size of some other brands since the ice cream is both richer and denser.  Once I enjoy the single serving, I’m good to go.

The body wants what it wants.  I just don’t always know exactly what it’s asking for when it makes its demands. Still, I can address the needs without becoming a slave to the cravings, creating further ones with sugar crashes or eating myself into bigger pants.