Dealing with intense carb cravings

[xenabeachgirl]

Okay, so I've been doing really well with my cutting diet for almost 4 weeks (26 days) and making decent progress with no cheats except my "treat" of a tbsp. of chunky pb once a day. I know all the usual tricks that those of us with a sweet tooth use: sugar-free gum, tea, crystal light, artificial sweeteners on everything, diet soda, etc., etc.

The minor cravings I can deal with; those are par for the course. But last night I really got some crazy strong carb cravings both before and after dinner. Finally after dinner I gave in and made myself a nice yummy bowl of malt-o-meal. This was very satisfying to my tummy but of course I know having that high of carbs late at night is very BAD, so I felt very guilty. When I weighed in this morning, I had added a pound back on, probably mostly from bloating and retaining water. Also, yesterday was my rest day from cardio so that didn't help either.

My question to all of you is, how do you deal with the really INTENSE, monster cravings? I know the occasional cheat meal is good, but I have a hard time stopping myself on that once I start, so I try to do that as little as possible.

So was it best that I had my "cheat" at night, so I didn't gorge all day? I know that in the big picture, it was only a "minor" setback, but it really feels like a psychological weakness; no matter how badly I "want it", I eventually start to slip up along the road to lower bodyfat. It's happened in past diets too, I've even given in and eaten candy bars when the carb cravings got too intense, thereby ruining all my hard work and frustrating myself in the process.

Sorry for the long, drawn-out post.....but I'm sure many of you have dealt with similar situations, and would like to hear your stories and advice. Do I just accept it as my body telling me I really needed a cheat meal, and I could have done worse, and move on? Or is it a sign that I don't really have the discipline and fortitude I need to have?

[Tim Wescott]

Lori,While I try not to eat carbs late at night strictly because it has been pounded into my head for years......a carb is still just a carb, no matter what time it is eaten at...........morninmg,noon,or midnight.

The thing is, in my opinion,that if you have eaten your allotted amount of carbs during the course of the day,then certainly eating more at night is not a good thing,not just because you ate a carb source,but because you ingested more than you needed.

We know we need to lower carbs when trying to get leaner, so I cycle carbs, setting certain amounts that I eat each day...........if I eat them early or late,it matters not,as long as I do not exceed the alotted amount I have set for myself for that day.

A carb is still just a carb at night,just the same as it is at dawn, or in the afternoon.

It doesn`t turn into something evil that will make you fat........eat clean carb sources of course,and set yourself certain amounts per day......you might want to check my article on carb cycling.

That being said,you probably ate more than you needed and it was indeed water weight as carbs store water.

Also,while I say a carb is just a carb no matter when you eat them,I think it`s still good to eat them early in the day so they can be burned as fuel or utilized for repair/replenishment,thus kind of negating them.

Still,if eaten at night on a lowered carb intake type of diet and not exceeding your allotted amount,you should still be safe.

Stay focused, and try setting daily amounts,and carb cycling.

I`m kinda` confused as it`s hard to convey my thoughts on this while typing but I hope you get the gist of my point/meaning.

[xenabeachgirl]

Thanks, Tim, I do get what you're saying about the carbs, although like you, I've been told not to eat them at night for so long, it's hard to break that thinking.

I do usually try to not eat carbs (other than veggies) after lunch (except post workout of course), but I will look into your carb cycling article. I appreciate the advice.

I guess my issue is mostly with my breaking down and having something (gasp!) that I wasn't supposed to have. Naturally it could have been much worse than a bowl of malt-o-meal, but I think that had I been near a store, it would have been a candy bar or four instead.

So I'm trying to figure out how to "deal" with the cravings so that I'm NOT cheating, unless it's a scheduled cheat. DAMN this friggin' sweet tooth!!

[bodyfx]

Buy VPX Dietex capsules. They truly kill cravings.

[xenabeachgirl]

Thanks, Bodyfx! If they can kill my sugar cravings, I'll promote them myself!! ;D

[taffer]

i find i tend to crave healthy carbs, i love my oats, sweet potato, fruit and most of all, vegies (got brussel sprouts! )
i find i can fit these into a cutting diet at least once a day, that usually takes care of my cravings (try eating 2-3lbs of vegies in a sitting and tell me you want to eat some carbs )

although if you are finding you are still having cravings, try a re-feed, as low leptin levels can often be the culprit, or as tim mentioned carb cycling works well, which is kind of the same as having refeeds

there is always the option for the weekly cheat, but i belive malt-o-meal would fit into a good "refeed" food anyway! however pizza doesnt

[xenabeachgirl]

Thanks, Taffer.....I agree, Malt-o-meal wasn't the worst thing I could have had, but as I mentioned, I've been known to cheat w/ much worse at times.....a couple of times last spring I'd finish up intense cardio only to give in and eat candy bars! Talk about defeating yourself! Consequently, I didn't come in as lean as I should have on competition day; I just couldn't maintain the discipline as strictly as I should have.

Since I'm not actually pre-contest now, just trying to cut, I do let myself have a serving of fruit at breakfast or post-a.m. cardio, and mix veggies in with lunch and dinner. Also my nightly "cheat" of a tbsp. of peanut butter and some sugar-free spiced cider after dinner helps with the dessert cravings.

Overall, I'm happy with the progress I've made, a loss of 10 lbs. in one month. I still have 11-16 more to go though to get to my "maintenance" weight (where I have abs again LOL), so I don't want to mess this up.

Oh, and I am so freaking bored with all the cardio!!

[Troyster]

Hey Xena, when I'm doing a contest diet, I use some of the following techniques to keep me on my diet. Maybe some will be useful. You'll have to decide whether they fit with whatever approach you use.

Like Tim, I believe time-of-day to be irrelevant with both cardio and food ingestion (be it carbs or protein). As long as it's within the same 24 hr period... I've sat down and eaten three of my meals at 11:00 before going to bed (took me an hour, lol) with no impact whatsoever. I was taught/trained that it's absolutely crucial to meet the calorie requriements for the day over worrying about the time on the clock. But that's just me Cravings are kept to a minimum and I don't incorporate any cheat meals (pretty much just substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar).

Many of us have different diets, so you'll have to decide what fits into your diet plan.

Here's some of the techniques Lori (that's MY Lori ) and I use to curb cravings and stay on-diet:
- sugarless gum... lots of it. If I get a craving for something sweet, I eat some gum.
- diet soda... I drink tons both on and off season. WAAAY more on-diet.
- sugarless jello. We always have lots made up in the fridge. It also works wonders on a sweets craving. Sometimes we mix a cup of pop with the jello in place of a cup of water... like diet Dr. Pepper or the Clear fruit soda's.
- pancakes -- I mix my egg whites and oats in the blender (on high for a good couple mins) and it makes a pancake batter. Beats scrambled egg whites any day.
- I spread the meals across the day so that I'm always pretty full. It's actually a lot of food.
- At night, I like to have a massive salad. I use tons of fresh veggies and it fills a large popcorn bowl. This stuffs me full. I use MCT oil, sugar twin (brown and white) and some garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano and vinegar... makes a nice dressing that's a bit like italian dressing.
- water, I drink a lot of water it helps me to feel full
- thermogenics and caffiene in the morning gets my but moving, LOL.

All I can think of at the moment.

T

[xenabeachgirl]

Thanks for the tips, Troy! I already do the sugarless gum (also works as a breath-freshener post-tuna! ;D) and diet soda as well of crystal light (yum!!). And of course boatloads of artificial sweetener! I use the thermogenics (morning dose only) until I seem to be building up resistance, then off for a few days. They do help with the morning cardio.

I like the idea of the sugar-free jello and diet soda, and the oatmeal and egg-white pancakes. (I've tried making pancakes out of just straight protein powder, let's say that was a royal failure! )

One other thing I should do is bake up another batch of "clean" protein/oatmeal muffins to nibble on, those are pretty good too.

So far this diet has not been as bad as my past two, meaning I'm not totally exhausted all the time; of course, I still have my fat stores to rely on yet! But I'm getting there. I can see the outline of my abs now, and my stomach is slowly shrinking. I'm just so impatient, I want to look good NOW!!

[Tim Wescott]

xenabeachgirl said:

I can see the outline of my abs now, and my stomach is slowly shrinking. I'm just so impatient, I want to look good NOW!!

I can relate........I wish I was at your stage already!!

Props Lori.....keep on going and stay focused!! :Rocker Dude:

Frequent brushing of the teeth will also help to curb cravings and supress the appetite a bit!

[xenabeachgirl]

Thanks, Tim, I appreciate it! This is the first time in a long time that I've been successful at staying on a strict diet (more than 2 weeks LOL) without having a contest date looming to keep me in line. But I finally feel like I want it bad enough not to stop. Success is its own reward!

I do in fact brush my teeth 3-4 times day....I got one of those Crest battery-powered toothbrushes, and I love it, it blows the tartar off and my teeth feel so clean, although I'm starting to worry that my poor gums are getting too irritated by it!

[Jennifer1]

Something that totally works for me is the following:

I have the WORST sweet tooth in the world, and it really gets horrendous for me at night. To help with this I make sure that my last meal is protein powder - casein, whey, milk blend for slower absorption. Instead of making a shake though, I make a pudding out of it. I use 2 scoops of Prolab's Matrix Chocolate, and one scoop of Prolab's choc. isolate. You can use three scoops of the blend if you want, but I like to actually freeze my "pudding" so it is like ice cream, and it freezes best when made with 1 scoop of whey. I mix the three scoops of protein with about 5 packets of splenda or equal, enough water to make it a thick consistency but not watery, and I also like to add 1 package of Swiss Miss diet hot chocoalte for added chocolate sweetness Since you allow yourself the PB at night, you can also mix in a tablespoon of that. I do that on Sundays as a treat, and I use the super chunky kind. I freeze the concoction, and it comes out tasting like chocolate peanut chunk ice cream. SO GOOD!!! You only need to freeze it for about 1.5 hours, and you can use skim milk too since you're not precontest. I tell ya, this SAVES me at night!

[xenabeachgirl]

GREAT idea, Jennifer, and it sounds incredibly yummy.........thanks for the tip!!

My worst cravings are at night......after the last meal, my taste buds are saying "What? Nothing else?? Where's dessert?"

[Jennifer1]

I guarantee, if you make this your last meal, then drink a warm cup of decaf green tea with plenty of sweetener, you WILL be satisfied! I battled with late night sweet cravings for such a long time, and this really is a solid solution for me. I bet it would work for you too. What's nice about it, is it is in no way a cheat, it's actually the IDEAL pre-bed meal. With the 3 scoops of protein and 1 tablespoon of pb, it is roughly 400 cal, 60g protein, 12g carbs, and 12.5 g fat. You can reduce the calories by taking out the pb and/or omitting a scoop of the protein blend (as I said before, keep the whey if you want to freeze it). You also don't HAVE to use Prolab, although I think it tastes the best. Any blend or whey should do. I've also used different flavored Dessert proteins by BSN, and they're pretty good also (I've tried the choc coconut and choc pudding).

Try it and let me know what you think...

[xenabeachgirl]

Thanks, Jennifer, I think I will try that tonight!! ;D

I typically use the Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey in Chocolate or Chocolate Mint (good price), so I will try mixing some of that with a little skim milk and my peanut butter "ration" and artificial sweetener, and freeze it and see how yummy it is!

I do drink a lot of chamomile tea (w/ artificial sweetener by the truckload LOL), or sugar-free spiced cider or hot chocolate mix after dinner too.

Lori

[Jennifer1]

Make sure you use a protein blend aslo. I don't know if it'll work well with only whey... it may be too thin. I usually do 1-2 scoops of the blend with 1 scoop of whey.

[xenabeachgirl]

Okay, I'll have to get some of that when I order my other supps!