How To Avoid Cravings

Breaking Down Cravings One at a Time

I know you’ve heard of one-day at a time, but one-minute at a time? Come on, who needs that? Hum, maybe you. If you’ve struggled repeatedly, yet continue to fail in your weight loss efforts, what’s going wrong? Was the way you tried to stop eating a specific food too restrictive? Did you say, “I’ll never eat ice cream again,” or “I can’t eat cookies again.”

Now, veering off from your eating plan occasionally will not be earth-shattering, but if you make a habit of giving in to your eating impulses, your moments of weakness will certainly catch up with you.

Studies have found that the majority of people tend to have most of their cravings in the evening between dinner time and bed time. They believe that this is due to not only being tired and therefore not being able to fight your cravings but also the stress of the day may be on your mind and you don’t even notice what you are putting in your mouth.

Ensure that you have at least 5-6 meals per day on a regular basis. It helps to guard against carbohydrates and sugar cravings for most people. For weight watchers, you should regulate the intake proportion with a right balance mix of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, fatty acids, minerals and fiber. Getting the right nutritional support is basic to curbing your body cravings.

A physical craving has the following qualities:

• You are physiologically hungry.
• The craving does not go away if you try to wait it out.
• The craving intensifies over time.
• It has been sometime since your last snack or meal

Your sleep-wake cycles are out of whack and you are relying on stimulants to get you through the day. This could be stress/lifestyle related, or it could just be that you’re not getting to bed on time, or at consistent times.

When your having food cravings try to create an emergency distraction. Turn on the ipod, your favorite tunes, call up a friend, do something you were putting off or go exercising. Being with friends, music and exercise are all really great ways to pass the time until the craving is gone.

In concert with the fundamental principle of impermanence found in mindfulness literature, Dr. Marlatt developed a technique called “urge surfing” which uses mindfulness and breath-focused meditation to help us ride out the urge. An urge to engage in an addictive behavior can be seen as an ocean wave in that it starts small, gets bigger, crests, and finally subsides.

And last but not least, you should equip your house with smart carbs. This way, when a craving does occur, you don’t have anything unhealthy to munch on. Try purchasing more whole grain products, more fruit and more vegetables. All of these foods contain fiber, vitamins, and minerals which will sustain hunger quickly and naturally.

This takes away much of the emotional pressure you feel in wanting to eat your favorite foods. In this sense the “cheating” days are like pressure valves which help you regain your strength and continue with the diet for longer.

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