Battling Psychological Addiction to Carbs
 

Does anyone feel mental desires for unhealthy foods? How do you cope?

Often, even after having a lovely dinner of lamb chops, mixed vegetables, and a spring mix salad with bacon, I find myself mentally longing for a Domino's pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms, onions and sausage. Or Häagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream. Or Miss Vickie's potato chips.

After my dinners, I feel full. And everything has been delicious. I love bacon-mixed-salads so much. I feel like the wish for foods that will make me slow, tired, overweight, physically weak, unhealthy and reverse my progress is mental rather than physical.

How does one face that? Currently, I just blanket myself in negative reinforcement -- I don't want to be out of shape anymore, I don't want to be tired and stuffed in the morning, I don't want sugar crashes any more -- but I wonder if you veterans and experts might have attitudes that are more positive than restrictive.

Feed/satisfy that mental urge but do it with other things then the bad carbs.
Make a pot of coffee and have it with cream. Have a dessert plate of cheese. Have a few squares of 90% chocolate. Fill the mental void with fat. Sometimes it's the need for a tantalizing taste that jolts your taste buds. Have something spicy like a strong dill pickle which tricks the taste buds.

If it gets bad I grab a handful of nuts or some sandwich meat or cheese. Maybe some whiskey on the rocks. Eventually it subsides. (doesn't mean that if the world was ending tomorrow I would not run out to Dollar General and by 2 quarts of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream)

I found a millet/flax flatbread with minimal carbs, and put tomato sauce (with no sugar), cheese & pepperoni on it.

Rebel ice cream is keto friendly.

85% chocolate tastes good, an Russell Stover makes chocolate sweetened with Stevia.

A handful of nuts are good, and macadamia nuts are very keto friendly.

You have to learn to either substitute or go cold turkey. I do a combination of both.

Netrition has some low carb foods that can get you over the hump, and since Keto is getting a resurgence, most grocery stores carry low-carb foods too.

It gets easier the longer you are on the diet. Old habits die away as you develop new ones.

Bob

It's a dangerous thing to dabble with something that you know you shouldn't have. Generally I find that I pay the price whenever I do. One meal of pizza or rice or whatever, and it will take me another 3-4 days of behaving myself again to get back to where I was.

Your mileage may very of course, but in my experience, it's really not worth it. As Bob says, the old habits will die away as you form new ones. Do I miss some of the old stuff? Sure, but I don't miss what they did to my health.

Yes, I struggle with this. I am working through some difficult emotional issues right now.

Things that help me:

1. Chew gum. Sugar free & as minty as you can handle. It will make everything taste bad - even water and that buys you time for the craving to pass.

2. Asking myself what I am really hungry for or rather what is bothering me so much that I want to eat? Facing my stuff. Rather than stuffing my face. Sitting in the moment of uncomfortableness, instead of numbing it with food.

3. Once you notice and figure out why you can take steps to correct the trigger. I have noticed in myself that when I feel hopeless in my situation I tend to want to emotionally eat. Knowing that I can remind myself that ‘My current situation is not my final destination.’ What steps can I take to move forward? Then taking action or making a plan to take action.

What has helped at times... a big drink of cold water, keep up salt intake, make low carb desserts, make skillet pizza which is everything but a crust.

I too have these missteps..... ate lc meals yesterday of a big garden salad, couple eggs, lc pancakes with 2tsp lingon jelly, then wham saw the sweet buns and ate everyone.

Ya, it happens.

Thanks for all the great advice, guys.

I recently noticed -- I'd been unknowingly taking dextrose sweetener and spiking my blood sugar. I usually buy a store brand stevia in plastic tubs, but two weeks ago, the tubs were sold out and I bought a box stevia packets of the same brand. But yesterday, I read the label and was horrified to see: while the tubs of stevia used stevia and erythritol, the packets use stevia and dextrose -- which may be why I've been hovering around 190 for two weeks and been feeling cravings still. I threw out all the dextrose and restocked on the erythritol stevia.

I get Kal brand stevia, it has one ingredient, Stevia Extract. It also has no funny aftertaste that some other brands have. My local grocery story doesn't carry it so I have to get it online.

I get it here:
https://www.vitacost.com/kal-sure-stevia-extract-3-5-oz

There are over 1800 scoops per container, so it isn't as expensive as it seems. I find I use 3 scoops in a cup of coffee where before Low Carb I used to use 2 rounded spoons of sugar.

Moderators, if this is against policy, let me know and I'll not post a link anymore. BTW, I have no affiliation with that company other than being a customer.

Bob

I'm new at this, but what helps me is nuked cheese criss made from shredded cheddar cheese and zoodles (zuccini noodles made with a spiralizer and nuked for about 80 seeconds with garlic and parmesan cheese. East, fast and satisfying.

Hi Ireactions. I hope you're still here and hanging around.

IMO, those mental desires *are* somewhat physical. Yes, you're feeding your body well, but I consider it an addiction issue and your brain is still seeking out a high. What works for a lot of us is to just go ahead and eat LC snacks, at least at first. This is like methadone. It keeps you clean. Compliance is the most important factor.

Eventually, my brain figured out that there's no high to be gotten from 90% chocolate, from pork rinds, natural peanut butter, diet soda, and other LC snacky treats*. Those snacks become less appealing as you get used to not getting high.

Something else that's helped me is to have the habit of "closing the kitchen" after dinner. Clean up, get ready for the morning, and that's it. Then, I'll relax doing something that occupies my hands: I like knitting, and playing puzzle games on my iPad. Try to find something like that.

*This is highly subjective! Some folks can't have those in the house because they'll binge. That's why we have to experiment and figure out these things for ourselves.

AFL code; Acknowledge - Forgive - Let Go is one way that I've found useful

I used to be one for pushing those thoughts away burying them. Works for a while. No what is much easier for me to realize a thought as risen that is in conflict with a prescribed non-harmful path, Welcome the thought and take a look at it but don't hang on to it or feed it more thoughts - This is acknowledgement - non-personal or judgmental - I can forgive myself for having an "un-wholesome" thought arise or pop into my mind. I didn't ask for it - it just happens - so let it :)

And then the letting go part is mostly described above by not adding more energy into it to keep it around longer than its natural course - that of all thoughts. They arise without our consent and they dissipate without us giving them permission.

After practicing this way for a while the question of "why does this happen to me?" becomes irrelevant and not even something to pursue its simple the way the mind works it seems. I don't think much about "why" blood pumps thru my arteries and veins - It just does and I'm fine letting that happen without thinking to much about it or imagining I have much control over it.

blah blah blah...

You asked. I tell story :)

I too use Thud's method of not giving my thoughts any energy, letting them arise and then letting them go. I remember that when I first decided to give up high carb foods I would get cravings for things like Ben and Jerry's. When I got such a craving I would tell myself that I am not my craving. That way, as Thud said, I did not suppress the thought, but I did not give in to it either. I just gave it no importance. Come come, go go.

Sometimes it helps to remind yourself that you're not having that (whatever you're craving) right now, but maybe tomorrow/next week/next month, if you still want it. Then distract yourself with either a healthy, low-carb treat or by doing something else entirely.

For me some of these cravings are just routines, like being used to having a dessert or snack while watching TV in the evening. If it's late enough I might just go to bed. Earlier in the evening, I might break up the routine and habit by hopping in the shower. By the time I'm done with that and gone back to watching TV, my body has switched gears (and I've just bought myself a bit of extra time for the next morning). Or I might spend some time doing some chores you need to catch up on--20 minutes worth of filing from that pile of paper and another 10 or 15 running the duster around the shelves. Again, it gets my body to switch gears from the usual routine.

Tell yourself, "I don't eat that anymore".