How to stop Cravings

 

 

Cravings. We’ve all had them. They hit when you least expect them, and can completely ruin your progress if you let them. If you are dealing with cravings for foods with high fat or high sugar content late at night, you may be worried you won’t be able to lose the weight you want and gain the fitness results you are striving toward.Intellectually you know that gobbling down high-calorie food in the evening leaves you feeling frustrated, heavy and defeated. Yet, when those p.m. cravings hit, they’re often impossible to resist.  However, with a little understanding of what cravings are, how they are triggered, and what you can do to stop them, you can get back on track with your fitness routine and keep unhealthy food choices out of your body.

What are Cravings?

When you crave something, it is more than the normal hunger feeling you experience between meals. Cravings are intense yearnings for a certain type of food. While it would be nice if our body’s craved vegetables, the majority of the time these cravings are for food rich in fat and sugar, and eating anything does not usually make the craving go away. For example, if you are craving chocolate, eating carrot sticks is most likely not going to satisfy the craving.
 
Unlike normal hunger, cravings can be triggered by pleasant associations, situations, and your emotions. Your mind uses cravings because it associates them as rewards. Many times, this is caused by childhood occurrences. For instance, your parents might have given you some biscuits every time you finished your homework. Now, when you eat correctly and exercise to get fit fast, your mind may try to reward you by craving those foods.

What’s more, research shows that women tend to crave high sugar foods, like chocolate, biscuits and ice cream, while men tend to crave heartier food like steak, mashed potatoes, burgers, pasta and pizza.

Numerous studies have also shown that a craving does not indicate a nutritional need or deficiency. So sadly, we can throw that excuse out the window.
 
 
If you feel as if you need to eat something late at night, choosing low calorie, healthy alternatives will help you maintain progress.

 

Here’s why we crave:

• Learned behaviors and experiences - As mentioned above, as a child, you may have been consistently rewarded with a sweet treat when you had a bad day. The learned behavior of having something sweet to lift your spirits became a habit that is very hard to break.

• Hormonal fluctuations
  Certain hormones in your body help control appetite. Ghrelin is the hormone you produce that drives you to eat, while leptin is the hormone that signals satiety. Normally, these hormones act as a checks and balances system to keep your appetite in check. However, under certain physiological conditions, such as sleep deprivation, this system is thrown off because the hormones are not produced in proper proportion to one another. Estrogen, cortisol and serotonin can also play a role in food craving frenzies, and whether due to stress, sleep deprivation, or the normal hormonal fluctuations of a woman’s menstrual cycle, these hormones can drive you to seek out nutrient- dense, fatty, sugary foods.

• Environmental factors and sensory stimulation
  Studies have found that the sight, smell, taste, or even just the thought of favorite foods can lead to intense cravings. For example intaking a small amount of sugar could lead to intense sugar cravings, leading to a full on binge.  Experiences like seeing food advertisements on TV or passing a bakery and smelling the aroma of fresh baked bread can also initiate food cravings. Certain social settings, like a party or environmental factors, such as dim lighting in a restaurant, can fuel our drive to indulge.

 

Why are cravings so irresistible at night?

Nighttime may be the first time you get to relax after a long, structured and stressful day. You’re through with work and the kids are asleep; it’s finally your time. Whether it is behavioral or hormonal, the urge to treat yourself with sweet or savory food can be an overwhelming response from the body’s need for relaxation. In addition, you may be tired or emotional from the stress of the day, which makes it that much harder to fight the impulse to indulge. Plus, all those television food commercials don’t help!

Stopping Late Night Cravings

Whether your cravings are psychological emotional, or physical, there are certain steps you can take to prevent late night cravings and bingeing.

Eat Breakfast – When you eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, your body’s metabolism kicks into high gear. This helps you burn more calories throughout the day, and really is the most important meal you can eat if you want to get fit fast. Without breakfast, your body will burn calories at a slower rate and you will be left feeling hungry.


Don’t Store Unhealthy Food – Storing unhealthy food in your home is just asking for trouble. As the old saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind"

 

Eat Regularly – Consuming four or five small meals every day can not only help you get fit fast by keeping your metabolism going and regulating your blood sugar levels, but it is also a great way to reduce hunger and cravings.

Exercise - Sitting on the sofa watching television can actually make you crave food that is unhealthy for you. Get up and exercise. Doing so will release endorphins in your brain that can help improve your mood and fight cravings.

Relieve Stress – Because emotions can trigger food cravings, it is important to find way to relieve stress. Consider taking a walk or even fitting a meditating session into your fitness routine once a week.

Pre-plan and stretch your p.m. snack - People often “crave” what they’ve planned for. Plan for something healthy and you’re likely to crave it.

Drink water - If the cravings do strike, then drink about 2 pints of water, one after the other, this should offset them.

Keep yourself busy, in and out of the house - Downtime tends to be “craving central.” If you’re watching TV at night, find ways to distract yourself during adverts, particularly food adverts.  Check your e-mail, do crunches or pushups, plan your calendar for the rest of the week. It’s also a great idea to get out of the house a few nights each week aswel.

 
So there you have it, follow these tips and late night cravings will be a thing of the past or at least, you will be able to control it to such an extent that it won’t hinder your results any longer.



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