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Learning to Curb Your Cravings
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What's the attraction? "When people have cravings, it's usually for simple carbs," explains Rena Greenberg, author of "The Craving Cure." That's partly because carbohydrate consumption increases the release of serotonin, the brain chemical responsible for calming us down, she says. To compound the issue, food cravings can get deeply ingrained in memory. "When you experience a craving, you're essentially remembering how good it felt to eat that particular food," explains food psychologist Marcia Pelchat, Ph.D. Fortunately, conquering cravings isn't about willing yourself to deflect each one. By establishing simple changes to your diet, you'll arm yourself with an all-day resistance plan.
Cracking down on cravings, even if they occur late in the afternoon, starts with a balanced breakfast. Meals high in simple carbs and sugars -- like waffles, white toast, and many cereals and breakfast bars -- cause your blood sugar to surge and then crash, requiring another infusion of carbs. If you have something too sweet for breakfast, often you'll be hungry again soon.
To curb the cycle, start the day with a mix of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. If you include an egg, cottage cheese, or some nut butter in your breakfast, you should feel full or at least satiated for the next three hours. Findings from a 2005 study from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition support this approach: After eating eggs for breakfast, a group of overweight women felt fuller, had fewer cravings, and consumed fewer calories later on than those who ate bagels for breakfast.
Lunch should be your biggest meal of the day. People usually start craving carbs and sugar to keep them going between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m, but if you eat a big lunch and have a protein snack (like nuts or tuna) sometime around 4, you probably won't have those cravings. Dinner, on the other hand, should be your smallest meal, with dishes like soups and stir-fries offering an easy way to balance protein, fat, and carbs.
Your next step might sound counterintuitive: Get the most flavor out of every bite. Going bland in an effort to be healthy -- baked chicken and steamed broccoli, hold the salt -- can backfire. You may compensate by bingeing on chips or cookies later. Part of the problem is that we're used to sweet and salty, since American cuisine focuses on these two flavors. But it's also too easy to forget that food is supposed to taste good. The solution: Use spices liberally, and broaden your palate by exploring not familiar flavors, like Japanese, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. Play around with peanut satay sauce and ginger-mango chutney and incorporate more sour and bitter foods as well. Target any lingering sweet and salty hankerings with healthier alternatives, like almonds or dried cranberries.
Finally, work to untangle the association of food and comfort, easier said than done I know. Many of us grew up eating carbs as a way to placate feelings of unhappiness or unease. When we got upset over something as children, our caretakers would tell us, 'Have a cookie, have some candy' so we learned to soothe ourselves with food, and the pattern became deeply ingrained.
Although carbs can be effective as quick tension-melters, start learning to unwind in healthier ways. Look to exercise and practices like yoga, deep breathing, and meditation as ways to relax. And keep in mind that your cravings may be trying to tell you something other than your hungry. Perhaps that chocolate you eat after each and every staff meeting is a sign that you need a change at work. Whatever the underlying message, facing it directly, rather than placating it with Cheez-Its, will be healthier in the long run.
When Cravings Strike
Even with careful plotting against the allure of frappachinno's, ice cream, and cupcakes, you might still feel the need, on occasion, to pull a bag of Dorito's and go crazy. How to deal?
1. Distract yourself. If you can ride out a craving, it will usually fade after 20 or 30 minutes. To make that time pass faster, phone a friend or pick up a crossword puzzle. Sometimes you can silence them by focusing on something else.
2. Make a swap. Selecting a healthier version of the food you want -- choosing whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter over peanut butter cookies, for instance -- can satisfy your cravings and leave you feeling guilt-free.
3. Find a new obsession. Cravings seem to be learned; they have a lot in common with habit. Although opening a bag of candy when 3 p.m. comes around can quickly become a workday ritual, so can reaching for a handful of grapes and cashews. It is possible to learn to crave foods that are good for you.
Curb your Cravings
Even for people who have the discipline to lead healthy life styles, the urge to stuff your self with unhealthy, yet seemingly satisfying foods, can sometimes be uncontrollable. On top of having eaten bad foods, now you are faced with the equally as bad problem of no stomach space for healthier fare come mealtime.What's the attraction? "When people have cravings, it's usually for simple carbs," explains Rena Greenberg, author of "The Craving Cure." That's partly because carbohydrate consumption increases the release of serotonin, the brain chemical responsible for calming us down, she says. To compound the issue, food cravings can get deeply ingrained in memory. "When you experience a craving, you're essentially remembering how good it felt to eat that particular food," explains food psychologist Marcia Pelchat, Ph.D. Fortunately, conquering cravings isn't about willing yourself to deflect each one. By establishing simple changes to your diet, you'll arm yourself with an all-day resistance plan.
Cracking down on cravings, even if they occur late in the afternoon, starts with a balanced breakfast. Meals high in simple carbs and sugars -- like waffles, white toast, and many cereals and breakfast bars -- cause your blood sugar to surge and then crash, requiring another infusion of carbs. If you have something too sweet for breakfast, often you'll be hungry again soon.
To curb the cycle, start the day with a mix of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. If you include an egg, cottage cheese, or some nut butter in your breakfast, you should feel full or at least satiated for the next three hours. Findings from a 2005 study from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition support this approach: After eating eggs for breakfast, a group of overweight women felt fuller, had fewer cravings, and consumed fewer calories later on than those who ate bagels for breakfast.
Lunch should be your biggest meal of the day. People usually start craving carbs and sugar to keep them going between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m, but if you eat a big lunch and have a protein snack (like nuts or tuna) sometime around 4, you probably won't have those cravings. Dinner, on the other hand, should be your smallest meal, with dishes like soups and stir-fries offering an easy way to balance protein, fat, and carbs.
Your next step might sound counterintuitive: Get the most flavor out of every bite. Going bland in an effort to be healthy -- baked chicken and steamed broccoli, hold the salt -- can backfire. You may compensate by bingeing on chips or cookies later. Part of the problem is that we're used to sweet and salty, since American cuisine focuses on these two flavors. But it's also too easy to forget that food is supposed to taste good. The solution: Use spices liberally, and broaden your palate by exploring not familiar flavors, like Japanese, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. Play around with peanut satay sauce and ginger-mango chutney and incorporate more sour and bitter foods as well. Target any lingering sweet and salty hankerings with healthier alternatives, like almonds or dried cranberries.
Finally, work to untangle the association of food and comfort, easier said than done I know. Many of us grew up eating carbs as a way to placate feelings of unhappiness or unease. When we got upset over something as children, our caretakers would tell us, 'Have a cookie, have some candy' so we learned to soothe ourselves with food, and the pattern became deeply ingrained.
Although carbs can be effective as quick tension-melters, start learning to unwind in healthier ways. Look to exercise and practices like yoga, deep breathing, and meditation as ways to relax. And keep in mind that your cravings may be trying to tell you something other than your hungry. Perhaps that chocolate you eat after each and every staff meeting is a sign that you need a change at work. Whatever the underlying message, facing it directly, rather than placating it with Cheez-Its, will be healthier in the long run.
When Cravings Strike
Even with careful plotting against the allure of frappachinno's, ice cream, and cupcakes, you might still feel the need, on occasion, to pull a bag of Dorito's and go crazy. How to deal?
1. Distract yourself. If you can ride out a craving, it will usually fade after 20 or 30 minutes. To make that time pass faster, phone a friend or pick up a crossword puzzle. Sometimes you can silence them by focusing on something else.
2. Make a swap. Selecting a healthier version of the food you want -- choosing whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter over peanut butter cookies, for instance -- can satisfy your cravings and leave you feeling guilt-free.
3. Find a new obsession. Cravings seem to be learned; they have a lot in common with habit. Although opening a bag of candy when 3 p.m. comes around can quickly become a workday ritual, so can reaching for a handful of grapes and cashews. It is possible to learn to crave foods that are good for you.
This site is solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not intended as medical advice.
Consult a physician before beginning any new exercise, nutrition or supplementation program....Disclaimer
Copyright 2007-2008 Steve R. Robbins. All rights reserved.
