How to Overcome Food Cravings in Less than a Week
One of the hardest parts of losing weight is dealing with the food cravings. Sweet chocolate cake and salty French fries call your name- and it’s hard to resist! But why is that? Food cravings are caused by the regions of the brain that are responsible for memory, pleasure, and reward. You probably don’t get that pleasure response from eating a cucumber…yet! Another thing that causes cravings is an imbalance of hormones, such as leptin and serotonin. This is the idea that the body craves certain foods because it lacks certain nutrients.
So how do you actually use this information to eliminate those pesky food cravings? I’ll tell you! Once you start eating nutritious, healthy food, you correct those nutritional deficiencies naturally. In addition, you start to crave those healthy foods and that once irresistible piece of cake starts to sound heavy and gross. I swear it’s true. Your brain starts to associate that cucumber or apple with pleasure and reward.
In my experience, the first 2-3 days are absolutely the hardest when switching to a healthy diet. But after that third day, you really don’t want that cake as much, and that apple sounds great with a little almond butter. By the end of the week, you not only don’t want the unhealthy food that always held you captive, but you actually start to crave something light and healthy.
So how can you get over that first hurdle to even make it to no cravings? There are some tips you can follow to help power through.
1. Drink Water
If you feel a sudden urge for a specific food, try drinking a large glass of water and wait a few minutes. You may find that the craving fades away, because your body was actually just thirsty.
2. Eat More Protein
Eating a lot of protein helps you feel full and reduces cravings significantly.
3. Distance Yourself From the Craving
Eliminate the foods that you are weak to pass up from your home. You can’t eat it if it’s not there. And if you feel a craving pop up when the food is accessible, try to shift your thoughts to something else, like your end goal.
4. Avoid Getting Extremely Hungry
Hunger is one of the biggest reasons why we falter from our healthy foods. By the time you’re starving, the heavier, rewarding foods simply sound the best. To avoid getting extremely hungry, it may be a good idea to eat regularly and have healthy snacks close at hand.
5. Take Spinach Extract
Spinach extract is a "new" supplement on the market, made from spinach leaves. It helps delay fat digestion, which increases the levels of hormones that reduce appetite and hunger, such as GLP-1. One study in overweight women showed that 5 grams of spinach extract per day reduced cravings for chocolate and high-sugar foods by a whopping 87–95%!
