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May 24, 2023 · It's common to turn to food for comfort. Food can fill an emotional void, be a coping mechanism, and offer social support. In addition to preventing serious health issues and improving day-to-day lives, managing stress levels can nip those cravings in the bud and allow us to make better food choices.
- Jillian Kubala, MS, RD
- Eat enough calories. It’s important to fuel your body properly to keep it healthy and functioning at its best. Without enough calories and nutrients, it’s natural that your body signals you to eat, which can cause strong cravings for certain foods.
- Avoid restrictive diets. Picture kicking off a new diet, feeling ready to change your eating patterns and reach new health goals. Unfortunately, just hours or days later, you get stronger and stronger cravings for all the foods you cannot eat.
- Don’t let yourself get ravenously hungry. Although hunger is a natural body cue that shouldn’t be feared, letting yourself get too hungry might increase the risk of strong food cravings.
- Eat filling, nutrient-dense foods. A simple way to keep cravings in check, feel fuller for longer, and stabilize your blood sugar levels is to enjoy foods that promote feelings of fullness.
Sep 28, 2024 · 1. Identify the trigger. First things first: Notice what triggers you. Usually, in the case of food cravings, triggers are tied to emotions. "It's 3 p.m., and I'm stressed," Brewer offers. (Stress would be the trigger in this example.) It's why we even have the term comfort food. "Our brains are saying, 'Hey, something in my life is unpleasant.
By applying mindfulness to comfort eating, we can become more conscious of the foods we’re craving by directing our attention fully onto them as if for the first time, and separating them from the internal projections we’ve placed upon them.
- Start an emotion diary. The more you understand your habits, the better. Eating in response to emotion can happen automatically. The more you understand how you feel when you do certain things, the better your chance at changing things.
- Find other ways to cope. Once you have more information about the emotions, situations, or thoughts that can trigger eating, you can start to make changes.
- Move your body. Moving your body can be a powerful way to manage stress and anxiety. Activity helps to reduce levels of stress hormones in your body. It also releases endorphins to give your mood a boost.
- Try mindfulness. Mindfulness has many benefits for mental health. It’s shown to be a powerful way to manage anxiety and depression. It has also been shown to reduce stress eating.
Feb 5, 2024 · Food cravings are intense desires for specific foods, stronger than normal hunger. Here are 11 ways to stop cravings for sugar and unhealthy foods. READ MORE
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Jul 18, 2024 · A dietitian reveals what can trigger intense food cravings (we're looking at you, stress!), plus she shares her top tips on how to stop them. You don't have to give up your favorite fare. Here's how to quash hunger pangs the easy way.
