Hello Cravings

Boo!

Well, yesterday was a pain in the you-know-what. A "monster" came out of the closet to torment me all day. Very strong cravings for fattening food pretty much ruined my afternoon and evening, but I did not give in so I awoke today feeling quite proud of myself and relieved.

I'm one step ahead of the game in that I know there is a big difference between cravings and actual hunger. I learned that when I was Optifasting. This was the urge to eat in response to some very good news my husband shared with me. I wanted to celebrate -- by stuffing myself with highly caloric food. Isn't this something many of us do? I know that was my response before I lost my weight. But things are different now. And I have to act accordingly, even though it is extremely difficult right now.

I am so, so happy that I have the experience on how to manage cravings. I engaged in deep breathing, I got outside and walked around, and I began drinking hot cinnamon tea (even though it was hot outside). I went to Facebook and helped others. My husband was also a big help. I called him from the grocery store when the urge to buy "bad" things got intense. It's really hard fighting back cravings on your own, so his help (and the help of my Facebook friends) made the situation much easier to handle.

I'll tell you something else that kept the caloric food from my mouth: I knew I had my weigh in at the clinic today, and my weight is going down on paper. Now that I am not weighing at home anymore, these "official" weigh-ins reinforce accountability more than ever. I kept thinking about how I wanted to see things stabilized at around a 5-10 lb. gain, and that we were setting a point where we can start moving downward. The higher the weight is, the longer I must work to get it back down. This kept me on the straight and narrow. Another reason to stay close to your clinic when you reach goal.

Be aware that it's highly likely that intense cravings will crop up in maintenance. But fortunately, there are ways to handle them. I again encourage folks to get "50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food." It's giving me great comfort right now. Have a great day everyone.