How to Curb Cravings Painlessly
Aren’t you so excited to eat clean and say goodbye to cravings and bad habits for good? The first few days may not be so easy. In order to ensure your cravings go away as painlessly as possible, please follow these tips:
1.Don’t Cheat The combination of carefully selected foods, schedules, and special lifestyle practices are designed to eliminate cravings.
2. Go cold turkey. Any little bit of a drug will trigger your brain chemistry. That one sip of coffee, that one glass of wine, that one teaspoon of honey. What we’re dealing with is an addiction and even a small amount will trip you up. Sugar, flour, processed food, alcohol and addictive substances like MSG all stimulate the pleasure center in the brain. They increase dopamine, which makes us feel happy and alert and energetic. We all love that feeling, it’s what cocaine does. It’s also what sugar does. Those pleasure centers get you stimulated and make you want more of that feeling.
3. Avoid your temptation zones. Be careful to control your environment and where you go during the first few critical days. Until you are in the clear from your initial withdrawal period, I suggest you don’t walk by your favorite bakery, go near your co-worker’s desk loaded with candy or meet friends for happy hour. This is temporary.
4. Power up your day with the right combination of foods. Eat early and eat right. Breakfast is KEY and DON’T skip meals. Eating foods that are nutrient dense (protein, healthy fat and fiber) will help cut your cravings and provide sustained fuel that will make you feel full.
5. Keep the daily rhythm of eating on roughly the same schedule each day. This keeps your blood sugar and insulin levels more even. Blood sugar highs and lows cause food cravings. If you get famished between meals, that is a sign that your blood sugar is crashing. When blood sugar is low, you will eat anything. Don’t wait until you are starved to eat. Incorporate healthy snacks in mid-morning and mid-afternoon if you need to in order to keep blood sugar stabilized.
6. Prioritize sleep. When you don’t sleep, the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin (which is basically a hungry gremlin inside your body) goes up (meaning you get really hungry) and the appetite-supressing hormone PYY goes down. Then you start to use food, instead of sleep, to shore up your energy. Think about it: if you are tired, you’re instinctively driven to eat to help you stay awake.
Which of the above do you struggle with the most? How can I help support you improve in those areas?