Curbing Cravings
Why do we get cravings and how do handle them without eating a box of oreos?
It’s a good question. Usually cravings have nothing to do with hunger. We have a few tips to help you avoid cravings and win the battle when they do hit.
Chug a glass of water: The human body is very sensitive to dehydration. Believe it or not, a craving for sweets is often your body craving water. Sometimes our body mistakes hunger for thirst. The best first step to combating a craving is to chug a glass of water, then wait 15 minutes. There is a good chance that craving will go away. Even if it doesn’t, your stomach will be full of water so you are likely going to eat far less than you would have.
Take a walk. A lot of times cravings acre caused by boredom. When you get a craving, give yourself a distraction. Go for a walk, do some work, play with the kids, anything to take your mind off of it.
Break the habit. It is common for cravings to hit out of habit. If you have a craving at the same time everyday you probably aren’t hungry, chances are you’re craving some unhealthy snack out of habit. Breaking the habit can be a powerful tool. Instead of heading straight into the kitchen to graze on chips before dinner, go to your room and change or jump in the shower. Anything to break that bad habit and create a better one.
Avoid sugary foods. The more sugary, processed foods you eat the more are going to crave them. When you eat these foods your taste buds change. You will develop high sensitivity to sweet foods, therefore you will need foods with more and more sugar to satisfy those cravings. It can be a vicious cycle, we recommend minimizing sweets you keep in the house. If it isn’t there, you wont eat it.
Make the snacks inaccessible. It can be a huge help to put the cookies and chips in a really inconvenient place. Keep them in the back of that huge cabinet over the fridge (The one with the punch bowl you never use) and keep the healthy snacks very accessible (on the counter or on the eye level shelf). It is likely you are going to feel silly climbing up on a chair to get an Oreo instead of eating a handful of almonds.