If you are counting calories and your goal is to limit your calorie intake to 1,000 per day, you will easily start craving for food, especially junk food. It is hard not to give in to these tempting crunchy, sweet, tasty treats. This will definitely not help you in your weight loss strategy. It is a good thing that there are ways on how you can stop yourself from craving food, which include the following techniques:
1. Sleep more. When you get enough sleep, you will not go hungry when you wake up the next day.
2. Eat at the right time. If you eat at the right schedule, you will not go hungry faster than usual.
3. Have a healthy breakfast. Your breakfast should have fiber in it as well as protein. These two can help suppress cravings for the rest of the day. No matter what happens though, you shouldn’t skip breakfast as this still remains to be the most important meal of the day.
4. Know what triggers your cravings. Sometimes, you are not hungry and yet you still crave for food. This is a phenomenon known as stress eating or emotional eating. You may want to learn what stresses you out, so you can solve the problem and stop yourself from craving for extra food.
5. Eat something new. If you keep eating the same things over and over, you could end up craving for other foods. Usually, these foods are fatty and unhealthy. Have a varied diet to keep you satisfied and eventually stop your cravings.
6. Know what you’re eating. You can keep a journal where you write down what you have eaten for today. Of course, this will not stop you from craving. However, this is an effective way of curbing your appetite, especially if you could list the calorie and fat content of the food you just ate. You can also use the food journal to learn the time/s of the day when you usually feel the cravings.
7. Eat something healthy. Instead of reaching for a bar of chocolate or some cupcakes, try a healthier alternative. You can have a light yogurt when you are craving for sweets. You can also have some fruits rather than eating sugary stuff. As long as you have your healthy options on hand, it will be much easier for you to say no to your cravings.
8. Don’t make it easy to gain access on foods you crave. As the opposite of having your healthy alternatives ready, you should make sure the unhealthy foods you are craving for are not within your reach. You can have an eating plan where the healthy foods are within your reach, while the unhealthy ones are not even at your office or at home.
These eight tips can help you eliminate your food cravings. While it may be difficult at first, this does not mean that you cannot do them. Picture yourself healthy and keep that image in your mind as you say no to your food cravings.
