.

I have been told that cravings last only 15 minutes.

So when you crave something, like a bag of pretzels or whatever, set a timer and wait 15 minutes.

And hopefully the craving will actually go away!

Has anyone tried this?

Does it work?

I have this EXACT same issue. In fact, it happened tonight :(. The best things I can recommened is to not even purchase those things that tempt you. I notice that when I don't have chocolate, ice cream etc. in the house, I don't have problems binging on them because they aren't there to be binged on. I've also come to love sugar free/fat free Jell-O pudding with fruit and whipped cream. Best of luck!!!!!!!

Nighttime seems to be the toughest time of day for everyone including myself.  I have always had a sweet tooth, especially after dinner.  My routine is after dinner I take my son for a wuick walk in his stroller then I treat myself to a 40 cal fudgsicle and a glass of skim milk.  I do this almost everynight during the week.  On the weekends I give myself a little leeway but always count the calories because even when I go over and they start to add up that usually motivates me to stop.  Theres always tomorrow to eat more...and every calorie shows up on the scale.

Hi Ladies,  I have the answer!  It is Isagaenix which is the world leader in nutritional cleansing and fat burning too.  I lost 33 lbs in 7 months, but the amazing thing is that I have kept the weight off for 8 months.  My BMI went from 35 to 28, I lost 5 inches off my waist, 5 inches off my abdomin, 5 inches off my hips and 4 inches off each thigh (boy was I thunder thighs).  You cleanse 1 day a week, then the other 6 days a week you  have a delicious shake for breakfast and another for dinner (or lunch if you prefer).  Then you eat one 600 calorie meal a day.  I put a scoop of IsaFruits (daily requirement for fruits and more) and a scoop of IsaGreens (daily requirement for vegetables and more) in my shakes too.  The whey protein in the shakes is organic denatured whey from New Zealand where there are no steriods and hormones injected into the cows, no pesticides, etc.  From a scale of 1 to 7, our whey protein is grade 7.  We get a grade 3 or less in the USA.  These shakes are low in calories, but high in nutrition versus diets that are low in calories and low in nutrition ... thus, with Isagenix you lose weight without leaving any hanging skin behind.  These shakes build lean muscle mass instead.  The shakes contain live enzymes, amino acids, etc.  We also have Ionix Supreme.  You drink 1-2 oz a day and get all of your minerals, trace minerals, and B vitamins, etc.  The energy, mental clarify, etc. that it gives you is amazing!  You can go to www.marydecoite.isagenix.com and www.isamovie.com for more information.  Then e-mail me at marydecoite@comcast.net.  (edit: I forgot to mention that when your body gets the nutrition it needs your craving disappear .... coffee, sugar, chocolate, you name it.  We also have IsaDelight "happy chocolates".  They produce endorphines (which we all know make us happy), stop food cravings, reduces stress, produces seratonine and dopamine.  You can go to www.IsaDelight.com for more info.)(edit: the real key to this program is the cleanse.  We are so bombarded with toxins today that our liver can't get rid of them all ... so the body encapsulates the toxins in fat cells to protect us.  When the toxins are nutritionally cleansed out, so goes the fat cells too!)

Thank you sooo much for taking the time to write this. I have been struggling for a  very long time and gaining and losing, up and down. I will try all these suggestions starting NOW by going straight to bed because I am definitely a night time snacker. Thanks again!

Here are some tips on managing cravings!!

10 Tips for Managing Cravings

1. Eat at least three well-balanced meals a day. Even if you're trying to lose weight, don't skip meals. You'll only be hungrier for the next one, and cravings between meals can become overwhelming.

2. Give up guilt. Believing you have cheated on your diet and completely ruined your chances of succeeding produces guilt and feelings of failure. Give yourself permission to eat favorite foods in moderation and without guilt.

3. Accept food cravings as a normal part of living in a food-oriented society. Almost everyone experiences food cravings, regardless of whether they struggle with their weight. The more you understand your cravings, the better you will be able to manage them. While you cannot control the fact that cravings occur, you can control you reaction.

4. Think "management" instead of "control." "Control" implies an adversarial relationship with food; it's generally a constant struggle to maintain control. "Management" is much easier. When we manage something, we work with it to achieve our desired results.

5. Look at cravings as suggestions to eat, not commands to overindulge. Overeating does not have to be an automatic response to a craving. When a craving begins, determine how you want to deal with it. It is truly up to you.

6. Believe that cravings will pass. A craving is similar to a wave in the ocean. It grows in intensity, peaks, and then subsides if you do not give in. Picture yourself as a surfer who is trying to "ride the wave," instead of being wiped out by it. The more you practice riding the wave, the easier it will become.

7. Disarm your cravings with the 5 D's. Delay at least 10 minutes before you eat so that your action is conscious, not impulsive. Distract yourself by engaging in an activity that requires concentration. Distance yourself from the food. Determine how important it really is for you to eat the craved food and how much you really want it. Decide what amount is reasonable and appropriate, eat it slowly and enjoy!

8. Stop labeling foods as "bad," "illegal," or "forbidden." It's not the food itself that's the problem, but the quantities you consume and how often you consume them. You can eat some of anything you want-even if it is high in fat, calories, or sugar-but to reach your goals, you may not be able to eat all of everything you want.

9. Aim for moderation instead of abstinence. Avoiding things you fear only reinforces the fear. Occasionally practice enjoying reasonable amounts of favorite high-fat or high-calorie foods. You may be happier and better able to stay with a well-balanced plan for healthy living.

10. Exercise regularly. Just as it is vital to successfully managing your weight, exercise is key to managing food cravings. In addition to burning calories, regular exercise may be relief from tension due to anxieties about food cravings. It's also one way to delay, distance, and distract yourself from food.

As well, sugar free gum and tea have been huge lifesavers for me!

Hi there,

I had hit my heaviest at christmas and the sight of me in the work xmas party photos made me feel sick! I am only 5ft tall and i was weighing in at over 10stone! So I tried atkins thinking it would be the easiest diet (I had never ever dieted before) I lost a little weight but had headaches and felt generally tired and groggy and horrible so I decided to give ww a go. It was amazing the weight fell off and after about 7 weeks I was down from a 12 to an 8! Then i kind of fell off the wagon a little and started to gain it back. I got cocky i think and I let the boredom snacking take over. I am a smoker so If i wasnt smoking in the evenings id be rumaging through the presses for something!

Anyway to cut a long story short I am back on track not strictly following ww but counting calories instead for the past week and a bit and i feel great. I have hired a vibration plate and i jump on it for ten minutes in the evening and anytime that I feel the urge to snack...its a time killer and its proved to me that my snacking is out of sheer boredom!

my advice is find something to do with your hands, knitting, exercising, cleaning, painting whatever it is that will keep your mind occupied until the craving for snacking passes! Good luck! you can do it. MIND OVER MATTER! xx

Hi there - I know food binges very well myself and at this point experience them still more often than you do. Like you, anything will do, a gigantic bowl of oatmeal, any kind of bread, even dog cookies (!) and of course nuts, even raw and unsalted...

I would underscore what some people have mentioned before, try to find out what your trigger is. I know that mine is when I feel overwhelmed. Due to some mental health issues I do not have as much energy as other people, yet I need to be able to hold my full-time job, take care of my dog and try to keep my home in order - at times it seems entirely impossible to accomplish.

So, here is one possible scenario: I get home from work, it is already late, I had planned to finally do the dishes that had piled up and do the laundry, thinking if I just have the discipline I can do it... but I am really tired and all the tasks seem unsurmountable - I switch on the TV and start to eat. And suddenly some kind of magic happens, as I eat, I become more hopeful that I will manage to get things done, maybe a little later, maybe tomorrow (this is why I am convinced that I have a food addiction, it really alters my state of mind). Why do I keep eating until I am almost sick? Because as soon as I stop not only the benefit of the self-medication stops, but also the shame over the binge sets in. So I usually eat myself blissfully into sleep which admittedly is often not very restful because I wake up nauseated, my heart pounding heavily, no position comfortable enough to go back to sleep.

The remedy in my case is first, not to plan to many things on my todo list in order to avoid the overwhelmed feeling, and second, go right to bed if it is an evening where I do not seem to be able to handle it. Of course I loose time that way, but after all I also loose time bingeing.

Your trigger may be something completely different. I have a friend who tends to binge when she feels angry. It took her a while to realize this because the binge would set in before her anger entered her conscious mind.

Of course I could be totally off with my emotional eating hypothesis. But if you think there might be something to it, I would recommend the book "Shrink yourself". I have found it quite helpful.

Good luck, and congratulations to your weight loss and keeping it off that long! I still have a ways to go and can only hope I will do as well as you do!

Wow, here I was thinking I'm the only one with this dilemma! Knowing that there are others out there with the same problem, having read all these posts have taken me from yippee to geez, what a bummer!

With all the advice in the world, against our own better judgement we just cave in.  My own downfall is that I sometimes become cocky and say, what the hell, I've lost the weight before, I can do it again and start eating away like there's no tomorrow.

I have realised that with age, not that I'm that old, its gets harder and harder  to lose the weight once you put it back on. I am in a constant cycle of self-sabotage and just don't know what to do anymore!

Here's a thought, I sometimes think of my binge eating episodes as being pregnant, you know, the way some pregnant women can eat, well, I know I'm not, but the cravings are just crazy.  I am beginning to think, as I have also heard that some contraceptives also creates that "pregnant constantly craving feeling", any though on this? I sometimes think that this might be one of the other triggers apart from the emotional and boredom issue.

But it remains a constant struggle, i try to start every day with a positive outlook and see wher it takes me!

keep on keeping on!

I think your problem is psychological. It really has nothing to do with food. If you only do this  "10 times a  year" you may be doing this at stressful times. I would suggest you keep a daily journal and mark the days you binge as well as whats going on in you life. Be honest with yourself while writing and you may figure out a pattern. GOOD LUCK TO YOU.

I have already replied once, but I keep coming back & reading all the replies.  I TRULY BELIEVE THAT IT HELPS ME TO READ EVERYONE'S PERSONAL STORIES & SOLUTIONS.  When it happens to me, I feel like such a freak.  Reading all this makes me feel better & less stressed and oddly less likely to binge!  Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply--you will never know how much you have helped others like me!

my best defence from eatting all the bad food that i crave is just... NOT BUY IT. if it's not in your house you can't eat it :)

&& congratulations with loosing the weight, you are beautiful!!!

I have a real bad habit of eating what I know I should eat when I get home from work. Normally when I get home I just want to crash on the couch and watch TV. I'm starting to think that watching TV is my food trigger because it's when I do most of my eating. If I can find something that will keep me busy or active I might now snack as much. Is there something that you do around this time that triggers the snacking?

Congratulations on losing 100lbs!!! I would love to know how you did it because I have 100+ to lose.

I have the very same problem, only I'm 61 and it does derail my weight loss. I commend you on sticking with your good eating, despite your snackfests! How long did it take you to lose the 100 pounds, and what was your diet like?

What is the best way to cook the sweet potatoes?  Can you make then in the microwave?

auntmyrtle-

Please don't feel like a freak.  I think bingeing in this county (U.S.) is more common than uncommon.  I'm 41 now but I remember in college when my roommate and I would buy a big can of frosting at the local grocery store, bring it to the car where we had a couple of spoons waiting and finish off the whole thing.  This after a meal at Friendlys!  Or we'd buy a couple of boxes of Pop-Tarts and meatball subs at the shop next to our building and eat them in the same sitting.  Unfortunately, I'm still bingeing today, twenty years and two kids later.  It's a daily struggle which has cost me dearly in terms of weight gain but I've learned to take it one day (or night) at a time.  I haven't binged in four days and I'm thrilled with myself.  And down one pound.  65 to go!  Anyway, there is great advice and strategies on this forum to avoid bingeing and I think we can both learn from them and successfully conquer this destructive habit.

No, you can stop.

It's that simple, you can stop.

You have full control over it.

The reason you don't stop is because you tell yourself that you can't stop and shift the blame onto something that doesn't exist. I've been there with eating stuff I knew I shouldn't be eating, but now you could put a giant exquisite banquet in front of me and if it didn't work with my diet, (Which is really strict at this point) I wouldn't take a bite.

I find that it helps your willpower to look at it this way:

Weight loss is a process. Everyone definitely can lose the weight. If you do the right things, you do lose weight, without fail. That means that whether you succeed or fail is completely based on your actions. That means every time you allow yourself to not stick to your plan, you are failing to lose weight in some small capacity. Thus, the only time you should be cheating is if it's already incorporated into your plan and you still lose weight while allowing it. If you are cheating outside of your plan, then maybe you need to re-motivate yourself, because you certainly can stop.

I definitely still struggle with this problem, even after losing a bunch of weight (here are my before and after pics). I have four suggestions that seem to work:

1. Drink an entire bottle of water (use a low cal flavor packet if you wish) before giving in to a craving.
2. Chew gum that really tastes good (find some sugary flavor at the grocery store) and go do something else when a craving strikes. Surf the internet, go for a walk, have sex, just whatever will get your mind off of it. The gum will redirect your taste buds, the activity will make you forget about the craving.
3. Don't keep snacks you'll binge on in the house. I know this is hard if you have kids etc. But this is the only way to ensure that when you get home at night, you don't raid the pantry. This is the MOST effective tip to not binging when you get home, and it's the only thing that works every time.
4. If you must keep snacks in the house, involve a friend or family member. As you're walking into the kitchen to binge, let that person know you're about to go pig out on something and they need to stop you so you don't hate yourself later. My husband is great about this. If we have chips out and I'm munching on them I'll say "Ok, you need to take these away from me." And he will.

That's my $0.02

Personally, I know my triggers too, which include birthday cake or anything with icing, and I allow myself to have this on occasion. Unfortunately, when I do, I eat way more than I should, so I plan accordingly. If I'm going to a wedding or birthday party etc. with cake, I plan the day accordingly and eat lightly and healthy, even at the actual event. The last birthday party I went to had fresh veggies before the main meal and cake. I loaded up on those so I was pretty full when the cake came out. I still ate a ton of it, but I would have eaten more had I not eaten the veggies. Then I ran/biked it all off the next day or two.

Living a healthy life is all about balance.

:-) Lauren

No offense Mary DeCoite but I have done Isagenix several times and it's good to do every once and awhile for a good cleanse but not for the rest of your life everyday and it's pretty expensive.