Food cravings affect almost everyone. Cravings typically involve foods that aren't the healthiest, including sweets such as desserts and candy, carbohydrates such as pastas and breads and alcohol. If you are trying to eat healthier and lose weight, these cravings can be a significant problem and threaten to derail your efforts. Learning to curb your cravings is essential in taking control of your eating habits, your health and your weight.
Healthy Alternatives
Choosing healthy alternatives to the foods you're craving can help satisfy the craving while maintaining your goals for healthy eating. Examples of a healthy substitution would be fruit sorbet instead of ice cream or oven baked potato wedges in places of deep-fried french fries. Choosing a whole wheat linguine with a sauce made of vegetables instead of cheese. When you have a craving, think of a way to make the food you are craving healthier.
High-Quality Foods
Whenever you have a craving for a particular food, instead of giving in and indulging in the first product that fits your craving, choose a high quality or gourmet item in its place. If you're craving chocolate, you may find that your taste buds are content after eating just one small piece of a more expensive chocolate than if you purchased a cheaper, less flavorful version. Giving into your cravings, but doing so with a small portion of a food packed with flavor, will keep you from eating an entire package of chocolate or any other food just to fill the taste you're looking for.
A Healthy Diet
Sometimes, cravings result from a lack of good nutrition in the body. If your body is deficient in the proper nutrients, or if you skip meals, you could experience cravings because your body is simply calling for food. To avoid this, eat several small meals throughout the day to keep your blood sugar at a constant level. Choose more fruits and vegetables to provide important vitamins and minerals for your body to function at its best. Incorporate protein with each meal and snack, whether it's a piece of chicken or a spoonful of peanut butter. Protein will provide your body with energy and help stabilize blood sugar levels throughout the day, decreasing blood sugar ups and downs that can cause cravings.
Your Guilty Pleasure
If all else fails to curb your cravings, try indulging in your craving itself, but choose a smaller serving than you would normally eat. If cookies or peanut butter cups are your vice, portion out small servings into resealable snack bags. Depriving yourself of a certain food will eventually lead you to give in and ultimately overindulge on the food you are craving. Allowing yourself premeasured portions of the food you crave will help curb the craving that would possibly cause overindulging later.
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