Food cravings. Most of us have had them. It is very common to have food cravings. It ranges from sweets/ sugary food, salty/ savoury food, junk food, and even non-food items. The cravings vary from person to person, and you may crave different things from time to time. Sometimes, food cravings can be so intense and uncontrollable, you just cannot move on with your day without getting your cravings satisfied first. Although it is fine to indulge in your food cravings occasionally, it may be one of the biggest reasons why one may have problems with losing weight and keeping it off. Here are 5 tips on how you can control or better manage your food cravings.
1. Stay Hydrated
Once again, staying adequately hydrated can help! Your body might send the wrong signal to your brain if you’re dehydrated. Thirst is often confused with hunger or food cravings. Try drinking a glass of water when the food cravings hit and wait a few minutes. Your food cravings might go away, or the intensity of the food craving may be minimized.
2. Meal Planning
Meal planning is basically giving your brain and body a heads up of your upcoming meals. This may lower the factor of spontaneity and uncertainty. If you know what your next meal is, there is a lower chance of you being tempted to indulge in your cravings.
3. Manage Stress Level
Stress level affects your eating behaviors and may induce food cravings. The increase of stress level may also increase the blood levels of cortisol. Too much of this hormone can make you gain weight at the midsection/ belly area, upper back, and face.
4. Get Enough Sleep
Appetite is influenced by the hormones that fluctuate throughout the day. Sleep deprivation disrupts the fluctuation. This may lead to food cravings and poor appetite regulation. Ensuring that you get enough sleep will allow proper hormones fluctuation, thus better control with food cravings.
5. Avoid Getting Extremely Hungry
Don’t forget to eat your meals regularly! You may feel extremely hungry because of that and may have food cravings. If you’re stopping yourself from regularly eating, you may just end up eating more than you would if you ate your meals regularly. If you’ve already ate your meals, prepare healthy snacks at convenient places. When you feel the hunger pangs or food cravings coming up, pop that healthy snack in your mouth.
It is okay to indulge in food cravings occasionally, but it is also important to control the intake. Know and understand your limits and eat within that limit. Having better self-control in what you put in your body can be very empowering.
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