Forums: January 2011 Kickstart Forum: Serious Cravings! Help!
Created on: 01/22/11 08:56 AM Views: 1507 Replies: 7
greencat Joined: 01/03/11 Posts: 1	Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 8:56 AM Is anyone else having cravings for meat and sweets? The first two weeks I had no cravings. Now some of the vegan food actually makes me feel sick to the stomach when I think about eating it! This is crazy! I don't WANT to eat meat! greencat
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cjewell Joined: 01/01/11 Location: new england -- ct Posts: 10	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 9:21 AM Sometimes I crave the idea of a burger, but when I think about it in my body, I am disgusted! It's okay to satisfy cravings with some vegan treats. I made the most amazing vegan, low fat chocolate cake from Veganomicon. Try substitutions like a sweet apple or banana. Listen to your body!
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 9:30 AM greencat wrote: Is anyone else having cravings for meat and sweets? The first two weeks I had no cravings. Now some of the vegan food actually makes me feel sick to the stomach when I think about eating it! This is crazy! I don't WANT to eat meat! 1 - make sure you're eating enough calories for your needs. If you're not eating enough, your body will send out SOS signals and it will call out for what it knows to be high calorie foods to refill the coffers. 2 - stop and think. when you get a craving what is it you think about? is it the texture, the flavor, etc? I know that if I have a super low fat day (lots of leafy greens, fruit, beans - all good stuff but without significant fat), I can start wanting more food, any food, and especially things like cheese (higher fat foods). And, especially now in the dry cold winter here if I've been out shovelling, I want something with a bit of fat in it more than anything else. A simple addition of a bit of nut butter or a handful of nuts can help with that. 3 - if there's a particular food that turns you off, don't eat it. You don't have to eat kale...or tofu...or seitan to be vegan. Find the foods that you ENJOY eating. For example, hubby (who refuses to say he's "vegan") loves his burgers and he has said that he'd have no problem grabbing a burger somewhere BUT the Veganomicon black bean patties have the texture and taste that satisfy that aspect (they get nicely crisped on the outside the way properly grilled burgers do) so he doesn't mind not having burgers. 4 - find some good vegan sweets to treat yourself with here and there. Hubby googled "vegan soy-free chocolate pudding" and found an AWESOME recipe that uses plant milk, vegan chocolate chips, cocoa powder, corn starch, sugar, etc. Taste and texture even pass muster with our 12 yr old! Check out dark chocolates - some of them (like the Ghirardelli 72% dark squares) are vegan - and already portioned into little squares so just 1 or 2 can be enough. Look around at whatever local store carries "alternate" foods - Whole Foods, Trader Joes, even some regular grocery stores carry products that are vegan and are also sweet treats. The Veganomicon cookbook has a recipe for a pumpkin streusel cake that is amazingly tasty and moist (in case you're not a chocolate fan). Bottom line, I guess, is to take what you've learned from these last few weeks and run with it - DIY! You don't have to stay confined to the kickstart menus - they're helpful ideas for starting out and exploring new foods (like kale and bok choy and lentils) but the reason there are DIY meal days is to start expanding your horizons and seeing where you want to take the concepts and food stuffs to bring them into your world instead of simply you going to their world. KWIM? --Deb R
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cch22 Joined: 09/08/10 Location: New York State Posts: 999	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 12:06 PM sweets are easy vegan..unless you are trying to lose weight. I did find a chocolate cake my husband loves.. its our new regular... Vegan Low-Fat Chocolate Applesauce Cake 2 cups Flour 1 cup Organic Sugar 1 Tbsp Cornstarch 3 tsp Baking Soda 1/4 tsp Salt 1/3 cup Dark Special Cocoa 2 cups Applesauce 1 tsp Vanilla Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 8x11 cake pan. Note: Because this cake is a bit heavy, layered cake pans are not recommended. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add applesauce and mix well until batter is smooth. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until done. You can always tell that a cake is finished baking by sticking a toothpick in the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, then your cakes is done baking. http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/applesaucecake.htm Vegan Chocolate Fudge Frosting 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate 3 tsp vegan margarine 1/4 cup hot unsweetened soy milk 2 cups powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract In a microwave on low power (3), melt the chocolate & vegan margarine together. Add the vanilla & stir. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the hot soy milk. Slowly stir in the sugar until the frosting is creamy. You may not need the entire 2 cups of sugar. http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/chocfrosting.htm As far as cravings tho.. it is much easier to keep them at bay if you are not hungry. you also might try veganizing your favorite recipes.. whole wheat veggie pizza .. hold the cheese.. spegehetti w/no meat or cheese; use meat crumbles.. black bean burritos... veggies & hummus dip... eat what you like and don't get hungry.. those cravings usually just go away.... watch the meet your meat video again if needed.. (it's short) or if you really go hardcore watch earthlings..
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veggies4me Joined: 01/05/11 Posts: 172	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 12:31 PM It's so weird that I'm not craving sweets - I'm such a junk food junkie. I would get "high" from sugar. I think it's all the good beans, I am so satisfied. My only cravings have been when I got coupons for Burger King and smelling a Chocolate Chip Mint air freshner. They were more external than bodily cravings. My daughter on the other hand can't seem to kick the sweets. She freezes chocolate soy milk for a quick treat. I would make a fresh fruit salad!
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2meowers Joined: 02/26/10 Location: Sequim, WA Posts: 127	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 1:56 PM My worst craving was cheese. I work in a Subway, and that first week was really hard! Seventeen mos. later I still look at the meats/tuna and remember the taste and how I enjoyed them. Then I remember the videos I watched...how that meat/fish used to be alive. I recently saw a commercial for KFC. Showed a man biting into a crispy chicken leg. Never ate KFC, but did enjoy my Costco chickens. I now saw the meat and skin coming off a bone of an animal and was totally grossed out. I just can't imagine ever eating flesh again; there is no craving. I've discovered so many new foods and flavors now and am completely happy and eat in peace. I'm eternally grateful for a dear friend that challenged me to "just try for 30 days"! "But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy." Plutarch. email
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Dobby Joined: 09/04/10 Posts: 113	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 6:21 PM In the other Kickstarts I've attempted (and not made it thru ) I had terrible cravings. This time, I've not had any and I attribute it to not going totally low fat and not using ANY sugar. I've been sweetening tea with agave and I'm using Earth Balance on my Ezekiel toast and muffins as well as having some avocado, nuts or olives in salad or on the side. I also have been loading up with green smoothies in the morning which I also think helps. In the past I have made banana *ice cream* which is pretty good. Freeze a peeled banana. Dont need to cut into slices because they break pretty easily. When frozen, put in vita mix (or other blender or food processor) with a little plant milk, almonds or walnuts, and vanilla and process. It is excellent!! Good luck! I would up your fat intake a bit as others have posted above. Pam
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Oceandog Joined: 01/10/10 Location: California, USA Posts: 642	RE: Serious Cravings! Help! Posted Monday, January 24, 2011 at 1:24 PM I have learned a few things about myself and cravings. I still have them and for things I have not eating in years and years and years. I probably don't even have a true recollection of what they really taste like! I get triggered by fragrance and emotions. Often if I can tap into what I am "feeling" I can figure out the craving. Comfort food is just that. Being vegan is difficult enough but then needing to be gluten free and pretty much cutting out burritos, and good breads, etc.. that was very hard. I have learned to live with it and mostly do fine. I think during cravings is when I tap in to "alternative" foods. The "fake" stuff. The rest of the time I try to eat whole only. Unfortunately most of the alternatives have gluten so they were taken of the list. I used to be able to have a BLT, but can't now as the alternative bacon, most burgers, most sandwich meats, etc... are made from gluten. I also have never found a sub for Havarti cheese, cottage cheese or fish and chips. That said, my body certainly does not need any of those things. It is just my mind! Always offer kindness and a soft word to the beings around you; You do not know their journey. Your words can be the hug they need or the shove that breaks them.
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