How to Fight Cravings the Healthy Way
By Lana Bandoim
Cravings are hard to fight when you are on a diet. The temptations can range from advertisements for doughnuts to a friend’s lunch bag filled with cookies. Before you cave and eat everything, consider the following steps to fight cravings.
Drink More Water
Water can make you feel full and may eliminate some of the desire to overeat. In some cases, it is easy to confuse being thirsty with being hungry. Water may not stop all cravings, but it can help slow them down. In addition, by forcing yourself to drink a glass of water before eating a piece of cake or candy, you may end up eating less of the temptation.
Avoid Extreme Hunger
When you are hungry, it is harder to make good food decisions and easier to fall for temptations. Organize the day so there are consistent meal and snack times in the schedule. Also, consider carrying extra healthy snacks with you.
Try Distractions
Some people eat because of boredom, so distractions can help. Watch a favorite TV show, indulge in social media drama or text a friend. Distractions that do not include food or images of food are the safest option. You may discover that boredom increases cravings.
Give In a Little
Some cravings are impossible to fight. You may actually end up consuming more calories by trying to eat around them. For example, if the chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen are hard to ignore, do not try to eat a half-gallon of yogurt with all the fruit in the house to avoid them. Instead, give in a little by eating half of one cookie. This may eliminate the craving and stop you from overeating.
Eat With Others
Tell your friends and family about the craving issues, and they may help stop them. Friends may be willing to scream and physically fight you over a cookie in a loving way. Remember they are doing this to help your diet.
Check for Nutritional Deficiencies
Some cravings can indicate the presence of nutritional deficiencies in the body. A craving for chocolate may actually be a deficiency of magnesium. A craving for French fries may be a deficiency in sodium. Consider asking a doctor to check your nutrient levels.
Do not give up on the diet and eat everything you crave. Instead, consider these tips the next time it is hard to avoid the chocolate cake at work or skip the doughnuts in a café.
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.