I need serious help, please somebody!

[Sparkle]

Currently I'm dieting and training for fat loss. I've been averaging about 3 lbs a week and I've went from a fluctuating 212 - 215 to a fluctuating 202 - 205. I'm on my third week. I've also been really strict and have only gave in to a desire for fast food and a splurge (of healthy food at least : P) once (of each, the fast food and the splurge).

Right now at 12 A.M., four hours before I wake up to train before I go to work for 7 A.M. I am in dire need of help. If you placed three exotic, voluptuous, sex freak women in front of me who wanted to have sex with me and please any desire of mine at all, or the option of being able to splurge on any food I wanted and not have it do anything to my goals . . . . I would choose the food.

And I'm dead serious.

That said, how do I fight these cravings?! I'm not hungry I just want to eat, and a lot! I gave in to eating a few minutes ago eating a measly two chicken legs and a little piece of a breast from a rotisserie chicken (which was very oily and just oh soooo good) and a glass of milk. I can't keep doing that! It was better then going down to a fast food place though and eating a large fry and burger.

Anyways I am wondering if other people have had this same problem and different ways that you kept these cravings in check so you didn't just want to sit down and eat and eat and eat and eat. Also I'm a bit curious as to why I have these cravings. Are there measures to take to make sure you can control this or is it something I just have to fight through?

Help is appreciated! Thanks!

- Nick

Edit : I'm not having cravings for any particular type of food (if I eat fast food that usually shuts the cravings up, if it doesn't then well . . . whatever is in the fridge/shelf). I am simply craving stuff in my stomach. I'm not truthfully hungry -at all-. I just want to eat (but the crave for food does tend to side more with meat)

[wrydolphin]

Try drinking water. The drive for thirst, hunger and sex all stem from the same biochemical mechanism and sometimes people can mistake a craving for one as a craving for something else. Also, are you eating enough calories and are you getting enough fat in your diet? How often do you eat and how stable is your blood sugar?

[Sparkle]

I am constantly eating small meals throughout the day. They usually consist of veggies and fruits and lean meats. I'm eating really well as I can see the results of my diet (been losing fat but not any muscle). I have no idea of my caloric intake but I would say it's probably around 2000+ but no more then 3500 (I probably burn off 3-5 thousand cals a day from my line of work in the summer though). Funny thing is though is that I get these types of cravings on my off days rather then the days I work out. I have added pumpkin seeds to my salads to add in some more fat but I usually eat a cup/2cups of beef as my last meal of the day and have some type of fish or chicken through the day and eggs in the morning so I'm sure my fat intake is ok as well.

It's not water, I've tried that until my urine is crystal clear. I just want food. It's ridiculous how strong of an urge it is : P.

[Gary]

It might help to occupy yourself when you're not working. I definately find it easier to avoid cravings when I'm busy, it tends to be when I'm at a loose end that I start thinking about food.

[hux]

I eat a lot of turkey. It has some natural appetite suppressant that seems to help me, I can't recall what the name of it is.

Sounds like you lead a very active lifestyle, I hope yer not basing yer calorie requirements on standards set for 'average' activity levels.

[Gary]

I eat a lot of turkey. It has some natural appetite suppressant that seems to help me, I can't recall what the name of it is.
Sounds like tryptophan.

[wrydolphin]

You might need to add a bit more fat into you diet- or at least suppliment with fish oil. Otherwise it might just be a psychological craving. Which can be harder to deal with then a physical one. If your diet is as strict as you are letting on, you may have just reached the point where its begun to really bore you. There are reasons that the so called sensible plans make room for things that people like- because if you don't people will just eat them anyway and go nuts. Its better to allow yourself to be a little bad every once and again then to not allow yourself to have anything you deem "bad" and then go on a binge.

[BGile]

You might want to go to a gym and get involved there and talk to the nutritionist at the location.
You should stay away from fat, eat protein and complex carbs and roughage.
Stay away from refined food.

http://www.foodreference.com/html/art-jicama-history-facts.html

Buy some Jicama, and eat it and drink some water. Jicama is good for you and will help with the desire to eat, lay off the milk.
Walk and exercise. Drink a beverage like tea/water or coffee, with no sugar or milk in it.

Get a good book on nutrition or read about it online.

http://www.ec-online.net/knowledge/Articles/nutrition40+.html

Good luck

[Sparkle]

Oh man, I ate an entire roasted turkey breast for lunch this afternoon during break at work : P. It was soooo good too. Cured me right up.

I do live a very active lifestyle. I hang sheetrock for my living and college payments as of right now and some days I don't get but maybe an hour tops from 5 A.M. to 10 P.M. to myself do to preparing meals, school work, work work, and working out. Work in the heat is a real killer though. Man, I sweat so much the other day that I had to take of my socks (rung them out and there was a puddle on the floor that didn't dry for at least 20 minutes) and the soles to my shoes to ring out. I walked around and went "squish squish" for about 6 hours. I would reach into my tool pouch and dip my hand into a few cm's of pure sweat and sheetrock dust. I would have to pour out my pouch : P.

This is generally a daily routine for me with a meal plan:

Bed : Anywhere from 6 - 8 P.M.

Wake time - 3 A.M. 1st breakfast - 3/4 cups oatmeal in 1 3/4 cups of oats and a banana.

- Sprint/run session workout (right now I'm around seven 100 meter sprints and 700 meter runs with a "sprint one powerpole, walk one powerpole" cool down)

Second breakfast - Two eggs and a banana and a multi-vitamin

- prepare food for work -

- departure for work - 1 8 oz. Energy drink and a piece of fruit (banana or strawberries (usually around 6 of em)

First work shift - 5 hours - : During the five hours I will probably have downed somewhere around 2 steamed squash, fruit (either a banana, strawberries, grapes, watermelon <the amount of fruit I take with me depends on the kind of fruit I suppose, if it's watermelon I'll have about a bowls worth of it, strawberries about 6 - 8 of them, two bananas and for grapes about 25>) and maybe a piece of whole wheat bread or two.

- Lunch break (1 hour) - I usually down a salad which is mixed with strawberries or blueberries along with either chicken, tuna or salmon with with pumpkin seeds. No dressing. The salad is a good sized salad as well, probably two bowls worth.

- Second work shift (three hours) - One 8oz energy drink

After work I'll usually cook myself a fist full or a fist and a half worth of ground beef and then I'm off to bed.

Water intake throughout the day is 1 gallon of Gatorade during the morning and at least another gallon and a half to two and a half gallons (maybe three) worth of water along with a glass of milk or two.


That is just an example of a meal plan, the foods vary often from day to day (sometimes I'll eat more veggies like egg plant or broccoli or different fruits like mango and honey dew melon). It does look like I need a little bit more fat in there I suppose? This schedule is common for me but the daily schedule also changes due to school or other problems that come up. The amount of activity though, whether I have school or not is often the same as this though, the time of workouts and sleep is the only thing that may change.




The only thing I have found on the internet for food cravings is stuff about people craving junk food or their favorite foods. I do not believe I am having this problem. What I feel like eating is just food. I'm not even really that hungry I just want to eat. Whether it's grilled veggies or a whole chicken rotisserie I just want it and I want a LOT of it. I can't seem to find anything on google relating to this (although I haven't given it in depth attention yet) other then the whiny "I want my chocolate, I want my fries" crap.

I also don't believe I am starving myself. I seem to be gaining a little bit of muscle in my arms and shoulders and losing fat at a good pace (about 3 lbs a week). I don't feel tired or drained but rather I feel good and energetic. Just at some points in time I am craving food like crazy.

I do eat a lot and I do eat frequently. An example of a meal plan for a day would be to eat around 3 A.M. (bed time around 7 P.M.) say 3/4 cups of oatmeal in 1 3/4 cups of milk with brown sugar added in and a banana.

The thing that really does seem to help is occupying myself with something as Coma suggested but when you're doing things alllll day long you don't really want to get up and fold some clothes or clean a bathtub : P. But even if I do occupy myself the cravings I was having just last night were just insane.

I appreciate the replies, I'll look into some foots with some more fats in them like the pumpkin seeds or try to buy ground beef that's a little less lean. I'm also wondering what that Jicama stuff is and the turkey did quell the rumble of hunger at lunch time. I'm not bored with my diet, I tend to get so much variety in it that I'm loving it . . . I just want more :p

[dboy000]

try a niccorette patch :rolleyes:

[BGile]

I think you are going to need some serious counseling if you want to change the way you are eating. Kidding looks good really just maybe to many cals???

It is really a decision you have to come up with. I am a little bit overweight. But I am active and in good shape for my age. So I am trying to loose weight but want to do it over a slow period of time a few pounds a week is fine, or 5 a month will do.

Just eat healthy and stay away from the fries, for starters anything fried... :p
Except fried eggs (scrambled) no chubby LOL...Some pans are so good nothing sticks :D

;)

I was really in good shape, weight wise, I went on a few cruise ships and a vacation for a month with realtives and did not eat at home much, mostly out and about. Wow went up 15 pounds LOL..Oh well, good food on those cruise ships is part of the reason to go :D

[ember]

Most of the reading I've done recommend aiming to lose 1-2 lbs per week. You say you've been averaging 3 lbs. It may be that you need to add a *little* more food to your diet, try not to lose *quite* so fast.

It's a hard line to walk.

[jujitsuka07]

Oh the GUILT!!!

As I read this thread, I am sitting in front of my computer eating a giant cinnamon roll covered in about 1 cm of rich cream cheese frosting, and accompanied by a glass of milk!

I am also "on a diet". I went on a diet a few months ago, lost weight fast, but stopped dieting because of a change in my daily schedule made me spend all day away from home, and I started eating fast food every meal.
I NEED to get back on my diet!

Enough whining!...

Sparkle, wheather you have time to do any of the following or not, I don't know, but here's some random info that might help:

EGGS:
BGuile already mensioned eggs earlier:
Eggs seem to be a pretty good diet food considering they're easy and fast to make, can be made in so many different ways, and have only about 70 calories each.

However, it seems common for people to exclude eggs from a diet, or at least to an extent because they're trying to leave out the oil/butter that is normally used to fry them. Even in a "non-stick" pan, eggs can stick a little and can brown too much.

It seems a lot of dieters stick to poached eggs which are cooked in water to eliminate using oils/butter - but poached eggs all the time may get boring.

Try this when making scrambled eggs:

~ Use non-stick pan.
~ Pour eggs in cold pan.
~ Turn heat on medium.
~ Begin stiring with heat-resistent spatula and keep stiring.
~ When eggs begin to dry, pour milk into pan, about 1 & 1/2 to two tablespoons of milk for every 2 eggs.
~ Stir immediately.
~ Continue to cook until eggs appear done, adding more milk if needed.

The milk should keep the eggs from burning, and can keep eggs from drying out.

If you like dry eggs, adjust the amount of milk so that the milk in the pan has soaked in/dried up so that there is none left in the bottom of the pan when eggs are done, and so scrambled eggs are dry inside and out. Remove the eggs immediatly to prevent overdoneness.

If you like moist-but-done eggs, also cook eggs until no milk is in bottom of the pan, but eggs are moist inside and out from milk (be sure the "moistness" is the presence of milk, not underdone egg!). Remove from pan immediately to keep from drying out.

FRUIT:

Wrydolphin seems to feel that your diet was boring you and that you should add more fat. I agree. I have been off and on a diet lately that is very similar to yours (though not as strict): Fruits, veggies, and some grains and lean meats. It gets boring, I know. You might be saying "What about that cinnamon roll?" - that was a slip-up. But anyway...Even if you add more fats, fruits can still be their usual boring selves, so...

~ Try putting a little cinnamon on apples, peaches, and pears.



VEGETABLES:

Baking veggies is good because it doesn't usually require many fats and sugars. Sometime it takes too long though. Frying is faster sometimes, but stir-fry sauces are loaded with fats and sugars.

~ Try using soy sauce to fry veggies in. The soy sauce that I have is only 10 calories per tablespoon, and I use less that one tablespoon when I fry veggies. Because of all the sodium, I usually use about two-thirds tablespoon (two teaspoons) soy sauce for every cup-and-a-half of veggies.
That's only about 6 & 1/2 calories.

MILK:

I try to stay away from alot of dairy products. Sometimes I will avoid cheese, yogurt, and other foods containing milk so that I won't feel guilty if I decide to have a half a glass of milk every other day. You might say "A half a glass of milk every other day is avoidable though. Why have even that much?" Well, I don't want to get burned out on my diet, so I try to have something that I like every few days, but keeping it healthy, so I drink milk every other day. In your posts, you mentioned that you gave in and drank a glass of milk. You don't have to stop drinking milk completely...

~ Reward yourself with half a glass every 3 days if you really intend not to drink much, or every other day if you really don't care.

MEAT:

Not much that hasn't already been said, but...

Poultry and fish are good choices that it seems you've already made. But as wrydolphin said, try not to cut too much fat from your diet. I know from what you said that you eat beef at night. That's probably just fine - a little more fat will help you feel fuller. I know you said that you're usualy not hungry but eat anyway, but being fuller might limit how much you eat even when already full/not hungry. You didn't mension pork at all, so I don't know if you eat it or not, but if you do...

~ I would try to limit the amount that you eat - it may contribute a little more fat to your diet than what you're looking for.

DRINKS:

I don't know about you, but when I drink water all day, I start to crave something flavory, and I end up going to the fridge or pantry to look for that flavory something. I seem to have found a solution:

~ Drink flavored beverages! Unsweet cold or hot tea, no sugar/low sugar fruit juices.

~ If your tea isn't flavory enough, add mint extract, vanilla extract, or cinnamon. If your fruit juice needs some help, add mint extract or vanilla extract for extra flavor.

DESSERT:

I don't know if you like applesauce or not, but I've been eating a big bowl of cold, unsweetened applesauce and cinnamon with every meal, and it pretty much gets rid of any craving for a snack later, which would undoubtedly be less heathy than applesauce. And being unsweetened is no problem - it's sweet even so.

Anyway, off my soap box I go!

Hey, I hope it helps - and if not you, maybe it'll help someone on MAP.

[Prophet]

Salvia Divinorum. haha (http://www.mindandmuscle.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=28350)

[tekkengod]

Try drinking water. The drive for thirst, hunger and sex all stem from the same biochemical mechanism and sometimes people can mistake a craving for one as a craving for something else. Also, are you eating enough calories and are you getting enough fat in your diet? How often do you eat and how stable is your blood sugar?

so does this mean having more sex would crush my hunger? :confused:

[wrydolphin]

Actually, it might.

Weird, huh?

[Scarlet Mist]

The drive for thirst, hunger and sex all stem from the same biochemical mechanism and sometimes people can mistake a craving for one as a craving for something else.

I see. That must be why I'm hungry all the time.

[jujitsuka07]

Let us know if you need anything else, Sparky! Hope it helped! :D -juj

[tekkengod]

Actually, it might.

Weird, huh?

ha! new pick up line huh! "if we dont have sex, i'll get fat!" lol!

[Sparkle]

Let us know if you need anything else, Sparky! Hope it helped! :D -juj

I really appreciate your post! A lot was put into that! (I also appreciate everyone elses!) I have incorporated a lot more fat into my diet and am not so strict anymore and honestly I'm seeing results still. They aren't as fast but my schedule got flipped around because I decided to take a last minute college class for Summer B : P. I feel great, am still losing fat and am eating things with more fat in them. Not an insane amount, but buying the ground beef that isn't so lean, using more oil, stuff of the sort.

Again, I thank everyone for their input and I'm not getting the insane hunger cravings anymore. Good stuff MAP support ;) :D

[jujitsuka07]

I have incorporated a lot more fat into my diet and am not so strict anymore and honestly I'm seeing results still. They aren't as fast but my schedule got flipped around because I decided to take a last minute college class for Summer B : P. I feel great, am still losing fat and am eating things with more fat in them. Not an insane amount, but buying the ground beef that isn't so lean, using more oil, stuff of the sort.

Again, I thank everyone for their input and I'm not getting the insane hunger cravings anymore. Good stuff MAP support ;) :D

That's great to hear! Don't worry about the results being a little slower - In my humble opinion (nutritionists might disagree), it seems easier to have a mostly-strict diet than a totally-strict diet. Too strict and we tend to get bored and give in to half of Mom's 7-layer chocolate cake (or a giant frosted cinnamon roll in my case), and before we know it, we're off our diet!


Here's a few more tips that I forgot to mension:


~ Don't be afraid to bargain a little:

If you're getting bored, but you don't want to compromise, try this:

I'll give an example - seems the easiest way.

Say you usually eat non-fat yogurt, but some really good low-fat yogurt just went on sale at the grocery store. You feel you shouldn't buy it because you don't want to compromise by giving in to eating that much extra fat, so here's what you do: to keep your diet interesting, buy some of that low-fat yogurt, and cut some fat from another part of your diet. For example, buy extra-lean meat for the time that you would be eating that higher-fat yogurt.

Make sure the fat you cut and the fat you add are the same amount!

Here's the downside though - Be careful of the extra fat/sugar foods that you add to your diet. More fat/sugar foods present in a strict diet can be a temptation to binge. Be sure those extra fat/sugar foods are only extra fat/sugar by a little bit, so that if you end up binge-ing (sp?), your diet won't crash.


~ Food Stash Issues: :ban: Ban the Snacks!

Don't stash junk food in your house. It's too much of a temptation. The other people in my house like junk food. They have a drawer full of snacks in the kitchen - it can be so tempting. I can't do anything about it because the snacks are not mine to remove, but do what you can to surround yourself with only healthy foods.

~ The Fridge is Calling!

I am so bad about standing in the kitchen snacking. I end up eating more than I intend, or eating junkier than I intend. This seems to help:

To keep track of what and how much you eat, prepare all your dishes of food so that they will be done at the same time (so you don't stand there and snack waiting for the rest of the food to get done). Put them on a tray, and carry them out of the kitchen to eat. Then you won't be standing in front of the pantry eating greasy tater chips, looking for more to eat. You have a set menu at a set amount. If you think you'll be tempted while you eat to go to the kitchen for more/other food, do something to get your mind away - watch TV or something.


Again, hope this helps.

Great to hear how things are going - Keep up the good work!!!


-juj