How to stop feeling tempted around food
Spoiler alert: This is not one of those articles that tell you how to avoid eating the food you crave. In fact, it is the exact opposite. But I am getting ahead of myself, so read on to understand what I mean.
I was craving chocolate yesterday, so I ate a few squares and was completely satisfied.
Then I remembered how I used to react when a chocolate craving hit back when I was severely restricting food and calories:
1. Panic mode: WHY AM I CRAVING CHOCOLATE OMG I MUST BE DEFICIENT IN MAGNESIUM! (I wasn’t.)
2. I ate “healthier” foods to suppress my cravings, such as the Paleo version of what I actually wanted to eat, i.e. flourless pancakes…
3. I felt incredibly guilty for wanting something “so unhealthy”.
4. I then convinced myself that I just have to gather enough willpower to not eat the chocolate and I’ll be fine. (It was never the willpower, my body simply needed more food.)
5. I spent the majority of my day thinking and googling about how to beat chocolate cravings.
6. Eventually, I gave in and ate the chocolate a few hours later.
7. I felt horrible about myself and was extremely mean to myself and my body.
What the ‘experts’ are saying (that have never struggled with food or disordered eating)
Before writing this, I googled “how to beat chocolate cravings” in order to find out what the experts are saying these days.
Here is what the suggestions were:
“Chew a big piece of gum.”
“Drink a big glass of water.”
“Eat fruit and nuts.”
“Eat olives and cheese.”
“Load up on spinach or have a square of dark chocolate ‘if nothing else helps'”.
Some other suggestions were to “explore where the craving is coming from and that it’s most likely emotional”…
My take on this:
Eating a couple squares of chocolate when a craving hits saves you hours of time AND brain space analyzing, googling and eating other foods to try and “diminish the craving”.
So, how do we stop feeling temped around food?
We just have some of it.
The “real version”, not the Paleo version.
I highly encourage you to have the exact food you are craving if accessible, to truly enjoy and savour it and then move on with our day.
The more you allow yourself to follow your cravings and listen to your body, the less power food will have over you. This is a tough concept to grasp if you struggle with binge eating, I know.
If you have urges to binge eat, I suggest reading this article and this article to get a better idea of all this.
I’m right here to support you in crushing those food fears!
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