Let’s face it – everyone gets food cravings more or less. Most people,however, don’t know hot to control them. As a result they gain body-weight by overeating, or eating foods they shouldn’t be eating – mostly junk food and high glycemic carbohydrates. But what causes cravings and how do you learn to control them to lose weight ?
Our food cravings probably started way back in the time of our ancestors – when food was hard to get. Our ancestors probably craved nutrients that they needed to survive and overate when food was available.
So our brain may be used to sending signals that we need to eat on high calorie foods in order to survive, even when food is everywhere around us today.
Some experts claim that eating too much high glycemic foods or foods with not enough fiber can make us hungry in a matter of minutes after our meal. Foods high in sugar, fats or sodium (salt) can trigger the release of dopamine which in turn makes the brain ask for more of those foods. Some experts claim that eating too little protein can trigger cravings. It can also be a simple hunger thing. If you are burning more calories (during your workouts) than you are consuming, the body may be trying to compensate for the lost energy by triggering a craving for sweet or fatty high-calorie food.
Whatever the reason for the craving, there are ways to put it under control, although you may never eliminate it completely.
Make sure you are not just hungry
The first step is to make sure you are eating enough calories to “cover” your energy expenditure. Make sure you are well-fueled with the right kind of calories, of course. No matter what you try, if you are burning more calories than you are consuming, you will be always hungry and crave for high calorie foods. That’s why you cut only 300 to 500 calories under maintenance when you start a diet.
If you are sure you ate the right quantity of calories to fuel your energy needs and you still feel the urge to eat something sweet, fatty or salty then
Avoid the craving triggers
Take a note of what you are doing before the craving starts and just go a different route. Avoid seeing or smelling things that cause the need for specific foods. Also don’t store junk food and sweets at home – if you don’t have them at home it’s likely you won’t eat them.
Drink some water
Sometimes the brain confuses hunger with thirst. Try drinking a glass of water at the time of the craving to see if you’re not thirsty instead.