Cravings ........

Do you ever get that "I just have to have ______________ or I'm going to die" feeling.  Where no sensible thought in the world can convince you otherwise?  That seems to have been my life the past couple of days.  Now I know when these ugly cravings raise their head it can be a total disaster for my eating program.

We don't keep bread in the house because it is a terrible trigger.  Even the healthy kind can be a devil in disguise.  Hubby can make a sandwich out of anything and give me a loaf of fresh bread and butter and it is gone in one sitting.  Yesterday when I got home from work I was craving bread, I wanted a big old deli sandwich filled with all the right things.  Friday night is frozen pizza night in our house, it's the end of the work week and time for winding down before the weekend.  So I made the pizza and we had dinner and afterwards mentioned to hubby about the craving.  He asked me if the pizza had satisfied that craving so I stopped and thought about it for a minute and low and behold the craving was gone.  So I now ask the question, did I really have a craving or was I just hungry. 

This morning I woke up and thought well it's Saturday maybe we should go out for breakfast.  I was again craving ham, eggs, hasbrowns and of course toast.  But before I run this by hubby I wanted to get my shopping out of the road before the stores became crowded.  So I headed off to Wal-Mart to get some little things for the new baby and I knew we needed some fresh fruit.

If you have been reading my posts lately you  have probably noticed a pattern of eating that involves frozen entrees.  A while back I had posted about how being on Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem is a very expensive form of dieting.  Well I have been experimenting with some forzen entrees and have found one particular brand that is really tasty and has a great variety.  I sat down with hubby one evening and we discussed what our biggest problem with food is and discovered for both of us that it is portion control.  If I cook we eat way, way too much, gourging till we are sick.  I even tried cooking just enough for two - good luck with that one, if you have ever tried it you know that there is no such thing, there's always too much of something.  So for the past couple of weeks our lunch and dinner have comprised of fruits, veggies and frozen entrees. 

So I got off topic there for a minute, anyway, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit and see if there were any frozen entrees on sale.  As I was looking I came across Aunte Jemima Scrambles, roasted potatoes, ham, eggs, cheese, peppers and onions.  I checked the calorie content and one package is 260, I bought two different types as a trial run.  Got home and heated one up and guess what, craving was once again gone.

So what really are cravings, in my world I always thought of them as a deep need to have something, now I think it just means I am hungry because I'm hungry.  If I had given in this morning and gone for breakfast I can guarantee I would have been looking at 1000+ calories (cuz we always go for buffet and that means lots of breakfast, lunch and dessert items).  So I managed to get all the things I was craving, minus the toast, and still stay within a reasonable amount of calories.  So from now on when I get what I consider a craving, I'm going to look hard for a substitute and ensure that I am only eating because I am hungry.

Anyway back to my shopping story from this morning, I actually had to make two different stops at grocery stores.  One has nicer produce and the other had our frozen entrees on sale for 5 for $10.00.  Now that works out to $2.00 a meal as compared to $4+ for Jenny Craig and NutriSystem and they definitely taste better and seem to be quite satisfying.  I am still making the occasional meal as we do not want to get tired of the routine or we will fail.  I also had a craving for iced tea and have been watching the ad on TV for Tetley Iced Tea Infusions, a word of caution, they are loaded in sugar.  50 calories in 1/2 sachet so that is 100 calories for a 2 cup serving, not necessarily outragous but really have to watch how many a person has in a day.  So on days when I want iced tea I will give up my latte's.

Breakfast
1 pkg Aunt Jemima Scrambles (260)

Lunch
1 pkg Lean Cusine Glazed Chicken (190)
1 bottle of Iced Tea (100)

Dinner
1 pkg Stouffer's Meat Lasagna (320) - oh my this was the best lasagna
1 cup steamed green beans (100)
1 cup raw veggies (50)
1 cup diet jello (10)