Don't Cave to Cravings
Last weekend, my sister, my brother, and his girlfriend all flew in for my mom's wedding. I, the household grocery shopper, knew that everyone would need some extra comfort food to make it through the weekend. My sister had salt and vinegar chips; my mom had Hershey bars; and I had a giant stash of Chai lattes.
But the weekend ended and now all this food is left in my fridge. Now, I am a very healthy person (in my opinion)- but if I know that I have tempting treats lying around the house, I AM GOING TO EAT THEM. I've been sneaking chocolates and chips all week- mind you, the only person I'm trying to hide my eating habits from is myself. I hate that I'm eating this junk!
Today, after lunch, I had the biggest craving for chocolate. I knew it was in the freezer and all I had to do was go get it. But something in me switched on and my internal monologue screamed, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"
The problem is that I've made it too easy for myself to cave to my cravings, while I should've been making it easy to walk away from them. You probably face this problem yourself: even if you try to eat healthy, your roommate will pick up your favorite chips at the store just to be nice; or your partner will make you a dessert because you've been working so hard; or you'll just want a taste of the treat you've missed so much! There are easy ways to combat these temptations, and it hardly takes any effort:
1. Stop buying sweets. If it's not in the house, you won't eat it. If you can't satisfy that craving, your body will learn to crave something else. If you crave something else, you eliminate the bad food from your diet. TA-DA, simple as that! Get the support of your roomies or partner on this one- if you're going to cut it out of your diet, you need it cut out of your life.
2. Replace your cravings. At the bottom of this post, there is a lovely little chart describing what your body really wants from you when it tells you it's craving sweets or chips or bread or what have you. If you're craving chocolate, replace it with nuts; if you're craving pasta, replace it with chick peas; if you're craving potato chips, replace it with kale chips. Sometimes our bodies are like toddlers: listen to them, but don't believe everything they say- they don't always know what's best for them.
3. Treat yourself in a healthy way. Even the healthiest of us want to treat ourselves sometimes! If we get a new personal best record on the treadmill, or managed to organize the whole kitchen in one afternoon, or accomplished our weekly to-do list in a day, we may be tempted to reward ourselves. So you pull out those Swiss cake rolls or a chocolate bar or a bag of chips and ruin your great progress! STOP. Try something healthier that is still a treat, like dark chocolate drizzled (not COVERED) pomegranate seeds, seasoned kale chips, or these yummy Greek yogurt covered frozen berries I made for Eric just this afternoon. It is possible to treat yourself without ruining your progress.
4. Stop telling yourself/others, "I can't." This is a major key dieting tip in many programs, but I think it's good advice for anyone who has made a commitment to change their life or habits. When someone asks you if you want a piece of cake (or a cigarette or a drink, etc.), don't blame your diet and say "I can't." Take accountability of your decision and pride in the changes you're making! Say instead, "No thanks, I don't want it." Even if you do want it in the moment, understand that you don't want it in the long run if you want to achieve your goals. If you make it about your decision and not about outside factors limiting you, you will endure much more success in changing your eating habits.
Learning to say no to your temptations is a process, but it doesn't have to be a hard one. Trouble is- it's all on you. YOU are the person responsible for your eating habits, and YOU are accountable for your success. Sure, that's a lot of work on your shoulders- but it's also a great step you can be proud of at the end of the day.
