A high carb intake is usually associated with carb cravings. Whether you prefer starchy carbs, sugary carbs or both, eating carbs can perpetuate the cycle of making you crave carbs more and eating more carbs. Many high-carb foods are easy to overeat because they are not as satiating as protein-rich foods and because they stimulate cravings. Avoid high-carb foods if you want to get your cravings under control and lose weight more easily.
Sweetened Beverages
Many Americans do not drink water at all and only have soft drinks, juices, coffees or energy drinks to meet their fluid requirements. The sweet taste of these beverages not only add a lot of calories to your diet, but they can also maintain your sweet tooth and cause you to crave carbs even more. Replace sweetened beverages with water, sparkling water or herbal tea to decrease your carb cravings. You should also avoid using sugar substitute in your coffee or drinking sugar-free soft drinks because artificial sweeteners could also be maintaining your sweet tooth and contributing to your carb cravings.
Potatoes
The potato is the most commonly consumed vegetable by Americans. Not only do potatoes contain a lot more calories and carbs compared with other vegetables, but their starch is also quickly digested. As a result, your blood sugar levels can quickly increase after you eat potatoes and then rapidly crash, causing you to crave more carbs. Avoid baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, french fries as well as potato chips to avoid sending your blood sugar on a roller coaster and to control your carb cravings.
Sweets and Desserts
For most people, eating only a few candies or a couple of bites of dessert is next to impossible. The sugar found in sweets and desserts can be highly rewarding for your brain and make you want more. To prevent being tempted and triggering your carb cravings, eliminate most sweets and desserts from your diet. Treat yourself with plain yogurt mixed with raspberries and 1 tsp. of maple syrup or honey, a handful of roasted almonds or one to two squares of dark chocolate to avoid making you crave more carbs.
Breads, Rice and Pasta
Starchy foods can disrupt your blood sugar level just as much as sweets and desserts. The starch found in breads, rice, pasta as well as in buns, pizza dough, crackers, pretzels, rice cakes, muffins, breakfast cereals and oatmeal is easily digested into sugar. The more starches you have at one time, the more your blood sugar level will rise and the more likely your blood sugar level is to then crash. This blood sugar drop is often the reason why you are still looking for food, especially carbs, a few hours after eating your meal.
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