According to Cambridge dictionary, craving means a strong feeling of wanting something.
Have you ever been in a situation where you ate your dinner, felt full and after 2 hours you reached out for a piece of chocolate or pudding. Although you give in to your craving, you know in your heart that you should not have indulged in a piece of chocolate or that pudding right before bed.
I hear this all the time from my clients. They bring this up in calls admitting that they have this weird craving after eating a full meal.
Let’s understand the causes of cravings
- Nutrient deficiency – Craving isn’t always for something delicious. Most times dieting can often lead to nutritional deficiency which may in some cases want you to eat things like raw rice, chalk, soap etc.
- Over restrictive diet– Are you cutting on good fats , proteins and carbs in your diet? Are you eating less calories than you should? Are you over restrictive in your weight loss approach? It seems that perceived deprivation—a feeling of not eating what or as much as one would like, despite being in energy balance may also play a larger part in generating food cravings than actual nutrient deficiencies.You will struggle with weight loss plus have unwanted cravings at night.
- People with nighttime eating syndrome– tend to graze throughout the evening and wake up during the night to eat, consuming at least 25% of their daily calories at night.
- Food euphoria- When you eat foods you enjoy, you simulate the feel-good centres in your brain, triggering you to eat even more. This happens with hyperpalatable foods such as sweet, salty and highly processed foods.“Sugar makes us want to eat more sugar. Fat makes us want to eat more fat, and a combination of sugar and fat makes it even more problematic. “Our brains are chasing that pleasurable state of food euphoria.”
- Stress & Sleep- Many of us distract from negative thoughts and emotions by seeking our favourite foods. Others learned as children to use food to cope. Lack of stress coping mechanisms further lead to disrupted sleep which further exacerbates sleep issues and the vicious cycle continues.
- Habit- “You’re used to not cooking, preparing or planning. You eat whatever’s on hand because that’s what you’ve always done.” This leads you to eat mostly packaged foods which are calorie dense and unhealthy.
Seven ways to control cravings to help with weight loss
Here are some easy tips on how you can overcome the cravings because you know they are sabotaging your weight loss goals. Right?
- Maintain a food and mood diary- What is a mood diary? It’s a way to record how you are feeling and why? You can take help of a mood journal to see the connection of your food cravings. For example, If you eat a chocolate or a cookie, record the food and the time and the before and after emotions you may be experiencing in that moment. Sometimes, it can be a load from your whole day being too busy, or things happening that annoyed you. Note any such event/events.
- Practice mindfulness- Eat your regular meals without distraction. Chew every bite well. Keep easy and light conversation if you have company during your meal times. Really focus on enjoying and tasting your food.
- Invest in an airfryer- One of the best recent inventions is the convection air fryer. It allows you to eat things that have a fried consistency, minus the oil. Times when you may want a savoury, salty food, all you can think of is Lays chips or fried foods. Air fryer gives you the freedom to enjoy your favourite foods without added calories. This helps with craving because the food comes out healthy, oil free and low calorie dense.
- Meal Plan– Some of us don’t like to plan meals ahead, but it leads to last minute instant noodles or Maggi. Some ways to plan meals may include stashing healthy snacks in your bag or desk and planning dinners ahead of time so your mind (and not your stomach) decides the menu. Keeping your fridge stocked with fresh veggies, fruits and healthy dips.
- Give yourself non-food-related rewards- Use your mood journal to identify your cravings source. If treating yourself always involves unhealthy foods, you could be sabotaging your weight loss and other health goals. Instead, treat yourself to a hobby, some pampering or another activity that makes you smile.
- Don’t underestimate hydration- It’s easy to confuse thirst cues with hunger cravings. So fill a 1 litre bottle in the morning upon waking up and refill once finished.
- Build Lifestyle tools- Work on improving your lifestyle such as stress and sleep. Stress is a part of your and my life but we can learn and apply tools that can help us manage inevitable stress. When the two foundations namely, sleep and stress are in place, your hormones start to get in sync. And you will see your cravings diminish gradually.
In one of the articles written by Harvard (School Of Public Health) states that , cravings actually involve a complex interplay of factors: brain messages, behaviors that become habits over time, and having easy access to food. Learn in detail in this article how the physiological aspect works when we crave certain foods.
Hyperpalatable foods make it harder to control cravings. It becomes like a vicious circle. For example, you ate a piece of chocolate at night after dinner. Chocolate is a stimulant and hyperpalatable too. When we eat such foods including foods like salty and sweet packaged foods, we increase the pathways triggering dopamine signals and the reward-learning regions in the brain. And most likely, we will seek such foods again and again.
Ready to break the cycle? Implement some of the tips mentioned above starting today. We are here to help you, if you need support, accountability and guidance. Send us a message using this link.
Disclaimer: Always consult your GP/PHYSICIANS. This article is no way giving you any medical recommendations or asking you to override your doctor’s advice. Nurture Yourself is not responsible for any health issues you may have or develop in future.