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Four ways to beat those cravings

If there’s one thing that many people struggle with when they’re on their fat loss diet plan it’s cravings.

If there’s one thing that many people struggle with when they’re on their fat loss diet plan it’s cravings.

In most cases, sticking with a healthy diet really isn’t that difficult, that is, until hunger sets in. As soon as the hunger demon rears its ugly head however, maintaining your diet seems to fly right out the window.

Your cravings get stronger than ever and with your stomach is growling so loudly the person next to you has started to glare at you funny.

When this occurs, it’s hard to turn down whatever food crosses your path. When this is the situation at hand, it’s important that you come up with a few quick strategies that will help you handle this and still maintain your diet.

Here are a few quick ways that you can beat your cravings head on.

Drink some water — The old saying is true, if you’re dehydrated, you may begin to mistake this for actual hunger. It’s very important that you’re maintaining adequate hydration levels throughout the day so be sure that you’re not overlooking this factor.

Ideally you should be drinking eight to 10 glasses of water or other clear fluids each day in order to keep yourself feeling your best and prevent cravings from setting in.

If you do find you’re experiencing a craving, first drink a glass of water and then wait ten minutes. After doing so you’ll often find that that craving passes almost immediately.

Chew some gum — Second, another quick way to battle those cravings is to chew some gum. Often what’s sparking the craving in the first place is that you just need something to chew on so gum is the perfect solution. It’s calorie-free and since it keeps your mouth busy, you definitely won’t be putting other food in there.

Some people do find that peppermint flavoured gum also helps to take the edge off their appetite (and boost concentration levels as well) so you may just want to consider this flavor first.

Ensure you don’t go hours without food — Another smart move if you’re trying to take care of cravings is to make sure that you aren’t going hours without food.

Whenever you let yourself get too overly hungry, that’s when it’s going to be that much harder to handle the cravings that are being thrown at you.

Instead, keep yourself on an even keel by having one meal every three hours or so. In addition to that, make sure that you also include protein within that meal as this is the most satisfying nutrient to consume.

You’ll easily keep blood sugar levels and hunger under control by doing so.

Find something to replace it with — Finally, the last strategy to beat your cravings is to find another food that you can have in its place.

While it may not be a direct replacement as far as taste is concerned, if you can find something that comes fairly close, this often can solve the problem.

For example, if it’s a pint of ice cream that’s calling your name, consider some low-fat, low-sugar vanilla yogurt drizzled with a small amount of chocolate syrup. This should be enough to tame that craving and will also provide you with good nutrition as well.

So keep these quick points in mind. If you can implement them into your day, cravings should be a thing of the past for you.

Cabel McElderry is a local personal trainer and nutrition coach. Visit the Fitness F/X website at www.oneto1fitness.com.