Cravings and An Interesting Sporting Injury
This has been me lately:
Not that I’ve been scoffing cookies, but boy, I’ve felt like it … and chocolate and cake and salty snacks. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. I usually have a good appetite, but I don’t normally have cravings for particular things and I’ve never had cravings for salty stuff before. I know they’re cravings because they come on quickly and often soon after I’ve eaten, so I know I can’t be truly hungry. Plus, if I sit it out, the intense feeling of wanting to eat something subsides and I can then comfortably go at least another hour without eating.
I have some theories about why I might be getting cravings (and no, I’m not pregnant!). My number one theory is that I’m bored at work. My current role is pretty brain-numbing and I’m not intellectually stimulated, so my mind is occupied by food. Today I went to Newcastle for the day and was busy in meetings and I didn’t get any cravings, instead I felt naturally hungry every 3-4 hours which is more normal for me. Luckily I’m moving roles in a couple of weeks and this one will hopefully be busier and more interesting.
The other factor may be that I have been having more sweet stuff at the weekends (weddings and street parties naturally involves cake) and maybe my cravings are habitual.
Does anyone else experience cravings? Have you got any tips for overcoming them?
Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of your own right elbow (if you’re right handed)? Very hard! But I did it so that I could show you my latest sporting injury:
This ones a bit embarrassing, but very painful – it’s actually a carpet burn. I also have a less impressive one on my left arm. I sustained them attempting the superman plank, something like this:
Only I was a lot less composed and there was substantial friction. Anyway, the lesson for you all is always use a mat when trying to do the plank.
Your most embarrassing sporting injury?
Every Day's a Picnic 
Haha, hope your ok with your carpet burn! I can totally see how easy that would be to happen, I sometimes pinch my skin on my arms when doing the plank. I think my most embarrassing injury has to be the reoccurring sore tail bone (i.e top of my bum!) I get because the gym mats are so thin so it presses against the bone when I do sit ups, very frustrating! Your cravings could be boredom related if they subsided today, sometimes if you eat a lot of salty things you then crave sugary stuff and so on – I usually get cravings like that depending on my cycle. Hope you enjoy your new job role (and hope you enjoyed your trip to my home town! Well kind of home town – I live in Durham now!)
I find the more I cave in to cravings the more I crave and it can ALWAYS be traced back to a weak moment when I said yes to something that contained the fat/sugar/salt combo. I have been reading ingredients lists recently and am horrified at which products contain this fat/sugar/salt (ham for instance, pre-packed BBQ chicken chunks…..) and salt (a kids chocolate if I recall!!!!). Kind of the reason I am trying to cut out processed foods because after a supposedly calorie controlled/balanced ham & salad sandwich I’d find myself raiding the kids treat bin until I felt ill.
Ham=fat/sugar/salt
Salad=healthy
Bread & butter = fat/sugar/salt
… I was losing no matter what (except for weight that is).
I don’t think I have had an embarrassing sports injury yet- touch wood! Sorry about the carpet burn. I know how sore they can be.
Ouchy.
Mine was when I fell over the pavement when running- I cut up my wrists (because I held on to my water bottle when I fell) and had to go to the hospital the next day to have them cleaned and dressed. I still have the scar. And a non sporting injury- shower gel in my eye. A whole squeezy pack exploded and I could not see. Next day I went to the hospital as it had not come out of my eye and I still could not see, and it turned out I had chemical burns on my eyeball from it. Gross. I had to wear an eye patch. So those are two embarrassing injuries that everyone at work teases me about.
With the cravings, I get like that and it tends to me if I have something sweet at work (eg cakes for someones birthday) it gets me on the cycle of craving sugar. then a crash etc, and I eat worse at home too.
I’ve had carpet burn from doing the plank too! I blame Davina McCall and her DVDs for that one. Now when there are any ab workouts I use my yoga mat so it saves my poor elbows and back.
Embarrassing injuries…well, I think the fact that I walk around most of the time with bright blue or pink taping on my legs is pretty embarrassing! People seem to think it’s funny anyway…
xxx
Sometimes I get really weird, random cravings. Yesterday I was craving cornbread like mad, so I made a batch to satisfy it 🙂
I had all sorts of scars on my arms and legs from falling when running. So embarrassing!
Oh dear, people don’t understand how much those things buuuurn!
I have cravings every now and again and I think the key to overcoming them is identifying them first. If I want a cake, I’ll think “Am I really hungry? Would an apple do instead – it’s just as sweet?” If I’m hungry the apple will sound just as good; if not I’ll feel suddenly disinterested in food, and then I know it’s a craving!
I try to satisfy my cravings using healthier alternatives – if I want a milkshake I’ll get a fro-yo one from Shakeaway; if I want cake I’ll bake up low fat cakes. Usually by the time they are cooked the craving is gone 😉
Hehe, I find plank variations really tough. Good going if you managed that, you should see that injury as a war wound 🙂
I think you’re probably spot of with the boredom being at the root of the cravings. That and perhaps the sweet stuff at the weekends acting as a trigger? I think if you would normally eat something, and it’s just a question of whether to have a healthy snack or give in to the craving, then I think Becki’s suggestion of going for a healthy alternative is a good one. I think if it’s just after you’ve eaten though and you’re not hungry, just fancying something sweet as a pudding or a treat or whatever, then it might be better to try and ride it out? Otherwise you could still be reinforcing the habit of eating to alleviate boredom — albeit eating an apple rather than a biscuit. I don’t know if that makes sense? For me, if it’s something like boredom or work frustration etc, then I find a quick walk — even just to the loo — can quite often help. Or change tasks (if you have that option?).
Cravings are definitely my bugbear. I do find the more often I eat sugar, the more I crave it, so I try and cut down as much as possible, but it’s hard without being too strict! Hope you find something that works for you!