PRACTICAL WAYS TO CONTROL YOUR CRAVINGS

Sometimes, going on a diet can really be hard. We are forced to stop eating the food that we love to eat so much. There's always a price for everything and that's the price we have to pay keeping our bodies fit and healthy and to attain that slim and trim figure that we so desire.

However, there are moments that just when we suppress our appetite for a certain favorite food the more that the desire grows and intensify. Ever found that your cravings got worse the harder you tried to ignore them? A study published in the journal Appetite suggested that many people crave the foods that they most attempt to resist. The more we crave to eat it. Food cravings has little to do with nutrients and plenty to do with brain chemistry of pleasure and reward. As a result, a battle is on to test your will. Should we fight the urge to eat, or to just give in to the craving. We emerge from this battle victorious sometimes, but with a pang of regret. Sometimes we give in to the craving and then wallow in guilt and self-loathing.

Personally, I don't think it to be that way. That should not be the case. Going on a diet should not be synonymous to deprivation, or even self-torture. Doing so we'll end us bingeing later and gaining more weight than what we thought we have already lost. Given this, how then can we fight the urge to eat the forbidden and keep to the diet plan?

Going on a diet requires more discipline of the mind than of the body. The mind should rule over the body. Our planned diet should not equate with deprivation in our mind, simply because it should not be that way. We can still eat whatever we want to eat whenever we want it. Rather than going cold turkey on your junk food addiction, having a little of what you fancy should help to reduce the temptation to binge on your favorite treats. You could try following the 80/20 rule; eating healthily 80 per cent of the time and being less strict for the other 20 per cent. There's one thing though that we have to remember, is for us to eat our food in portions and try to burn whatever excess calories that we have eaten. We can either spend extra time in the gym or added repetitions in our workouts. We  can also spend just more time walking. Any form of movements helps burn calories.

More often than not, eating a small portion of the food we crave is better than just suppressing. If we suppress our craving, we will just end up bingeing when we let go. Whereas when we eat just a small amount, the craving will be satisfied and we will not end up taking to much.

But there is a limit as to giving in to our cravings. Eating a small portion when done regularly many times of the day defeats the purpose of your diet plan because you will be unable to burn the excess calories. One best thing to do to avoid the craving is to get our mind as far away from it as possible. We should stash the booty where we cannot easily find it or so reach for it when the cravings come a-calling. To keep our mind off the craving, we should keep our self busy and do something else, like read or do chores or go out for a walk to kill time and get the craving out of our system. By the time we are done, the craving is most likely gone too.

However, sometimes we just need to sit down and analyze why we crave a certain food so much. Food is known to bring comfort to some people in the face of emotional distress; could it be that we just eat just to drive the pain away? Unfortunately, no matter how much food we eat, the source of our pain will not go away.

It's not wrong to crave for food. We should, however, learn to watch ourselves so we won't overdo it. That is all it takes to control the craving. But there are cases wherein craving is not just a simple as that.

If you experience regular, intense cravings for particular foods, it may be that you are suffering from a nutritional deficiency which your body is trying to address. It is believed that chocolate cravings can stem from a magnesium deficiency, while a lack of chromium in the diet can lead to sugar cravings. Maintaining healthy levels of zinc can also help to regulate your appetite. Make sure you are eating a wide variety of nutritious foods to address any deficiencies in your diet.
 

Whether your cravings stem from hunger, boredom or lack of motivation, heading out for a run or hitting the gym could help you not to give in. Exercise is not only a great distraction from your cravings, a study led by a researcher at Loughborough University has also found that aerobic exercise can help to suppress your appetite. Furthermore, getting active will help you to feel great about your body, and you wouldn't want to ruin all that hard work with a junk food binge now would you?

Just because you've decided to eat healthily, that doesn't mean you can never snack again. Rather than giving in to your junk food cravings, try experimenting with healthier alternatives, such as frozen yoghurt or sorbet instead of ice cream, seasoned popcorn rather than crisps and sweet potato wedges instead of fries.
 

If you're struggling to resist sugar cravings, try investing in a vanilla scented candle or air freshener for your home or wearing a vanilla scented perfume to curb cravings while on the go. A study at St George's hospital, south London, found that using vanilla-scented patches on the back of participants' hands significantly reduced their appetite for sweet foods and drinks. It is believed that this is because the smell of vanilla can help to suppress sweet cravings.

 

Research has found that eating carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and potatoes stimulates the production of the 'happy hormone' serotonin in the brain. This may explain why many of us crave these 'comfort' foods when we're feeling down. To cut your cravings, try to find healthier ways to give your serotonin levels a boost, such as meeting up with a friend, watching a comedy movie, taking part in an exercise session or smelling some uplifting essential oils such as neroli or lemon.

Just as many of us indulge in comfort eating when we're feeling down, stress can also be a powerful trigger for cravings. Research from the University of Cincinnati has shown that sodium in salt inhibits the body's stress hormones, meaning that cravings for salty foods could be your body's attempt to deal with stress. To overcome these cravings, try to avoid the things that cause you stress as much as you can and make relaxation a regular part of your routine. Find a healthier way to deal with stress when it occurs, such as working out, meditating or talking through your problems with a friend.

According to research results published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, your environment can be a powerful trigger for food cravings. Maybe you associate going to the cinema with eating popcorn, for example, or watching your favourite TV show makes you reach for a snack. To banish habit-formed cravings, try to avoid the environments that trigger them. Take up a hobby that reduces your TV time, or walk a different route to work so as not to pass by your favourite coffee shop. By avoiding certain places or activities, you can help to kill those cravings.

While it may sound counterproductive, if your cravings are really getting on top of you, breakfast could be the perfect time to indulge. Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that participants who ate a 600-calorie breakfast which included dessert lost an average of 40lbs more than those who had a smaller 300-calorie one. This is thought to be because the metabolism is more efficient in the morning, and also because giving into cravings first thing can help to banish them for the rest of the day.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that not getting enough sleep affects our appetite-regulating hormones, meaning that we feel hungrier the next day and are also more likely to crave calorie-rich, high-carbohydrate foods. Not only that, lack of sleep decreases willpower, meaning that you are less likely to resist those cravings. To help reduce your cravings, make sure you get a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night.

And oh, one more thing, this all seems like complete common sense to me, but researchers discovered by looking at brain scans that simply showing test subjects pictures of yummy foods engaged the same parts of the brain associated with appetite and pleasure. Just looking at a photo was enough to ignite cravings and spark appetite.

That part seemed obvious to me- that looking at yummy pictures can make you feel like you 1.) are suddenly hungry and 2.) are suddenly hungry for what you are looking at!

The more interesting part of the study was that these bodily reactions are similar to those found in cocaine addicts, when they were presented with pictures of needles or their drug of choice. The cocaine addicts' brain regions lit up in the same manner as the people looking at pictures of super yummy foods. That's a bit scary isn't it? More evidence that sugar and fat can become addictive, just like drugs. It's the same way as looking at adult pictures that sets your mood and appetite for sex.

So guys, avoid looking at yummy pictures to control your cravings. That's it ! Happy Diet!