Controlling food cravings can be a daunting task. When we crave a particular food or even just an ingredient like sugar or salt, several areas of our brain activates. These areas are traditionally associated with memory and sensory pleasure. This means that when we’re hit with a certain craving, it’s literally our brain telling us that it wants to experience the same pleasure that it did before.

We need nutrition from food, and it also helps us calm down from anxiety or stress and makes us feel more like ourselves. Let’s learn about some ways that we can help these food cravings and ensure an overall healthier diet and body.

1. Eat Your Food Slowly And Savor It

With people eating on the go or eating in front of a TV screen, it’s easy to get distracted and demotivated. Therefore, you often eat more than you realize or fill up on unhealthy sides without really touching the central portion of your meal. Slow down and chew your food slowly. Savor the taste and enjoy each bite.

2. Try To Eat More Often

Although food cravings are associated with the pleasure centers in our brain, we typically don’t have cravings unless we’re already hungry.

One way to control your cravings is to eat more often. Eating several small meals a day rather than two or three large meals spaced hours apart is a great way to ensure that your blood sugar remains steady. Plus, it makes sure you’re not suffering from intense hunger pangs between meals. Some nutritionists suggest eating around five meals per day, spaced only a few hours apart.

3. Distract Yourself When Craving

Many people give into cravings before they even give themselves a chance to resist. One way to test whether your craving is due to a deeper emotional need or just boredom is to distract yourself for sometime. Go for a walk, fold some laundry, or spend some time doing some activity. Once you are away from food and your mind is occupied with something else for a bit, you may find that you’re no longer cravings with the same intensity as before.

4. Make a Healthy Substitution

Sometimes when we’re having cravings for sugar or salt, we satisfy it with the easiest and quickest thing we can get. This is usually fast food, super-sugary treats or baked items, or other fast food meals. In addition to being full of sugar and salt, these foods are often loaded with other chemicals and processed ingredients.

If you’re experiencing a craving, try to curb it with the healthiest version of that snack. For example, if you’re craving something sweet, try eating an apple or strawberries instead of a cupcakes or chocolates. If you’re craving salt, eat a handful of almonds rather than a bag of unhealthy chips.

These healthier options will satisfy that craving. Also, they will provide fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are good for your body.

5. Get Enough Protein in Your Diet

Another way that you can help yourself resist cravings when they occur is to ensure that you’re getting enough protein.

Meals that consist mostly of carbohydrates and refined sugar will make you feel full for a while, but you’ll likely find yourself hungry an hour or two later. A high-protein meal will help curb cravings and make you feel fuller for longer period of time.

6. Purchase Junk Foods in Small Quantities

Many of us are aware that we’re vulnerable to certain types of food and have a hard time resisting them when we know they’re in the house. Don’t test your resolve. When you go shopping, either  don’t buy these triggering foods entirely or only purchase them in very small quantities. If you keep them in the house, it’s a lot harder to resist eating them.

Also, did you know that you can actually develop a tolerance to foods like you would alcohol or drugs? The more you eat a certain food, the more amount it will take to make your body feel satisfied. For this reason alone, try and ensure that you’re only eating the bare minimum when cravings occur.

If you can, limit yourself to the unhealthy treats you crave once a week or once in two weeks. Additionally, if you know that you’ll have to drive to the store, purchase them, and drive home in order to eat them, it’s much more likely you’ll go without or substitute something healthier.

7. Eat Something Nutritious First or Drink a Glass of Water

When we’re not being mindful of our eating, it’s hard to tell when we’re actually hungry and when we’re just feeling an emotion that sparks a food craving.

The next time you feel a craving, spend a few moments examining that feeling. Ask yourself whether you think that you really want that food or whether you’re bored, tired, or just hungry. Then, if you feel hungry, eat something nutritious or drink a big glass of water. Most of the time, our cravings are our body’s way of prompting us to eat or drink water.

8. Stock Up Healthy Snacks

One of the best ways to help you make better choices in the face of food cravings is always to make sure that you’ve got plenty of healthy snacks around. It’s easy to give in to our bad cravings when you don’t have any food in the house or find ourselves out in the middle of a ton of different fast-food restaurants with no other options in sight.

To make sure that there’s always a healthier option, get in the habit of stocking healthy snacks at home. This includes:

• Roasted nuts
• Sliced veggies
• Cheese
• Fruits
• Yoghurt

You can carry most of these in a bag or purse on the go, in order to make sure that you’re never without a healthier option.

9. Make a Plan to Fulfill Your Cravings

Be prepared and try to follow a schedule for meals on a regular basis that you know will fulfill your cravings. Once these indulgences are on the calendar, it’s a lot easier to resist your cravings. This is because you know that it’s only a short time before you’re able to dig into your favorites.

Plus, having your favorite foods on your scheduled calendar will allow you to look forward to them. This makes their consumption more of an occasion, rather than treating them like something you need to feel guilty about. Enjoy the food in small quantities once in a while instead of totally removing them from your diet.

This is a much healthier attitude towards food. Even sweet treats can be part of a healthy diet, as long as they’re eaten in moderation.

10. Don’t Shop When Hungry

If you are going for shopping hungry, you’re much more likely to be tempted by unhealthy food options, rather than sticking to your healthy list. If you want to resist the tempting food that’s strategically placed by store marketers, make sure you’re heading into every store with a full stomach. It’s much easier to plan healthy meals and choose healthier options when you’re not already super hungry.