food cravings:

Chocolate

crunchy things

creamy sweet things

How do I handle them.  I look for reasons.  Hungry I try to eat a real meal.  veggies, protien, calcium, maybe small starch if necessary.

Crunchy usually is a good thing.  I eat lots of nuts.  Nuts are good for you and are satisfying so you eat less stuff.  I also enjoy crunching carrots and sugar peas

creamy sweet things - left over smoothies made of frozen and fresh fruits with soy milk.

chocolate _ dark dark organic chocolate - one square is enough.

Generally this works.  Yesterday, I had an unusual attack need for chocolate graham wafer crumbs - had about 1/4 cup full and was so stoned, I slept like a junkie for about 2 hours after.   But, it did lead up to some good journaling.  Opened up my subconscious.  I have done the same thing on poppyseeds from time to time. 

I don't know what causes my cravings, but I tend to crave things with strong flavours (like cheese) or nice textures (like croissants). Very occasionally I will crave something sweet (usually chocolate). What I do about the craving depends on the situation. If I am craving something that I don't have on hand already, then I will wait a couple of days. If, at that point I am still craving it, I will go to the store and purchase it. If I have the item onhand and it is fairly healthy, I will have it for a snack but if it is sweet, I will wait awhile and only have a small amount.

I get cravings for FRESH rawfish — unobtainable in Ontario, you have to catch it yourself in clean ocean water. And oysters knocked from a rock with waves running around my ankles. 

Then there's "kina": raw sea egg roe. Haven't had it for years and nothing else quite does it.

Kumara — New Zealand sweet potato. Feijoas! Unobtainable here! Cape gooseberries (called physallis here but they lack the tang I like — they were weeds in my parents' garden! Weeds!).

Most dairy products disgust me but I get cravings for FRESH mozzarella di buffala — my favorite obtainable only from the makers in Molise, Italy. I go there now and again… off next week, so I'll be into grated black truffles, mozarella di buffala, a few nice wines… and other joys. And I use a bit of blue cheese in cooking: I lovethe flavour but can't eat much of it.

Chocolate? ech! Nuts? ooooogh-yuck!

Real Scottish ales? aaaaahh…  YES!!!!

I've got to STOP… this is getting too emotionally complicated <8-)

Mike, I just had a friend post about feijoas.

Jiln, that's a funny story about the wafers!

Somegal, your cravings sound similar to some of mine.

Some of my cravings make sense to me.  Bacon or a burger - I'm probably anemic and I will make sure I'm eating enough meat, and may very well get that burger with bacon on it!

Sometimes when I'm sick I'll crave fruit and will eat whatever it is I'm craving.

Cheese is another one I get when I'm just hungry.

Chocolate seems to be a little more emotional for me.  Same with ice cream, although I also crave it when it's hot, and I wonder if it's also a calcium thing for me.  I'll give in to these, but try to keep them to smaller amounts.

Then there's the unhealthy stuff.  If it's chips, sometimes I give in, other times I'll just eat something that's a little bit better that's salty like popcorn or dill pickles.  If it's chip dip I wait, and if it lasts for a few days I'll cave, but that's a food where I would gain weight if I had it around more often!  Recently I had a weird one for cheesies, those melt in your mouth ones.  I hadn't had them for years!  lol Chemguy seemed disgusted by the thought of it, but he ate some too when I picked up a bag.

it's funny you posted about cravings today.  I had a craving for a chocolate bar at work today i was going to buy one but i passed a bag of green peppers and all of a sudden i wanted the green peppers not the chocolate bar.

Northstar, you better be careful or you might be kicked out of the cravings thread for being a little too healthy :)

Junk Food!

Chips & Dip, Cheezies, Chocolate, Candy, Ice-Cream, Diet Coke, Pizza, McDonalds.

I usually give in LOL!

Actually, only sometimes . . . right now I am trying very hard not to eat any of these items as I have gained a few pounds over the summer (overindulgence on all of the above :(  I mainly rely on willpower and common sense.  Sometimes I will exercise, sometimes I will try and distract myself from the cravings.

Apparently indulging ourselves in small ways helps us avoid binging later. As jiln says, really good dark chocolate, one square. 

The book "French Women Don't Get Fat" talks about these small indulgences. The best quality you can afford, small amounts, savored slowly and with utmost awareness. No mindless face stuffing.

One of my weaknesses? anything with cream cheese.

Mmmm cream cheese! That's definitely a weakness for me too Trishcuit!

Used to have cravings for sweet stuff but now that I'm diabetic, I've been rather surprised and pleased to find that they've left me so that I'm not having to fight them. My glucose is well under control through diet and exercise, even normal at times, so I do allow myself the odd indulgence, though.

OTOH, my cravings for salty, savoury goodies live on. Fortunately, I've found some relatively healthy ways to satisfy those (e.g. wasabi peas).

I do have the odd craving for fast food, esp. A&W rings, but I generally fight those down to a standstill unless I'm on the road in which case that more or less dictates what's for lunch .

Mendalla

Maynards Winegums, especially the black ones!

Hedgehogs the ergonimically sound chocolate, flat side goes against tongue while the round side fits perfectly against the roof of your mouth all the while allowing you to close your mouth so you don't drool too much!

Alcohol, not just any alcohol but the kind that comes in those convenient little chocolate bottles at Christmas that when they melt lets loose either scotch or whiskey and you make that little inward "hwa" sound when it does.

Goodies, those delightful little candy coated licorice things you used to gobble down in the dark of an afternoon matinee.

Hot buttered popcorn that drips down your fingers

My Mother-inlaws curried chicken livers that's so hot you can feel your ears melting off your head!

winegums, hedgehogs,  curries, liquor-filled chocolate,   I wonder if we're related?

"winegums, hedgehogs,  curries, liquor-filled chocolate,   I wonder if we're related?"

Sisters in Christ! 

Lately I've been getting intense cravings for a food I don't tolerate well.  It's a little odd and I wonder if it's due to a deficiency.  When it isn't emotional, hunger or something more general that any sweet/salty food will at least somewhat satisfy it, generally that's why I get the craving.

Chemguy thinks it's weird that I think there's a reasoning to them other than it just being a craving, but he doesn't experience intense cravings.

You're pregnant.

lol I doubt it and if I am I think I'll have ticked off a few doctors.

How many propositions from doctors have you had?

lol Just lectures so far, 2 doctors and any time I pick up a prescription I get the same from a pharmacist.

I get that too.  I have been mostly off dairy for a year or so, but when a cheese craving hits I can rarely do anything about it... except eat cheese!

Organ meats (liver, heart, chicken gibblets) and leafy greens - usually means I need iron

Spice-cake with boiled caramel icing - generally seems to mean I am missing my Grandmother