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10 Ways to Control Your Cravings
By admin | March 17, 2008
RD has given 10 techniques on how to best control your cravings.
- Avoid your triggers. “You crave what you eat, so if you switch what you’re eating, you can weaken your old cravings and strengthen new ones,” says Marcia Pelchat, PhD, of the Monell Center.
- Destroy temptation. If you’ve succumbed to a craving and bought a box of cookies or some other trigger food and start to feel bad while eating it, destroy it.
- Go nuts. Drink two glasses of water and eat an ounce of nuts (6 walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts).
- Jolt yourself with java. Try sipping a skim latte instead of reaching for a candy bar.
- Let it go. Since stress is a huge trigger for cravings, learning to deal with it could potentially save you hundreds of calories a day.
- Take a power nap. Cravings sneak up when we’re tired. Focus on the fatigue: Shut the door, close your eyes, re-energize.
- Get minty fresh. Brush your teeth; gargle with mouthwash. “When you have a fresh, clean mouth, you don’t want to mess it up,” says Molly Gee, RD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
- Distract yourself. If only ice cream will do, it’s a craving, not hunger. “Cravings typically last ten minutes,” says John Foreyt, PhD, of Baylor College of Medicine.
- Indulge yourself — within limits. Once in a while, it’s OK to go ahead and have that ice cream. But buy a small cone, not a pint.
- Plan or avoid. Vary your usual routine to avoid passing the bakery or pizzeria.
