Defeat Cravings

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Seniors/fit, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | (0) Comments

Well, sort of. It is not like you can just not crave certain foods by pure will power, but there are ways to control them. One way is to just give in! Actually, that is not a bad idea. You are better off eating (1) chocolate chip cookie when you have the urge than to wait and then eat 10 of them. The catch is, of course, to only eat one. A lot of people can’t do this. I don’t have a problem stopping after 1 cookie or a small scoop of ice cream, but a lot of people just can’t stop. The point is that eating a small piece of chocolate after lunch for dessert is far better than eating the whole bar later on when you are really craving it. The crazy thing, is that it is all in your head…

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Ever notice that when you decide to give up a favorite food, it’s the only thing you can think about? You’re totally normal. When researchers at the University of Toronto deprived women of chocolate for a week, they found that the restrained eaters experienced more intense, chronic chocolate cravings and swallowed approximately double the amount of the forbidden food when it was finally allowed. “When you cut something out of your diet, you’re more likely to overeat it when you do encounter it,” says Janet Polivy, Ph.D., the study’s lead author. In other words, restricting your diet primes you to obsess. Instead of swearing off sweets, pare down your portions, says SELF contributing editor Janis Jibrin, R.D. At SelfDietClub.com, you can determine how many calories your cravings account for. “If you’ve been eating 500 calories of sweets, cut it in half. Then start to work your way down,” Jibrin says. If you’re trying to lose weight, your eventual goal is to be satisfied by 150 calories per day. Replace the foods you’re limiting with naturally sweet eats such as berries, pears and other fruit to help appease your sweet tooth, Gans suggests. From MSNBC