# How it works in my head



## joesfolk (Sep 11, 2013)

I was thinking about the way I choose the foods I do and I realized that being hungry and craving sweet are two completely different things.  Hunger requires food with a modicum of nutrition..usually savory but not always.  Craving sweet has nothing to do with hunger.  While it generally feels as physically necessary as nutrition I know that it is not.  My body should be perfectly happy once I have consumed a little meat and v e g but I still crave something sweet and find it as difficult to ignore the craving as it is to ignore hunger.  I also realize that this is just a matter of habit which can be broken but hunger cannot be broken.  Still the craving for sweet sure feels like a biological necessity.   Does it work like that for you?


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2013)

Pretty much the same for me.  I need savory when I'm hungry.  Sweets are an indulgence.  As a matter fact, I just finished a bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce.  I think I'm all set for tonight.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 11, 2013)

I was just considering a small bowl of ice cream...


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## joesfolk (Sep 11, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> Pretty much the same for me.  I need savory when I'm hungry.  Sweets are an indulgence.  As a matter fact, I just finished a bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce.  I think I'm all set for tonight.



But does that sweet craving feel like a biological necessity?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 11, 2013)

Sometimes it does, I was fine until I started thinking about something sweet.  Not happy and actually antsy until I got the ice cream.


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## taxlady (Sep 11, 2013)

Maybe you need fruit when you are craving sweet.


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2013)

joesfolk said:


> But does that sweet craving feel like a biological necessity?



I'd have to say no.  I never look for a sweet snack.  If I have any hunger pangs between meals, it's always for a savory snack.  

That said, we have several different kinds of chocolates around the house.  Right now it's mini Reeses cups, dark chocolate M&Ms and Andes mints.  My grandson loves chocolate (big surprise) but in truth, they are for me.  

Each night after dinner, around 9:00 - 9:30 PM, I need the dessert that goes with my dinner.  Certainly not because I'm hungry.  I guess it's a habit.  BTW, that dessert is never the candy.  It's cookies and milk or cake or ice cream.  Some dessert or pastry.


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## Andy M. (Sep 11, 2013)

taxlady said:


> Maybe you need fruit when you are craving sweet.



Nope.  Fruit isn't nearly decadent enough.


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## Hoot (Sep 12, 2013)

Well, all I know is that I should never, ever go to the grocery store when I am hungry.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 12, 2013)

joesfolk said:


> But does that sweet craving feel like a biological necessity?



It feels to me like a justification for wanting a gooey something


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## Zhizara (Sep 12, 2013)

Sometime after dinner, I often crave something sweet.  I give in to it for awhile, but when it becomes too much, I remind myself that that was yesterday and I need to stop for awhile.  By ignoring the craving which I found that was just because I had given in to the urge the day before, it's fairly easy to pass on it that next night and by the following night, the craving has passed. 

If I want a sweet and have one, I will definitely have the craving the next night,  usually at the same time.  When I realize that and decide to skip it, it won't bother me again for awhile.


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## taxlady (Sep 12, 2013)

Many years ago, I used to get cravings for Coca Cola. I started substituting O.J. Now, I might get the urge for a Coke once a year, but usually only if I see one. It's easy to resist, 'cause I don't like the taste of Coke with HFC.


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 12, 2013)

For me the craving for sweets is purely mental or emotional. 

I'm sort of like the little kids you see whining in the grocery store, I want the candy, cake, cookies etc.....  If I resist the initial temptation I am soon distracted and the idea passes.  If the desire for the same item keeps recurring for several days or weeks I give in and have a controlled portion.  The latest craving was for a cinnamon streusel  doughnut from the local Wegman's.  I stopped last Sunday and got my *one* doughnut in a little paper bag* and had a mini feast with a glass of ice cold skim milk.  A few years ago I would have bought a dozen and wolfed down a couple on the way home, progress! l

*Do any of you feel guilty when they ask you what's in the bag? I don't think the kid believes me.  Maybe I don't look like a one doughnut person.


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## Addie (Sep 12, 2013)

When I was diagnosed with diabetes I made a deal with the Devil. If I could continue to have sugar in my coffee, I would gladly give up all other sweets. I have never been a dessert person. Maybe about once a year I will see a Mounds bar and buy it. After the first bite, YUK! Too sweet. I make the cakes and all the sweets for the family. I do not lick the beater, or scrape out the bowl, etc. I don't even lick my fingers. Last night I made a large jar of Hershey's syrup for Spike. I have no idea how it tastes. It must have been all right.  He was eating it out of the jar with a spoon. It is supposed to be for his nightly dish of ice cream.


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## Andy M. (Sep 12, 2013)

Aunt Bea said:


> ...The latest craving was for a cinnamon streusel  doughnut from the local Wegman's.  I stopped last Sunday and got my *one* doughnut in a little paper bag* and had a mini feast with a glass of ice cold skim milk....



I never feel guilty. 

If I go to a Dunkin Donuts and order some donuts (never just one) I am comfortable that I am making a smart low calorie choice.  Next time you have a minute or two, compare the calorie count for a donut to any of the 'healthy' muffins or breakfast sandwiches of coffee drinks.


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 12, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> I never feel guilty.
> 
> If I go to a Dunkin Donuts and order some donuts (never just one) I am comfortable that I am making a smart low calorie choice.  Next time you have a minute or two, compare the calorie count for a donut to any of the 'healthy' muffins or breakfast sandwiches of coffee drinks.



I don't feel guilty about my single doughnut, I always feel like the kid at the checkout will think I have two or three in the bag and that I am attempting to cheat the store! 

If I felt guilty about the doughnut I probably would never have gotten fat in the first place!


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## Addie (Sep 12, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> I never feel guilty.
> 
> If I go to a Dunkin Donuts and order some donuts (never just one) I am comfortable that I am making a smart low calorie choice.  Next time you have a minute or two, compare the calorie count for a donut to any of the 'healthy' muffins or breakfast sandwiches of coffee drinks.



So, so true Andy. That is why the "just the muffin top" became so popular.


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## CatPat (Sep 12, 2013)

I am trying to gain weight. But I am not hungry very much so I do not eat very much. DA says to eat more pasta and those carbohydrates. I do not like so much of that, because they make my stomach feel too big for me.

I do not like sweets. I love vegetables, however! Mamma never allowed me to have many sweets when I was growing up. She said small people can get fat too quickly when they are still growing.

I like dipping chunks of raw carrots and celery into Ranch Dressing! 

I have had doughnuts I did like. I think it was called an eclair? It is a tubular pastry with chocolate on the top and a creamy vanilla filling inside of it.

Your friend,
~Cat


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## Addie (Sep 12, 2013)

CatPat said:


> I am trying to gain weight. But I am not hungry very much so I do not eat very much. DA says to eat more pasta and those carbohydrates. I do not like so much of that, because they make my stomach feel too big for me.
> 
> I do not like sweets. I love vegetables, however! Mamma never allowed me to have many sweets when I was growing up. She said small people can get fat too quickly when they are still growing.
> 
> ...



Aha! Another one who likes Ranch Dressing. I love Hidden Valley dressings. Specially Ranch Dressing. And I will fight you Cat for the éclair.


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 13, 2013)

Addie said:


> So, so true Andy. That is why the "just the muffin top" became so popular.



Oddly enough, I prefer the bottoms.   Do you think I could get a job as the designated muffin-bottom-eater?  

I am STILL holding out on my donut for when the new shop opens in town. They are waiting on ONE part for their donut-making equipment (each location makes everything on-premise) and they'll be able to hang the "open" sign.


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## Addie (Sep 13, 2013)

Cooking Goddess said:


> Oddly enough, I prefer the bottoms.   Do you think I could get a job as the designated muffin-bottom-eater?
> 
> I am STILL holding out on my donut for when the new shop opens in town. They are waiting on ONE part for their donut-making equipment (each location makes everything on-premise) and they'll be able to hang the "open" sign.



Some of the bigger DD shops still make their doughnuts on site. The smaller shops like the ones at T stations receive their products from the main facility that makes them and delivers to all the small kiosks. Krispy Kreme is big down south, but a big flop up north. The south just love their sugar like their sweet ice tea and KK doughnuts.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 18, 2013)

joesfolk said:


> But does that sweet craving feel like a biological necessity?


Or do you think it could be habit? I know I was brought up to have dessert after the main course at lunch, and cake at teatime and although I don't often have it nowadays unless I have visitors, I still feel my meal isn't complete without a little something sweet even when I'm full-up with the main course.

Having said that, a group of us were discussing this in connection with children and one of our number said you shouldn't give children anything sweet so they'd never get the habit. One of the others said that we were probably fighting a losing battle with that because breast milk, supposedly the best food for very young babies, is actually very sweet! You pays your money and you takes your chance.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 18, 2013)

taxlady said:


> Many years ago, I used to get cravings for Coca Cola. I started substituting O.J. Now, I might get the urge for a Coke once a year, but usually only if I see one. It's easy to resist, 'cause I don't like the taste of Coke with HFC.


Coca Cola is odd. I can't stand the stuff - it tastes vile BUT if I'm in a very hot country it's the only thing that sorts out the thirst and the heat. And weirdly, it actually tastes good then!!!! It can't be differences in the recipe because I'm told it's a closely guarded secret and a hanging offence to alter it. There must be something in it because it's often recommended for persons with a bout of Delhi Belly/Montezuma's Revenge.


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## taxlady (Sep 18, 2013)

Mad Cook said:


> Coca Cola is odd. I can't stand the stuff - it tastes vile BUT if I'm in a very hot country it's the only thing that sorts out the thirst and the heat. And weirdly, it actually tastes good then!!!! It can't be differences in the recipe because I'm told it's a closely guarded secret and a hanging offence to alter it. There must be something in it because it's often recommended for persons with a bout of Delhi Belly/Montezuma's Revenge.


See, your body is telling you (by making it taste good) that you need it.

AFAIK, Coca Cola is still made to slightly different recipes in some countries. Some countries don't allow some ingredients. When I lived in Europe in the '70s I noticed that the Coke in France made my teeth squeak, but the stuff in Denmark didn't.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 20, 2013)

taxlady said:


> See, your body is telling you (by making it taste good) that you need it.
> 
> AFAIK, Coca Cola is still made to slightly different recipes in some countries. Some countries don't allow some ingredients. When I lived in Europe in the '70s I noticed that the Coke in France made my teeth squeak, but the stuff in Denmark didn't.


I didn't know that recipes for coke are different in different countries. There is always a great fuss about the recipe being secret and only two people knowing it at any one time. Probably an advertising ploy. 

I've mainly drunk it in Spain  (for the cooling, etc) and various north African and middle eastern countries for the cooling and in the, probably inaccurate, thinking that it's safer to drink than "local" cold drinks.


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## Dawgluver (Sep 20, 2013)

It may have something to do with the sweetener used in Coca Cola.  Here it's corn syrup, tastes much better in Mexico, they use cane sugar, I think.

When I used to golf, there was nothing tastier on a hot day.  Now we stick to Coke Zero.


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## taxlady (Sep 20, 2013)

Dawgluver said:


> It may have something to do with the sweetener used in Coca Cola.  Here it's corn syrup, tastes much better in Mexico, they use cane sugar, I think.
> 
> When I used to golf, there was nothing tastier on a hot day.  Now we stick to Coke Zero.


I have been told and read it on the internet too, so it must be true , that during Passover it is possible to get "kosher for Passover" Coke that is made with cane sugar, since corn is a grain.


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