"Conquer Cravings
Eating in response to a psychological craving almost always insures overeating. Some examples of psychological cravings are:
- Wanting something sweet after dinner.
- Wanting a hot dog at a ballgame or chips while watching TV.
- You get hungry at the mention of ice cream.
- You can't decide what you want to eat but feel the need to eat something.
- The smell of a comfort food restaurant suddenly makes you hungry.
- Feeling stressed makes you hungry.
- Being bored makes you hungry.
Other times, your body will tell you it needs food or a certain food because it's deficient. These are physiological cravings:
- Feeling like you suddenly have no energy.
- Having a gnawing feeling in your stomach.
- You're light headed.
- You can't stop thinking about meat, or spinach, or even fatty foods, etc.
Psychological cravings are far more common. This is when you become certain that you'll fall over dead if you don't get some peanut M&M's, now! These are the cravings that need to be resisted at all costs. Here are some tips to help when times get tough:
- Eat every 3 hours. Even if it's something small. One of the biggest culprits for psychological cravings is dropping blood sugar. If you keep your levels steady, you simply won't crave the same things. The easiest way to combat cravings is to avoid them in the first place.
- Drink water. Dehydration confuses the body and will often make it feel hungry, especially if it's cool out. A small glass of water each hour will keep your stomach full and keep you hydrated.
- Wait. Real cravings stay with you but psychological ones don't. If you've eaten enough and are hydrated, putting off a decision for 15-20 minutes will help the feeling dissipate.
- Distract yourself. Along the same lines, if you start doing something else the feeling will usually pass. If you've been working in front of a computer but feel the need to eat, do something else. Make a phone call or read the news. Changing your mindset might be all you need.
- Exercise. If you start to exercise and your cravings aren't physical, you'll feel better almost instantly. If it is physical, you'll never be able to really get into your workout, which is a sign that you need to eat.
- Challenge your craving. Some people like to attack things and this type may prefer the approach that is, "Go ahead and take your best shot. I don't need food and I'm not eating!"
- Keep healthy snacks around. Sometimes you just can't take it, especially if you're on a restricted calorie diet. Keeping healthy snacks around will help. Have a piece of fruit or some raw veggies. If it's not helping, you'll know your craving was psychological.
- Change your routine. Habit can affect a craving, so shake up what you do, even if it's just slightly. Turn off the lights in your kitchen and try not to use that room. Change the lighting of your house, move your desk, sit differently, get up every so often and stretch or drink water, do anything different. Forcing simple changes can make it easier to follow through with tougher ones
And when absolutely nothing else works, give in, but RARELY! Every so often you've got to blow it. After all, you're human. And if you didn't enjoy these foods, they wouldn't have become something you craved in the first place. You are going to mess up sometimes. This can be okay if you can limit amounts. Have a square of chocolate instead of a whole bar, a serving of chips (around 20) instead of a bag, half a soda instead of the entire thing. And never let one bad evening turn into a three-day (or three-week) binge! This will work your habitual mind in the right direction and lead to the ability to cut that craving out for good."
This is an excerpt of a larger article. See http://www.fitfaq.com/conquer-cravings.html for more information and the complete article.