Cravings are something that we have all had before at some point in our life, and they can be healthy cravings or unhealthy cravings. But when a craving takes over your life specifically with food, life can become a challenge. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to break the craving for something and you give in time after time. Often what follows is an overwhelming feeling of guilt, depression and frustration.
In my rollercoaster, yo yo dieting past, I would often starve myself of all the things I enjoyed. I would follow the rules of an eating plan, making a promise to myself that I would triumph this time, only to disappoint myself again and again. Eventually I got so exhausted with constant let-downs, I decided to do some research. During my personal journey, I discovered many things about weight loss, fad diets, nutrition, thought patterns, eating behaviours and most importantly about the unconscious mind. I discovered many amazing secrets which is what led me to the work I do now.
You may be reading this and able to identify with my story, or you may be unsure of what is causing your detrimental behaviour. Perhaps you know that something is wrong but you don’t know where to start……these next steps will get you on the right track.
When you have a craving or feel the need to binge, take a moment to stop and think. You may have feelings of excitement running through you like adrenaline at the thought of having a binge or pigging out, or it might feel like an overwhelming urge to have something immediately. Maybe you are stressed or someone has said something to upset you. It’s important to understand what your triggers are so you can bring them in to your awareness.
Awareness is key to understanding your motivations to over eat. When you stop to notice your behaviour, you are no longer in a trance and have full control over what you do next.
Step 1
Write down the sensations or visual images you get when your cravings start. These could be feelings of excitement, boredom, unhappiness, stress, sadness, overwhelm, excitement, loss….the emotions will be individual to you so it’s important you keep a record. If you feel the need to go ahead and fulfil the craving then do it so you are ready for step two.
Step 2
Notice how you feel 30 minutes after you have eaten; the sensations in your body, the thoughts going round your head, the feelings you have. Write them all out. Doing this will get you more in touch with the emotions you have after the overeating has taken place to help you rationalise in the future. It is common in most overweight people or binge eaters that they cannot register with how they will feel after the event has taken place. But the more in touch you are with your mind and body, the more likely you will gain control.
Your unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what is imaginary so this next technique is useful when you feel a crave coming on:
Step 3
Obviously cravings creep up quite quickly so it’s good to get familiar with this technique so you can do it any time, anywhere.
Sit in a comfortable position and take a deep breath
Notice the feelings that come in as you feel a crave coming on, you should be familiar with these if you have kept a journal previously, as suggested above.
Think about the food that you are craving and notice how you know you have a craving. Is it a sensation, a visual picture, a sound, taste or a smell? Where does it start; in your head, your stomach, your chest?
How big, loud or overwhelming is the sensation?
Put the sound, smell, taste or visual image to one side in your minds eye and now think of something that makes you feel disgusted at the thought of eating or a taste you don’t like.
Think of something that makes you squirm at the thought of consuming. What type of food is it and where do you notice it in your minds eye? Is it big, small, colourful, to the left or right of you? Does it come up in the same place as the food that tastes pleasant?
Now bring up the food that you were previously craving and bring the sound, taste, smell or visual image in line with the food that you don’t want to eat. Mix them up together remembering how the disgusting and horrible the food tasted, looked like, smelt like. Make the taste and smell stronger, brighter, louder, bigger!
As you bring the two images, sensations, smells or sounds together, you are in a sense diluting the feeling of the food you were craving, with feelings of the food you don’t want. If you practice this enough you will begin to have more control and lessen your cravings for the foods that are detrimental to your well being.
This technique should be practised daily to be effective. However having a simple awareness of your behaviours is a huge step to unravelling your detrimental eating habits.
For more information on the many other secrets I discovered, sign up for my FREE report on the 6 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Trying to Lose Weight.
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