healthy ways to satisfy cravings

[littlepinkpunk]

i, personally, crave chocolate...alot. and i'm trying to be healthier before i have to force myself into a bathing suit. what are some ideas for any little cravings you guys might have? mine, of coarse, is chocolate, and i don't know how to make that any healthier...

[ShySoul]

Remove chocolate from your sight. I know if I have a candy or snack in the house I'm likely to start muching and before I know it, I've eaten the whole bag. So in this case, out of sight, out of mind is helpful.

 

Is there a healthier snack you like? Instead of feeding the cravings with chocolate, you can feed it with something better for you.

[Itsok]

Eat a bit healthier chocolate

 

Seriously, this is an excellent chocolate craving recipe and it's not horrible for you:

 

Take one chocolate cake mix and add one can of pumpkin pie filling.

Spread it out over a cake pan (be sure to spray with a little Pam first so it doesn't stick) and bake at cake directions. No other ingredients are needed. It will come out quite 'brownie' textured, and has a great spice to it thanks to the pumpkin!

[CarnelianButterfly]

I eat semi-sweet or dark choco only, has less sugar. I'm on a low-carb diet so I have a nifty choco cake recipe that uses almond flour instead of wheat flour. Still has a few calories but almost no carbs.

Low Carb Chocolate Cake Recipe

by Best of Low Carb

 

It is easy to make your own nut flower of almonds (good essential fatty acids source) or macadamia (good fat-to-carb ratio.) Just mill them in a coffee grinder or food processor. However, there are online stores that sell it. They also sell ready bread and pancake mixes (click here to find).

 

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar equivalent, i.e. Splenda

1 cup almonds, coarsely shopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbs almond flour

1 tsp baking soda

3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

 

Separate egg whites from yolks. In a blender, blend the whites and sweetener. Continuing blending, add the ingredients in this order: nuts, vanilla, flour, soda, yolks, and cocoa, blend for 2 minutes more. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Its yummy, the texture is a little different than regular cake and its not as fluffy but its a nice dessert for a diet.

[RayKay]

i, personally, crave chocolate...alot. and i'm trying to be healthier before i have to force myself into a bathing suit. what are some ideas for any little cravings you guys might have? mine, of coarse, is chocolate, and i don't know how to make that any healthier...

 

Pick dark chocolate, and in small amounts. Dark chocolate has tons of antioxidants which are good for you, and it's a mood booster too

 

It's all about balance, if you eat well, exercise, and take care of yourself, fulfilling a craving now and then is a good thing.

 

My thing is ice cream and I actually will have some a few times a week, but I have a SERVING (a real serving as in 1/2 cup, not a bowl full!) and it keeps me satiated, and absolutely fine with eating healthy rest of week. I'm an exercise nut too so I burn more cals then I consume and just make sure I can "fit" the ice cream in without adding excess calories, fat and sugar. All my other cravings are easy to accommodate in a healthy diet - I love veggies and fruit, and chicken and lean steak. The healthier you eat, the more you crave healthy things! After a long bike ride for example, my biggest craving will be a big huge salad with chicken, and feta and lots of veggies.

 

I must of been on to something, as a recent study showed people whom ate their "cravings" through the week, rather then saved it all for one day were better in the long run at keeping off weight. The reason being if say I have only a small amount of ice cream a few days a week, I can better allot it into my daily calories and intake, and burn it off, and eat better the rest of the day. Whereas if I just have a freebie day and eat a lot of crap, you can take in thousands more calories then you need, so it's harder to "work off" or fit into your allotment....

 

But different things work for different people, you have to find what is best for you. Some people do great on eating healthy and great 6 days, and eating whatever one day. It all depends. It's fine to satisfy a craving now and then, just don't go overboard and find a way to do it without throwing yourself completely off.

[Blue Skittles]

Will power. Only allow yourself to eat chocolate once a week, and only one thing - whether it be a chocolate bar or chocolate cheesecake - just let yourself eat chocolate on sundays or something. I gave up chocolate for lent last year and that helped me for about a year... cuz 45 days and no chocolate, by the end of that, i wasn't even thinking about chocolate anymore. Only about a month ago i started getting cravings again - so i'm gonna give it up again this year. lol

[prozzack]

you helped me out now its time for em to do the same

 

what i like to try to do in that situation is do somthing, Anything, when you busy you dont crave things anymore.

 

just find somthing NOT AT HOME and do it home jsut makes you bored

 

hope i helped

[littlepinkpunk]

thank you all for your help, i will keep it all in mind.

The only downside is that i live in a dorm on campus and i have a heavy load of classes, so i'm usually in my room...with all the food -=/

i don't keep much in here, and i'm usually very conscious of what i buy to eat, but sometimes i think i will deserve a little treat, and i overdo it.

i'm not all that satisfied with my body at the moment, i just want a little change