Oats never appealed to me, except in cookies and granola, and appeal to me even less now. Bread was always more of a food holder to me than a tasty food in and of itself (except for the rare instances where I ate just-made homemade bread), though its convenience meant I ate a lot of it. I was always in search of a better tasting bread. I'd find one that seemed rather good, but then in a matter of months or so it would stop tasting good to me and just become a food holder again. It was quite easy for me to give up oats and bread. Never liked sweet potatoes.
Cereal and cheese hold no appeal for me anymore, though I used to like extra sharp cheddar cheese quite a bit, but that was increasingly becoming less tasty to me too, interestingly. I would have to eat sharper and sharper cheese to get pleasure from it, and then even the sharpest cheese no longer satisfied me, though for some reason I couldn't stop eating it. I later tested as extremely intolerant of, and allergic to, whey, casein and lactose, so perhaps I was addicted. Ice cream still appeals to me, but my memory of it grows vaguer by the day. Plus, the last time I tried to eat ice cream I got violently ill, which is quite a disincentive.
The memory of the taste of jam still appeals to me, but none of the things it goes on appeal to me except homemade flaxseed meal pancakes that I no longer eat, and eating it alone doesn't appeal to me, so overall I don't crave that either, despite the fruity sweetness.
So if you avoid these foods for as long as I have (about 2 - 5 years, depending on the food), any cravings you might have for any of these foods may go away. I'd say my cravings became pretty minimal after just 2-3 months. At this point I even forget they exist until someone reminds me.
Admittedly, I do miss berries and nondairy chocolate, which were some of the last treats I gave up, so they are still fresh in my memory, but I rarely think about the foods I have given up until others bring them up. Maybe that's why I've managed to stick pretty well to what I thought was healthy foods, with the main problem being that I didn't realize that I should be avoiding even more foods than I was (particularly carbs).
In retrospect, I think these practices have been key:
> I keep the "bad" foods out of my house and office workspace
> When shopping, I learn where my good foods are and go straight to them--if I look at the really bad foods I think of them as not being food at all (for example, I note how bland, bleached, dry and unappealing most baked goods look); I think about the time I'm saving with my simplified shopping list (and I've never liked shopping much)--heck, I don't even need a list anymore
> If I have to share food storage space with someone, I keep my foods separate and easily accessible
> I try to keep plenty of my good foods on hand at all times at home and work
