Is it normal to get cravings?

At the mo I have a real bad craving for chocolate and there is none in the house but if I started eating chocolate I would eat loads and loads I would feel guilty after too but I wouldn't do anything about it. I have had this craving for several hours I have been thinking about chocolate all the time. Is this normal?

RIP Dexter...

<font color=red>The best dog ever!!!</font color=red>

You probably need the chocolate - go ahead and have some! Seriously, it has been shown that chocolate has andidepressant effects. How much is loads and loads? Some days I live on chocolate, and do probably get excessive with it, but there was a set of rules for dieters I have seen several times, and one of the rules is that any food eaten for medicinal purposes (comfort food) is medicine, not food, so you don't have to count the calories. Just don't go overboard too often, but don't feel bad about it either.

Let's see, what were some of the other rules? Anything eaten with a diet drink has no calories since diet drink cancels out calories. Broken cookies have no calories, so you don't have to count those broken cookies (all the calories just leak right out). You can substitute calories of foods that are the same color - see, mint candy is the same color as lettuce so just count the calories from the lettuce instead. Chocolate is a universal color, so you can substitute the calorie count for chocolate with anything you like. There are more, but that is what I remember right now.

Do you normally restrict what you eat? If you have been dieting or not letting yourself eat as much as your body wants, it is very normal to lose control and want to eat loads and loads of something - especially something that you have been considering off limits. If you are trying to control your diet, moderation is more likely to be successful and this is only one of the reasons. Also, people who are not eating enough do tend to think about food all the time.

I have to have regular chocolate fixes myself. If there is no chocolate in the house I will freak out in not very much time. I don't know what you have available, but one of my emergency chocolate fixes is a microwave smore. Take half a graham cracker (on a plate - it is messy), and put some chocolate chips and marshmallows on the cracker. Set the microwave for 10 or 15 seconds, but watch it closely and stop it when the marshmallows are about to take over and get out of control. (like 4-7 seconds usually) You can keep corralling the marshmallows and cooking for a few more seconds until it is melty enough for you. Top with the other half of the graham cracker.

I use slimfast candy bar type snacks too, since they are not too many calories and have vitamins and other good stuff in them so there is less guilt that way, but sometimes they just are not good enough and I have to have some real chocolate!

<font color=orange>There is an easy answer to your problem that is neat, plausible, and wrong.

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I'm still laughing about the mint and the lettuce rationalizations.........too funny, Wendy.

Btw, missed talking to you lately.

(((((((((((((((((((Wendy))))))))))))))))))))))))

Hmmm, I had lettuce today, as part of a salad, and it reminded me of what you said, well, I have to say that lettuce and mint have nothing much in common, other than that they're green! It was kinda hard to tell myself, Ok, this is my mint rationing today. Hang on, I just thought, I wonder what mint sauce tastes like on lettuce? I will have to try it sometime. It can't taste too bad...can it?

RIP Dexter...

<font color=red>The best dog ever!!!</font color=red>

Wendy, I have another to add to your list... if you eat ice cream from the carton, over the sink.. there are no calories or fat!

I get a cr aving every once in awhile for different things... right before Aunt Flo arrives I want chocolate,sometimes I crave salt, pickles and cucumbers (No I'm not pregnant) and lately it's been Italian dressing.. My mom used to tell me that when you crave something it means your body is lacking in something else.
My mother-in-law says there are just times in life you have to administer chocolate.... it's funny but true...

My doctor told me if you crave something, eat it when you crave it(in moderation) because if you let the craving go on too long, you'll binge on it... he was right so when I have a craving, I feed it and it goes away.

Peg

I think everybody gets cravings. I understand how difficult it can be to control your portion size, though. I'll tell you a couple of things that work for me are 1) getting a single serving size from the store (and if I walk to the store there is even less guilt, because I've exercised!), and 2) eating the foods I use to have cravings for several times a week. One of the things I found is if I eat a little of my favorite foods everyday, I really don't get many cravings. For example, I use to deprive myself of peanut butter because it was so high in fat and calories. I would be able to go quite awhile without it, but then I would buy two jars and eat them in one sitting. Now I have 1tbsp of peanut butter everyday on a banana. It keeps the craving away and keeps me from feeling deprived. I have also started eating a miniature sugar-free peanut butter cup about 4 times a week. It's small, but having chocolate so often keeps me happy. I don't know if these suggestions will help you, but they really work for me.