[home] [mind] [body] [spirit] [gay fitness and health products] [gay fitness books] [Coach Roc Harwood Tells You Gay Boys How...]
But, oh, those midnight cravings. You raid the refrigerator or sneak a candy bar, and then the guilt feelings set in.
The way you respond to food cravings just might make or break your success at weight loss and maintenance. Veering off from your eating plan occasionally will not be earth-shattering, but if you make a habit of giving in to your eating impulses, they will certainly catch up with you.
The following are just a few tips on overcoming food cravings. Soon we will feature a more extensive article about the mental and physical reasons we experience cravings; in the meantime, try putting these pointers to use:
It will pass
Believe it or not, you can simply wait out a craving. Sometimes we may even
mistake a craving for actual hunger. Playing the waiting game will help you
distinguish between the two. If you still want something 20 minutes later, chances
are you really are hungry.
If you allow yourself a little time to take a pause before giving in, you may
find the craving will disappear altogether. Get your mind on something else:
take a walk, write in your journal, play a game. You will be pleasantly surprised
to find time has passed and the craving has subsided.
Drink up
A glass of water, that is. While some suggest this is another method of "stalling"
like the wait-it-out method above, you may find that drinking water satisfies
your craving in and of itself. Sometimes we can mistake dehydration for hunger
or cravings. Your body is telling you that you need something, and you assume
it's food... take a chance and sip some H20, it may be just what you need.
Give in... just a little
The bad thing about cravings is that we are giving in to an impulse, and when
you act impulsively you have lost some control. Which means you probably lose
control of how much you eat, too. Take a moment to think about what you are
doing.
If you have decided to satisfy your craving, just do it on a smaller scale.
Never allow yourself to sit down with an entire carton or ice cream or a whole
bag of chips. Take out a serving and put the rest away. Better still, purchase
small portions to begin with. You will probably find that the first few bites
actually squelch the craving itself anyway.
Keep it real
You're a smart cookie. If you want a chocolate chip cookie, that reduced fat
fig bar is just not going to do the trick. Don't try to fool yourself. That's
right, go for the "bad" choice. Remember "all things in moderation."
Allow yourself to indulge in what you really want (just watch your portion size!)
and you will not feel deprived. If you do not grant yourself this allowance,
you are more likely to eat that fig bar and the chocolate chip cookie, because
the former didn't really satisfy your craving.
©365Gay.com 2005
Next Article: Warm Up Before Your Next Workout
