Food Cravings and Weight Loss
We've all been there, we've been doing great on our diets for a week or two when all of the sudden we remember our favorite sweet or salty treat from our days of abandon.
Immediately we feel an almost overwhelming urge to get the taste of our treat, no matter what it is.
Food cravings can be caused by several things.
First there's the possibility of a sugar or carbohydrate addiction, in these cases you feel a tug towards a certain kind of food which can be almost as strong as a drug, alcohol or nicotine craving.
There has been a lot of speculation on whether sugar and carbohydrates can actually be addicting but the cravings speak for themselves.
The best thing to do in situations like this is to feel the craving, accept it and ride it out, as long as you're not still supplying high sugar items to yourself daily, the cravings should go away in a couple of days.
Another cause of food cravings, is a psychological draw to whatever time it is you're craving.
In some sense you associate that certain food with relaxation and leisure, and life can be stressful. Especially when your trying to be conscious of everything you eat and how much exercise you get.
Add on to the stress factor of a lifestyle change, the normal stressors of everyday life, work, family, all that stuff and it's perfectly reasonable to see why anyone would desire a little leisure in their day to day lives.
Again the best way to confront these cravings is to just ride them out.
Assuming you don't supply yourself with other high sugar or carbohydrate foods on a daily basis the urge should go away after a couple of days.
It's surprisingly like a nicotine craving if you've ever smoked. Maybe not as bad a craving but it's still there.
Cravings can make you anxious too, which contributes to stress which makes the craving for leisure stronger. A pretty vicious cycle huh?
Again, it's best to try to just ride it out and try to find other ways to quench the craving.
There are couple things that do the trick for me when I'm having a craving for sugar.
First, try drinking a substantial amount of water, say half a liter to a liter, it will make you feel full and you've probably heard the (surprisingly true) adage that when you think you're hungry you're actually thirsty. Water can be an incredible quencher of not just thirst but also cravings.
If you still feel like you want something sweet, try something with a low or no-calorie sweetener like a can of diet coke or coffee with a packet of splenda.
Personally, my favorite is diet coke because the carbonation makes you feel full but both can kick the feeling of wanting something sweet.
There have been studies about how sweeteners have the same effect as sugar on the body in terms of blood sugar spikes and things like that, but honestly the only thing that matters is that you're not taking in any more calories than you should.
Low and no-calorie sweeteners are great because you don't have to worry about the extra calories and you also satisfy that sweet tooth, if just a bit.
In summary, in case of cravings it's best to just ride them out with a big glass of water or a diet coke, assuming you don't take in any extra sugar, the cravings should be gone in a few days.
Immediately we feel an almost overwhelming urge to get the taste of our treat, no matter what it is.
Food cravings can be caused by several things.
First there's the possibility of a sugar or carbohydrate addiction, in these cases you feel a tug towards a certain kind of food which can be almost as strong as a drug, alcohol or nicotine craving.
There has been a lot of speculation on whether sugar and carbohydrates can actually be addicting but the cravings speak for themselves.
The best thing to do in situations like this is to feel the craving, accept it and ride it out, as long as you're not still supplying high sugar items to yourself daily, the cravings should go away in a couple of days.
Another cause of food cravings, is a psychological draw to whatever time it is you're craving.
In some sense you associate that certain food with relaxation and leisure, and life can be stressful. Especially when your trying to be conscious of everything you eat and how much exercise you get.
Add on to the stress factor of a lifestyle change, the normal stressors of everyday life, work, family, all that stuff and it's perfectly reasonable to see why anyone would desire a little leisure in their day to day lives.
Again the best way to confront these cravings is to just ride them out.
Assuming you don't supply yourself with other high sugar or carbohydrate foods on a daily basis the urge should go away after a couple of days.
It's surprisingly like a nicotine craving if you've ever smoked. Maybe not as bad a craving but it's still there.
Cravings can make you anxious too, which contributes to stress which makes the craving for leisure stronger. A pretty vicious cycle huh?
Again, it's best to try to just ride it out and try to find other ways to quench the craving.
There are couple things that do the trick for me when I'm having a craving for sugar.
First, try drinking a substantial amount of water, say half a liter to a liter, it will make you feel full and you've probably heard the (surprisingly true) adage that when you think you're hungry you're actually thirsty. Water can be an incredible quencher of not just thirst but also cravings.
If you still feel like you want something sweet, try something with a low or no-calorie sweetener like a can of diet coke or coffee with a packet of splenda.
Personally, my favorite is diet coke because the carbonation makes you feel full but both can kick the feeling of wanting something sweet.
There have been studies about how sweeteners have the same effect as sugar on the body in terms of blood sugar spikes and things like that, but honestly the only thing that matters is that you're not taking in any more calories than you should.
Low and no-calorie sweeteners are great because you don't have to worry about the extra calories and you also satisfy that sweet tooth, if just a bit.
In summary, in case of cravings it's best to just ride them out with a big glass of water or a diet coke, assuming you don't take in any extra sugar, the cravings should be gone in a few days.