On Sunday I posted the Tale of the Cheese Popcorn as my first craving story I want to share. In short, that started with a craving and an ill-advised grocery store trip that ended up with cheese popcorn in my cart. It was not a planned indulgence of a craving but I still managed to get control over it. Those are one type of craving – you see something and suddenly you’ve bought it and brought it home. Then you have to figure out what to do with it. Or maybe it is saying yes to the “Do you want a bakery item for 99 cents?” question at Panera. In a moment of weakness you are confronted with a craving and then need to decide how to do damage control.
There is another type of craving though. This is the kind that lingers but you are strong enough to avoid until you can really satisfy it properly. Instead of having a moment of weakness you go into a situation planning to indulge in your craving from the beginning. And so I bring you The Tale of the French Fries
The Tale of the French Fries.
Here is the thing about French Fries. I love them, but 99% of the time I am disappointed by them. When you get the perfect batch of fries there is almost nothing better, but that perfect fry is allusive. It doesn’t matter if it is McDonald’s or some hoity-toity restaurant, I will judge you by how well you can make fries. The perfect McDonald’s fry – hot, crispy and salty is great, but most of the time they just fail to live up to expectations. So when I started craving fries I knew that I was going to have to do some work to meet the craving in such a way that didn’t make it worse.
You see, sometimes if I give into a craving and it doesn’t satisfy me I keep searching for the solution that will satisfy me. So when I am craving fries I don’t want to give in to the craving 4-5 times in order to find the particular fry that satisfies. Which is one of the reasons that this particular french fry craving I had for nearly a month before I chose to eat some french fries.
Last week I ended up having an impromptu lunch with Erica at a restaurant called Yum! – They have excellent food and I happen to know they have amazing fries. The kind served in a newspaper cone with aioli dipping sauces. I also knew that eating a whole order of these fries would completely trash my day. So there was only one option – split the fries with my friend.
I think that sharing food can be the best way to deal with cravings ever. First of all you won’t eat the whole thing that way. Portions are way out of control when eating out, whether it is fries, desserts or appetizers. Sharing allows you the taste of things that you are craving without the temptation to eat them all. Secondly, you are not eating alone! I don’t know about you but eating alone can turn into a binge very easily, especially when it is something that you are choosing to indulge in. If I was alone at Yum! I wouldn’t have ordered fries because I knew I would eat them all.
Instead, we split the fries and I relished each one. I used the dipping sauces because that was part of the experience too. And we chatted and had a great lunch together. It is always good to have someone to chat and share with and since Erica is working on weight loss as well (100+ lbs lost – GO ERICA) then I know that we were both indulging responsibly.
Best of all is that I haven’t craved fries, or even deep fried food since. It took care of my craving and I could move on. So I tracked my fries, and my grilled mahi fish tacos and went back to work satisfied. That is the biggest thing to cravings – how can you eat it successfully (not going over calories or points) and in such a way that satisfies you. If I had given in and had drive thru fries earlier I would NOT have satisfied my craving. Instead it took a place that really had great fries to satisfy me.
Consider a craving you have right now? What would it take to indulge responsibly and to satisfy you completely? If you can do those things then why not indulge. We need to learn to not let food control us, but that also means that we need to learn to listen to our bodies and make good choices about foods that we love. I don’t think it is bad to love french fries, but it would be bad to eat them everyday. So I am trying to learn how to indulge cravings well. As always it is a work in progress, just as I am a work in progress.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
As I was reading your description of the perfect french fry I thought “I would go to Yum! They never fail” and then I read that’s where you went! mmmmmm sooo good! I agree sharing is the way to go with their french fries.
I totally understand. I went through a phase of trying to ignore the cravings, and pick something healthy instead. But what happened is that i’d eat a banana, then nuts, then more fruit …. until eventually i’d give in the the craving. if i’d just found the right portion of the craving food and ate it properly and enjoyed it, I wouldn’t have overeaten on all the other foods!!
Shelly X
Liz you are a much stronger woman than I am! I can hold my own against regular fries when I want to, but sweet potato fries are my weakness.
I love when I can let go of a craving and it doesn’t own me anymore. It’s a work in progress and I rejoice in those moments.
Again, this is a great post and so very true!
Thanks
I think when you’ve begun to understand this mindset, you have made a huge change in your life! You’ve said it – weight loss shouldn’t be about depriving yourself of something, but learning how to actually enjoy it, in the right portion and without guilt.
I personally don’t order fries anymore because if they are on my plate, I eat them – all. And I realize, I don’t particularly miss them. Now my husband *loves* fries (and has a best fry list, I might add!), so he orders them a lot when we are out. It’s a bonus for me, because I can have a few and be completely satisfied! Plus, I know there are his and that he wouldn’t like me eating all of his fries. :-0)
I agree whole-heartedly about splitting when dining out. It’s excellent portion control!
Cheers to this NSV once again!
I agree, and my weakness is post-lunch cake, especially coffee cake, or in its absence any kind of iced cake! Nowadays I tend to share it or go without, so I get a little of what I fancy and haven’t blown the whole day
This is probably the only thing that I would change about the last 6 months on Weight Watchers if I knew my days were numbered-I think I would probably have eaten more cake. Not constant cake, not daily cake, but the times I went without because there was no one to share I would have just had it and enjoyed it!
Last week I had a deep craving for fried chicken. It made me remember a time a while ago when I wanted to give in to a fried chicken craving but my lovely husband talked me out of it. I went home and had just as many calories in toasted cheese on white bread, resented my husband for about three days, and eventually had the fried chicken anyway because I was still craving it. So I needed to find a different way of dealing with it.
There is a really nice fried chicken place near us. But where I actually was when I had the craving last week was at the mall, with a food court. I couldn’t be bothered driving somewhere else to get my lunch. So I got KFC. It was so greasy and disgusting. Really horrible. I ate a piece and a half and threw away the rest (another piece and a half) and felt like I was dipped in lard.
And yet. The craving was gone. I had been a bit down in spirits for a while, but half an hour after this grease-fest I felt really happy. Not guilty and miserable, but contented! Maybe you just need to give in sometimes for your mental health.
But I should have taken a bit of extra effort and bought the good stuff.
I am very impressed with how well you articulated this issue!
if you want to lose fats ,then try to avoid french fries or other oily food like fry chicken and fish which contains more calories so if you want to burn calories ,eat fresh fruits and vegetables or avoid oily food.