How To Curb Your Cravings

You know them, those little gnawing feelings inside your stomach, the feeling you 'need' something to eat. I take this opportunity to ask some questions and throw out some answers that may very well mean the end to your cravings.

1. Do not starve yourself. Studies have shown that when going on a diet that is too low in calories, people tend to get worse food cravings and to become preuccupied with food.
2. Drink water. Dehydration is often confused with hunger.
3. Don't be too hard on yourself. By eating your favorite treats from time to time, you can control those big cravings that arise when you deny yourself those favorite foods.
4. Keep track of what you eat, like a food diary. This will help you identify your eating patterns and cravings. If, for example, you have sugar cravings every day around 10 a.m., this might mean you have not had a proper breakfast or that you just need a light snack to satisfy your nutritional needs.
5. Identify your cravings. Is it your mind or your body? Emotional eating is very common, and can be controlled. Pay attention to the cravings you are having.....are they actually feelings of hunger in your stomach?
6. Are you bored or stressed? Give yourself something to do. Try to meditate and relieve stress. Do you feel lonely or neglected? Draw a nice bath, pamper yourself. When you are an emotional eater, this usually means you have emotional issues. To get to the bottom of your eating issues, you must find the root of the emotional issues, and work on those.
7. Distract yourself. Keep busy with something you enjoy doing or that has to be done (homework, a project, housework, etc.). Keep busy for an hour; if you still feel cravings then, have something small that will take the edge off of your cravings.
8. Are you a sugar addict? Certain foods can actually make you addicted, and sugar is one of them. Sugar cravings can be caused by high rises and rapid drops in your blood sugar, which occur when you eat any refined carbohydrates, not just sugar. Try eliminating all flour products (bread, pasta and pastry) and other refined grains (white rice and refined corn products like tortillas) and cereals made with refined grains. Eat whole grains at breakfast, lunch and dinner (and snacks when you are truly hungry). Whole grains give you the nutrients that you need and keep you full and satisfied for a long time, without those sharp rises and drops in blood sugar.

When you have made sure it is not thirst or boredom, a chemical dependency or perhaps an emotional need for eating, there is no reason for not answering an obvious craving. When your body sends out signals, it is important to listen.

The most important way to curb your cravings is to have a well-balanced diet that meets all your nutritonal needs and to eat regularly and mindfully.

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How To Stop Sweet Cravings

Is your healthy lifestyle being hindered by an incessant sweet tooth? Sweet cravings can distract you from work and sabotage your efforts to get healthy and lose weight. Add these steps into your routine and you will be able to stop sweet cravings from controlling your life.

1. Learn to recognize sugar in all its forms. Sugar is not just the sweeter in your tea. Sweet cravings are caused by the artificial sugary substances we eat and drink. Check labels for words like corn syrup, fructose, glucose and sucrose. These are all sugar substances that can be found in almost all packaged foods, soda and other beverages. Even some waters are flavored with one of these substances. You can think you have cut sugar out of your diet but if you aren’t avoiding these substances as well, you are just creating more cravings.
2. Stop eating sweets. Believe it or not, the more sugary substances you ingest, the more you crave it. In order to stop your cravings your best bet is to get the sugar out of your system for good. The first three to five days will be difficult as your body starts to feel the effects of withdrawal. In many ways sugar is like a drug and your body must recover from years of dependence.
3. Drink water. Show your craving you’re in control by gulping water whenever you feel the urge to splurge on sugar. The water is an attempt to distract you from your cravings but it also helps flush the old sugar residue out of your system.
4. Eat regular meals. Cravings are often strongest when you are at your weakest point. They come at you late in the afternoon when it’s been too long since lunch and dinner is still hours away. By eating regular, small meals every three to four hours, you can keep cravings down.
5. Get your sugar naturally with fruits and vegetables. Quench a thirst for sugar by getting a little natural sweetness into your system. The sweet taste of fruits and some vegetables is not the same high concentration as fructose and corn syrup so your body doesn’t experience the rush that satisfies the cravings for sugar. Still get your body used to eating raw fruit when it craves sweets and you can replace your sweet cravings with healthier ones.
6. Take a stroll for distraction. Sometimes all you can do is distract yourself from the craving until it goes away. If none of the other steps works when a craving strikes, remove yourself from any access to sweets. Then head outside for a walk. Wander at any pace; just get moving and get away from the stressor and any temptation you feel to indulge in sweets.

Remember that putting an end to cravings is a process. If you fall back into the sugar habit your cravings will resurface. If that happens, just get back on track.

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