Conference rocks::weight_control

    One thing that helps me with sweet cravings is:  YOGURT!!!!
    
    Take 3/4 cup low or non-fat plain yogurt, add one or two packages of
    Equal (depending on how sweet you like things) then add:
    
    1/2 to 1 cup thawed frozen raspberries
    1/2 to 1 cup thawed frozed strawberrie
    
    One of my favorites:  1/2 cup unsweetened, plain applesauce, with
    1/2 tsp (or more to taste) of cinnamon.  Let set for a while.  
    This one tastes like real creamy sweet apple pie.  Add nutmeg or
    whatever other spice you want. 
    
                 
    Hope this might help.  
    Best to let set for while, so the flavors blend.

    re the last couple:
    
    Would you trust anyone who said they *never* had cravings for 
    sweets?  :-)
    
    If you haven't checked out the WW deserts and frozen novelty items, boy
    are you missing out on something good! There's a huge variety of them,
    and I haven't found one yet that I don't like.  My special favorites
    are the cheesecake, the chocolate mousse, and the chocolate mint
    pops.  Best part is that WW members can figure these in under their
    daily exchanges (exchange into is right on the package).  For those
    who aren't on WW, the WW pastries average around 200 calories per
    portion-controlled serving; the frozen novelty items come out to
    about 60 calories for the small ones (12 to a box), and 120 calories
    for the large ones (6 to a box).
    
    YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM!!!
    
    
    PY
    

    I crave chocolate like crazy.  My counselor told me to take
    Calcium-magnesium tablets and it seems to curb my appetite for
    the ungawdly stuff.
    
                                           - Sue

Backing up the previous reply, I recently read that chocolate cravings come
from a low magnesium level in your body.  (WW magazine, again. :-)  I just
finished reading their last 3 issues to psych myself up.)

Again, I will second Paul's suggestions of WW desserts to satisfy
sweet/chocolate cravings.  But it's still hard to imagine chocolate cake
counting as a fruit, among other things!

Jill

    
    
    I know that we all have different cravings at different times.
    Some ads on T.V. sure can get my taste buds moving..
    That duncan hines cake and frosting ad sure drives me wild.
    I want to jump in the T.V. and eat the cake...JUst kidding
    of course..
    
    Some people love breads.. I have a friend if you put bread in 
    front of her.  She will eat it all..  I have seen her eat a 
    whole basket of bread one time.. she didn't even know because 
    she kept talking and eating not thinking of what she was doing
    and then saw that she had eatten the whole thing!!
    
    I can go along time and then it's like a bell goes off and I need
    something sweet..................
    I know that weight watchers has all that neat stuff,  but sometimes
    you just  want something other then anything on a weight program....
    
    
    
    Be careful,
    
    Ann
    
    

    My particular cravings are ... bread and cheese.
    
    I have solved the cheese issue in a very drastic way: I will not
    and do not eat any cheese at all until I have lost all the weight
    I need to lose. I have tried eating only one or two ounces of cheese
    at a time, as is allowed on the WW program, but there is no way
    I can stop at that and feel satisfied! I feel less frustrated with
    none at all, then with a little bit that will always end up being
    more than I should!
    
    As for bread, I eat everyday all my 3 portions of bread as allowed
    by WW, and hope that I am being honest when I weigh them!
    
    If I ever binge again, it will be on thick slices of bread, with
    lots of butter and cheese....
    
    Oh well ....      Joana

    re .5:
    
    "Howdy Ma'am.  I'm the TV repairman.  What seems to be the trouble?"
    
    "About time you got here.  The picture tube's broke!"
    
    "Really?  How'd that happen?"
    
    "You see, I was watching TV and staying away from the goodies, when
    all of a sudden this Duncan Hines ad comes on, and...   :-)".
    
    You know what ad drives me wild?   The full color ad that the Le
    Biftheque restaurant puts in the Boston Globe on occasion.  Seeing that
    24 oz. prime rib "live and in living color" sets my mouth watering, no
    doubt about it. 
    
    re .6:
    
    When I started my weightloss program, guess what the first food
    I stopped buying was?  Not candy or pastry, but Cracker Barrel cheese
    sticks.  All too easy to cut a couple slices and have them on crackers
    when I first get in from work...and have a couple more "to tide
    me over before dinner"...and have a few more while watching TV...and
    blow my allotment of hard cheese for the next three weeks in the
    process!
    
    
    PY

    re .5:
    
                                             
    >    I know that weight watchers has all that neat stuff,  but sometimes
    >	 you just  want something other then anything on a weight program....
    
          
    Reread your WW "Sweet Dreams" booklet.  You get 550 optional calories
    a week to play with.  If having a brownie or cookie or donut one
    or two times a week is what it takes to keep you on your program,
    HAVE IT!  But...don't buy a whole cake or box or cookies or whatever
    and leave it around the house.  You *will* eat it.  Go to a bakery
    and buy *one* of your favorite pastries, eat it, enjoy it, and DON'T
    feel guilty; you're still staying on program, and have no reason
    for guilt as long as you stay within your weekly optional calorie
    total.
    
    Addendum to .7:
    
    Guess whose favorite ad appears on page 56 of this morning's Boston
    Globe?    :-)   :-)
    
    Paul_who's_already_planning_for_prime_rib_tomorrow_night! :-)

    Mexican food!!
    The WW Mexican isn't too bad either!
    But sometimes, I have to go to a Mexican restaurant, and scoop up
    some cheese dip and picante sauce. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
    
    I crave cheese a lot - many kinds too.  Problem is, most  - if not
    all - are fattening.
    
    Theresa.

    re .9:
    
    You know what my favorite WW dinner entree is?  The beef burritos
    and the chicken burritos.  I know that they're probably no more Mexican
    than I am, but I like them very much anyway. 
    
    
    py

    Cravings.  I get them for salty/savory foods.  Especially Potato
    Chips!  And Salted Nuts!  I have been known (but never before
    confessed) to go out of my way to pick up a jar of macadamia nuts
    on my way home.  And eat them ALL before my husband gets home.
    
    Help!  I know they are my red-light foods, but sometimes their call
    is just TOO strong!
    
    Lynn

    
    Red-light foods were the topic of discussion in our WW meeting last
    week.  The leader, as it happens, also has a thing for nuts.  Her
    solution was to not buy the big jars of them.  Instead, when she gets
    that craving, she buys the little 1-oz pack, enjoys it, and marks it
    down as optional calories!  Next time you get the urge on the drive
    home, rather than saying "well, I've failed, might as well go whole
    hawg," say "I want these things, so I'm going to allow them *in a
    reasonable quantity*."  Both nuts and chips could be considered part
    fat, too, if you have some of that left in your allowances for the day.
    
    Don't start to eat them til your in the car; by the time you're home,
    the craving should be satisfied, and there won't be more of them around
    for you to munch on.
    
    My red-light item is sugar, in any form, especially candy and ice
    cream.  If I'm very careful, I can get away with one piece, but I 
    have to be away from the source when I eat it, and I have to limit it.
    
    Hope this helps!
    Beverly
    

    re .12:
    
    Beverly, that's pretty much how I handle my urges for foods that
    I enjoy, but know that I can't eat in large quantities if I want
    to keep my weight in my goal range.
    
    My particular weaknesses are nuts (especially honey-roasted cashews!)
    and ice cream.
    
    I used to go through most of a can of nuts during an afternoon of
    watching football, and my wife and I would a half-gallon of ice cream
    in 2-3 days.
    
    Now, I don't buy the big can of nuts, or the half-gallon of ice
    cream.
    
    If I want nuts badly enough, I'll just buy the small one ounce pack.
    Then, I'll eat them slowly and enjoy them, so it seems like more.
    
    As for ice cream, we just do not keep that in the house anymore.
    If I really want an ice cream, I'll go to an ice cream place and
    get a small cup.  
    
    A small price to pay for the far greater benefit of keeping my weight
    in a range where it should be...
    
    
    py

    Thanks, Beverly and Paul.  I may try the 1 oz. pack trick the next
    time I get the "I must have some salted nuts or I'll die" craving.
    But, right now I think that I'm safer if I just avoid them altogether.
    
    Thanks, again.
    
    Lynn

     I have a problem with bread!  I CRAVE bread, and carbohydrates
    in particular, all the time.  I never, NEVER crave candy, ice cream,
    etc, which seem to be most people's downfall, but could there be
    some particular reason I crave carbs?  I would be happy to eat nothing
    but potatos, rice, and bread for the rest of my life! :-)

    re: .15
    
    Okay, the details are a bit sketchy in my mind. Maybe someone else
    can help me out here...
    
    Yes, there could well be a particular reason you crave carbs. There
    is a certain chemical substance (I *think* it's serotin, but I could
    be way off...) that usually is one of those "manufactured" by your
    body. People who have unusually low levels of  this chemical, whatever
    it is, tend to crave carbs. Note: this is only one possibility,
    I am certainly not attempting to play doctor, here...
    
    I read an article not that long ago (Reader's Digest, maybe?) that
    talked about the many reasons "diets" fail. One big reason, for
    many people, is that their bodies need/crave more carbohydrates
    than most. 
    
    (I know this is true because I am one of these people...)
    
    Hope this helped.
    
    -Amy.

    Thanks, Amy!  How do you stay away from enormous amts of them? 
    How awfully bad for you are the new yeast rolls that all of the
    chain steakhouses serve?

    	Dee Dee, carbohydrate cravings may be a natural occurrence
    for you.  Complex carbohydrates are not bad for you, calorie-wise.
    
    	How much carbohydrates do you eat, when you eat enough to
    satisfy your cravings for them?
    
    -mike z

    Mike,
        I don't really eat a lot of carbs at once, because I have been
    fairly strict on myself concerning portion sizes, for about the
    last 3 weeks, and my craving for carbohydrates seems to have developed
    within these last few weeks.  My diet tends to be about 70% from
    carbs...a lot of baked potatos, rice, and wheat bread...it seems
    that I never want any fruit or vegatables anymore.
    
    Dee

    hi again,
    
    First of all, I don't really believe that there is very much that
    is "awfully bad for you" *in moderation*. Those are the key words
    - In Moderation. I mean, if you eat out once a week and have one
    or even two, of those yummy rolls, you're not going to kill your diet. 
    
    As for staying away from enourmous amounts...First of all, realizing
    *why* I had such cravings (ie, it wasn't just a HUGE lack of will
    power) helped. Once I really thought about it, I realized also that
    I really don't get any "good feelings" from eating an entire loaf
    of italian bread (which I LOVE!). But if I had just a piece or two,
    then I satisfied my craving without feeling guilty. So, again,
    moderation. 
    
    Another thing I realized - I really didn't need mountains of butter,
    etc. to enjoy the breads, rolls, etc. They actually taste great
    without all that butter, etc.
                                       
    I guess what it boils down to is a balance of satisfying the
    craving and self control.                 
    
    -Amy.
    

    
    Re: the Dreaded Carbs
    
    I am an ex-carbohydrate addict. Mega-potatoe binges? No longer!!
    Pasta cravings? Not a problem!!
    
    I picked up a book about 3 years ago called "Doctor Atkins Diet
    Revolution" - I know it sounds corny but it changed my life (and
    my way of dieting). The book has a whole philosophy around the idea
    that calorie counting doesn't work (I'm sure that will provoke some
    debate....) and that carbohydrate counting is the most effective
    way to lose weight.
    
    I could write about this for hours, but I will restrain myself.
    Basically, I would recommend the book, I personally have found this
    the only way to lose despite being a very experienced "dieter",
    and I've lost 2 stone so far this year. The are some medical debates
    around the diet, and these are also in the book so you can see both
    sides of the story.
    
    I feel great, I'm never hungry (honestly) and I hope you find a
    way round your craving - carbohydrate addiction is a real source
    of misery to a lot of people and it seems that this diet may be
    a way out of it.
    
    All the best
    
    Abby
    

    
    	re. .21
    
    	On the opposite track, I am currently living Covert Bailey's
    	Fit or Fat Target Diet ... It is basically centered around
    	eating lots of complex carbs, low fat, moderate protein ...
        I eat pasta 3 times a week, never worry about bread or potatoes
    	(prepared in low-fat fashion) ... and round out my meals with
    	veggies, fruits, chicken and dried beans/peas.  I have lots of
        energy and am reducing at a moderate but gratifying rate.
    
    	Karen