How To Overcome Cravings and Feelings of Deprivation When Changing Your Eating Habits!

By Josef Klein

Many people are willing to deprive themselves of foods they love in order to lose weight or have been told by their doctor to eliminate such foods from their diets for health reasons.

If you’re used to eating certain foods all your life, your body craves it. And, home cooked meals like your mother may have made with lots of butter, cream or sugar loaded ingredients can make your taste buds dance with delight for the moment.

Such foods are also considered comfort foods. They can work as a strategy to lift your mood and boost your energy at least for a while. Similarly, pastries and sweets have the same effect.

However, after the initial positive emotions, these foods take a toll on your body over time. You gain weight, lose energy, and may suffer serious health consequences.

So, how do you overcome cravings for foods you strongly desire?

There are 5 key ways I want to share with you:

1. Toss processed or pre-packed foods, loaded with sugar, artificial additives, flavor enhancers and unhealthy fats out the door. Find healthy whole food alternatives rich in nutrients and lower in calories to replace them with.

These foods are just waiting to suck the life out of you with empty calories that fail to give your body the fuel it needs! Most snack foods loaded with trans-fatty acids, like crackers and chips, got to go also.

After you’ve gotten rid of these temptations of your past, go shopping to find healthier alternatives and foods you like or see yourself enjoying. You may have to find a different grocery store, local farmers market or health food store with more wholesome and healthful varieties.

2. Drink lots of pure water and eliminate sugar-loaded drinks. Drinking lots of water helps diminish your feelings of hunger and cravings in two important ways.

It helps with digestion of food and flushes unhealthy substances out of your body that create the cravings (such as certain flavor enhancers and additives manufacturers purposely put in food to get you unknowingly hooked).

Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day for your cells to function at full speed. If you experience any cravings, or the slightest feeling of thirst, reach for your water bottle. Best of all, water has no calories.

3. Eat more vegetables and fruits between meals as snacks, until you get hooked. Also find ways to include more raw and cooked vegetables with every meal.

Raw fruits and vegetables are nutrient and enzyme-rich, high-fiber, lower calorie foods that fill your body with energy. It releases fuel your body needs slowly (Fiber acts like a “Time-release capsule”), digests it more completely (natural enzymes) and keeps your hunger satisfied much longer.

As a result you avoid cravings that lead to consuming more calories than your body needs or can process efficiently. Keep in mind your body turns any calories it doesn’t need from a meal into fatty deposits.

When eating these foods as snacks, gradually you begin to develop a taste for them. If you’re like most people old cravings vanish in less than 30 days. What’s more, without cravings you no longer deprive yourself of foods you no longer care for anyway.

To help you get used to new vegetables, raw or cooked, experiment with delicious healthy dips (like hummus) or natural herbs and spices.

Fruits high in sugar don’t combine well with other foods of your main meals. (Tomatoes and avocados are exceptions because of low sugar content – eat anytime). But almost any kind of fruit provides excellent nutrition when eaten alone as a snack. It’ll satisfy any craving much better and longer than a calorie-rich fruit juice or soft drink.

4. Give a long-term solution for weight management a chance instead of choosing a fad diet promising a short-term gain.

Before going on a diet where you deprive yourself of food for short-term weight changes consider this carefully: As soon as you reach your goal, you likely gain the weight back or even more than before if your old cravings are still going strong. Besides, Yo-yo diets often leave you feeling tired and run-down.

Commit to a permanent solution with more plant-based whole foods your body craved naturally when you were born. Moreover, a permanent solution encourages you to continually making positive changes in your appearance and enriching your life.

5. Learn to prepare and enjoy at least 10 new healthy meals that help you let go of cravings for foods with nutrient-empty calories.

You don’t need to become an expert cook to change to a healthy diet. Simply find 5-10 new quick and easy recipes you and your family like. Then, repeat. Be sure to add in raw fruits and vegetables, including big and tasty salads.

The bottom line is applying a long-term solution to giving your body the best quality fuel with great taste and flavor, without excessive calories. This is one of the best decisions you can make not only for yourself, but your family as well. When you make a positive change in your lifestyle and well being others often soon want to follow your example!

A new, and vibrant you awaits!

For helping you make this transformation, you can pick-up a copy of Natural Healing Recipes at: www.NaturalHealingRecipes.com Inside you’re shown step-by-step how you can make changes in diet, lifestyle and cook delicious meals you’re whole family loves!

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josef_Klein