Cravings are hard to deal with. Ignore them and they won’t just go away. Cravings are persistent little buggers. They gnaw away at you, prodding and reminding you they are there. The only way to deal is to give in but give in gracefully. Meet your craving head on but on your terms. There are ways you can deal with even your toughest cravings in a healthy manner.
1 Fast Food
Fast food probably ranks as one of the most addictive and crave-inducing foods in the world! The only real way to fight against this craving is to try to make homemade versions of your favorite takeout meals that you can tweak and turn in to healthier dishes. Instead of heading to a drive-thru, why not make your own fresh turkey burgers? Equally delicious but much better for you!
Frequently asked questions
2 Candy
One of the best ways to beat your candy craving is to, rather than going completely cold turkey and cutting out all sugary sweets, treat yourself to just a very small amount and your brain will be satisfied by this compromise. You can start to train yourself to have less and less candy, much like a smoker who decreases their amount of nicotine, until eventually you find that you are do not crave candy as much as you once did.
3 Carbs
Carbs are our number one source of fuel so we always tend to crave them when we are low on energy. If you always tend to want something like pasta or a sandwich at night, you might want to reconsider what time you go to bed. If you are a bit of a night owl, you can start to ease your carb craving by going to bed earlier and not giving your body the chance to be hungry so late.
4 Cheese
One way of how to beat your cheese craving is limit the ‘damage’ by opting to buy lighter versions of the dairy products that you love. Cheese can be really calorific so anything to reduce the unhealthy aspects is great. Also, to get a cheesy hit without having full wedge, why not do something like grate some Parmesan over fresh veggies to make the craving much healthier!
5 Comfort Food
With comfort food, it isn’t really a case of switching food stuffs or making a certain dish healthier, but more of a psychological exercise to train your brain that you do not need to head to the fridge if you are stressed or upset about something. Of course, the most helpful thing to do would be to try to eliminate whatever it is in your life that is causing you the stress in the first place. Find something else to do that will prevent you from reaching for a bowl of creamy mashed potato.
6 Salt
Some people have a sweet tooth, and some people crave salty foods. Many experts have recommended that instead of reaching for the salt shaker for every meal, you instead add a dash of something like vinegar, lime or lemon juice, because these flavors give you same sort of kick and satisfaction without posing as much of a health problem.
7 Caffeine
Caffeine can be an incredibly hard craving to try to manage. Firstly, assess your stamina and see if you can change your routine to have more natural energy, and secondly, try to switch to sipping on black tea for a caffeine hit that isn’t as strong as your normal espresso or black coffee.
8 Chocolate
A great trick for weaning yourself off of too much chocolate is to avoid buying the really cheap brands. Cheap chocolate has less of a taste impact, and therefore you will end up eating more of it to satisfy your cravings. A little bit of good quality dark chocolate can go a long way!
I have a sweet craving which is always immediately followed by a salt craving. Not good and not easy to deal with.
