When it comes to cravings it can feel like the only way to avoid them is to curl up into a ball and go back to bed. Food cravings can be hard to overcome but they are not possible. In fact you can make it easier on yourself with the tips below.
- Eat a balanced diet – Many people find that they experience intense cravings by mid afternoon because simply put they have had a manic morning, skipped breakfast and have only eaten an apple for lunch! These intense cravings then spill over into the evening as your body tries to catch up with calories by searching for calorie dense foods which usually turn out to be the fattiest, heaviest foods around. If you want to avoid these you need to make a motivated effort to get in a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner. Making sure you nourish the body with nutritious foods regularly will stop these intense cravings.
- Do Something New – Some cravings are habit or boredom. Many of us come home from a hard day at work and veg out in front of the TV. We will eat as we watch because watching TV actually is boring and eating is something to do. So instead of trying to use the TV to relax (which it doesn’t do) do something else. Try being creative or exercising. You could draw, paint, learn a new instrument or go and try out a dance class or even learn a new language. Replace the time with a new habit and you will no longer crave.
- Help Suppress It – You could try things to put you off eating or giving in. Sometimes just brushing your teeth can help and other times sucking on a lolly is helpful. I used to crave right after dinner but have found that by simply having a lollipop I prevented myself from overeating and bingeing on other things. The distraction was also enough to let me get on with work.
- Drink Water – Sometimes we think we are hungry when really we are just dehydrated. In fact most people who live on a cooked food diet are dehydrated. We need to be drinking more water – so if in doubt drink.
- Wait it out – Sometimes just waiting 10-15 minutes is enough for the craving to go away. There are plenty of things you can do to distract yourself in this time. If you find it difficult to think of something make a list so that when you are stuck in a craving you can just pick something off the list to do. Once you get past it you will feel much more empowered and feel more confident in your ability to kick the next craving to the curb.
There are plenty of others things you can do to overcome cravings, but this are good starting points. Don’t let cravings get the better of you. They can be beaten and you don’t have to let them rule your life.