Cravings!

Ever experience an intense desire for a particular type of food? Of course, we all have! These experiences, or cravings, can wreak havoc on a nutrition or weight-loss plan so it's important to understand what causes them and how to beat them!

What Causes Cravings?

Food cravings may have something to do with your brain chemistry, and people may have neurochemical, psychological, or physical causes that trigger these cravings. Examples include:

Dieting: When you ban certain foods from your diet, you're going to crave the very foods you try to avoid, and may end up binging on those foods.

Eating out of habit: Some cravings exist due to habit. For instance, your family may have eaten dessert every night after dinner while you were growing up. Now, if dessert doesn't appear, you crave something sweet.

Psychological association: Maybe the food cravings are all in your head. The mind is a very powerful tool, and mental associations can often trigger cravings. Watching movies, for example, is heavily associated with eating popcorn and candy, so just the mention of a movie can drum up a craving for junk food.

Comfort foods: Emotions can also lurk at the root of food cravings, especially if you consider certain foods "comfort" foods. If you continually reach for chocolate ice cream every time you're stressed out or upset, you may begin to associate the taste of chocolate ice cream with feeling better.

How to Beat Cravings!

> Identify suspected "trouble" foods. Then, create a manageable plan to either limit or eliminate these foods from your diet. This step is not only the most important but is also the most difficult. Having success here will require discipline and dedication, both of which are required to hit any goal worth achieving!

> Get a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate or moderately intense exercise every day. Exercise releases many of the same "feel good" chemicals that result from eating.

> Increase your exposure to bright light or sunlight to 1-2 hours a day. Sunlight triggers the production of the feel good chemical serotonin which lifts your mood and staves off feelings of depression.

> Make sure you get enough deep, restful sleep at night. This will put you in a good mood and will help ensure you have enough energy throughout the day.