Craving something once in a while is not really a problem, it’s pretty normal. Do not feel there is something wrong with you. Having food cravings does not doom you to a life of yo-yo dieting. It’s how you respond to cravings that makes all the difference.
We all know that food cravings can be intense. When they lead to undesired eating, overeating, sneak eating, or binging, they meddle with more than just your weight. They can damage your self-esteem and diminish your trust in yourself.
But food cravings don’t happen out of the blue. They are usually caused by something. Cravings can be a habitual response to seeing food on TV, or being at a restaurant with a particular person, or at a place where a tempting food is displayed. Cravings could be a distress call, as in…you need something else very badly and can’t get it, and the food is a proxy.
So, what should you do with cravings? The next time you feel a craving, regard it differently from the start. Take note of it as information. Recognize two things: you don’t need to give in to it and you also don’t need to fight it. Gently remind yourself that you are in charge, not the food. And (this is critical)…there are no “bad” foods, no foods which you are not allowed to have. You can have anything you want.
Your job is to figure out what it is you really need at the moment. If you can acknowledge and satisfy the deeper need, the craving could disappear, or be made less intense. Or, you could determine you just really want to taste something, and you can think about how to fit it into your overall food plan without “blowing it.” Either way, don’t try to deny a craving. Work with it and use it for insight into your needs, and then take action to care for yourself and meet your needs.
Here are some common triggers of cravings and emotional eating:
- A situation or emotion makes you uncomfortable and you are stuffing it or trying to avoid it, even if eating makes you unhappier than facing it.
- A task you don’t want to do, aka procrastination.
- A stressful event, person, or condition in your environment from which you are seeking distraction.
- A desire for novelty, or to celebrate, or to give yourself pleasure and freedom!
- A habitual response to a certain cue (such as always buying a muffin when you stop for coffee, or eating popcorn when you watch Netflix, or having ice cream at bedtime).
- Hormonal changes (period cravings are often related to needing more magnesium, protein, and other high-quality nutrition at this time).
Do any of the above ring true for you?
Cravings CAN be physical under certain conditions. For example, if you’ve been undereating, you could be hungry. If your diet is very restrictive, you could even have some nutritional deficiencies that increase cravings. Or, perhaps you’ve been sleeping poorly, training hard, or some combination of all these. If your energy bank is low, you may need to eat!
Here’s a “test” to help determine what is driving the desire to eat. If a plain grilled chicken breast or roasted vegetables or a protein shake sound appealing, you are probably hungry! In which case, you should have a healthy meal that fits your plan and see what happens.
Sometimes a craving arises simply because we feel sorely deprived of something we used to eat. A food plan that’s sustainable will not require “willpower,” which can wax and wane. A food plan that’s going to work long-term will either allow you to have small amounts of the things you love, or allow for healthier alternatives that satisfy you equally well (even if you need to make them yourself).
In the end, if you decide to eat what you’re craving, frame it as an indulgence and enjoy it. Do not beat yourself up with guilt and shame. Do not compound it into a binge by saying “oh,what the hell” and eating everything in sight. Having a portion of what you want is NOT going to make a significant difference in your weight a week from now. It might mean a transient short-term increase tomorrow as your body stores carbohydrates as glycogen and the cells take up about 3g of water for each gram of carbohydrate stored. But this “water weight” will drop off in a few days if you resume your regular food plan!
How do I know this? I’ve kept over 40lbs off for more than 30 years. And I didn’t do it with weight-loss drugs, I had cravings, I dealt with triggers, emotional eating, binge-eating. I developed my self-awareness and a method of analysis that supported me in deconstructing problematic eating. I’m free!
Join me! In the ShapeShifter audio course, I’ll teach you how to free yourself from cravings, binges, and emotional eating.
