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Winning the Weight Loss Race
Food Cravings
FACTS AND MYTHS ABOUT FOOD CRAVINGS MYTH: "I can't stand to have my craving go unsatisfied."
FACT: Instead, say to yourself, "I can stand the craving even though I don't like it. Eventually it will go away."
MYTH: "A craving means I'm a failure and have no self-discipline."
FACT: Food cravings are very real and anyone can get them. Sometimes stress will trigger them. But for many people - women especially - cravings result from the presence or absence of certain brain chemicals. Just knowing that food cravings are very real - and that you're not alone - can help you learn to overcome them.
MYTH: "A craving will increase until I give in to it."
FACT: If you do give in, it will become more of a problem in the long run. If you don't give in, it will get stronger - but only for a while; eventually it will go away and this little victory will make you stronger to resist future cravings - because you know you can.
MYTH: "A craving like this is terrible and I can't resist it."
FACT: If World War II was "terrible," can you really consider your craving "terrible?" No, it is simply unpleasant. Tell yourself that your cravings are "uncomfortable" at worst, and that giving in to them would make you even more uncomfortable.
MYTH: "I want the thing I crave - NOW!"
FACT: What you really want is to avoid this thing you're craving. That's your real want.
MYTH: "A craving is something to be ashamed of, so I'd better not talk about it."
FACT: If you talk about your craving with supportive people, you'll be able to take away some of its strength. It's said that cravings are like cockroaches - they run for cover when you turn on the light of clear thinking.
Source: Adapted from an article by Peter Dvorak of Recovery Power.
HOW TO CURB THE CRAVINGS - Make your craving wait
for 10 minutes. Within that 10 minutes, go for a walk, take a hot shower, call a friend, etc. By then, the craving probably will have passed.
- Don't buy food you're likely to crave
(and binge on). Or if you must, buy it in individual serving packages.
- Drink a glass of water
or eat a piece of fruit. You'll probably feel too full to want anything else.
- Keep low-fat snacks
- like pretzels, popcorn, cut-up vegetables and fruit - handy. If they're not, it will be that much easier to dig into a bag of chips or cookies.
BLAME IT ON YOUR BRAIN? What and how we eat may not be strictly a question of willpower. There often are other forces influencing our appetites - and they are called brain chemicals. One of these chemicals is serotonin. When our brains are producing adequate supplies of this chemical, our appetites (and food cravings) tend to be "quiet." On the other hand, when serotonin levels drop, our "food desires" tend to increase.
But there are also other brain chemicals whose presence may actually increase food cravings. When they are blocked or inactivated in people, their binge-eating behavior subsides.
Source: University of Michigan study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol.62, No.1.
3 REASONS TO 'BAG' SUGAR Sugar-filled foods are among the most-craved items in our diet. But consider these not-so-sweet facts next time your sugar-craving kicks in: - Sugary foods fill you up with "empty" calories.
That means you're probably not eating enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains - foods which contain the much-needed nutrients our bodies require to fight off disease.- Too much sugar in foods that are high in calories makes you gain weight,
and too much weight can contribute to disorders like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.- Too much sugar can make you feel tired,
shaky, weak, faint, headachey, confused, and mentally dull.
A BETTER USE FOR SUGAR- To see if your bathroom scale is accurate,
weigh an unopened five-pound bag of sugar.- Need motivation to continue losing excess weight?
After you've lost five pounds, lift a five pound bag of sugar to get a tangible idea of how much weight you've lost.
Resource: "How to Win the Weight-Loss Race"--315-1--Quick Read Booklet. Information provided exclusively for use on this site, courtesy of HOPE Publications, www.HOPEPublications.com. Material is copyrighted by the Hope Heart Institute, Seattle, Washington, a heart research institute. Material may not be used without written permission.
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