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Weight Loss Exercise

Stopping food cravings



Food cravings are every dieters nightmare. There are very few times that you will be on a diet and not be tempted at least a little bit by the foods that you see and memories of fatting foods that just drift into your mind from nowhere. I had a craving for greasy fish and chips from the beach after smelling the food in the office one day, the craving did not make any sense after I tracked down the food and found that it was actually fried ginger beef, your mind definitely plays tricks on you sometimes. Stopping food cravings will go a long way to controlling all of your eating.

Stopping Food Cravings

Eat at the same times everyday

It is important for you to set a stable eating cycle so that your body knows when to expect food. I know that I am very regimented during the week in my eating but on the weekend I get affected by food cravings because I am not eating according to schedule and my body does not trust that I will be eating when it expects food.

Eat small meals multiple times a day


Stopping food cravings

Stopping food cravings

One of the best things that you can do for your body is to keep your blood sugar even and the best way to keep a nice balanced blood sugar level is to eat smaller meals often.

Your blood sugar level is a big factor in food cravings because your brain notices the fluctuations in hormones and blood sugar even if you are not really in tune to it. Yo ucan imageinhow this one tip can stop your food cravings almost completely

Don’t starve yourself, don’t eat large

Again any time that you have the option to skip a meal or an option to go to a buffet don’t! These two actions are two ends of the spectrum. If you do not eat a meal then your body will crave foods until you eat and then when you do in fact eat you will tend to overeat.

If you have a giant meal, lets say for lunch then you will end up not eating dinner, maybe snack as a food craving fix in the evening or then not eat at all until breakfast the next day. This causes wide swings in your blood sugar and this is not only unhealthy but will also cause your body to start storing food as fat while thinking that it in danger of starvation.

Know your times of food cravings and take control of them

Most people have down times where they crave chocolate, pop, or chips and these times you should be able to identify. If you are going to a movie you may know that you are going to be craving popcorn, when you are sitting down to watch TV you know that you will be looking for a snack.

You can stop these food cravings by knowing ahead of time how you will deal with them or at least have a coping mechanism so that you do not succumb to bad binging in these time of food cravings.

Is this all you need to stop food cravings?

People pride themselves with using self control to fix their problems but in this case you have a plan of action to stop food cravings. Yes, by using these tips and lifestyle ideas you should help in stopping food cravings or at the very least reducing them and know exactly when they will hit and stop those cravings in their tracks.

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General Weight Loss Tips

And the Cycle Starts

If talk about PMS or hormones make you squeamish, you might want to skip this post because I’m about to lay it all out.

I have really bad PMS.

And I don’t think there are many women out there that talk about it. When I talk about PMS or period woes in general other women seem to give me a look that says “yeah? what’s new?” or a look that seems to say “deal with it” or “I can’t believe you’re complaining about PMS”.  Looks aside, I want to know that I’m not alone, so I write this here because sometimes when a doctor asks me why I have trouble with eating, I want to ask them…is there anything you can do about PMS?

And while I take full responsibilty for my actions. Food doesn’t just go from hand to mouth on it’s own- I find the forces of nature to be a huge struggle for me when it comes to weight loss.

Here’s what I mean…

You know that in the past two weeks I lost 10 pounds? I’ve documented my food on myfitnesspal.com and my thoughts here. For the past two weeks I’ve been indifferent to food. I took out the triggers and was seeing real results from it. I was going about my day working away at my desk and I would think “oh! I’m hungry. Time to eat…” and that was that. And then I’d go on without any obsessive thoughts about food.

And while taking out the triggers has helped (a lot) I can’t help but think that starting this new plan  during and right after my period made it that much easier. I was not battling hormones.

Here we are two weeks before my next period and I’m dealing with a strong desire to overeat. Part of me thinks “see this is what happens when you cut out delicious simple carbs! they come back and haunt you!” but I’m not and I wasn’t deprived. I eat what I want and what is delicious to me.

But this week, I want to eat everything in site. I’m bloated. I have feelings of hopelessness. I’m struggling with focus. I’m in the part of the cycle where it wouldn’t be just a taste of anything. One donut, or one slice of pizza would not satisfy me. It would need to be all or nothing.

And this is why losing weight is a struggle. For two weeks of the month, I could care less about food. I drop weight. 10 pounds is easy. And then hormone week stomps right on in. I’m retaining water. Before I know it I’m back up four pounds. And then I eat. And I’m back up another four pounds. And then I get sad and frustrated because yet again…I’ve lost and gained the same ten pounds– so then I eat. A day later I’m back right where I started. And this my friends, is my struggle. And I’ve never shared this portion of my issues.

For fear of advice, that “well, if you just did this…” or “if you weren’t doing that” or the “you’re doing it all wrong!” .

What I’ve decided to do is share. And that is right. I’ve also decided on an action plan. A two week action plan to get me through until I’m back to feeling normal about food.

It involves exercise, protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, plenty of sleep, journaling (lots of writing!), meditation and checking in with myself daily. I won’t let these two weeks derail my process. So what if I’m dealing with a little water bloat? It will go away and I will continue losing weight.

What I won’t do is bake, sneak around, or eat trigger foods. That’s the cycle.

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Weight Loss Exercise

The Basics of Healthy Detox



It’s easy to distinguish a healthy detox plan from an unhealthy one ? how it feels. And for each detox plan, there’s someone out there whose body will respond in a positive way and someone who will respond to the same plan in a negative way. Everyone’s body and lifestyle is different, so research carefully before you embark on the process.

The basics of a healthy detox plan mainly involve eating healthy foods to produce a healthy outcome. You should have an abundance of energy and never feel hungry. If you’ve been consuming an unhealthy diet, you may experience cravings or withdrawals, but those should pass in a short amount of time.

There are 3, 7 and 21-day detox plans and even 1 day plans, depending on your lifestyle. Some ask you to drink a liquid diet for at least one day and take a laxative to flush out the toxins. For some, this is too drastic — to ease into the plan is a much better option. And always check on your overall health before embracing any severe diet plan.

When you decide upon a healthy detox plan, it’s important that it’s at the right time in your life. You should plan to have as few distractions as possible during the beginning phase, so that means you should time it so that you can slow down, meditate and avoid the triggers (television and stress) that cause you to consume food mindlessly.

Among the basics of a healthy detox plan is to break away from unhealthy foods. You probably already know what they are:

· Alcohol and drugs ? Check with your doctor before you quit taking prescription drugs, but basically ? don’t drink alcohol or take over the counter drugs during the detoxification process.

· Don’t eat unhealthy foods ? Stay away from allergy-promoting foods, those that contain additives and unhealthy fats. Don’t eat meat during the detox plan. It can contain harmful hormones and other additives.

· Dairy and soy products ? Eggs and milk often contain antibiotics, causing digestive problems. Rather than soy, choose nuts and grains to get your protein requirements.

· Processed foods ? Products made with white flour and processed grains can cause an allergic reaction ? and they also contaminate your immune system.

· Don’t use saturated fats or hydrogenated oils in cooking ? Use healthy oils instead, such as olive and sesame oils.

· Avoid drinking carbonated beverages. Instead, drink pure, filtered water ? and plenty of it.

When you’re researching for a healthy detox plan, keep in mind the word, ‘natural.’ If you can’t say that a food is natural, don’t eat it.

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