How To Deal With Intense Cravings While Dieting

Cravings - We all get them and it can certainly be tough to not succumb to whatever tasty morsel of goodness is tempting us from our diet plan!  Sorry folks, but the bad news is that those cravings aren't going to go away.  The good news however, is that there are several tips and tricks to use to get you through those dark and desperate times when the stomach conquers the mind!

What Are These Cravings?  Where Do They Come From?

It's strange just how powerful some cravings can be.  One I often get as I start reducing portion sizes, calories and/or carbs is for a large, warm cinnamon bun with melted icing.  Fortunately, these aren't typically readily available so I really have to go out of my way to get one!  But, the big question is, why a cinnamon bun? 

It's not likely that my body is in dire need of the over-processed, highly sugared ingredients in that sweet and sticky treat.  It's more likely that it's a desirable trigger for me to consume carbohydrates.  Again, we have to ask why?  My body has sufficient fat stores to use for energy even if I'm consuming very little carbs.  If it gets really bad and I drop carbs down to near zero, the body will naturally catabolize (burn for energy) muscle tissue to get you through (this leads to a state of Ketosis which is something you often strive for on a low carb diet for very short periods of time.  More on this in a later post...) 
The real reason why these cravings come on is because like just nearly everything else in life, our bodies want to take the path of least resistance to get what it needs.  Why go through all the effort to tap into fat and/or muscle stores for energy when a sticky cinnamon bun will do the trick?!
The problem is, when working hard on a total body transformation into a Better Than Average You, we can't fall victim to the cinnamon buns syren song. 

How Can I Beat These Cravings?!

So, you've been good.  You've done a fantastic job of keeping portions and calories down, your macronutrients are at or near the levels that work for you and you've kept your activity up.  Things are going great and then all of a sudden you sit down to watch your favorite television show and you get a killer craving for (insert your favorite high fat, carb dense food here)!  What do you do?  Give in and take a step backwards?  Fight through it and starve yourself?  There's no need to do any of those!  There are some easy solutions that will help you make it through!

Eat Protein

Having a low fat source of protein isn't going to hurt when you get a craving for something.  Let's say you get a massive jones for chocolate - dig into a scoop or two of a tasty chocolate flavored whey protein powder.  Drink it as fast as you can!  Once it slams into your stomach, there's a good chance that feeling of hunger goes away...
Cook up some egg whites or a whole egg plus a few whites (whole eggs average 70 calories, whites average about 16 calories).  It takes a little time to put together but you get to eat something with volume rather than just drinking liquid.  One whole egg and 10 whites is a LOT of food for only 230 calories!  Have a lot in front of you and going through the motions of chewing this much food really does wonders mentally when you're restricting portion sizes and calories. 
A 4oz cut of chicken breast (preferrably spiced with something - I like red pepper flakes and/or chile powder for the extra thermic benefits).
Or, a 4oz cut of lean beef or lean ground beef.  Mix up some 97% lean beef with the chile powder and red pepper flakes as mentioned above and top with a piece of provolone - delicious!

None of these high protein sources will throw you too far out of your daily calorie and macronutrient range.  If you're going to err on the side of too much in one macronutrient, protein is the one to do it with.  It is the hardest macronutrient for your body to convert into fat if it's not thoroughly used - unlike carbohydrates and fats.

Eat A LOT Of Fibrous Carbs

There have been many a night where I've sat down and eaten bowls of lettuce and cucumbers in front of the television.  No dressing or just a squirt or two of one of those no calorie spray dressings does the trick.  Eat as much as you want!  The green, fibrous carbs aren't going to hurt your calorie or macronutrient profiles for the day.  The interesting thing about these particular 'low glycemic' carbs is that they often require your body to burn more calories to digest them then they give off in energy.  This is referred to the Thermic Effect of food and is something we can use to our advantage in our Total Body Transformation.  These foods can literally help you lose weight. 
I enjoy eating cucumbers on salads but when it comes time to slice one up and snack on it in front of the TV, it gets old quick!  I may eat half a good size cucumber and after that I'm no longer hungry and don't feel like eating anything else.  In my case, they certainly do the trick! 
The lettuce and cucumber 'salad' has a similar effect.  At first it's great because you know that you can eat as much as you want and it just won't matter.  It doesn't take long before you realize that you don't even really feel like eating that much.  As mentioned above, just having the ability to eat as much as you want is a great mental relief even if you don't follow through and stuff yourself. 

Be Mentally Strong

This, my friends is where discipline comes into play.  It ultimately is a contest in your head alone and you need the mental strength to make the correct decisions that will keep you on the path to your goal.  Do you need those chips, chocolate, popcorn, icecream, pizza, etc?  Is your body going to fail to function without it?  Of course not!  Plus, it's going to be far better off if you substitute any of those with a high quality food source.  Believe me, I know how hard that mental fight can be.  I've fought it many, many times and have been on both the winning and losing side.  Take it from me, you will thank yourself EVERY TIME you stick to your plan and avoid the high fat, high carb foods.  I have fallen victim too many times to gallons of icecream only to feel absolutely terrible afterwards.  Those first few bites are fantastic and I love them every time.  The next few servings (yeah, that's right - servings.  As in 100's of calories per...) taste pretty good too.  Then, the sick feeling kicks in and I know I've made a BIG mistake.  I've succumbed to the craving and feel absolutely terrible because of it.  I know I'm one (or two!) steps further from my goal and have to mentally reset to get back on track.  Spare yourself having to go through this!  Those few bites are just not worth it.  I know most of you are going to read this and understand completely where I'm coming from but still do it anyway (I will too again, I can guarantee it!) but please try to be strong and not succumb.  You'll be happy that you did.


Feeling hungry yet?  Make sure all those sweet treats are at least a drive to the store away - don't have them close enough where you can easily grab a handful and start munching away.  Have a cucumber or two on hand, some lettuce, readily available lean protein sources and you'll be doing yourself big favors when those cravings do come!

Next Up:
- A closer look at the mental strength and discipline required for dieting
- A brief overview of the glycemic index that we touched upon today
- Further discussion of the Thermic Effect of food which we also spoke about today Sphere: Related Content