Overcoming the Munchies -- CR Blues

[Guest guest]

Hello Peg and CR ALL:

There are CR tricks ... but what works if you have insatiable

taste cravings? Even on a bursting full stomach, you can still

eat sin-foods if they taste good enough. And I can give you

a long, long list of items that taste good enough to me!!!!

Even if not hungry, you can still be craving extra goodies that

just plain satisfy, and that taste terrific. And there is always

room for more if it tastes good enough.

So, try to keep on hand some very low calorie emergency items

that have very strong happiness factors (conditioned since

childhood often), that satisfy those intense taste cravings

without breaking the calorie bank.

I can give you some of my emergency happiness items that save my

CR day, especially if I am exhausted, or when I am weak due

to emotional disaster, or a day where I feel victimized by life!

But first, I would like to see what other people use when they get

the CR blues (munchies), esp due to fatigue or some other happenstance

of life's misfortunes. Is the analysis correct, or am I sort of

unique (and weak) in my failings?

-- Warren

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On 12 Oct 2003, Peg wrote:

Thank you, Francesca. Warren suggested I, a relatively new member,

throw out my problem for discussion. I told him I am a super CRONie

until nightfall, that nightfall is my downfall, where resistance to

unneeded snacks (although always wholesome) wanes. He thought I

might get some suggestions. I am going to start with his weak grape

drink instead of cereal. Peg

[Guest guest]

Warren,

I'm actually not certain emergency foods are a good idea. For many of

us they keep cravings and triggers alive. My suggestions would be to

fill up on healthy and filling things (vegetables primarily but

fattier foods seem to do the trick--although I know most people

consider them off limits here).

-

>

> Thank you, Francesca. Warren suggested I, a relatively new member,

> throw out my problem for discussion. I told him I am a super CRONie

> until nightfall, that nightfall is my downfall, where resistance to

> unneeded snacks (although always wholesome) wanes. He thought I

> might get some suggestions. I am going to start with his weak grape

> drink instead of cereal. Peg

[Guest guest]

*****Perhaps because my run-in with cancer was the primary

provocation for my adopting a CRON diet/lifestyle I've not

had " issues " like you and Peg discuss.

There has - apparently - been a fully-conditioned acceptance that

this is the RIGHT way to eat (perhaps the CR part may be debated,

but the ON part, similar to the Okinawa diet, I do not think is in

dispute).

I continue to lose weight, slowly, eating primarily vegetables and

whole grains and some fruit. I eat until I begin to feel

statisfied. And then I stop. (This is an eating " technique " that

is mentioned in The Okinawa Program.) I put away what remains

(there's always something left over), and eat it when hunger/desire

returns. I never go hungry, and eating in this manner doesn't

produce cravings.

What about " forbidden " foods? Well...I have none. Simple! There

are foods that I will eat very, very rarely (e.g., a donut, ice

cream, cake, " regular " [white] pasta), but I can't think of a single

specific food that I would label persona non gratis for the rest of

my life. Once a week I have regular pizza-parlor pizza (topped with

fresh garlic, onions and sausage). I consider that a " cheat " food.

I also have a single serving of bittersweet dark chocolate 4-5 times

per week. These " deviations " from the " basic " CRON diet satisfy me

and seem to forstall any cravings.

I suspect that each of us is, as Sheehan, the late

cardiologist-runner-philosopher, " an experiment of one. " Although

we are basically similar, we have individual psyches, personal

conditionings, and different physiologies (e.g., different

metabolisms). What works for one may (or may not) work for another.

For me, there was a decision made to stick with the basic type of

foods stressed by Walford in BT120YD. Given the minor variations

I've detailed above, I've not had difficulty remaining " on course. "

I think the reprogramming that happen to me was successful because

the *logic* behind it came across as very sound. And, in addition,

the utter distrust in the traditional Western diet was very strong.

> There are CR tricks ... but what works if you have insatiable

> taste cravings? Even on a bursting full stomach, you can still

> eat sin-foods if they taste good enough.

*****Yes, I know this well. The once-a-week-pizza that I have...it

is a " small " pie and my wife and I split it (3 small slices each).

Almost invariably I stop after two slices. I usually WANT to eat

the third slice (the darn things taste sooooo good), and yet, after

the two earlier slices, I am definitely NOT hungry. It is just that

the food is so tasty and appealing. But this is where I " hear " (in

my mind) Walford's dictum about " rational self-restraint. " And, of

occasion, I *do* eat that third slice and, almost always,

afterwards, I feel uncomfortably full.

> So, try to keep on hand some very low calorie emergency items

> that have very strong happiness factors (conditioned since

> childhood often), that satisfy those intense taste cravings

> without breaking the calorie bank.

*****My experience has been that if I want some " sinful " (in your

words) food, then " low calorie emergency items " won't fit the bill.

If I am genuinely CRAVING some ice cream then non-fat frozen yogurt

usually won't satisfy me (to my tastebuds it tastes flat when

compared to the full-fat version).

However, none of these cravings are truly needs, and often I find

that I am able to have something else which is far more healthful

and lower in calories (as you suggest). How am I able to do that?

For one thing, I don't keep any " bad " foods in the house (other than

the bittersweet dark chocolate). I have to go out to get ice cream,

cake, etc. Secondly, when the desire for those foods does arise I

find myself asking the question " Is this worth getting fat over? "

Hahaha!!! It often does the trick! :-))

> I can give you some of my emergency happiness items that save my

> CR day, especially if I am exhausted, or when I am weak due

> to emotional disaster, or a day where I feel victimized by life!

>

> But first, I would like to see what other people use when they get

> the CR blues (munchies), esp due to fatigue or some other

> happenstance of life's misfortunes. Is the analysis correct, or

> am I sort of unique (and weak) in my failings?

*****It is perhaps worth keeping in mind that " falling off the

wagon " on occasion is not a big deal anyway. It is the cumulative

effect of weeks (and years) on a healthful diet that makes the

difference. Not the fact that on such-and-such a day

one " succumbed " to a LARGE slice of chocolate cake or a decadent,

creamy ice cream sunday.

(That is one of my complaints about the Nutrition Action Newsletter,

put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The tone

they adopt is that certain high-calorie, high-fat foods should be

consider " forbidden " and " off limits " [as opposed to being reserved

for VERY special - and rare - occasions]. They come across, to this

reader, as puritanical, with no sense of moderation.)

~ andy