Falling off the bandwagon, one more time....
How often have you flattened a slab of chocolate? Or a packet of chips? Or instead of 1 cupcake, you ate 2 or 3? Just recently it's happened to me. Chocolate brownies at Tuesday Tea! And instead of 1, I had a 2nd and then, you won't believe it, a 3rd!!! What?!!! And after the 3rd I was like, "What the hell happened there?" Cravings can know your very best intentions right out of the park. And then we're wracked with guilt, angry with ourselves and set even stricter limitations on what we can and can't eat for days after.
So What Can You Do?
1) Become aware of what sets you off. Is it because you can't think of an alternative food or snack to eat? Is it the time of day when you'd normally reach for that particular food? Is it an emotional response to a situation? Take notice of how you feel, what time of day it is, what you were doing when you had the craving. Read more about food journaling here... 2) Pause before you do Can you distract yourself and stretch out the time between the impulse and just maybe you won't want whatever it is that you're craving? 3) Become aware of the cycle Do you reach for the chocolate/ coke/ chips/ muffin when you're feeling down/ tired/ stressed? So the action of eating the impulse food is controlled by your feelings.And this in turn drives the cravings which controls your actions which influencs your feelings. Can you see? It's a never ending, interminable cycle...
4) Choose your response
You don't need to do whatyou have always done. Start speaking of your future self. For example, if you crave bread or pasta instead of saying, "I just can't say No to pasta." Describe your future self and say, "I don't eat pasta." Here's a bit of psychology - your subconscious mind doesn't know fact from fiction. It accepts what we say and think as the material from which to build our own reality. So stating a fact which might not necessarily be true right at this moment will with repetition become true for you! 5) Learn new says to deal with external problems And remove the support or crutch that your craving gives you. This requires acknowledging to yourself and your family that you need time and their support. Becoming mindful of the moment through yoga, meditation, journaling and exercise can all help.
So when you do succumb to a craving, acknowledge it, look at why it happened and figure out what you can do so that the next time the craving hits you between the eyes, you have a plan to avoid it.
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