We all must have heard the saying “a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”. Food indulgence surely gives us that momentary feeling of satisfaction and happiness but the consequences of this indulgence is seen only over a long period.
When you finally do decide to start your journey towards becoming healthy and losing those excess pounds many times it is these small momentary cravings and pleasures that may pull you back.
Training your body for weight loss is one aspect of the weight loss journey but training your mind and your heart to overcome the cravings for your favourite food is also an important aspect of weight loss.
Physical training may still be easier but mental training is not everyone’s cup of tea. It requires persistence and dedication. And what if you do not have that willpower?
Does that mean that you lose out on all the efforts you put towards losing those inches and let them pile on again? NO! you cannot let that happen. Here are some tips that may come in handy and help you control your cravings during your weight loss.
Introduction
To understand how to control food cravings let us first understand what is a craving and why it happens. A food craving is an intense desire to eat a particular type of food. It has to be differentiated from hunger. Hunger refers to the absence of fullness, that is, feelings of hunger are brought about by an empty stomach.
Food craving can be differentiated from feelings of hunger through its specificity and intensity.
That is, while a food craving can usually only be satisfied by the consumption of a particular food, hunger can be alleviated by the consumption of any type of food. Moreover, while hunger and food cravings often can co-occur, being hungry is not a prerequisite for experiencing a food craving.
There are various theories put forth that explain food cravings. It is assumed that food cravings may be driven by nutritional deficiencies but the evidence shown is poor.
Hormonal changes happening during physiological phases of pregnancy and menstruation are also predicted to be associated with food cravings but studies have shown that these cravings are driven more by social factors than physiological needs, making the hormonal mechanisms unlikely.
Diet and Food Cravings
There has been considerable interest in the question of whether food restriction induces food cravings. Research on this topic started in the 1970s. A classic study by Herman and Mack found that the so-called restrained eaters showed a disinhibited eating behavior (higher ice cream consumption) after consumption of a preload (milkshake), whereas so-called unrestrained (“normal”) eaters decreased their ice cream consumption after consumption of a milkshake.
Self-report measures of restrained eating were also positively correlated with self-report measures of food craving. That is, restrained eaters experienced more intense and more frequent food cravings than unrestrained eaters. Although restrained eating and dieting are not synonymous, studies that differentiated more clearly between current dieters and non-dieters seem to show similar results.
Surprisingly studies examining a calorie deficit diet used as part of a weight-loss intervention found that food cravings decrease from pre- to post-intervention. But later research also showed that there are many other factors associated with food cravings and not just restrained eating or calorie deficit.
This is just an oversimplified association. Food craving can rather be understood as a conditioned response that emerges because internal or external cues have been previously associated with the intake of certain foods (1).
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How to Reduce Food Cravings?
There is no dearth of literature on food cravings and no matter the number of studies conducted in this area the fact remains that food cravings are true and the majority of us are victims. This being said it is important for us to understand how to control these cravings and not give in to them. Many times, it is these small desires for food that may pull us back on our weight loss journey and hamper our progress. Let us understand what we can do to prevent this from happening
Proteins to the rescue
It is generally seen that cravings are felt for food that is high in calories or sugar. You will not crave chicken or paneer but you will crave a cake or ice cream or burger. This is because our brains will crave carbs more than proteins. Humans always seek the path of least resistance and carbs are easily broken down by the body to release energy that proteins hence the carb cravings.
If you pack your diet with food rich in proteins or eat some protein whenever you get a craving, you will feel full as protein breakdown is more complex than carbs. This will also help you beat the cravings.
Drink enough water
It is observed that a maximum number of times that you are hungry you are dehydrated. Your body is craving more for water than food as the mechanism of the feeling of thirst and hunger in our body is the same. Hence you should keep sipping on water throughout the day. You can even have beverages like green tea (sans sugar of course) or black coffee (in limited quantities) to beat your cravings. These have no calories and will quench your thirst which is mistaken for hunger.
Do not starve yourself
When you starve yourself, it is natural that you will feel hungrier and you will start eating uncontrollably. Again, the human brain is such that it will make you eat food that is easy to break down to give you instant energy and you will end up eating carbohydrates or some high-calorie sugary food.
Instead, you can split your diet such that you keep eating something every few hours and this something includes food that contains complex carbs or proteins and not simple sugars like chocolates.
Sleep well
In today’s chaotic world we have forgotten that our body needs rest too, to recuperate and energize. If you do not get enough sleep, you will obviously feel tired during the day and to decrease this feeling of tiredness your body will start craving food.
Make sure that you get enough sleep, at least 7-8 hours every night. This will not just leave you feeling energetic but will also reduce your stress which may also lead to overeating or binging the food you are craving.
Psychological way
When you work out you know that you are doing this to build a stronger body and to strengthen your muscles. Your body remembers your training and as you progress your body responds more easily to the same exercise that you may find it difficult before. Similarly, when you successfully beat a craving, you will realize that you will not crave the same food subsequently or that the craving will not be strong enough. Also, your body will get a sense of achievement, and when you have accomplished this once it will become easier to accomplish it again!
Your body is your place of worship and you may be working hard to remain healthy, and progress on your fitness journey. This itself must have taken dedication and persistence and if you can do this then you can surely beat your cravings too. You do have the willpower, just a little bit of push is required. Always remember YOU CAN!
Author: Dr Pooja Nilgar (Content writer and editor)
Reference
- Meule A. The psychology of food cravings: the role of food deprivation. Curr Nutr Rep. 2020; 9 (3): 251–7.
