Okay, so you’ve been doing awesome with your diet plan and you’ve been working out regularly. The results are showing. You’re feeling on top of the world.
Then…it happens. You’re walking by a bakery. The smell of a cinnamon bun floats past your nose. Inside your mind a battle begins: should I or shouldn’t I? You are fixated on that cinnamon bun–its taste, its texture. Visions of cinnamon buns dance in your head!
What the hell just happened?
You, my friend, have fallen victim to a big, bad food craving.
The good news is…you are not alone.
Everyone experiences cravings. What’s important is to understand how it happens and how you can minimize or eliminate them.
What triggers food cravings?
- Diet: Poor diet or a very strict diet, such as the kind followed during contest prep. Diets low in proper vitamins, minerals, protein, healthy fats and water, and high in refined sugars, actually make cravings worse. Poor carbohydrate choices trigger the body to want more as a constant quick supply of energy. Conversely, if your diet’s too strict, you could be setting yourself up for disaster. There’s a human tendency to want what we cannot have. The more we resist the urge the worse it gets. If you find that your thoughts are occupied by chronic, out-of-control cravings you may need to loosen up on the restrictions. Allow scheduled treats at appropriate times. Food isn’t the enemy here. Eating a little bit of something you enjoy can help you stay focused on your larger health goals. Just be reasonable.
- Stress: Hormonal changes caused by chronic high levels of stress can make you feel hungry even when you don’t need food. This increases the chances of making poor food choices. There’s a psychological element that really comes in here. Some people are emotional eaters. They learned at a young age that eating decadent treats and fatty foods made them feel better. They often continue this pattern into adulthood to ease stress. However, the physical consequences of this pattern can be serious. Obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes are just a few of the consequences of this type of comfort eating.
- Lack of sleep: The hormonal havoc caused by lack of sleep has been shown to increase the risk of obesity. People seem to try to make up for the lack of sleep by eating sugar- and caffeine-based foods to provide energy. These are doing more damage than good.
- Menstruation: Okay, ladies…this is no excuse to cave in, but there are some physiological tie ins to food cravings before a period begins. During the week prior to menstruation, the body’s calorie needs increase. Often, women can tell their period is coming because, all of a sudden, they are hungry all the time! The body uses more energy to trigger menstruation. Additionally, serotonin levels dip right before menstruation, which is why some women feel edgy, grumpy and crave sugar. Sugar cravings are the body’s way of trying to naturally boost serotonin levels. These symptoms usually subside after the first couple of days of menstruation. The good news is that if you eat a proper diet with all the nutrients your body needs, you will notice very little upset at this time. Pregnancy is another time that you may notice increased cravings. It’s okay to indulge a little, but the bulk of your diet should be nutrient-rich meals and frequent intervals throughout the day. This will help you meet the demands of your growing baby and keep your own nutrient supply in check too.
- Overtraining: Yes, too much exercise and not enough rest can be a trigger for food cravings. The body is exhausted and unable to recovery properly. Depriving the body of what it needs creates stress that can lead to chronic out-of-control cravings. If you’re bombarded by cravings and you’re not allowing rest days in your workout schedule, you may be due for some time off. Overtraining can be difficult to recover from. If you push the body too far, you may require several weeks or months of rest.
This list is not exhaustive but covers some of the more common causes of food cravings. There can be other causes as well.
How can I reduce or eliminate food cravings?
- Eat a more balanced diet, which includes protein, healthy fats and slow-burning carbs.
- Eat a treat meal once a week, or every couple of weeks.
- Take a multivitamin and mineral supplement, fish oil and probiotics
- Get 7 – 8 hours sleep every night and try to avoid working night shifts if you can.
- Schedule a week off of training every 12 – 16 weeks and allow 1 or 2 rest days per week from training.
- Reduce your stress–exercise, write in a journal, take yoga, practice positive reflection and/or deep breathing.
- Keep a list of why it’s important for you to eat well and stick to your nutrition plan. Always carry this list, and then refer to it during moments of weakness.
- If necessary, avoid situations that may make you prone to caving in. Tell friends and family about your goals and ask them to support you. Situations can’t be avoided all the time but they should be avoided if you’re feeling weak. You will get stronger as you build your coping skills.
Are you hardwired to eat naughty food?
When you were small, did your parents calm you with food or use it as a bribe for good behaviour? Or, perhaps when things didn’t go well you discovered that eating candy and cookies made you feel better. Finally, if you had a very stressful childhood, you might have relied on food as a coping strategy for comfort.
Regardless of the reasons, if you use food as a coping tool for stress or emotional challenges of any kind, then you can try the following:
- Acknowledge: Acknowledge your tendency to use food for comfort.
- Commit: Commit yourself in writing to change this behaviour. Make a list of pros and cons for both changing and keeping the behaviour. Be honest.
- Substitute: Begin making healthy substitutions for the behaviour. Go for a walk when you’re stressed instead of reaching for the cookie jar. Take a bath, read a book or talk to a friend. If you use food as a reward then replace it with a positive. Reward yourself with something good for your body, mind or soul, such as a workout or a massage. For comfort, have coffee with a friend. Whatever you use as a substitution for reward eating must be meaningful to you. If you’re a stress eater then the activity should be relaxing and enjoyable.
- Focus: It’ll require effort and focus on your part to follow your path versus doing what you usually do. Keep your plan in writing so you can review it. It will take 3 – 6 weeks of diligent use of your new plan before it will start feeling natural and easy. Yes, your original behaviour will feel more comfortable than the new behaviour, but you must remind yourself that the original behaviour is not going to lead to you meeting your goal to look and feel your best!
- Deal with the Cause: if you find yourself losing the battle against these cravings, even though you have tried all of these things, consider getting therapy or counselling to talk about the underlying feelings you are trying to escape via food. Sometimes, just talking about these uncomfortable, unwanted feelings openly can make them easier to accept, without needing to resort to drowning the feelings in the ecstasy of food!
I hope I was able to help you fight those big, bad food cravings! If you haven’t any questions, please post below and I’ll answer. Drop by this Tuesday’s post to learn about a few lean-eating treats you can use when you may be struggling with food cravings.
Yours in health,
Tammy
