7 Tips for Fighting Food Cravings
We often hear from our medical weight loss patients that they are struggling to fight cravings. We know that it’s hard to resist those cravings for “bad” food. But don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s science, and our brains are actually biologically driven to seek high calorie, fatty foods. Thankfully there are ways to train our minds to learn to control that part of our primitive brain.
You may be wondering why does your brain want that block of cheese versus a bowl of veggies, well the answer is simple, Calories equals survival. Your brain is programmed to seek out fatty foods because back in the day when we were hunter-gathers, we only ate when it was a means to survive. Our ancestors would eat as much as possible and as often as possible since their bodies allowed them to store excess fat during lean winter times. Don’t get us wrong, it was necessary for our ancestors to do this, but in today’s day and age, it’s causing obesity, and worse, it’s making us sick.
Don’t worry though! There are several ways to control these cravings, to ensure they don’t derail your progress with your medical weight loss journey. Here are seven ways to you can work to control your cravings.
- Balance your blood sugar
When your blood sugar spikes and then crashes, it drives your brain back to its primitive food craving behavior. We suggest when you’re hungry between meals to eat healthy proteins like nuts or seeds. Avoid artificial sweeteners, as they can raise your insulin levels which can also cause you to gain weight or make it harder to lose weight. So, next time when you are deciding on a meal, choose ones with lots of protein, good fats, and of course lots of vegetables.
- Limit liquid calories and artificial sweeteners
We understand that you see the zero calories and think it’s “all good” but it’s not. Artificial sweeteners may actually increase your cravings for sugar, which is not helpful when you are trying to cut down. Also, your body’s blood sugar and insulin levels can rise when you have carbohydrates with or after drinking a beverage containing the artificial sweetener sucralose. We highly recommend switching out that carbonated or artificially flavored beverage for water.
- Drink more water
Hunger cravings are more often than not confused with being thirsty. We recommend when you start to feel that sudden urge for a specific food, instead of going for it, try drinking a large glass of water and wait a few minutes. You may discover that your craving fades away. Furthermore, drinking plenty of water has many health benefits, for example, it has been found that drinking water before meals can reduce one’s appetite and aid in weight loss.
- Don’t buy the bad foods you crave
It will be a lot easier to help with cravings if you don’t buy them and have them stored in your home. Distancing yourself from those cravings can help train your brain not to want those cravings either. We recommend when you begin to want those cravings to go for a walk or shift your mindset to focus on something else. Another great way to help is to chew gum, studies have shown that chewing gum can help reduce appetite and cravings.
- Plan and prepare your meals
If it’s possible, try meal prepping your meals for the week. By having your meals already planned out, you will be able to eliminate spontaneity and uncertainty in your meals. Also the less you have to think about what your next meal is, the less likely you’ll be tempted and less likely to experience cravings.
- Avoid being starving
Being hungry is one the biggest reasons we experience cravings. So, be prepared for when hunger strikes, have healthy snacks on hand to avoid being too hungry. We also recommend that you eat regularly to avoid long periods of hunger, because they may be able to prevent cravings from showing up at all.
- Try an appetite suppressant
If you feel you are still having a hard time curbing your appetite cravings, then try one of our appetite suppressants. We offer Trim Slim and Cell Press, both of which are great for reducing your appetite. Cell Press is made from cellulose, and it acts as a natural filler giving your body the sensation of being full before you eat. Trim Slim is a dietary supplement that helps you lose weight by suppressing your appetite and speeding up your metabolism. Another great perk about Trim Slim is it’s a cortisol blocker. Cortisol is stress hormone that can decrease your metabolism and increase food cravings.
At New Results Medical Weight Loss, we want to help you curb those cravings and ultimately have you reach your weight loss goal. So, if you are ready to take the next step to a new you, call us today and schedule an appointment with one of our qualified weight loss professionals. We cannot wait to see the new you.