The holidays have come and gone, but have your sugar cravings?
I’m going to go over 5 super simple ways to train your brain to crave quinoa and kale instead of cake and cupcakes.
Even the best and healthiest people out there experience cravings from time to time. Maybe you’re sitting around watching TV and all of a sudden you get the urge to eat a brownie NOW. Or you’re at work and it’s around 3 in the afternoon, and you can literally hear the M&Ms in the vending machine calling your name.
Once you master the following techniques, you’ll notice that when you are actually physically hungry, your cravings will lean toward more nutritious foods more often than they will junky foods!
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The first and most important step in overcoming cravings is recognizing when you’re not actually physically hungry…but instead your body is just telling you it really wants certain foods. In that moment, remind yourself that if your craving doesn’t come from physical hunger, then you can be sure that eating is not going to satisfy it!
Dig a little to figure out what’s triggering your desire to eat in the first place. Are you bored or just need something to do? Are you in need of a break from studying or working so hard?
If your answer is ANYTHING but “I’m hungry and need to fill my stomach and nourish my body” that’s a key sign that you should find a new way to satisfy yourself.
For example, if you eat when you’re bored, think through some things you can do that will help you feel stimulated or entertained. If eating is the best part of your day, what can you do to make your days more enjoyable? What can you look forward to after a hard day’s work that is not food related? I’m super guilty of this one: if you have to work on a big project to work on and want to procrastinate, what can you do to start tackling that project? I like to make a list of next steps, and start working on one small piece at a time to start checking things off. My hunger magically goes away!
My second tip: Stop saying “I can’t have that”. When you say that you can’t have a certain food or it’s on your food rules list as a food you aren’t allowed to eat, you’re putting that food on a pedestal and giving it power over you. Like think back to when you were a kid and your mom said “Don’t play with the figurine on the table.” ALL you wanted to do was play with that silly figurine, right??
You want what you can’t or aren’t allowed to have even more. Instead – kick those food rules and restrictions to the curb. Tell yourself you can have whatever food you want whenever you want it. As terrifying as that may sound, like “but then I’ll just eat Oreos all day long”, it actually ends up going the opposite direction. Ok sure maybe at first you might go a little coo-coo on the Oreos, once it’s finally LEGAL, but ultimately it removes the food’s allure.
You go on with your life without obsessing or thinking about it, no willpower needed.
My third tip: Put an end to the multitasking while eating. How easy is it to zone out watching TV and demolish an entire bag of chips? Or eat your whole dinner while waiting to see who’s been Chopped next and barely remember what your food tasted like? With both of those examples, you’re going to walk away feeling like you wish you had more. Because you weren’t truly satisfied.
Your brain didn’t get the memo that you were eating, and still thinks you’re hungry. So whenever you can, make eating an independent activity. Turn off the iPad and TV while you eat. Serve yourself a portion, and eat it mindfully. Notice its smell, its flavors, its textures. This will make eating more enjoyable and help prevent overindulging.
My fourth tip: Start getting in tune with your body. Notice how food feels in your body after you eat it, like immediately and up to a few hours later. Do you feel tired and sluggish after eating a meal with gluten and dairy? Do you get heartburn after eating spicy foods? Do you have more energy in the afternoon when you ate non-processed foods for breakfast and lunch? By recognizing and seeing patterns with yourself, this will hugely influence the choices you make when meal time comes around.
For me, I know if I eat something sugary in the morning for breakfast, it makes me crave sugary foods all day long. If I start my day with something that has protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs, I crave healthy, whole foods all day long.
Fifth and finally, building off of that last one: Focus on adding to your diet. Cravings usually come from spikes in our blood sugar, and our hormones being outta whack. One of the #1 things that causes spikes in blood sugar and crazed hormones is sugar. The best way to stabilize our blood sugar and hormones is to obviously avoid sugar, but what’s easier than restriction is adding.
Focus on adding protein, healthy fats, complex carbs, and fiber to your diet. At each meal, think how you can incorporate those 4 areas. You’ll find that you naturally not only eat less sugary foods, but also crave more whole foods!
Don’t get discouraged if this doesn’t happen overnight for you, but you should see a shift quickly though if you’re consistent.
Let me know if you have any questions as you practice these behavior shifts, and comment below to tell me which step you’re going to start with today!
