How to Beat Cravings for Junk Food

How to Beat Cravings for Junk Food

They don’t call it junk food for nothing but who cares, you just crave for them like the rest of humanity. Craving for palatable foods has its roots as a biological need and innately, it is not that bad. Still, that doesn’t mean you can give in to your cravings every time. You already know that once you give in, you are making a poor food decision with specific domino effects with the rest of your health and fitness goals. Having potato chips and cookies always tempt you to eat more and yet give you nothing but sugar, salt, and extra fat in return. You certainly don’t need it to feel good for a few moments and then make you feel extra guilty afterwards. You cannot completely avoid junk food but you can tone down your cravings through the changes that you make in how you respond to them. In this way, you can have control over your cravings instead of the other way around.

Deep down at the roots

Beating your junk food cravings requires knowing what typically starts it in the first place. If you know what causes it, then you have a better chance at controlling it. A craving can overpower you for a good number of reasons but if you take a look at the research that has been done, they all point to strict dieting. You crave for a certain food when you restrict yourself from eating them or when your meal plan is not varied enough. Your food cravings can be triggered when you think about the foods that you have given up eating or have not had in a while.

This is especially true when you make the change too quickly or too restrictively. Your cravings are bound to intensify in this way. What happens is that, when you have something that’s highly palatable and you learn to love them, they activate the pleasure centers in the brain and cause you to want more of them. So yes, it becomes a vicious cycle that can be difficult to stop. Attempt to stop it and your brain is certain to throw a fit and demand for its comeback. It is in this regard that diet changes are better off made gradually than abruptly if you are looking to make it a sustainable habit. Give your brain as well as your taste buds enough time to adjust. Enjoy different kinds of foods and add different colors and flavors to your plate so you do not rely on salt, fat, or sugar that you were so used to and that most manufactured foods are heavy on.

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As it happens

What could be very effective is to be able to identify a food craving as it happens so you are able to deal with it right there and then. It’s quite easy to catch yourself craving for your favorite food because you will feel that intense drive. On the other hand, some cravings can be so general that it would be a bit challenging to determine what you want to eat at that exact moment. If you have the same struggle, try to keep track of your emotions as they come when you are eating or experiencing the cravings. Take note of some trends in your junk food eating habits so you know what your body is telling you and how to deal with it.

More specific tips to beat junk food cravings

The good thing about cravings is that after realizing why and when they occur, you can then plan on how to properly deal with them. It is very much possible to overcome your undesirable desire for junk foods with the right response and some environmental interventions. Here’s to beating your craving for junk food more successfully:

• Make a list of the foods you crave the most.

This will be very easy to do as you tend to crave for the same junk foods over and over again. These are the very foods that no matter how hard you try, you just can’t stop having them like you can’t live without them. They make it really hard for you to stay on track with your diet plan that it often becomes that unwritten part of your plan. The key then is to be able to write them down once you have identified them so you are ready when the cravings come at you. Avoiding them completely and abruptly may not work as like most cravings, they will come back with a vengeance. As such, you can choose to serve them with your meals so you do not consume all of them. If you do eat them by themselves, you can just have a little of everything so you satisfy a bit of that urge. The goal is to keep these hard-to-resist junk foods out of your system so you can get to the habit of consuming healthier choices. Go ahead make that list tangible so you can manage the kind of response and strategy that you are going to employ in dealing with them.

• Never skip a meal.

If you notice, when you are hungry, you would grab at anything that you first set your eyes on. Most often than not, junk foods are always available and you end up grabbing at them to satisfy that hunger instantly. To avoid this kind of scenario, you’ve got to make sure that you are able to enjoy your meals at the right time because skipping meals will make you want to crave for junk food more. Overall, having consistent meals as part of your routine is a great strategy as you will not be tempted to snack on junk foods in between and you do not go too long before you can fill your tummy again. Plan these meals every day and incorporate varieties of food so you do not crave for anything that’s lacking. Make junk food easy to resist by eating well-balanced meals every 4 to 5 hours.

• Try an alternative.

What you may not realize is that the power to say no to your junk food cravings is yours. You can choose to act on a craving or not. You do not have to give in to it every time. In your effort to identify your cravings, you will realize that it doesn’t always have to do with the exact food but a characteristic that it has. For instance, if you have a craving for potato chips, then it could be because you love its crunchy and salty taste. So instead of digging on the same bag of chips, why not try something different but healthy with the same characteristics? You can try a crunchy veggie sprinkled with a bit of salt and see how it can satisfy your cravings. It may not be the same as your favorite potato chips but it is worth giving a try as an alternative. Dip those veggie chips on hummus and you may even like it better than the potato chips.

• Keep hydrating and drinking water.

Here is something that you can easily do but can be very effective especially when you feel thirsty and you confuse it with a food craving. When that urge for a specific junk food come gnawing at you, try to drink a glass of water first and then wait for a few minutes. Often times, you will find that you were just thirsty and that your cravings have gone away. Satisfying that thirst first is definitely worth a try. Aside from this, drinking water have numerous health benefits. Drinking a big glass of water before enjoying your meals can actually reduce your cravings as well as your appetite. This is especially true in people who are in their middle age or older people. If you are looking to shed some pounds off, drinking lots of water is definitely worth it.

• Create an anti-craving environment from the inside out.

A craving is a strong force and you need to fight it with all your might. You have to deal with it internally and externally so you ensure your success at overcoming it. Internally, different factors can lead to you giving in to your junk food cravings and it can include stress, boredom, tiredness, and other negative emotions that you feel only junk food can make better. As such, you need to be watchful of these emotions as you feel them and deal with them with a change of lifestyle instead of running to your comfort junk food immediately. Get enough sleep, take time to relax, and include physical activities to your weekly routine. All these will help you manage stress and other negative feelings that make you run to junk food for temporary relief. Once you are done taking care of yourself on the inside, implementing the necessary changes to your diet is going to be next and it is going to be easy.

• Eat more protein

Studies confirm how eating more protein actually helps in keeping you from overeating and in reducing your appetite. It definitely reduces your cravings as it makes you feel satisfyingly full for longer. A study was conducted on teenage girls that were overweight and the results suggested how their cravings were significantly reduced when they had breakfast that was rich in protein. Meanwhile, overweight men in another study revealed how their cravings were reduced by 60% when they increased their protein intake for up to 25%. At night, their craving for snacks was also reduced by 50%. One of the best ways to cut back on eating junk foods is eating the right kinds of food.

• Enjoy it with something healthy.

When you have your favorite junk food by itself, you are bound to finish all of it. The key then is to be able to reduce your consumption by eating them with something else, preferably something healthy. While you cannot completely ban junk food in your life, you can certainly reduce your usual consumption as a gradual step. Junk food gives you almost zero nutritional benefits but you can still enjoy it at very minimal amounts. So instead of avoiding it altogether, trying pairing a small portion of it with food that is more nutrient-dense. Imagine having a turkey sandwich with an ounce of potato chips on the side. This is what you can do whenever you have a craving but do not want to finish the whole bag of chips. Incorporating junk food along with your meals is a smart strategy in managing your food cravings without totally depriving yourself.

Are you ready to lose weight, build muscle, or feel more fit? Join Beachbody On Demand, and get unlimited access to Beachbody’s world-famous programs, including 80 Day Obsession, 21 Day FIX®, Insanity, P90X® and 100’s more. Don’t miss out on your chance for amazing results. Sign up today!