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How to Control the Cravings that Can Sabotage Your Diet

Keeping a food diary can also be a good way to get food cravings under control. Keeping track of what you eat, when you eat it and how you feel at the time can help you spot patterns that can wreck even the most well planned diet.

Author: Andrew Simon
Date: Aug 1, 2011 - 6:25:49 AM

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Losing weight is hard enough.  Keeping it off for life is even harder. Dieters are beset on all sides by temptation, and it can be difficult for even those with the best willpower to resist to urge to snack. From ubiquitous fast food advertisements to strategically placed junk food displays at the grocery store, it can seem like the whole world is trying to make your diet fail. To survive all those temptations and lose that extra weight you will need to apply some psychology of your own. After all, food cravings are as much psychological as they are physical, and dealing with those cravings means understanding the events that trigger them.

Know Your Triggers

Until you know what triggers your overeating you will be powerless to stop those snack attacks It is important to pay attention to how your are feeling - both physically and psychologically-when food cravings strike. Some people eat when they are tired, others when they are agitated or stressed and still others when they are bored. Understanding the feelings that trigger snack cravings is the first step toward getting them under control. Once you know what is triggering those cravings you will be able to take steps to address those underlying feelings.  Boredom can be combated in any number of ways, from taking a walk to catching up on a project from the office. Stress can be handled in constructive ways as well, from a long relaxing bubble bath to a few minutes of quiet meditation. Addressing the root causes of your cravings is the best way to get them under control.

Keep a Food Diary

Keeping a food diary can also be a good way to get food cravings under control. Keeping track of what you eat, when you eat it and how you feel at the time can help you spot patterns that can wreck even the most well planned diet. If you find yourself snacking late at night it may be a good idea to rethink your evening routine. If the munchies strike in the middle of the day perhaps starting the day with a healthy breakfast can keep those cravings at bay. Understanding how you eat, what you eat and when you eat can go a long way.

It is also a good idea to avoid eating on the go, as this can lead to overeating and unhealthy food habits many of us have gotten used to eating lunch in the car, but this common practice can be a real diet killer. Try to keep food in its proper place, and that means eating lunch in the lunchroom instead of at your desk and avoiding eating in the car or on the go.

Avoid Temptation

Simply avoiding temptation at home and at the office can also be quite useful.  Keeping the house filled with sugary snacks can ramp up the level of temptation, so try to avoid stocking these kinds of unhealthy foods.  If you must keep cupcakes, potato chips and other unhealthy snacks on hand be sure to keep  them out of easy reach. Something as simple as placing snack food son a high shelf or hidden away behind healthier food scan help a lot. It also helps to buy unhealthy snacks in small sizes, and to buy them as infrequently as possible.

Dieting is always difficult, and lasting weight loss can be even more of a challenge.  In order to make your weight loss a lifelong accomplishment you will need to rethink your whole relationship with food. Using the tips outlined above is a great start, but  it is important to tailor your own responses to the foods you eat to your own needs. Understanding how you relate to food is the best way to achieve significant and long lasting weight loss<./p>

View all articles by Andrew Simon

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