Stop Cravings For Food – 3 Tips To Get You Started

July 16, 2009 – 1:01 am

This article is about food cravings but specifically the physical side to food cravings as opposed to the emotional side.  For more information on the emotional side: emotional eating

When it comes to physical cravings for food, regardless of the food you crave, you can overcome them fairly easily. Most people just don’t eat properly. This is not to say that our bodies are searching for particular nutrients and we are depriving ourselves. Yes, there certainly could be some truth in that. We crave chocolate, carbs or whatever junk because that is what our body knows best. If it has been exposed to more fruits and vegetables you may search these out for specific nutrients as opposed to the junk, but your body doesn’t know about these so goes with what it knows first.

Anyway, the main reason it is important to eat properly is that by doing so you can diminish substantially, if not completely, the nasty side effects of eating junk. Junk foods put your body out of balance, but your body being the super powerhouse it is works around this and creats homeostasis despite the addiction you have created to the junk food. However as a result to keep homeostasis you have to keep eating the food. When you provide your body with the nutritious food, your body will start to come back into true balance and your cravings will diminish completely.

When your body has a sufficient and continuously flow of nutrients from easily digestible foods such as fruits ans greens, it will no longer crave.

Here are 3 tips to ensure you don’t crave again:

1. Make sure you eat breakfast

Breakfast sets you up nicely for the day. I know for me, if I don’t have my large fruit smoothie in the morning, I have major cravings by the afternoon that I find difficult to control. Your breakfast needs to be full of fiber and have plenty of nutrients to satisfy and satiate you. A large fruit smoothie works great for me.

2. Don’t skip meals.

No matter how busy you get, don’t skip meals. When you do you leave yourself opento major craving episodes and potentially bingeing.

3. Incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and you will crave less. One tip is to eat as much fruit as you desire before each meal. Not only will you be providing more nutrients to your body quickly and easily but this will also make it less likely for you to want that extra something something after your meal. Think of it as having your dessert first :)

For more help with how to Stop Cravings

By | Posted in stop cravings | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Stop Eating Junk Food – Stop Being Bored!

July 11, 2009 – 1:55 am

PizzaIt can be very hard to stop eating junk food. The worse time for junk food cravings tend to be in the evening and leading up towards bedtime. There are many reasons for this. Most people become bored after work as they sit down and watch TV. The boredom can lead to eating junk. This is just the way you have dealt with the feeling of being bored. Instead of doing something creative or something your heart desires (maybe because you feel too tired) you numb yourself. So each evening when you come home from work, you start to crave – you crave for junk because it numbs you and solves your emotional issue.

Of course, it isn’t really solving it, because as the next night rolls around, you repeat the process. You put on weight, you feel rubbish about yourself and that ultimately leads to more eating. It is just the way you have learnt to cope in the world. To undo it you need to learn to deal with your emotions another way and you need to get your needs met. Eating junk food doesn’t result in your needs being met; it just allows you to ignore them more effectively for a little while.

If you typically pig out in front of the TV, then its time to do something. Write a list of activities that you can do instead of eat. What things do you like to do, want to do but never thought you could? The bigger the list the better. If you aren’t exercising daily write this down as well because exercise is important. You can write more eventful activities to get a work out to than running or going to the gym! Maybe you like the idea of taking a dance class?

Write down as many as you can think of. May be you have some ambitions that have gone unfulfilled.

Instead of coming home and going straight to the TV, do something else. You may see TV time as your relaxation (although believe me it is far from relaxing you) so replace it with something relaxing. You could take a nice warm bath, do some yoga or meditation. Get yourself relaxed if that is what you want or like to do other work.

Try to plan your evening so that you don’t end up in front of the TV. You will find life much more rewarding if you are doing things that you love and that satisfy your need to be creative and playful.

In fact your best bet is to chuck out the TV or put it away for a week or so, see if that makes it easier for you to resist.

Click Here to Stop Eating Junk Food

By | Posted in comfort eating, emotional eating, junk food cravings, overeating help | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Chocoholics: How To Stop Eating Chocolate

July 6, 2009 – 4:02 pm

Many people find they can’t stop eating chocolate and so conclude they are addicted.  But is there any truth in chocolate being addictive or are we just too weak to resist it?  Well, the truth is, chocolate is addictive in 2 ways.  Chocolate can be physically and emotionally addictive.

Physical Addiction

Chocolate Targets The Same Spot In Your Brain As Heroin

Although chocolate doesn’t affect you as strongly as heroin, it still affects your brain and you can still become addictive as you may well know.

On top of having opiate properties, chocolate also contains caffeine, theobromine (a strong stimulant similar to caffeine that affects the nervous system, particularly the heart), phenylethylaminphy (an amphetamine-like substance) and also traces of compounds similar to THC (the active ingredient in Marijuana).

So as you can see chocolate is full of addictive properties. But chocolate also contains sugar, milk and dairy products which also have highly addictive properties.

The best way to overcome these issues is to quit cold turkey but also to make it easy to quit cold turkey, you need to nourish your body properly. When you eat healthily and the right food you will not have intense cravings.

Chocolate can also, of course, be emotionally addictive. Like many other foods, chocolate is frequently used to comfort us.

Emotional Addiction

Emotional addiction to chocolate involves using chocolate in times of stress, boredom, depression and to cope with life.

To determine whether you are an emotional eater read this article: Are You An Emotional Eater? 6 Signs of Emotional Eating

If you still are unsure, take a few days to observe yourself and write down what triggers your cravings for chocolate. If they are related to stress or emotion, then you know you have some emotional eating tendencies at the very least!

The best way to deal with emotional eating is:

1. Become aware – by doing the observation task above you will know what your craving triggers are.

2. Learn to do something else to unwind instead of eating – To help you do this you can spend time writing a list. Sometimes having time alone to simply feel the emotions is all you need, other times you may feel a walk is more helpful to you. If you find that you are bored in the evenings and this is a time you will eat the most, then being creative or being active will better suit you. Write a list of things you have always wanted to do or activities that will satisfy your creativity. Make your lists specific to the emotions that trigger you chocolate cravings.

3. Get support – sometimes its simply not enough to work on it yourself and you may need someone to talk through your feelings to stop you reaching for food. Try to find someone supportive. Alternatively a great website for emotional eating which also has a forum is ShrinkYourself.com. ShrinkYourself.com also has lots of useful articles on emotional eating and offers a great 12 week intensive emotional eating program if you find you can’t cope alone. For more information about this program Emotional Eating Program.

Heopfully this should be enough information to get you started on your road to overcoming chocolate addiction.

Cheese Addiction

Stop Cravings

By | Posted in chocolate cravings, stop chocolate cravings | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Salt Cravings – I Crave Salt

July 2, 2009 – 6:44 pm

saltcravingsMost of our food contains salt – bread, chocolate, macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables, pizza…the list is endless. Many people are so desensitized to salt that in many foods they can’t even taste it. Despite this salt is toxic, stimulating and should be avoided at all costs. If you have ever had an open wound and gotten salt in it – you will know firsthand how destructive it is.

This can be quite difficult as most people crave salt all the time – they are addicted. Salt has overexcited their taste buds so much that food becomes tasteless without it. But if you cut salt out of your diet completely, you can restore your taste buds and start enjoying “plain” foods again. And giving up salt doesn’t have to be hard either.

Of course you do NEED salt but the salt you need is found in fruits and greens. If you make sure you have plenty of fruits and plenty of dark leafy greens, celery (an excellent source) and other vegetables you will have all the salt your body needs. Adding these into your diet is the first point of call.

Other things you will need to do to give up salt are to cook your own meals and foods. Since everything you buy at stores contains salt, you will have to learn to make simple nutritious meals yourself. Also make sure that you eat consistently. Don’t skip meals and make sure you have breakfast. Breakfast sets you up for the day. If you have a nutritionally poor breakfast then you will find you will crave and snack more during the day. This will not help you give up salt.

Some salt cravings, you may find are related to your emotions. You may eat more salty snacks when you are stressed. For more tools and information on emotional eating you can go to ShrinkYourself.com.

You can give it up! Believe you can, stick to it and most importantly know you are doing your health wonders.

For more information and help with cravings: Salt Cravings

By | Posted in craving salty foods | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Cheese Addiction: More Than Just Craving

July 1, 2009 – 8:34 pm

The Western world consumes a lot of meat and dairy.  These items are no longer luxuary but staples of the Western diet.  Most people eat meat and dairy everyday and many have at least one component in all their meals.

Cheese, which is more concentrated than dairy, is also an increasingly used food item.  Many people eat this daily and find it difficult to cut down.  For some extremists, they eat it for every meal because they can’t stop their persistent cravings for it.  This is because they are addicted.

In 1981, Eli Hazum et al discovered traces of a chemical in cow’s milk that was fairly similar to morphine.  After putting this chemical through several tests they discovered that in fact it was morphine.  Morphine is an addictive opiate, so what is it doing in cow’s milk?

Cow’s produce morphine in order to create a calming effect on their young.  This makes sure that their young bond with them and that their young continue to feed.

However, milk contains more than just morphine, it also contaisn casein, which when broken down in digestion releases a lot of opiates!  In cheese, casein is in a much higher concentration so cheese can be far more addictive than milk.

You can overcome it though and with as little pain as possible.  You just need to nourish your body properly.  Eat very well and don’t go too long in between meals.  When you eat the right nutrients, your cravings will diminish considerably allowing you to overcome them easier.

Make sure you have a nutritious breakfast as this will help prevent strong cravings later in the day.  A tip to get you started in the right direction is to eat as much fruit as you desire before each meal.  This will satisfy you enough not to overeat and will prevent cravings.

Reducing your dairy intake or at least cutting out cheese will help wade off cravings.  In the long run though, it may be best to cut out cheese for the time being until you have overcome your strong cravings.  Eating even a tiny amount, many people find will just send them into a binge.  The first bite is easier to resist than the second, third or fourth!

Emotional eating also needs to be considered when conquering any type of craving.  Most people eat for emotional reasons and this is normal due to the society we live in (we tend to use in our society food for celebration, grief and socializing).  To discover if you are an emotional eater here is an article on 6 signs of emotional eating to help you get started.

If you find that you fit the pattern, you may need some help to overcome this.  Some people have a mild case of comfort eating and can usually bring themselves to observe and face the emotions they are trying to bury.  Some need an extended plan and help.  A great resource for help with emotional eating is www.ShrinkYourself.com

You can overcome it, the first step is to accept that you have a problem and the second is to want to do something about it.

Cheese Addiction help

By | Posted in cheese cravings, stop cravings | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Stop Cravings With Your Next Trip To The Store…

June 30, 2009 – 10:54 pm

If you could only put down the fork and back away from the table then maybe you wouldn’t have such a problem with food. If you could only stop going out late especially to buy junk, then maybe you might not be so miserable.

You feel greedy.

You feel weak.

But honestly, you are neither.

If it was that simple, you would have done it by now wouldn’t you?

Well now you can make it that much easier.  Stop food cravings by discovering the 2 crucial foods that diminish intense cravings for good and give YOU back control.

Where can you learn this?  Simply visit Combat Your Cravings now and start living the slimmer life you always wanted to without obsessing over food.

By | Posted in stop cravings | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

How I Stopped Overeating & Craving

June 29, 2009 – 2:05 pm

My addiction to food messed up my relationships. Sometimes I was so hung over from bingeing I couldn’t get out of bed to be in time for meeting friends and couldn’t return calls. I was desperate to feel complete that I took more from friends than I gave. I was in a miserable state of affairs. I often pretended to be interested in others companies but really I had a deep empty hole inside of me and felt self absorbed and selfish.

I had no energy, my self esteem was missing. I just craved all day and night. The thing is it never occurred to me that I had an issue with food. I just thought I had an issue with life. Whenever I went anywhere or did anything the food was my main attraction and even at parties I would eat and eat but try to do it secretly by moving around the room and hiding junky foods under the healthy looking foods. By moving about and talking to lots of people I avoided anyone seeing exactly how much I was eating.

It was only when I came across an article about emotional eating that I realized I had an issue with food and not with life. I learnt about how food is physically addictive and thus can affect your mood that way but also through emotional addiction too. I was trapped and I would never have realized this without being lucky enough to stumble across the info.

I followed the advice on an online book called Combat Your Cravings. I ate properly and found my physical cravings diminished considerably. I felt I was able to function properly and didn’t eat a refined sugar fix as soon as I wok in the morning.

But my biggest properly was my emotional eating. Everyday after work I still found it impossible not to binge and overeat. It was only until I read Shrink Yourself and then enrolled in the online program that I was able to successfully become in charge of my life.

Both the books I mentioned have been my life savers without their information I don’t think I would have overcome my overeating.

If you overeat I highly recommend you read these articles and start working through your issues today!

Stop Overeating

By | Posted in binge eating, overcoming overeating, stop binge eating, tips to overcome cravings | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

How I Overcame My Chocolate Addiction

June 28, 2009 – 2:12 pm

Many people, especially women are addicted to chocolate. Some even prefer it to sex. But what exactly is chocolate’s appeal?Well first of all chocolate is an addictive substance. Chocolate targets the same area of your brain as heroin, and although not to the same degree as heroin still have a powerful hold over many people. I know that I would go out especially, even at 1am, to get my chocolate fix. Those few moments of pleasure seemed worth it to me.

Eventually though, we can all become sick of our lives evolving around chocolate. It might not seem so bad having chocolate once in a while, but then it turns into everyday, several times a day and you wonder why you want it so much.

You can overcome chocolate cravings, I did. It was easier than I initially thought. Once I knew how to eat properly and eat a TRULY healthy diet I managed to completely eliminate my physical cravings for good. The book Combat Your Cravings helped me in my battle and it can help you too.

However, physical cravings were only half the battle for me. It was easy to give it up once I ate properly, but there were the moments of emotional distress that lured me back to chocolate. I used it to comfort me; I used it to soothe me. Instead of working out and focusing on what I really needed, I just numbed myself with a big ol’ chocolate bar!

So I started to observe myself and started noting down what feelings triggered my cravings. I then started to work through my feelings – allowing myself to feel and also getting support. A great book that helped me was Shrink Yourself. It really opened my eyes up to why I was so reliant on chocolate. The guy who wrote Shrink Yourself (Roger Gould) also has an online 12 week intensive program to help people overcome emotional eating, if one struggles to do it alone. The website also has some great resources as well and a great selection of useful articles on the subject.

Anyway once I was able to overcome my emotional needs for chocolate and start really addressing my true underlying needs and desires. I managed to quit chocolate for good. I don’t miss it. I don’t feel deprived. Chocolate tasted great and I love it, but it didn’t love me back. It just made me moody, irritable and miserable. I am so glad that part of my life is over with!


Stop Chocolate Cravings

By | Posted in chocolate cravings, stop chocolate cravings, stop cravings, things to help cravings | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Stop Cravings: Give Yourself Time To Relax

June 27, 2009 – 10:33 pm

Sometimes cravings are a sign that our needs aren’t being met. For most of us, we are working 9 to 5, then coming home to deal with family – potentially cooking, dealing with kids and there just seems to be no time to do what we want to do, to relax, to be creative, to do things we enjoy. Even at weekends it feels like there is no time.

Most of us end up sitting in front of the TV, munching out as a way to deal with life and not having time, not having energy. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you want to overcome cravings you need to first start eating properly. Eat nourishing foods.

And secondly you need to start getting your needs met. One of these needs is relaxation/creative.

Giving yourself time to relax is very important in a world that is full of everyday stressors. Whether this is having a nice hot bath at the end of a long day, or dipping into a book, spending time with your partner etc. it is important for your health.

Being creative is also important. Diving into something you love has incredible power to it – writing a story, playing the guitar or painting a picture. Whatever your interests get creative! Life isn’t all about going to work – bring some spark back into your life and do not neglect your interests. Not sure what you are interested in? Try different things and get creative!

By fulfilling just this one need you should see a reduction in cravings and a better overall sense of well being.

Stop Cravings

By | Posted in emotional eating, things to help cravings | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Are You An Emotional Eater? – 6 Signs of Emotional Eating

June 26, 2009 – 7:41 pm

Image by <a href=Lots of people are emotional eaters but have no clue that they are.  When we first start realizing that we have an issue with our food, there are two things that we must acknowledge: physical cravings and emotional cravings.  For emotional cravings, we can observe ourselves and see which food cravings are triggered by emotion – but starting out, what do we need to look for and how do we know we really are an emotional eater?

There are very specific signs you can look for and it is quite easy to establish whether you eat for emotional reasons or not.  Here are 5 signs you are an emotional eater:

1. Your hunger comes on suddenly and it feels urgent (you have to have a certain food NOW and will go out of your way to get it, even go out at 1am to the store!).
When you have true hunger/physical hunger it comes on slowly and is patient.  It can wait until you are able to get food, it doesn’t need to be satisfied immediately then and there.  Emotional hunger on the other hand demands you feed it NOW and you usually will end up shovelling the food down like you haven’t eaten in days.

2. You crave specific foods – usually junk.

3. Your hunger will coincide with an upsetting emotion.
Hunger that is connected with upsetting emotionals is definitely emotional hunger.  If you find you eat straight after someone has upset you or after a stressful event than it is emotional hunger more often than not.

4.You don’t even realize that you are eating sometimes – eating is something very automatic.
If you are genuinely hungry you will usualyl be aware of it and mindful.  Emotional nger on the other hand isn’t mindful and is the reason why many “forget” what they have eaten that day and do not acknowledge their snacking.

5. You keep eating even when you are full.
You can satisfy your true hunger without overfilling.  Emotional hunger however never really feels satisfied so you end up eating after you are full and ready to pop.  We want to keep having the taste to help us the numb the feeling.

6. After you eat you often feel a sense of guilt and regret.
If you feel guilty after eating, trhen it is most likely emotional hunger – you know deep down that what you doing isn’t to satisfy true physical hunger.

If you relate to none of these statements then overcome food cravings may be as simple as eating the RIGHT nutritious foods, making sure you are eating enough and knowing more about physical food addiction.  For more information click here

If you do relate then a great site for more help with emotional eating is:  ShrinkYourself.com

By | Posted in emotional eating, steps to overcome cravings, stop cravings | Tagged , , | Comments (0)