If you know a craving is going to strike, you can plan healthy snacks and healthy meals. Watch out for these common craving triggers.
1. Food cravings are common when it’s cold and dark out.
Short, wintry days can encourage carb cravings for foods like bread and pasta. People who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (aka SAD, which is depression related to diminished sunlight-exposure) may be especially affected and crave carb-rich foods to help themselves feel better.
2. Food cravings happen at times when we’re accustomed to eating.
Our bodies often associate food cravings with happy times we’ve had in the past. When we’re at a cricket game, for example, we might crave a hot dog instead of other more healthy meals; if a summer-night trip to the ice-cream shop was a family tradition, we may find ourselves nursing sugar cravings for an ice-cream cone instead of choosing healthy snacks when the weather gets warm.
3. Food cravings happen when you’re stressed or emotional.
Food cravings hit when you’re anxious or stressed because they are reassuring and comforting- a way to cope with everyday dilemmas.
Plan your eating:
1. Include a little bit of everything
When we eat meals that are lacking in one kind of food, we may be more likely to crave it later. Those who are on high-protein, low-carb regimens, for example, may have carb cravings later. Include carbs, protein and a little fat for your healthy meals and snacks.
2. Feel satisfied for longer
Protein and fat take longer to digest than carbs do, so including them, along with more fibre, in any meal means that you’ll feel satisfied longer. When our meals are monotonous — the same day after day — we’re practically guaranteed powerful cravings, even if your diet is nutritionally adequate.
3. Don’t skip meals
Too often we’ll skip breakfast or forget about lunch, only to feel a craving strike later in the day. Think ahead and plan a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner that consist of carbohydrates, protein, and good fats.
4. Prepare healthy snacks
Your snacks, too, should be a combination of protein, carbs and a little fat, especially in the late afternoon, when cravings seem most urgent. Any of the following snacks can fend off a trip to the candy machine to satisfy sugar cravings: whole-wheat pita bread with hummus; a pear with low fat cheese slices; a quesadilla (made with a whole-wheat tortilla); raw veggies with low fat cottage cheese; whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter.
5. Control your portions
If your craving is especially persistent, denying yourself that cookie or bag of chips will only make the urge more intense. Allow yourself a moderate portion of the food you crave, deciding on the amount you’ll have before you dig in.
Crave-proof your home and office:
The simplest way to quash sugar cravings or carb cravings is to ban crave-worthy foods from your environment. If you do buy snack foods like chips or cookies, choose small packages or individually wrapped portions to avoid going overboard.
Here are three other ways to make healthy snacks easily available to defeat sugar cravings and carb cravings.
1. Cut up and bag carrots, radishes, broccoli and celery sticks in advance and pack them with some low fat cheese.
2. Buy light microwave popcorn packages to have on hand, and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.
3. Keep fruit washed and ready to slice into a container of low fat yogurt.
I’m an athlet , I’ve develop so much cravings of junj food . I need jo advice on how 2 fight those cravings .
I went to Rehab 6 months ago and since I went in I have these sugar cravings, it gets really bad sometimes. I have to eat chocolate every single day and surely that can’t be good for me? I need to stop this eating habit, but I have no idea how to stop it. Where does this sugar craving come from. Before I went to Rehab, I never ate chocolate and now all I do, is eat chocolate? Please assist me
I am considered as obese and im only 87kgs. I realy want to loose weight. I cant run anymore because i was in a car accident. I realy need an excersizing program that will help me and not hurt my back. I also have these uncontolable cravings. Please help.
Hi Rozanne, Please visit your nearest Curves gym, they changed my life 360 degrees!!!
I’m using a product called “HNS New Me” The natural ingredients contained in HNS New Me have no harmful side effects, and since it is a natural product, it is completely safe to use. New Me reduces the appetite without starving the body from the necessary absorption of food and optimal nutrition. It stabilise the blood sugar levels so No more cravings! If you want to know more about this product email me at isabel@blueskyonline.co.za
Hi Isabel – that sounds great.
I seem to be hungry all the time so I eat all the time to try and avoid blood sugar problems. Where can I get hold of HNS New Me?