Mind over matter? Out smart your bad habits!

I always wonder why, when I go on a "diet" that I always seem to hit a road block. Those days that nothing sounds good but cheeseburgers and cake, or all you want is ice cream and peanut butter, etc. and you give in, why? because they seem to be the STRONGEST cravings EVER!  Then, the guilt hits, and you feel like crap. And then, you must make the choice to restart your "diet" the next day, or just give up.  Diets are not the horrid things we all dread, it is THAT day that we dread. It is knowing that our will power can only take us so far and that there WILL come a day that we will hit that wall and we will more then likely fail. We are human, after all, so we really should not expect anything more, right?  Well, basically.  But there is hope. The first step is to stop "binge" and "fad"dieting, but even if you are changing to a healthy stable diet, there is still the brick wall that you will eventually hit. Don't worry, there is good news. I can help you OUT SMART your BAD habits. :)

When you get cravings it is your bodys way of telling you that you need something. Badly, sometimes. It has been widely known by this due to pregnancy cravings and the fact that most times the pregnant woman gets whatever she wants whenever the craving hits. I say most because I was NOT one of those pregnant people. Oh, I had the cravings, but when I would wake my hubby up and ask him to get me whatever I was craving he would laugh at me and tell me I could wait until morning. Which, I always did and I survived just fine, and sometimes they went away by then too.  It has been my experiences through 3 pregnancies and more "diets" then I care to admit to, that when I went through nutrition classes and culinary school, things began to click with me, and I have figured out how to outsmart my bad habits. :)

When your body become deficient in something that it needs, it tells what I have dubbed as the Control center of your brain. This is in the subconscious part of your brain that controls bodily functions and the like. It gets the message that you need something and then it pulls up the food you eat the most that will give you what you need, and then sends that message to you and you crave it like no other, and basically nothing else will satisfy you. And the will power to just NOT eat those foods is hard to come by. What I want to share, is how to get around it. Remember that I mentioned that your control center will access the food you eat the most that will satisfy your bodies needs. As you are changing your diet and moving to a healthier way of eating and life, you are still trying to teach your brain as well. So when you crave a cheeseburger, you may need the protein, or the salt, or the carbohydrates, and if you can satisfy your bodies need, then the craving will, more then likely, go away.  As you eat more healthy food with a regularity then you will start craving the healthier foods since they will be the foods you eat the  most.  You understand?  The hardest part, which is very hard, is getting through the 2 -4 weeks it will take to reprogram your control center with the foods that you want to be eating.

Here are the most common cravings, and a few ideas as to what your body might need, and somethings you can eat instead that should satisfy your bodies needs and hopefully it will stop the cravings. :)

Probably the Number one craving that I get told about is that they crave cheeseburgers. And since it is so cheap and easy to just drive thru and get a couple, it is hard to pass up. 
You will normally crave this for the:
 protein
fat,
or salt.

Try instead:

Salted nuts, or even just some nut butter (especially if it is a good natural nut butter without the added oils and fats)

Grilled chicken on a salad, you can even add some nuts to your salad

Tuna. I like to put mine on a piece of toast. (if you are cutting out breads, then you can put it on lettuce as a wrap, or I have even put some on cucumber slices to give it a crunch as well. A little salt and pepper, maybe even some celery and carrots diced up in it gives it a great flavor. :)

Cookies:
These are MY biggest weaknesses.  All. The. Time.  Whenever I have a cookie, and I finish it, I die a little inside and wonder where my next cookie is. ;)
These you will crave mainly for the carbs and the sugars. (which will eventually all just turn into sugar in your body) You can also crave them for the fat, but mainly it will be the sugar.

Try instead:

Vanilla yogurt with berries

Cheese cubes and honey

Apples with yogurt or nut butter

Watermelon or Cantelope

Strawberries with honey

Remember to get you some raw unfiltered local honey. This will make it good for you and less just sugary filler. ;)

Ice cream of any kind will be craved when your body needs sugar or calcium. 
Sometimes you will also crave ice cream when your body needs fluids to regulate it temperature. If you are over heated for instance, or you are dehydrated.

Try Instead:

Ice water

Chilled grapes (some even like them straight from the freezer)

Watermelon

Cheese and honey

Yogurt and fruit

 

Not very often do I personally crave chicken nuggets or french fries, but when I asked around, this was a common answer given to me. Most of them when asked said that they would crave these normally after they wanted a cheeseburger or something and they were trying to find another option, and wanted chicken nuggets instead, or ended up eating french fires or even potato chips.
The best answer I could find for this is that you are craving fat. Your body does need fats and when people diet they tend to try and not eat fat and eat fat free options of everything, but some fats are needed.  If this happens, I would suggest  trying:

Avocados
Nuts
Coconut

You can eat these however you want. I love avocado on eggs, sandwiches, etc.  You can eat some peanut butter, almond butter, or even sunbutter. Dip apples in it is great, or celery. Find a way to incorporate some healthy fats into your diet and it might cure the fired foods cravings. :)




There comes a time when everyone needs to revamp their diets, too much repetition is not good for anything, just remember when you are changing anything the first few weeks are the hardest. They say that it takes 2 weeks to make a habit and 4 weeks to break one, so if you are trying to break the habit of too much coffee, or bread, or cookies, etc, it will take time before your body and mind adjusts to your new limitations. Do not get discouraged when you cave and have a cookie, or coffee, or bread, etc. Allow yourself some give, it doesn't have to be so serious. I allow myself one cup of coffee a day. Sometimes its with breakfast, and sometimes I have coffee at night with my little dessert. Limit your quantities and you will not have to feel guilty for allowing yourself a treat now and then. If you eat healthy all day and get all your vegetables and needed nutrients, you had no bread or fatty meats, then allow yourself to enjoy a hamburger for dinner. Cut out the things you will not miss first, then just limit those things that you feel like you could not live without. Mine are cheese, milk, coffee, cookies, and chocolate. I literally would miss meat less then milk and cookies. :)   But once you get a habit of eating healthier then your craving will be just emotional cravings more then body deficiency cravings. (The difference between "I want/would like" and "I need") 

Good luck, and remember to 

LOVE WHAT YOU EAT!