You can learn to resist food cravings.
It can be done.
It’s not lack of willpower or determination, or a weakness on your part that sees you repeating the same unwanted behaviour again and again. Because, most cravings are nothing more than habits, actions which are subconscious and automatic behaviours.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We all have cravings, good and bad ones.
Why do we crave things and why is it soooo hard to stop?
My worst craving is for lollies. My mother, who’s now well on her way to 90, has the sweetest tooth I’ve ever come across. I know the exact shelf in her kitchen where she has her stash and when I visit, I find myself opening that cupboard and reaching in. I can taste the sugary goodness before I even arrive there. My brain has associated love and comfort with Mum + lollies. An emotional anchor that’s difficult to turn away from.
Cravings are a damaging habit
Hard to break. Hard to change.
They’ll sabotage your plans and derail your good intentions. But overall, you’ll feel frustrated and guilty when you repeat them.
Whatever your craving, image for a moment what it would be like if you learnt how to stop that food craving.
Cravings are nothing more than a habit. A repeated pattern that gave your brain a reward in the past so now your brain is looking to repeat the same thing to get the same reward.
Are you thinking this?
There’s the idea that you’re craving what your body needs, or is missing. In some instances, this is true. Like when you crave water, you’re dehydrated and thirsty. At times, you can crave salt because of an electrolyte imbalance. Or, the chemical cravings from cigarettes or some drugs.
When your blood sugar is dysregulated and your insulin is high, your body craves carbohydrates to fix it.
Today, I’m discussing food cravings, not real imbalances.
When you crave chocolate, a sweet biscuit or a white chocolate and raspberry muffin, it’s not because your body is deficient in cacao or sugar or the ingredients in a muffin. You’re not deficient in sugar.
Sorry to disappoint.
What is a craving?
It’s an emotionally driven feeling that takes over your body (and all logical reasoning) and makes you do a certain behaviour.
Cravings are all about instant gratification, and your brain loves instant gratification, over and above waiting patiently. It’s part of your survival instinct from the dark ages when finding food and eating it right then and there was the difference between surviving and starving.
Why is it so hard to stop cravings?
It’s a learned behaviour.
In your past, you ate the thing you now crave and it made you feel good. Maybe you were having fun or felt relaxed, content or even loved. Perhaps you were tired and then felt energised. What happened was – you had an emotional response.
Afterwards, your body was cruising on the wave of feel good neurotransmitters. You possibly repeated the same thing again and, boom, your brain made that connection. Eat that – feel good. Your brain filed that behaviour and subsequent emotional charge away so that you could do the same on a subconscious repeat loop. Because your brain is always looking to save energy.
Every time you encounter the cue or trigger that’s been logged by your brain (like a smell, time of day or situation) your body sets up a dopamine anticipation response.
It’s the anticipation
It’s the anticipation of how you’ll feel when you repeat the previous behaviour (eat that muffin, drink that glass of wine etc). It has nothing to do with how you’ll feel afterwards. You brain is chasing the anticipation of how you think you’ll feel.
Bite Sized Action Step
Here’s actions you can do today to short circuit your brain when craving something. Because, understanding what’s going in your brain is how you get results:
- Understand how dopamine works and short circuit the behaviour – click here to down The Dopamine Trap Worksheet.
- Use the delay exercise – click here to download The Delay Discounting Worksheet.
If you want to chat with me about building consistent habits into your life, book a free chat with me today.
And, don’t forget to forward this blog to someone your care about.
Want to jump on my email list? Yes please!
With you consistently good habits in mind,
Catherine x
