Break Free from Food Cravings: How to Regain Control
Food cravings are a common experience for many of us, and while it’s natural to indulge occasionally, constant cravings can be challenging to manage. Though more research is needed to fully understand the science behind food cravings, it’s clear that our environment and advertising often exploit our natural tendencies.
Until we have a perfect world where food marketing doesn’t influence our choices, we can take proactive steps to control our cravings. Here are some practical tips to help you manage and overcome those irresistible urges.
How to manage say goodbye to your food cravings
1 – Understand that food cravings are natural, we all have them, and they’re not a character flaw!
If you need to, go ahead and re-read this article about the science behind food cravings and know that cravings are so common. They’re ingrained in our biology.
2 – Eat a variety of nutritious foods.
Keep nutritious snacks and meals on-hand and ready for when the cravings hit.
3 – Try to reduce your exposure to food cues in the first place.
(NOTE: These are not your fault and it’s so difficult to go against the reality of our current food environment.)
If you find that certain activities you do are strongly linked with food cravings (such as sitting in front of a screen means “popcorn time” or walking past the convenience store means “soda pop time,” try going the extra step and doing something different whenever you can. That may mean less TV or screen time or taking a different route home to avoid passing the drive-through or your favorite cafe or bakery.
Identify if you crave a food because you’re doing something you associate with eating (e.g., relaxing in front of the television, preparing to watch a movie, commuting). You can try making a quick note on your smartphone or jotting down in your journal when you experience them. Then, instead of these activities, try doing something else. Maybe head out for a walk, relax with your favorite hobby, or call a friend or family member.
4 – Are you truly hungry?
Physical hunger has a feeling of emptiness in your stomach, fatigue, and/or feeling lightheaded. If you’re not sure whether you’re hungry or just have a craving, try to delay acting on it right away. For example, drink a glass of water and wait 10-15 minutes. If that craving hasn’t gone away, try a nutritious snack or meal. If that doesn’t work either and it’s an insatiable craving, try another distraction.
If it doesn’t go away, you may very well be hungry.
5 – If you’re experiencing a food craving and are not truly hungry.
When experiencing a food craving, try to identify where it came from. Was there a food cue (advertisement, smell, memory, or are you looking at something right now that makes you want to enjoy it)? Are you stressed or bored?
If you’re responding to a food cue, try to remove that cue. Stop paying attention to it by changing the channel, hiding the food, or otherwise distracting yourself from it.
6 – Enjoy the craved food slowly and mindfully.
Start with a small amount of the craved food. (Unless it’s fruits and vegetables, but who are we kidding?)
Mindfulness includes paying attention to whatever arises in the present moment with an open, curious non-judgmental attitude. It is a state of “enhanced receptive awareness and attention to present reality.”
Mindful eating is eating slower and paying more attention to your food. Do this by chewing well and savoring the smells, tastes, and textures. Your body feels satiated when your stomach feels physically full and your digestive hormones send a signal to your brain that you’re no longer hungry. By eating slower, you’re allowing these signals to work before you get a chance to eat too much.[11]
Studies show that being mindful of thought and emotions can help reduce cravings. One clinical study showed that participants ate fewer cookies when they did a mindfulness activity, as compared to those who did not do the activity. Doing a brief mindfulness exercise can even change your level of hunger to reduce the influence of the attractiveness of less-nutritious foods.[7]
7 – Make nutritious foods more appealing.
A few studies show that it may be possible to change the foods we crave. In a process called “cognitive reappraisal,” some people have been able to reduce their cravings for less-nutritious foods and increase them for more nutritious foods by focusing on the long-term health consequences of frequently eating that food.[12,13,14]
In one recent study, 58 college students were asked to look at a picture of a food and think about whether it will increase their risk for heart disease or whether it will provide vitamins and minerals to keep them strong. This cognitive reappraisal exercise affected how frequently and how strongly those foods were craved (e.g., cravings for nutritious foods became stronger and more frequent than they were before the experiment). Just one week later, some participants reported that they ate less of the less nutritious foods.[12]
While it can be difficult (but possible!) for adults to change the foods we already prefer to eat, it may be easier to influence how children develop food preferences. If you have children, you can expose them to nutritious foods as often as possible.[10]
8 – Take care of your mental health.
Remember that our emotional state—including stress—are linked to food cravings. Your mental health is important.
Try to reduce stress in ways that work for you: meditation, physical activity, socializing with people you care about, getting enough sleep, etc.
9 – After you indulged in your food craving.
Don’t beat yourself up! We both know that this is so common. Indulging does not make you a bad person. It makes you a human with a deep biological need for physical and emotional well-being who is surrounded by food cues and easy access.
If you need to, reread strategies 1-8 again.
10 – If you suspect you may be deficient in nutrients or have an underlying condition, be sure to see your licensed healthcare professional.
Remember, that even though right now there is more evidence of the conditioning hypothesis leading to food cravings, that’s not a 100 percent guarantee! Food cravings may be a sign of nutritional needs, so reach out to an excellent practitioner who can help you.
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