To overcome cravings, some times it takes more then eating enough and having a clean healthy diet. Sometimes our cravings have become such a pattern or habit to us, sometimes our thinking has been changed so rigidly, that we have to do more then eat properly – we have to change our thinking.

Once you have admitted that you have a problem with food, that you have intense cravings or addiction and that you DEFINITELY want to give them up for good, you need to COMPLETELY REFUSE to consider them for even a second longer from that moment on.

Once you know what you must avoid (sugar, chocolate, coffee whatever it is) and what you must do to improve your health, you should start observing and be attentive to the thoughts that pass through your mind. Just as soon as you become aware that you desire some chocolate or any other food which you have chosen not to eat anymore, as that very moment dismiss it. Completely refuse to give it another second’s thought.

You must be alert here though because quickly the thought can arouse emotion in you and this can result in you becoming weak or inattentive to your decisions. You will find you start trying to rationalize having that desired food and get caught up in your feelings.

Don’t play with this desire! But don’t struggle with it. If you try to use willpower to force it out of the mind it will just accentuate it and make it stronger. You become frustrated and risk caving or you do cave. Just simply drop the thought from your attention – get on with a chore, distract yourself essentially. Give this other subject/activity your FULL attention and stay fully immersed in it until you have calmed down.

I also found simply saying to myself “I don’t really fancy that/desire that food right now” really helped to calm the craving. I know normally I am saying “I really want that” and keep obsessing over it, so to convince myself I actually don’t want it reverses the obsession. You must say it like you mean it in your head though, otherwise it doesn’t work.

Emotions are much stronger than reason – we tend to rationalize the irrational when we are caught up in them and can talk ourselves into anything. This is dangerous, so don’t play with them just divert your attention.

This is one of the first and most crucial steps to being free – Your freedom from cravings is possible but you must have self-awareness if you want to be rid of cravings for good.

Stop Cravings

Sugar is in pretty much everything we eat and the sugar we find in most foods is nutritionally scarce and refined. Refined sugar = empty calories. It may therefore seem as though craving for sugar has no nutritional basis but it does, we just choose to go for the wrong type of sugar and within this is an emotional or addictive property – not a nutritional one.

Having a sweet tooth is natural. Satiating that sweet tooth should be with fruits as these are full of natural sugars that provide energy as well as nutrition. Fruits contain nearly all the nutrients the human body needs. With fruits you also will not got a sugar crash like you do with refined sugar. If you have a diet high in fat, then this can cause fruit to be a problem for you – but for health reasons cut out the fat not the fruit!

Fruit is a great way to overcome sweet cravings. For breakfast eat 5-6 pieces of fruit or have a large banana smoothie. You will find this sustains you for quite a large period of the day. For lunch and dinner, eat as much fruit as you desire at the beginning of the meal.

By doing these few simple things, you should see a dramatic decrease in cravings and feel much better within yourself.

However, sometimes eating plenty of fruits isn’t enough on its own to help us overcome sugar cravings. Many of us crave sugar because an emotion has triggered it and we get phantom hunger. Phantom hunger is when we FEEL hungry but we aren’t. It is our emotions that are trying to surface and phantom hunger comes about because we have learnt to deal with emotions by suppressing them through eating lots of sugary fat foods (for some of us it may be other things).

To overcome our emotional cravings for sugar we must first address what emotions trigger our sugar cravings and what types of situations. A lot of people experience phantom hunger most after work when they are home, bored and restless in front of the TV. Once you know your trigger points for sugar cravings, sit down and write a list of things you can do instead of eat to soothe or overcome that emotion. Sometimes, simply feeling the emotion is enough. This, however, can be difficult in itself so having support from someone you trust is important. You may find a nice walk is enough, you may want something more stimulating. Most of us do not indulge ourselves in our creative sides enough so doing something like drawing and coloring (yes!) can work wonders. I know I found my joy in art when my son started coloring for the first time. Maybe you prefer to listen to music, create music or do other things. Whatever you like to do write a big list.

This is a good starting point for tackling your emotions. Emotions can be very hard on us and overwhelming, so take it one day at a time and remember a little progress is good. Don’t rush it because it may lead you back to sugar cravings and bingeing.

Beat Sugar Cravings

A quick article on the importance of eating breakfast and overcoming food cravings.  Taken from http://www.eating-naturally.com

I was talking to a friend just now about her craving issues and how she struggles a lot with keeping them under control. She revealed that she rarely ever gets breakfast in and ends up drinking coffee all morning, which doesn’t really help with her hunger.

I think that it is absolutely crucial to have breakfast. It is important to have a nutritious, filling breakfast in order to keep cravings at bay (including later in the day) and also to give you the energy required to get to lunch. Without a nutritious breakfast, you are making it much more difficult for yourself to be able to get over cravings especially intense ones.

If you want to lose weight and avoid intense cravings then you MUST make breakfast an important part of your day. I know that when I skip breakfast I am setting myself up for a very difficult day especially with cravings. By the time I get to lunch I find it very difficult to make the right food choices and it becomes a battle that is almost impossible to win. So I always make sure I have my breakfast. Currently I have a large fruit smoothie (4-5 bananas with some berries blended with some water). This keeps me going until lunch, keeps my energy and mood level and minimizes any cravings I have the potential of getting in the afternoon.

If you want to lose weight and avoid cravings, make breakfast an important part of your day. For me, it was the easiest part to get right about my diet and the most crucial part to get right for my weight loss and well being.

If you want to lose weight and avoid cravings – make breakfast an important part of your day. For me it was the easiest part to get right about my diet and also the most crucial part to get right for my weight loss and well being.

(article from http://www.eating-naturally.com)

Stop Food Cravings

Sweet cravings are something the majority of us suffer from but some people have cravings to an intensity they can’t control. Sweet cravings can also get in the way of our weight loss attempts and can be an annoying everyday issue that we obsess over.

To learn how to stop sweet cravings we must acknowledge that the dreaded sweet tooth is something natural. Mother’s milk is sweet to keep baby wanting more (nutritionally) and to soothe/calm baby when in distress. In this way we can see from birth we are naturally inclined to want something sweet. I know my son never turns down any fruit I give him, but other things like veggies he isn’t so fond of!

Because favoring sweet things is natural, it should be something we aren’t afraid of. It should be something that we give in to but of course with the right sweet foods, otherwise it can lead to excess weight and sugar crashes!

The best way to stop sweet cravings is to nourish your body with the right foods. In terms of allowing your sweet tooth to be catered for make sure you eat plenty of fruit. Eat as much fruit as you desire before every meal. This is much easier on your digestion and will leave you feeling satisfied after a meal. Think of it as having your dessert first. Dessert usually caters for our sweet tooth and is the extra something we need to feel content after eating. Fruit is delicious and can satisfy you in a better way if enough is eaten. Don’t be afraid to eat 4,5 or 6 pieces of your favorite fruit before a meal.

Unlike desserts, refined sugar, honey and other processed sugars, fruit will not lead to a sugar crash. Fruit sugar will keep you sustained and will pass quickly in the bloodstream to your cells giving you instant energy. The only time that fruit sugar can cause an issue is when there is too much fat in your diet. If you are consuming over 10% fat in your diet, it is highly likely it will interfere with your ability to eat fruit. For more information on this you can read this article about what causes yeast infections. Cutting your fat intake and increasing your fruit intake will lead to excess weight falling off but be careful. Many of us search out fattening foods to repress feelings, so if you change your diet to a low fat one make sure you don’t comfort eat.

Comfort eating is something that can trigger sweet cravings too (and not just our biological needs). If you find that when you feel bored, stressed or another emotion, you suddenly crave sweet foods then you are an emotional eater. To make sure that your emotions do trigger cravings, observe and monitor your food intake and cravings during the course of a day. This will allow you to get a better understanding of why you choose to eat and why you crave, so you can overcome sweet cravings for good.

The few points mentioned above are good starting points for anyone wanting to over their sweet cravings, For more information: stop sweet cravings

Many people believe that cravings are a result of nutrition deficiencies. While this may be true on some level, for the most part it isn’t. Some foods are physically addictive and most cravings can be pinpointed to emotional eating.Physical addiction to food is quite common because everyday foods that we eat are full of addictive ingredients. Most foods that are craved contain wheat, dairy, chocolate and sometimes many of us crave meat. For example let us have a quick look at chocolate and milk:

Chocolate contains caffeine, theobromine (a stimulant similar to caffeine), phenylethylamine (an amphetamine-like substance), traces of compounds similar to THC (the active ingredient in Marijuana) and targets the same part of the brain that heroin does.

In 1981, Eli Hazum et al discovered that cows milk contains morphine. Morphine is a highly addictive opiate and cows’ produce this in their bodies, to keep their young calm for bonding and nutritional purposes.

In order to overcome the physical addictiveness of foods, we can cut the food out completely or make sure that our body is getting plenty of nutrient rich foods. Most people do not get enough whole ripe foods into their bodies and this leaves them over to severe cravings as well as poor health!

So here are 2 tips to help your overcome physical cravings to food:

1. Eat a wholesome breakfast. This is key to prevent cravings later on in the day. A good breakfast can really make a difference. Make sure the breakfast is high in fiber. In one study, volunteers snacked 75% less during the day when eating a high-fibre diet compared to eating eggs and bacon. You could start your breakfast with a large fruit smoothie. I sometimes have a smoothie of 5-10 bananas and this keeps me sustained until lunch and longer. You could eat a few pieces of fruit at the start of your breakfast thought.

2. Eat fruit before every meal – as much as you desire. This is like eating your dessert first. Most of the time people search for that extra something at the end of the meal – this is your body wanting fruit (the sweetness!). So give it just that to begin with. Your meals should then leave you feeling more satisfied and less likely to crave.

Another aspect to cravings is emotional cravings. These are when an emotion triggers you to crave. It has also been called phantom hunger or emotional hunger because you aren’t really hungry but your body is using food to suppress feelings. Usually with emotional hunger you tend to overeat and want more even when you are stuffed. Below are two tips to help your recognize emotional hunger and to overcome it.

1. Observe yourself throughout a day. Observe your eating patterns and what triggers it. If an emotion does write it down. When you can see clearly what exactly is triggering your cravings, you can overcome them.

2. Write a list of things you can do instead of eat to overcome cravings. This can be as simple as sitting alone and allowing yourself to feel the feeling you would normally suppress with food, going for a walk or having a relaxing bath. Write a large list of alternatives to eating. Getting support is also important when first tackling our emotions head on.

Stop Food Cravings

Craving Fatty Foods

Previous Post: Cravings For Junk Food

We all have a sweet tooth. It is natural. A baby’s taste buds are set for the slight sweetness of mother’s milk – it soothes and comforts. When one merely tastes sugar s impulses are sent through our nerves leading to the base of the brain and along the way the pleasure center is activated causing the release of natural opiates. It is all quite natural to have a sweet tooth and to feel pleasure from it.

However this natural sweet tooth is meant for fruits and mother’s milk not refined or processed sugars. Unfortunately though in the Western world we are surrounded by junk sugary foods that give us no nutrition but just empty calories to pile on the weight. You don’t have to be a slave to sugar though; you can overcome your sugar cravings you just need to follow a few key points to get there.

1. Don’t even allow yourself a treat of processed sugar. Sugar causes the release of opiates in the brain that not only make you feel good but also cause your appetite to he activated. So if you want to overcome sugar cravings, then you must choose not to even have a small bit of your favorite sugary junk foods, as this will more than likely lead to bingeing. It will be extremely hard to resist not eating more.

2. Eat plenty of fruit before meals. Fruit is a natural sugar that will give you the nutrition you need and also satisfy your sweet fruit. Eat as much as you desire before each meal. Try to stick to one fruit at a time, as this is best for digestion.

3. Eat a nutritious breakfast. Breakfast is a crucial part of your eating plan. I always find that if I don’t have a good breakfast to sustain me then I will have very intense cravings in the afternoon. If I have a good breakfast I can usually combat them completely.

4. Deal with any emotional issues surrounding your foods. Sometimes our cravings for sugary foods can be triggered by emotions – whether this is stress, boredom or depression. Observe your eating pattern throughout the day and see whether any emotions trigger you to crave sugar.  If you do have any emotional issues you then can begin to address them.

These four tips are great starting points for overcoming any sugar addiction.

Kelly Aziz is an expert in the field of nutrition and addiction psychology. She is the author of the acclaimed “Free to Eat” Combat Your Cravings Ebook that helps you eat well and combat cravings for good. For more information please visit: www.CombatYourCravings.com

Craving Sugary Foods

Chocolate craving is a common occurrence among women. It can consume us especially when our period is about due. Most women simply give in to their craving and don’t think that it is that big a deal, but for others the cravings are so intense that it becomes almost life consuming. If you are turning your house upside down to find chocolate or going out late to specifically get chocolate you are not alone! 90% of women experience chocolate cravings but often it is not taken seriously enough.