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Eight Excellent Ways to Control Cravings and Control Your
Health
If you want to have a long and healthy life, a healthy diet and an active lifestyle will keep your body vital into
your later years.
A healthy diet that is low in fat, high in fiber, rich in vegetables and fruits, adequate in hydration and sparse
in sugar will do more to keep you healthy than nearly any other step you could take in that direction. There is
definitely a place in your healthy diet for the occasional treat; the problem is that most people crave sweets or
fried food more often than is good for us! That means that if you are serious about maintaining good health you are
going experience cravings for all the goodies that are around us all the time!
Understanding the nature of cravings (and how to deal with them) will be helpful to overcome, ignore, or even beat
our cravings. Here are eight excellent suggestions designed to help you do just that.
Sometimes cravings are not truly food related. Examine your mood and see if you really want to eat; are you angry,
sad, frustrated, or bored? Many people learned some time in their lives that food helped to soothe these kinds of
feelings. Deal with yourself honestly and maybe you’ll discover a powerful tool in understanding not only cravings,
but your emotions.
Refuse to stock your kitchen with the goodies that are your undoing. Substitute low calorie alternatives such as
fresh fruit, diet drinks, yogurt, rice cakes, and baby carrots. If the high calorie stuff isn’t in the house it’s
easier to resist.
Studies are showing that sometimes thirst may mask itself in such a way that you think you are hungry rather than
thirsty. Try drinking a nice tall glass of cold water and wait a few minutes to see if that has taken care of your
craving. Sometimes having a good drink inside you will satisfy your stomach Remember, adequate hydration is very
important to good health. Eight glasses of water a day are what is required.
Try to take your mind off your cravings. If you are watching TV, why not leash up the dog and have a walk around
the block? Try to substitute another activity to see if it was just boredom after all.
Sometimes, if you have something to do with your hands you can overcome cravings. People quitting cigarettes
discover this trick quite soon. If you play guitar or piano, have a practice. If you knit or do any kind of
needlework, this is an excellent substitute. Do whatever entertains you and your stomach.
Some people find keeping a diet journal invaluable. This will be your own personal book in which you write about
what the diet will accomplish; what seems to work and what doesn’t, even just ranting about how hungry you feel.
For people trying to examine their cravings this idea is absolutely terrific.
If you are more a talker than a writer (more extroverted than introverted), you may find a diet buddy more to your
liking. This can be a friend or family member who is dieting at the same time you are, maybe someone you met at an
exercise class, or someone that attends the same school or church as you do. Make a pact that if one buddy feels
their willpower flagging, they will call the other buddy and talk it over until the cravings pass.
Get out and get physical! Play with your children or your little brothers and sisters, jump rope, turn on some
music and dance! Perhaps you will release enough endorphins to keep you happy until bedtime!
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