Use these three foolproof steps to ensure
you stop any food urges before they strike.
Cut
The Crave
Want to stop automatically reaching for
that afternoon fizzy drink, or tarnishing your week’s healthy eating effort
with a carb binge? Whether it’s salt, sweets or the white stuff you’re after,
you can out a stop to your cravings.
Diagnose the cause:
1. Habit?
Always reaching
for a rusk with your 4pm coffee? Can’t go see a movie without having wine gums?
Eating these foods at these times has become a habit rather than an actual
physiological need.
2. Emotions?
If you console
yourself with chocolate, “need” a glass of wine after a tough day, or feel a
trip to the vending machine is the only way to deal with frustrations, you may
be eating emotionally. Often we use food for reasons other than hunger without
even realising it.
3. Thirst?
If you sometimes
feel your hunger is insatiable, it may be thirst. Something as simple as a
glass of water may satisfy you instead.
Adopt a strategy
1. Keep a food diary.
This will help
you see if there are times or situations where you want certain foods. Record
what time, where and what you eat for at least a week. You may find a pattern
emerges. You can then prepare in advance and know how best to handle these
situations.
Keep
a food diary.
2. Rate your hunger.
Before you eat,
determine how hungry you are by rating of 2 to 3, you’re doing it for emotional
reasons or out of habit. If you eat at an 8 or 9, it means you’re so hungry
you’re likely to overeat. You ideally want to have a meal at about a 5 or 6,
which is when you’re genuinely physiologically hungry.
3. Use non-food benefits.
Don’t reward
yourself with food as this teaches you to continue using it in an emotional
capacity. Rather try a non-food experience such as a bubble bath or a massage.
4. Drink enough water.
Have at least
six to eight glasses a day. This will prevent you from having cravings due to
thirst.
Drink
enough water
If you’re craving this… have this
1. Potato crisps
Pickled
cucumbers have all the saltiness, but none of the fat.
Potato
crisps
2. Pizza
Low-fat mini
pizza. Take a small slice of rye bread or seed loaf, and spread it with a
tablespoon of tomato-based pasta sauce. Sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of
reduced-fat mozzarella. Place a couple of thin slices of tomato on top, and
sprinkle with mixed herbs. Pop it in the microwave or under the drill until the
cheese bubbles.
Pizza
3. Chocolate
Fresh dates.
They’re sweet enough to kill off your sugar craving, and are a good source of
fibre. Limit yourself to three because they’re high in sugar.
Chocolate,
limit yourself to three because they’re high in sugar
