Do you get cravings? I certainly do. It is hard to define this intense desire to consumer a particular food that is difficult to resist, other than by saying: "I want chocolate, and I want it now!"
You might like to think that a craving is your body's way of telling you that you need something, but we both know that that is now true. According to Dr. Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D. and director of nutritional-sciences at the University of Washington, craving are triggered by various things, such as stress, depression, and hormones. While some cravings you may indulge, many you should not.
there are some cravings you can indulge, there are others that you shouldn't."
So, what should we do about our cravings? Our urges. Well, hare are seven tips top help prevent and deal with our cravings.
Craving 1. A bowl of "sugary" cereal in the morning:
How come? Being hungry in the morning is our body's was of coming out of fasting mode from the night. Not eating for extended periods of time triggers your brain to release neuropeptide Y, a substance that helps to increase your appetite. For most people, the longer you have gone without food, the more hungry you will be when you wake up.
Strategy: Go ahead and have that bowl of cereal, just don't have two or three, and eat some high-protein
with it, such as some almonds or back bacon.
Craving 2: A Jelly Doughnut or pastry at work...
How come? You probably did not enough at breakfast. It is normal to get cravings for something every 2 to 3 hours, according to sport nutritionist Heidi Skolnik, M.S. That is about how long it takes your body to break down the carbohydrates (sugars) in your food, release them into your body and convert them to energy.
Strategy: Increase your fiber and protein intake at breakfast in order to fill you up and help you hold off to snack time at mid-morning. If you must have something, opt for some dried fruit, or a handful of nuts to satisfy your craving, but not interfere with your meals later.
Craving 3: Mid-Morning Cola
How come? If you had a coffee with breakfast or on your way to work, the caffeine is wearing off and you crave another shot to get your energy level back up to what feels like normal.
Strategy: Do not cave. Resist the caffeinated sugar water. Instead, opt for Green Tea, a lower dosage of caffeine and no sugar, so you will not be craving later, plus the numerous other health benefits associated with Green Tea, such as metabolism boosting, and immune system boosting. Do not feel like a hot-drink? Try some Iced Green Tea. Early, make a pot of Green Tea. After it cools, poor it into a jug, mix with some Zylitol (natural sweetener) to taste, and chill. Poor over some ice, and some fresh lime or lemon, enjoy.
Craving 4: High-Carb like pasta for lunch.
How come? Did you have a stressful morning? Boss? Colleagues? This carb-craving is your body's attempt to make you feel better. According to Dr. John Foreyt, Ph.D., and director of behavioural-medicine research at Baylor University, carbohydrates trigger the production of the "feel-good" hormone called serotonin, which helps to boost your mood and temporarily relieve stress.
Strategy: Occasionally eat the pasta lunch, just not every day. But an even better strategy is do something else to help relieve the stress before your eat, which will help alleviate the carb-craving. For example, use your lunch break to go for a brisk walk, or short run, or do some weight interval. Afterwards, when you eat lunch, eat a small portion of pasta or other carb, and combine it with some high-protein food such as chicken, or tuna. Avoid the Macaroni & Cheese, these high-carbs may boost your mood, but eating too many carbohydrates can also overload your body and brain, leaving you feeling sluggish and tired for the rest of the day.
Craving 5: Afternoon Treat such as COOKIES!!!
How come? What is your nutrient count like? Are you getting enough magnesium? Chocolate chip cookies contain magnesium, and some nutritionist believe that not having enough of the mineral in your system cause a craving to eat chocolate. Or perhaps if you crave chocolate all the time, your are a chocoholic. A Spanish study found that chocolate and cocoa contain some of the same potentially mood-altering compounds found in alcohol.
Strategy: Go ahead, and eat some chocolate. The operative word here however, is "some." For this craving, if you do not give in, the craving will likely grow in intensity until you give in anyway, and end up eating a lot more chocolate. Keep some semi-sweet chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa nearby. That way you can consume one or two small pieces to alleviate the chocolate craving, but due the the lack of sweetness you will not be as tempted to consume the whole thing, nor will you consume as many calories. Is it cookies you crave? Try baking some cookies on the weekend to last the week. You can take one or two with you so you are not tempted to eat too many from a purchased bag, and you can also control the ingredients and keep the calorie count down compared to store bought cookies.
Craving 6: Post-Dinner, kids are in bed, Potato Chips!
How come? This is my personal weakness. The kids are finally in bed, it is been a long day, I just want to sit down and relax. This craving tends to be less about the food, and more about what it symbolizes. When we feel stressed out and tired at the end of the day, we just want to relax and forget about our day with a bag of chips and the Television or a movie, according to Skolnik. Perhaps you feel like you have been in control, and used restraint all day, and now your are rewarding yourself for "good behaviour."
Strategy: Resist! This is eating for the wrong reason. It probably does not seem bad in the short term, but in the long term this type of emotional eating is one of the primary reasons men gain wait. Even healthy snacks will not help break the association between food and relaxing. Try drinking some non-caffeine tea, such as cinnamon. Try drinking some carbonated water. Try going for walk. Even try watching your favourite TV show in a room that you typically spend less time in, to try to break the association with relaxing.
Craving 7: Late-night ice cream.
How come? It's 11pm, you want to stay up and watch Leno, but your body wants to go to bed. Men tend to crave foods like crackers or ice cream late at night because the carbs help boost levels of sleep-inducing tryptophan. At tryptophan levels in your brain increase, you naturally become sleepier.
Strategy: Have one or two crackers, or one spoonful of ice cream. Hunger can keep you awake at night, so eat a little something so you can fall asleep. And choose a regular full-fat ice cream, not the fat free kind. Full-fat ice-cream is more satiating so you will end up eating less ice cream, and consuming less overall calories.
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