CRAVINGS

[seenikrun]

Ok so i'm on day 9 of induction. I havent cheated once and I follow the guidelines religiously. So why am I now having the urge to eat carbs. I think its becuase i'm getting bored with my food choices. I dont have alot of money so my food choices are almost identical every day. Will this urge to eat carbs pass after the two week mark??

[Moochiecat]

Way to go sticking to the plan! :joy
It's such an individual thing about how long the cravings stick with you.
I think you may have hit the nail on the head when you say you don't have a lot of variety in your foods. Boredom seems to be one of the number one reasons why people stray off the plan.
Are you eating enough? Are the cravings because you are actually hungry, or is your mind just messing with you?
Why don't you tell us what you are eating and maybe we can see different ways to prepare the ingredients you have on hand so you get some different tastes happening?

...is there something in particular that you seem to be craving? Is there a particular time of day when the cravings hit? How are you feeling when they hit...bored...tired?
Let's try and solve this with your menu first....but there are some supplements that claim to help curb cravings, so you can think about those as well.
I took Chromium for a few months, then went off of it and felt no different, so I can't say whether I was just over the cravings or what.

[seenikrun]

In the morning I have chicken with a cup veggies and a piece of cheese

for a mid morning snack I have an egg or two eggs.

for lunch its usually turkey breast with some mayo (no sugar mayo) with a cup of veggies or tuna fish with mayo or salmon with mayo

for a mid day snack i'll have a slice of cheese

for dinner its usually pork or a hamburger minus the bun.


(I add olive oil to my veggies)

after dinner its usually some left ove chicken

[Moochiecat]

It's great you're spreading your veggies out through the day!! But I'm only seeing two cups of veggies in there...do you normally have the 3 cups recommended?


Let's see what kinds of variety we can make with what you have there.

When you do your tuna or salmon or chicken with mayo, chop some veggies up in it to make it a little salad.
I like to chop up celery, cauliflower and some dill pickles and mix that with the fish and mayo.

Make salmon cakes by adding some onion and an egg to canned salmon, mixing well, forming into little patties and frying in butter/olive oil. These are great hot (you can mix some dill and lemon into mayo for a little dipping sauce) and great cold as snacks. Sometimes I'll throw in some cajun spice and garlic powder as well.

You can also mix your tuna with mayo, put it on a microwaveable plate, top with your cheese and nuke till the cheese melts.

When you have your turkey breast and mayo, roll it up around a pickle.

I like to smash my eggs up, add a bit of mustard and mayo, and eat them with a celery stick.

Or! When they are freshly boiled, I'll peel a few still warm eggs, split them, and put a dab of butter on them..mmmm...so good.

Hope that gives you some ideas for more variety. :yes

If you have a craving, and you determine it's hunger-based and not emotion-based, by all means, have a snack! Have a protein/fat combo..it'll fill you up faster and sustain you longer.

[tabekat]

now I mock that craving


Congratulations on your 9 days! That is awesome! :joy

Everyone gets cravings. That is normal. The trick that helps me everyday is to find Atkins friendly substitutes for every type of craving.

I personally feel that Atkins is far less expensive than any other kind of diet - especially if you plan your menus ahead of time.

I buy eggs in bulk, meat in bulk, and I eat everything I buy. Nothing goes to waste. I love that everything I buy is healthy food for me, not processed - not junk.

The mock danish recommended on this website absolutely saved me. I love the velvety texture - it satisfies my need for comfort food. I can make it as a dessert by adding a little splenda. Or a side dish with a little butter. I find it very economical - one egg, 1 ounce of cream cheese, 1 splenda packet, and a shake of cinnamon.

I used to love crunchy food like chips. Now sliced jicama and other raw veggies gives me something fun and tasty to cruch on. I truly prefer cauliflower to rice, and when you are on owl, spagetti squash to pasta. In no way do I feel like I'm being denied at all. I vary my daily menu as much as possible. It is not unusual for me to have meat, and fish and poultry all in one day. How could I possibly be bored? The variety astounds me.

I feel I'm constantly being pampered with delicious food yet I'm losing weight. In many ways I'm eating better and far more regularly than I ever did before. I used to skip breakfast all the time. Now I make sure that never happens. I used to bypass veggies - now they are extremely important to my daily menus. I'm still trying different veggies.

Try to find an Atkins friendly snack that enthuses you. Once I found the mock danish, I knew I could do Atkins forever.

One last comment. When I'm thinking that my food choices bore me, I ask myself why food should always be my source of entertainment anyway....

It is fuel.

Perhaps I need to get out - see a movie - do something different - connect with a friend. Have fun. If I had something fun going on would I even be expecting food to charm me ? Sometimes food is just wholesome and satisfying fuel. I don't need it to tap dance with tassles for me all the time.

[seenikrun]

Thank you all for your suggestions & your support