What do you do when a craving hits you? I'm having an awful craving right now! I'm not on the snack program. Do I just try and wait it out (yeah right) or do I have some cheese or something?
What do you do?

Well, I did wait about an hour which I think is a record for me, but I broke down and had some bacon...at least it wasn't cookies

You made a wise choice. Much better to have that bacon then it is to have cookies or any other high carbed foods. You could of also had chicken or beef or any other type of protein and you could of also had a small salad or some other kind of CM veggies with it.

Keep up the good work. Those cravings should disappear soon. If you keep having cravings double check your CM's for hidden carbs. That will do it everytime.

Speaking of cravings I'm having them right now. It's like there's a loudspeaker with a news announcement going on repeatedly in my head right now as I'm sitting here, "There's cake and brownies in the house...I repeat, there's cake and brownies in the house." Sunday afternoons are always kind of lazy and slow for me just because I don't want to think about the next day being Monday, and I just want to escape into something quiet and "Sunday-ish" if you know what I mean. In the past that's always meant splurging on sweets or starches a little bit. (Not that it had helped much.)

I feel motivated enough to wait it out I guess, because I feel like I've lost some weight this past week and I don't want to mess it up. (I haven't posted a weight change yet because I haven't got a chance to weigh in a couple days, and I haven't figured out this past week's loss yet.) Now quite sure what to do about this "wanting cake" thing. I'm not really that hungry otherwise, I just want something sweet. I guess I'll take the dog for a walk outside, then maybe take a lazy-Sunday nap, then eat an LC supper early, that sounds pretty good actually. When I think about the fresh air, the dog, the sun outside, and the nap and all that, it's a nice image in my mind that replaces the image of the cake in the fridge, do you know what I mean?

I second what Diane said about checking your CM's for hidden carbs or triggers. I have found that that is the only time that the old cravings and food thoughts get ahold of me now, is if something less than ideal has found it's way into my eating. A food journal is really helpful for tracking that down.

Stay strong!

I remember years ago when I started this, if I wanted food, I ate something allowed. String cheese comes in packages and keeps for half a day or so w/o refrigeration. I can bring a zip lock baggie w/ celery sticks, too. Even a small package of nuts is better than a cookie - and seems to keep me satisfied longer, too.

My job was near a farmers' market - I'd go there at lunch and buy fresh stuff for lunches and snacks. There was a fridge at work, and a microwave. I got a microwave-proof bowl and a fork and spoon. I ate pretty darn well before going back to school!

If I *do* eat a cookie or something bad - I'm more likely to want more carb-rich food, usually within an hour.

I never let myself get hungry, some days it seemed like I ate non-stop. But always good stuff. And the pounds came off almost effortlessly.

(I also made a point of walking a couple of miles a day)

Are any of you taking chromium? I've started taking one tablet every night at my LC supper, and I think it might really be helping take the edge off my cravings for starches. In the CALP book, the Hellers do include a "Chromium Option". I haven't read much about it yet, but from what I understand, chromium helps to regulate and equalize blood sugar levels throughout the day. And when you have stabilized blood sugar you don't crave starches and sweets as much. What I've been taking is chromium picolinate, because it's what I already had on hand, and it seems to be helping, although the Hellers mention a different kind of chromium in CALP (I forget the exact name of it). I got mine at a regular grocery store vitamin rack, not hard to find at all.

Anyway, it seems to help stem the sugar/starch cravings.

Good Morning Adelante

The Chromium the Heller's recommend is called GTF Chromium. I think there are 3 different kinds out there and not too sure what the difference is between all of them. I have taken GTF Chromium, in fact I have a couple of bottles in my cupboard. I keep forgetting about it. I have noticed when I take it I don't seem to eat as much at my RM as I normally do. The only problem I have found is that it keeps me awake at night. That is one of the reasons why I don't keep taking it. I find myself laying awake half the night.

I get a little confused on when to take it. The directions on the bottle say to take with food, but other people on CAD/CALP from a couple years ago said the Heller's said it needs to be taken on an empty stomach and to make sure that you don't take it with any other vitamins. They said the perferred time was right before you go to bed. I tried that and that was even worst. I didn't sleep at all that night. I think I am going to give it a try again. I will start taking mine right before breakfast and see what happens.

Thanks for reminding me that I have it. Keep us posted on if this keeps working for you.

Thanks Dianee, maybe I'll look for GTF chromium when I run out of the chromium picolinate. In CALP the Hellers say that the chromium picolinate has not really been tested enough yet to determine its value. But that book was published in 1997, so maybe by now the Hellers and other doctors may have figured out more benefits from chromium picolinate.

I've been taking mine with a LC meal along with my vitamins, with no ill effects at all. I've always thought that supplements work best when mixed with the food you eat. I've just now inspected that chromium chapter in CALP, and I see that the Hellers recommend to take it on an empty stomach because if you happen to eat something with zinc in it, it interferes with chromium's absorption. Maybe I'll search this site and see what other folks on Active Low Carber have to suggest about chromium.

Oh, and I just wanted to add about cravings--I got some cream cheese the other day because it's on the LC list. Just regular (not low fat) cream cheese with nothing added. It's really good stuff. Some cream cheese on a saucer, eaten with spoon, feels really decadent to me, like I'm really splurging, when I'm not (as long as I don't have more than a couple tablespoons I guess). Anything creamy like that is a comfort food for me when I'm trying not to think about anything sweet/starchy. Do you all like cream cheese too?

During the time I have been on CAD, sometimes I have taken it, sometimes not. I can't honestly say that I have really noticed any difference. I take it mostly because of what I have read about how it helps your insulin work better.

Just a note.. remember that CAD/CALP limit snacks to one a day, believing that it is the frequency of eating, as well as the type of food, that triggers insulin production.

I agree with Tracy's post on cravings. The only time I experience cravings on CAD is when I introduce a new food to my CM's...sometimes I have no problems with it..but, some foods (cured in sugar) cause me tremendous cravings...I make sure to not eat it for CM's. I drink alot of water or tea to make it by until my next CM or RM. If water or tea won't fill me up then I either have an earlier CM or RM....or have a CS.

Glutamine also helps with cravings.