FAKE IT. . .Till Ya Make It: Cravings!

Good Lawd, it's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra here in Houston!! How did your week unfold? Me, I returned to work after a 2 week Winter Break. So, I spent the whole week readjusting to my pre-winter break schedule of attempting to retire to bed at a decent time and waking up early (BOOOO!).

How about a weigh in update? The scale revealed a loss of 2.2...BAM! Truth be told, I struggled a bit this week with cravings, not urges but cravings. What's the difference between an urge and a craving you ask?

Urges:

• When going to the movies I FEEL the need to eat popcorn and drink a sprite...urge.
  

• On occasion...when driving by McDonald's, sinister forces grab hold of my steering wheel and guide my vehicle to the drive thru to order fries (small) with no salt...urge.

Cravings:

• Overly restricting myself causes me to crave certain foods. For a while I restricted myself from peanut butter for fear of finding myself crouched down in a corner some where digging PB from the jar with my fingers.
  
  
• Certain emotions drive cravings: frustration, happiness, deprivation, etc. Back in the day a successful weigh-in warranted a culinary reward. So, I rewarded myself with food I craved or restricted myself from for the entire week before my weigh in. My favorite past food reward, Luby's Baked Haddock Almondine. I thought baked meant good, but in this case baked meant 51 g of fat and 929 calories. YOWZER! But now, I know better than to reward myself with food.

So how do I deal with cravings?

• DISTRACT IT: I find something else to do like...uhh blogging. A WW member suggested that when a craving hits set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes. If you still want what you crave after the timer sounds, than eat it.
  
  
• FEED IT: Plan for the craving, but just remember to control the portion size. For fellow WW members use some of your 35 weekly points to control cravings. That's what they're there for!!
  
  
• DIG DEEPER: Your craving may be emotional. Dig deep to find the source of the emotion and ask what the craving implies.
  

AND MY #1 STRATEGY for dealing with cravings: FAKE IT TIL I MAKE IT!

Definition:
1. Fake it til ya make it: To fake excitement about a task or project. Usually used in the military.

Used in a sentence:
"Dang! I really want to eat a real BBQ Chicken pizza from Mr. Gatti's instead of this healthy version I cooked myself. Guess I gotta fake it til I make it."

This week my cravings included fried rice and of course my KRYPTONITE...PIZZA! My solution, FAKE IT!

"Chinese Take-In Fried Rice"
1 cup of brown rice
1/2 cup of frozen green peas
1/2 cup of carrots
2 egg whites
chopped scallions
2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
ground red pepper (I like my rice like my men...SPICY!)
recycled turkey broth

Overstuffed Avocado BLT Pizza
1 Joseph's Pita (1pt.)
1 TB Miracle Whip Light (1pt.)
Spring Mix Lettuce (0 pts.)
2 oz Avocado (2 pts.)
1 Tomato (0pts.)
2 Slices Low Sodium Butterball Turkey Bacon (1 pt.)

Directions:
Toast the pita to your satisfaction. Next spread the mayo and then layer the remaining ingredients.

How do you deal with your cravings?