Happy Wednesday, friends! 😀
I kind of have a bit to talk about today, so we’re going to skip the fancy intros and jump right in to What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday.
We’re going to kick off this week’s WIAW with what I’m eating as I type up this post on Tuesday night — an incredibly bizarre evening snack…
What is it?!? A cup of my mom’s homemade split pea soup (I really need to bug her for the recipe), alongside a Dr.Kracker pumpkin seed cheddar crispbread for some much needed crunch. A little lot different than the cereal/yogurt/chocolate/fruit/AB/what.have.you concoctions that I normally have before bed, but I was craving it so I rolled with it… time will tell if it was a good idea 😉
Rewind to breakfast, which looked a whole lot more familiar…
Oats, oats, and oats… with plain Greek yogurt, homemade applesauce, honey, and almond butter thrown on top. I start pretty much every.single.day with a bowl of oats (except for when I’m on vacation, apparently), and I have yet to tire of it or crave something else. I’ll switch up my add-ins every now and then, but the oats are pretty much a given. And if I don’t have them in the morning? I’ll end up craving them for the rest of the day, so I figure it’s best to satisfy that craving early and just get it out of the way.
That’s the thing about cravings… they tend to stick around until satisfied. You can try tricking them by snacking on something that’s similar-but-different (recipe coming soon!)…
But they almost always catch up to you in the end… the end in this case being 10:17 AM yesterday morning 😯
Almond Butter & Pretzel Truffle
Cravings are a tricky thing. They don’t seem to be much of an issue when we’re craving something like eggs or broccoli (it does happen!), but when it comes to things like chocolate and ice cream? That’s when we start running into some problems…
I’ve gotten a lot better at honouring my cravings whenever they happen to pop up, but that’s not to suggest that I have everything perfectly figured out. There are definitely still times where I can’t help but question what I’m craving, especially when what I’m craving happens to be chocolate truffles at 9 AM. There are also times where I can’t figure out what the heck it is that I want (besides “something”), and I end up picking away at 20 different things hoping something will strike my fancy. Thankfully that wasn’t the case when lunch time rolled around, though — I knew exactly what I wanted…
An almond butter and jelly sandwich was on the menu. And on the side? Some cold leftover veggies that I roasted up a couple of days ago (not the entire tray)…
My afternoon snack was pretty much a no-brainer as well…
Various dried fruits dipped in almond butter. That obsession I mentioned? Still going strong. My only complaint is that the level of almond butter in my jar has reached that annoyingly low point where I can no longer dip my dates and figs into it with ease. I suppose there are worse problems to have, though… like not being able to figure out what to make for dinner.
I wasn’t feeling overly hungry, but that craving-something-but-don’t-know-what feeling hit me pretty hard in the evening . I almost went with a bowl of cereal or some other kind of breakfast-type-food, since that’s my typical go-to meal when I find myself in that sort of predicament, but I was kind of feeling something savoury, so I went with a a bowl of whole wheat noodles mixed with hummus and a cup of mushroomy soup instead. Not bad, but I was still craving a little something, and I needed to follow it up with some bunnies before I felt fully satisfied.
And that’s how I curb my cravings — by honouring them. I’ve learned that eating a carrot when I want a cookie never works, and that gulping down a glass of water when I’m hungry will leave me bloated sooner than satisfied. I can’t help but cringe when I come across articles that try to teach women how to “silence” their cravings, because while it might work in the short term, ignoring your cravings and denying yourself the foods that you love will usually only get you into trouble in the long run. Not only do those cravings never really go away, but they keep building up, increasing the likelihood that you’ll go overboard when you finally do let yourself have the foods you’ve been wanting… at least that’s what I’ve found.
My eating disorder removed most sugars and carbs from my diet for so long that those things became all I wanted to eat in recovery. Did I go overboard? Heck yeah I did! I don’t think I’ve ever had that many consecutive sugar comas in my life… But my desire to eat ALL the sweets slowly tapered off when I began to eat them more regularly and realized that they weren’t going anywhere. Not labelling them as “off limits” also helped take away some of their appeal — after all, we always want what we can’t have 😉
And that’s it for me today, friends! I’ll see you guys tomorrow for Thinking Out Loud! 😀
What are your thoughts on cravings? Should they always be honoured? Or do they sometimes need to be mediated?
What’s your favourite dried fruit?
What’s your go-to meal when you don’t know what to make?
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Great post and I agree that cravings should be honared. I think by having other food that you don’t want and say are healthy you are honestly just consuming more calories. I was actually having this discussion with someone the other day. A lot of foods that people deem healthier are higher in calories. If I crave a 300 calorie piece of cake…why snack on “healthier” food that ends up being 500 or 600 calories…then I am still craving the cake. That is just my opinion anyways.
I love that you brought this up, and I couldn’t agree more. I recently read something that said “people don’t gain weight eating what they want — they gain weight eating what they don’t want followed by what they do want.” Obviously there’s way more to the equation than just weight, but I don’t think many people realize that they may not be doing themselves a favour by constantly eating healthier substitutions.
Cravings … In theory I’m all for honouring whichever craving comes your way. But I will admit that there are still times where I find myself thinking “I can’t actually be craving -that-?!” and trying to eat what I feel would be a ‘better’ fit. For me it’s not necessarily always about the most nutritious choice but I still can find myself needing to take control over food. Luckily, over are the days where I’d overstuff myself with fruit and veggies only so I wouldn’t crave the [back then] forbidden foods – which we all know never worked out.
On a very random note your whole day looks incredibly delicious and worthy of imitation 🙂 . Oh and yes, if your mum feels like sharing her soup recipe I wouldn’t complain. I’ve been on a huge soup kick – best portable work lunch to keep warm in my thermos – and looking for new ideas plus I’ve never had split pea soup before. That has to change. Soups and stews also happen to be my go-to meals when I have a bunch of leftovers and no idea what to make.
Happy Wednesday – and I could still need some help with the puzzle …
I love the idea of dipping dried fruit in nut butter. I’ve never tried that and I’m on a huge fig obsession lately. Hope your week is going deliciously well. 😉
Funny, I crave chocolate every morning – after breakfast, Don’t know what that is, but it’s there every morning. So sometimes I just make my breakfast chocolate-y by adding cacao powder and some kind of sweetener – does the trick and if not, then heck, I eat chocolate. My cravings went away just as you said – when I allowed myself to honor them.
And now I crave those noodles! Good thing I’m in Spain in 2 days, pasta needs to happen.
I deal with cravings the same way you do–by eating what I’m craving. Usually I focus on just having a taste if what I want. Depriving myself will just make me binge later.
Cherries are my favorite dried fruit. I love the tartness they add to trail mixes.
I try never to deprive myself of anything . My motto is ” Eat it all, but eat small.”
http://Www.inallofhersplendor.com
I think I definitely struggle with cravings – I’ve realized I think mine come of habit and not actually wanting/needing a nutrient. For example, I’ve been eating kabocha and cottage cheese after dinner every night and so now I don’t know if I’m eating it out of habit or actual hunger/craving.
Honestly? Seeing as it’s so healthy, I probably wouldn’t spend too much time trying to analyze it. I’ll randomly grab a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese or yogurt throughout the day as well, so I can definitely relate to the craving.
I love those little bunnies! At work we have little bags of gold fish and teddy grahams and I always want to eat them up! Sometimes ya just need little snacks like that, I feel like a kid!
I’m all about satisfying my cravings! I will say though, that my sugar cravings can get a LITTLE out of control at times, so sometimes I need to mediate those because otherwise I’ll just not feel well. But even still, I have something sweet at LEAST once a day!
“But my desire to eat ALL the sweets slowly tapered off when I began to eat them more regularly and realized that they weren’t going anywhere. Not labelling them as “off limits” also helped take away some of their appeal “. Do you promise? I am currently struggling with this, going deeper into my ED lately. 🙁 I try to eat one and then end up eating the entire box and then making up for it. UGH.
Did you make your own hummus and mushroom soup? It looks so yummy.
Also, I know you have GI problems. Have you ever tried going gluten free or dairy free to see if that helps? Just a thought.
Favorite dried fruit? Dates, raisins, and apricots.
I promise. The thing is that it takes a while, so you have to be patient, trust the process, and NOT beat yourself up for it. Forgive yourself and treat yourself kindly <3
I think where things can get a bit tricky is when the craving is emotionally based. I do try to untangle bodily cravings from emotional ones, because my emotional cravings are not satisfied by food… no matter how much I might try! I try to honor my body by getting to the core of what it really wants and giving it that… whether it’s chocolate, sweets, veggies, meditating, exercise, etc…
YES!! I always assume my cravings are emotionally based and I should not honor emotional cravings because I still feel “empty” after eating the food, if I do.
I do think it’s important to honor cravings, for sure. Mine were out of control after Christmas, so that’s why I had to cut the sugar. But now I’m back to my own normal, in which I can honor cravings instead of pushing them aside (as long as it’s in my kitchen lol… ain’t nobody here [me] have money for that). I’ve found too that if we ignore cravings they come back with a vengeance. Weirdly I can’t get enough almonds lately. I have to have a handful every day! Great thoughts, lady. Oh and btw, I swear only you can make bread with nut butter and jam on it look so beautiful. I don’t know how you do it.
Whole wheat pasta with hummus??? That sounds amazing!!
Cravings……Oh the sneaky little devils. When I’m craving insane amounts of sweets, I try to substitute it with something healthy but sweet. Like a fruit smoothie, or an extra banana with my almond butter&honey mixture. Me and sweets never end well, once I start I can’t stop. Haha it’s just how I am, I LOVE sweets too much, so I have to substitute for healthier options so 1. I don’t get sick afterward, 2. I don’t get a headache (which happens very easily with me and sugar), or 3. so I’m not craving sugar for days. It throws off my sleep and workouts.
Considering that I just started munching on a piece of chocolate at 9 am…pretty sure I honour my cravings 😉 Not doing so definitely ends badly – I remember on Christmas back in the ED I decided to ‘let’ myself have dessert…which led to me eating a good 4-5 slices of cake. Which of course, terrified me and I vowed never to eat them again…which clearly led to the problem in the first place. While I understand that it’s probably not a good idea to eat ice cream at every meal, I think that letting yourself eat what you crave curbs the desire for the ‘less-healthy’ foods in the long run. When I honour my cravings, I’m fine with a piece or two of chocolate or a small bowl of ice cream. If I resist them, when I finally let myself eat them I overdo it. So much easier to just go with it.
Dried fruit: hmmm. probably mango!
I’m seriously going to start blaming the Canadian water supply, because that 9 AM chocolate craving? Been dealing with it for WEEKS.
Only thing worse than that awkward point where you can no longer dip in the jar is when the jar is empty and you have none left (which never happens to me but still)….I always always honor my cravings. Always. Even when it was the random tomato or red pepper craving a few weeks ago. And if I want chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal or fudge cake, I go for it. Respect the craving. Just respect it….Favorite dried fruit? I only like raisins.
I definitely am in the honor your cravings boat. Especially now that I’m pregnant! I wanted a chocolate doughnut..so I got one…enjoyed every second of it…and now I don’t want one anymore! Problem solved. Haha. I also love love love dried mango and dried strawberries. I have a fun trail mix with pumpkin seeds, cashews, dried strawberries, and dark chocolate chips that I LOVE and keep on hand at all times!
I thought I was odd for combining pasta and hummus. Guess I’m not alone! Great minds think alike.
I think it is generally best to honor your cravings. It frustrates me to read the “advice” peddled by health “experts.” “Drink a large glass of water. Wait twenty minutes. Go for a walk around the block.” It is no wonder so many of us cannot eat intuitively. How are we supposed to know when we have had enough food when we have spent so much time trying to trick our bodies and hunger levels? Currently, I have to eat on a schedule because I rarely feel hunger anymore. However, as I have been consistently eating five times a day my hunger cues are starting to make an appearance. Generally, I do not feel physically hungry but I can tell I need to eat because I start to crave or “get a taste” for something. It tends to be the same sorts of foods at the same times of day. (Like you, if I don’t have my normal breakfast I will want it the rest of the day.) And, for the record, there are times when I crave broccoli too.
Favourite dried fruit? Probably prunes. (Did you hear the creak of my rocking chair and my knitting needles knocking together?)
My go to meal is a wrap with avocado, hummus, and veggies galore. Never tire of this one!
I’m the exact same way with cravings! If I try to shut them up they only come back stronger. Best to just address them as they come!
Those roasted veggies look awesome, by the way. I probably would’ve eaten that whole plate!
Oh believe me… it took a serious exercise of willpower not to. The only thing that stops me is knowing that a very big veggie belly will result afterwards 😆
I have to honor my cravings too – instead of trying to curb them with something else. In my case – it just ends up making the craving so much stronger and when its that strong, moderation is hard to exercise.
My go to meal has become your pumpkin/hummus pizzas – if we dont have leftovers and its late when we get home, we toss some pitas or naans with hummus/pumpkin, veggies and beans and voila dinner! 🙂
I have’nt ahd oats in awhile and your oat bowl is igniting some serious cravings of my own just about now!
Happy Wednesday Amanda
So I kinda cringed when I saw your title and thought “oh don’t tell me AMANDA is doing one of THOSE posts”! As I read on I heaved a huge sigh of relief :). You speak words of truth girl. There has been countless times where I’ve gone through the whole – eat everything else..not happy..eat what I wanted from the word go. One time that I will never forget is where I shoved down two cream cheese toast to try and stop myself from wanting milk-tart! Yeaaah, didn’t work. I still slip up now..but at least I know. Oh I need to try dried fruit in nut butter! Peaches, apricots, mango,prunes..love them.
Ha. Carrot instead of a cookie.. who does that and it works?! I’ll take a cookie please 🙂 I need to start adding new things into my oatmeal. I’m not tired of it at all, but I think I should include some plain Greek yogurt. Seems like everyone enjoys that. I was thinking the other day how in the winter all I want for breakfast is oatmeal, but in the summer, it’s smoothies. I have them all the time!
I definitely say honor the cravings, within reason. if you wanted a cookie, had a cookie, and now want more.. it’s probably not a craving. I’ve been craving a McFlurry from McDonalds for months now… but yet to have it (mostly because I just never go to Mcdonalds.. ha). I am not one to pass on cravings or feelings of hunger. In fact, last night I finished dinner (bagel sandwich with an entire sauteed zucchini) and was still hungry immediately. I waited a few minutes to think of what I wanted, and when I was still hungry, I ate. I didn’t let the fact I just finished dinner stop me!
I used to LOVE McFlurry’s from McD’s before they slapped an allergy warning on them. I wonder if I can make my own. Hmm… And definitely try adding yogurt to oats! Gives them such a nice taste and texture.
Ooooooh I saw those Dr.Kracker pumpkin seed cheddar crispbread recently and I think I really must give them a try.
Plus dried fruit dunked in almond butter – Soooooo good without any feelings of guilt attached & I often turn to something like that when I have cravings.
If I need chocolate I’ll turn to raw chocolate or a low sugar sub, if I need PB I’ll eat PB..I think everything in moderation.
Favorite dried fruit is sultana’s but I have to eat them in moderation or I end up eating them 5 times a day!
Off to check out the recipe for your truffle now 🙂
Noodles + hummus! What a fabulous combo.
I don’t blame you for your bedtime snack of soup.. it’s tricking FREEZING outside!!
I think listening to cravings is so important, otherwise your body will feel deprived. Usually if I’m craving something I try to have water first to see if that helps but if I’m still craving it 20 mins later then I definitely just have it with no shame! Now if that craving is Chipotle then I skip the water thing and get my butt to a Chipotle ASAP. …..which clearly I’d like to do now.
I think it’s a good idea to honor your cravings, and definitely something I like to do when they pop up. Last week, I had this major craving for Thai for and I totally went with it. It was SO good too!
I love dried fruit! I always have craisins in the house, but I also like dates, mango, banana, pineapple and apricots. I love the idea of dipping some in almond butter. Definitely have got to give that a try!
this may sound odd, and i blame it on this time of year with all the cold and such, but i have had this weird craving for oatmeal (gf of course!). now i have never had oatmeal in my life. even before i was diagnosed. i just for some reason want to give overnight oats a try. who am i and where did alex go. i think i will be experimenting with recipes this weekend.
OMG. This I’ll NEED to see and talk to you about in great detail 😉
Cravings totally need to be mediated, but that doesn’t mean all of them should be ignored. I give into some, but I try not to give into alllll of them. It seems the more sugar I eat, the more I want, which is clearly a problem.
PS – Now I want an almond butter n’ jelly sammich!!!
My favorite go to meal is usually some type of breakfast good– protein pancakes or eggs! I love dried pineapple!
I just had a brainwave thanks to your AB jar dilemma! What if they could design a jar with a bottom that you can push up? Like a push-pop? Does this make sense? Should I patent it right away!?
That’s genius! hahaha
That IS actually genius. Maybe it would help prevent that annoying dried up nut butter at the bottom of the jar too.
I do my best to ‘honor’ my cravings too now – without any guilt, which was a major problem for me in the past! I’m sure we both have the same opinion of cravings, similar to IIN’s philosophy 🙂 I’ve also learned about myself that when I really crave sweets/sugar/dessert it does typically mean that I need more protein in my diet, so that’s good to know, too!
So important to honor one’s cravings. That is why I don’t think a restrictive diet will ever work out in the long run and I absolutely refuse to restrict myself from anything that doesn’t damage my body – I should probably start restricting my coffee consumption though as soon as this stupid thesis is written. > 3 cups a day is most likely not the best way to go. Btw – I am quite curious about that similar-but-different snack you had. It looks intriguing. And so does your moms split pea soup – I love when my mom cooks up a pot of this weird-looking deliciousness!
I definitely think that’s the way to go with cravings – satisfy them! This past week or so I’ve been having another flare-up with my acid reflux, and have eliminated chocolate from my diet to try and help. I haven’t had chocolate in 5 days and let me tell you, these cravings are serious! But I’ve found in the past (and now, with this new predicament) that if I don’t satisfy them, I just keep looking and eating things I didn’t really want in the first place.
Favorite dried fruit? That’s a toss-up between apricots and cherries. Yummm.
Usually I’m the same as you…my go-to meal is almost always cereal or a Greek yogurt bowl!
Have a great day!
No chocolate? Gah! That’s definitely a tough one. Have you ever tried carob? It’s not -quite- the same, but it can help soothe those chocolate cravings.
I’ve heard of it before, but never used it. That’s definitely something to try. Thanks for the suggestion!
I would LOVE the split pea soup recipe. Have a great day!
Honor those cravings baby! If you wake up in the middle of night wanting a scoop of almond butter, get a damn scoop. If you wake up at 4am cravin chocolate, have a damn piece…. yes bothhave happened me to this week.
I really need to remember this whole applesauce/greek yogurt combo. I swear, thats prob the main meal of yours that I have YET to try and have wanted too for yearsss!!!! GRR why do I keep forgetting 🙁 🙁 🙁
1000000% Agree about the cravings! I have a huge sweet tooth, and most people think I do not allow myself a single sweet as an elite athlete, but I am still human! I tried cutting sugary foods out for my peak races in the past, but I ended up putting on weight, and was completely miserable/snappy/mood swingy because I couldnt fill that “void” you talked about. I think it is so important to enjoy what you crave…..just try to eat healthy most of the time.
Your foods all look wonderful! You are doing a great job with it all, keep it up 🙂
Well… when I was in my worst ED days, I cut off bananas from my diet… and slowly came back to them afterwards.
Then some months ago I decided to try a ketogenic diet – God knows why, I still dont know how I managed to have enough energy for my workouts and tennis practices with almost no carbs at all…
And I thought about bananas evety single day but I couldn’t eat them!
So one night, after dinner, I just started crying and I dindt know exactly why… and I thought “thats enough!”, went back to the kitchen and ate two big bananas with cinnamon and some PB… that solved the problem and I’m NEVER going back to restricting diets and that kind of sh**!!! Not worth it!
And I told this little story only to tell that ever since my cravings ALWAYS involve bananas!! I think my body is still afraid I will let it without my beloved nanners again! hahahah no, I won’t, ever again!
Ohh, and I told you about the snow ice cream, remember? Turns out it does exist! Take a look!! http://family.go.com/food/recipe-852461-snow-cream-t/
Pleeeease, try it and tell us if it’s good???
So bad we never have snow here in São Paulo-Brasil…
Big kiss and happy wednesday!!
Bananas were a big fear of mine as well, and now I usually eat around 2 or 3 a day. And that snow ice cream is seriously hilarious… It’s been snowing here for the past day or so, and I’m more than a little tempted to give it a shot 😆
Whole wheat noodles mixed with hummus? That sounds kind of delicious! Looked like mac and cheese at first. I’m definitely intrigued!
I was going to go with some kind of cheesy sauce at first, but it felt like too much effort at the time 😆 Definitely give the hummus a try! It’s wonderfully creamy and flavourful 🙂
Dried fruit dipped in almond butter sounds fantastic! I have a tough time with cravings – for me, I need to pinpoint if I’m actually craving something or if my mind is tricking me into think I am (hello, sugar!). Detoxing from sugar a bit is helping me with that a bit!
I think they need to be honored as well, and I always hate it when I get that feeling that I want “something” but have no idea what. I go from the pantry to the refrigerator to the freezer hoping something will jump out at me!
I love dried mango!
I love your mentality. I have the same…To curb my cravings, I eat what I crave…simple.