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Top Tips to Stop Food Cravings by Mel Thompson

When you are feeling tired or stressed, do you notice that your mind begins conjuring up images of your favorite foods?

Do chocolates, donuts, or a slice of warm bread and butter tempt and taunt you when you are trying to keep your weight down?

If so, then you are one of many millions of people battling cravings on an almost daily basis.

According to Dr. Omar Manejwala, author of fascinating book, Craving: Why We Can’t Seem to Get Enough…

Human beings are hard-wired to crave food; he states there are powerful evolutionary, biological and social factors that create a ‘craving culture’ that overtakes our body and mind.

The good news, it is relatively easy to fight  cravings, if you take a few important steps…

Simply follow these tips and you will find that losing and maintaining weight…

Or simply following a healthier, sounder nutritional regime, is far easier than you ever imagined:

• Do something else when you’re feeling tired or stressed: Focus on positive steps you can take to stop your cravings.

Instead of asking yourself, “What do I need to stop doing?”

Ask, “What do I need to start doing?”

Often, stress occurs when we have too much pent-up energy, or when we are not getting enough exercise.

Regular physical activity (and specific exercises and activities like yoga and mindful meditation) significantly lower levels of stress hormone cortisol.

When our stress levels are down, it is much easier to battle the urge to binge or indulge in unhealthy foods.

• Keep a journal: When you see a nutritionist, one of the first things they ask you to do is to keep a journal; jot down absolutely everything you eat, and at what time.

You may be surprised to find that you tend to indulge cravings at specific times of the day.

This makes it much easier to avoid low sugar levels that often make you crave unhealthy foods, by bringing healthier snacks to work, school or college, so you can keep  glucose levels stable throughout the day.

• Take the time to shop: When you have cravings, you tend to desperately reach for the first food available.

It therefore helps to have a kitchen and pantry full of healthy snacks, and devoid of chips, cookies, sweets and other processed, refined foods.

Always prepare a wide range of salad ingredients and keep them in the fridge; chop and wash them beforehand, so whipping up a healthy salad takes just a few seconds.

• Avoid tempting scenarios: If you know you can’t resist buying a cupcake from your favorite pastry shop, don’t walk past it.

Make it easier on yourself so that following a healthy eating plan doesn’t seem like torture.

• Create a sense of belonging: Sometimes, human beings indulge in dangerous habits and addictions (to alcohol, substances and food alike) because we have unmet needs in our lives.

It is important to build a healthy social network, to eliminate the sense of emptiness that often leads us to binge.

Thank you Mel Thompson for sharing your valued tips and insights.

Food Cravings

Cravings can be more than just a little desire for chocolate or a particular sweets and foods…

Weight Loss Coach

Physical cravings for sugar cravings and foods that contain lots of sugar, fat or salt can be intense and lead to binging.

What do you crave? Well, whatever you crave for makes it difficult to lose weight and have the body you want.

There are 2 reasons for this...

One is that we are hungry.

When you go a while without eating food, your body often will crave the sweetest (chocolate) or densest foods imaginable (chocolate cake).

Your body may have associated calorie dense foods with burgers or fries.

It just wants to get those calories in…don’t worry, it’s not your fault and you
are not alone.

The other reason is that we are simply addicted.

A lot of the food we put into our body has chemicals within that make it addictive.

One of these is called HCAs (Heterocyclic Amines).

Cheese contains morphine and chocolate of course has caffeine as well as sugar. They can send us into a downward spiral that is difficult to escape.

However you can get out of it quite easily by making the right changes to your lifestyle.

First of all it is really important that you start eating breakfast and start eating consistently throughout the day (at least every 2-3 hours).

You have to make eating a priority otherwise you find time and time again the evening comes around and you’ll be craving beyond belief.

You’ll end up going on a massive binge…

Of course though there are ways to calm that feeling down immediately too but the best thing to do is avoid the situation completely.

If you find yourself in an intense mess by the evening then its time to start eating fruit.

This might puzzle you and you may be thinking that fruit is the last thing you
would consider eating as it will make your cravings worse, but it won’t!

It won’t as long as you eat enough.

In tense times where I haven’t eaten all day the best step to do is to grab some fresh strawberries and simply chop a cup’s worth into bite sized pieces.

This will satisfy your hunger and stop the cravings.

Another tip is that it is always a good idea to drink water.

When we are dehydrated we can feel less hungry which can lead to under eating and binging later on.

Drinking throughout the day will help you maintain regular eating.

Aim for 4 – 8 glasses of water a day, increasing volume as the temperature rises (i,e, spring, summer) and as your level of activity increases.

You will be amazed as the cravings disappear.

Lastly have more self-awareness.

If you can be more in tune with yourself you may realize that a lot of your
eating isn’t hunger but emotional issues.

Stress and upset can make us want to grab a doughnut.

Excitement and happiness can also make us want to grab a doughnut. This is because society has placed food at the center of celebrations and upsets.

It is pretty much ingrained in all of us.

Make an effort to acknowledge it and you will have more success overcoming cravings for good.

Also, remember to check in on the new tips, techniques, systems, methods
and programs that will help you get the body you want and truly deserve.

Low fat recipes foods with a high satiety value help reduce the amount of food it takes to stop hunger and cravings…

Weight Loss Coach

Are you tired of struggling with your weight?

Sick and tired of rail thin celebrities touting the latest diet patch, diet pill or another domineering diet plan?

What low fat or low calorie food helps stop hunger and cravings while extending time between meals?

What about hunger pangs and hunger pains…

Satiety is the feeling that you are not being deprived and are full, and often satiety is the only determining factor in successful weight management.

Good news is there are many low-calorie foods can help you achieve satiety.

In general, the more water, fiber and protein a food has the longer it will keep you satisfied…

Eggs have been dubbed the perfect protein with omega-3 nutrient dense.

Eggs are a nutrient dense food that boosts brain power thanks to the choline they contain.

A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concludes that protein foods have a strong role in satiety.

In the study, women who ate a daily diet of 30 percent protein consumed 441 fewer calories than women who ate 15 percent of calories from protein.

Other low-fat, high-protein choices can give satiety, too.

Protein empties from the stomach more slowly than carbohydrates that’s why some women feel full longer, according to the Mayo Clinic.

It keeps blood sugar steady instead of spiking as some carbohydrates can.

Good protein foods include:

• Lean meats
• Poultry without skin
•  Low fat or non fat low calorie dairy foods…

Fish is more satisfying on a per-calorie basis than other proteins according to the Diabetes Network.

Broth based soup can fill you up without filling you out.

Soup is a great way to start a meal and save on calories, thanks to its high water content.

Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University’s chairwoman of nutrition researched the difference between women who started meals with soup and those who began with entrees…

Rolls found that women who ate meals with soup consumed 100 fewer calories during the meal.

Complex carbohydrates high in water and fiber such as apples, oranges and grapes give you more food for fewer calories.

Also high fiber and higher fiber foods stay in your stomach longer because they’re processed slower.

This means you feel fuller for longer according to Elisa Zied spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Popcorn is a low calorie snack food that allows you to indulge your urge to munch without lots of extra calories thanks to its bulk.

Just make sure you don’t drench it in high-fat butter.

Some herbs or spices can be used to give extra pizazz to your snack without adding extra calories.

Choose popcorn over dry foods…

Including pretzels and crackers because these snacks lack fiber, water and are low in volume as recommended by Weight Watchers.

Legumes and beans truly are magical when it comes to feeling full because of their high fiber and protein contents.

Lentils and baked beans both had high marks on the Satiety Index developed by Australian researcher Dr. Susanne Holt of the University of Sydney.

Beans and lentils also have “anti” nutrients delaying their absorption and keep you feeling fuller longer.

Salad gives you the satisfying crunch factor along with fiber and water.

As with soup, women who start their meals with salad eat fewer calories than those who skip the greens according to Rolls’ research.