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Do you know how to avoid food cravings? We all know that as soon as you set out to deny yourself something that you enjoy, you start to crave it intensely, so if you can learn how to avoid food cravings you can prevent guilt-inducing food binges and boost your chances of successful, permanent weight-loss.
Cravings come for a number of reasons. The first is simply from the feeling that you can't have something. The answer? Give yourself permission to eat anything you like, but occasionally, and in moderation. You'll find that as soon as something ceases to be forbidden it becomes a lot less exciting to sneak off and binge on it. Instead of outright forbidding yourself certain foods, make a commitment to choosing quality foods at least 80 per cent of the time. If you are combining an overall healthy diet with regular exercise, there's no reason to completely remove foods you like from your diet.
Another way to avoid food cravings is to look for the patterns and habits that accompany certain foods. When do you experience your worst cravings? If, for example, you find that it is between dinner and bedtime, is it because you haven't eaten enough during the day? Or is it simply that you are in the habit of munching when you settle down at night to watch TV?
Alternatively, you may be an emotional eater. Are you tempted to snack after a stressful day? Are you having a bad week at work? Are you sad or lonely? If you can figure out the patterns and thus the potential causes of your cravings, it becomes much easier to take steps to prevent them in the future.
One of the best ways of avoiding eating bad foods is simply not to buy them. Good eating starts with good shopping - if you don't buy the foods that tempt you, then it becomes much harder to eat them. You will have to actively go out to the shop and buy them if you get a craving, and hopefully that will stop you before you get as far as binging.
Alternatively, it may be that what you are eating is simply not satisfying you. Many people who go on a diet end up choosing the same, bland food day after day. But healthy food doesn't have to be that way - it should look and taste great. By making sure that you have a good variety in your daily diet - mixing tastes, textures, colors and so on - you can reduce your craving for particular foods.
An if all else fails and you end up eating something that wasn't on your plan, chalk it up to experience and get back on the diet. Remembering that one blip doesn't mean you have failed is one of the best things you can tell yourself.
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