I’ve talked quite a bit about sugar and junk food addiction in the past and in this article I am going to outline what I think are the best methods on how to stop cravings.
Cravings … seems like such an innocent word, doesn’t it?
Well, if you look at certain individuals, such as recovering alcoholics or drug addicts, cravings can be a serious matter.
They can lead to relapse, which can cost them their families, jobs, homes and even their lives.
That’s right, cravings can be a matter of life or death for some people.
How to stop cravings .. because one bite won't be enough
Compare that to a sugar or junk food addict.
Giving in to a craving can mean that a person who has managed to eat completely healthy for months, relapses and is right back to eating junk food all the time.
That person is back at the starting point, just as addicted as before quitting.
One critical thing to realize if you want to know how to stop cravings, is that giving in to a craving doesn’t mean indulging for that one time, although your mind may try to convince you of that.
Giving in to that craving means you will indulge now, then perhaps the day after, or a few days later, and then again and again and again.
The law of addiction:
Administration of a drug to an addict will cause reestablishment
of chemical dependence upon the addictive substance.
How to stop cravings
To begin with, I’m going to outline a few methods that I personally believe will help stop cravings for sugar and junk food, but these methods can apply to any sort of craving, including cigarette or drug cravings.
After that, I will list some other methods that I’ve found during my research. Some of them I haven’t tried myself, but they might be useful to certain people.
1. Take a hot shower
This is the best method that I know of.
There’s something about relaxing in a hot shower that helps to stop a craving. I don’t know exactly why but it works very well for me.
The shower has to be HOT. Not so hot that you burn your skin, but hot enough to be a little past your comfort zone. And it’s important to give it enough time, perhaps 20-30 minutes.
2. Go for a walk or a run
This can help a lot.
It is important to get your mind off of whatever it is that you’re craving, be it sugar, nicotine or whatever. When you sit at home on your couch it’s really hard to get your mind focused on something else.
I don’t know why this works, maybe it’s the endorphins, the fresh air or simply the fact that you manage to think about something else.
Longer walks are preferable, at least 30 minutes.
3. Remind yourself why you quit, and what you will lose by giving in
When a craving pops up in the mind, it is very effective at blocking other thoughts. It can become hard to remember why you quit in the first place.
That’s why it is a good idea to have a list of reasons why you quit, as well as a list of benefits you think you may achieve by giving up junk food in the long term.
If you have a list, read it. If you don’t have one, then try to remember your reasons for quitting.
Don’t just “think” about them, and don’t just “read” the list. Try to actively remember how you feel about those things, really contemplate them.
Also, try to remember how you felt the last time you had junk food after deciding not too. Guilty feeling maybe, or kind of sick of yourself for your weakness?
Try to actively remember the feeling that you had, not just the “fact” that you felt bad.
Some other methods
There are some other methods on how to stop cravings that I’ve heard people mention. These personally haven’t worked for me but they might help some people.
I’ve seen some people, so called “experts” even, recommend that you give in a little and have a small bite of what you are craving. Do NOT do that. That is the worst thing you can do, because if you are a junk food addict than that will lead to full blown relapse and possibly a binge.
- Have something sweet like a fruit. This might work for some people, but personally I get junk food cravings despite having just eaten a meal.
- Drink water. Some people like to claim that cravings are caused either by hunger or dehydration, but I disagree. I believe hunger and cravings are completely different things.
- Eat frequently. Some like to suggest that cravings can be prevented by eating multiple times per day. Given that eating too frequently can cause colon cancer, then I can’t recommend that approach.
- Talk to someone. Talk to someone who knows what you’re going through, explain to them that you’re craving unhealthy food and ask them for some encouragement.
- Don’t use artificial sweeteners. This one seems kind of reasonable. If you feel that artificial sweeteners give you cravings then it might be a good idea not to have them.
- Eat more protein. I’ve heard some people suggest this.
- Remove the temptations. This is a good idea, don’t keep junk food at your house and you may prevent those cravings from occurring in the first place.
- Exercise. This is a good idea too, exercising regularly can improve your mental health and wellbeing and might prevent those cravings from occurring.
- Get enough sleep. This is also important for overall health and wellbeing.
- Manage stress. Also important for overall health.
- Avoid certain triggers.Try to avoid specific activities or places that give you cravings.
- Eat a healthy diet. It helps to generally eat a healthy diet.
- Take a low-dose high-quality multivitamin. This helps prevent any nutritional deficiencies.
- Don’t get too hungry. This is a good tip. Preventing yourself from getting too hungry will help prevent uncontrollable cravings from appearing.
Conclusion
Some of these tips on how to stop cravings can definitely be useful for a lot of people.
It is important to realize that if you manage to overcome sugar and junk food addiction in the long-term, these cravings will eventually stop.
The cravings may be common in the beginning, but after a few weeks and months of abstinence, they will probably not be an issue.
Wow Kris. This blog of yours is great!
I wouldn’t know about this if you haven’t commented on my guest post at Kikolani.
I like this particular article a lot. I have been struggling on how I can get over my unnecessary food cravings. Great tips you got here and I definitely going to try a few of them that I am able to do.
Thanks man.
Hey Ramcel, thanks for commenting.
These food cravings are definitely a big problem for a lot of people, but these things might help somewhat :)
Speaking as a sober alcoholic (since 1988) I can add a couple of suggestions.
These may overlap with what is posted, but the acronym is useful:
Don’t get too
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
Some have expanded this to Hungry Enthusiastic Angry Lonely Tired or Horny.
Another important concept is constructive procrastination; putting off the old behaviour for a day, or even an hour, may be enough time for the craving to pass. Even extremely acute cravings don’t last for ever–it just seems that way.
In the long run, freedom from craving via long-term changes in behaviour and thought are more effective than short-term strategies.
I must admit that as long as I craved a drink, I drank. I am not sure how perfect the comparison with food cravings is. I changed my eating habits dramatically in November of 2010, for me this did not present anything like the trouble alcohol gave me.
Hey John, thanks for commenting :)
How heavy were you when u started this programme
Hi Kris, You mention not to take any sweetners, i take stevia in my coffee (it has 0% carbs and cals), just wondering what u think of stevia? Thanks. Love your site.
I haven’t done much research on artificial sweeteners. I think Stevia is one of the good ones.
What about honey? Particularly Manuka from New Zealand, it’s supposed to have health benifits.
Thank you, this and your other articles will really help me to stay away from junk food. I quit it 3 days ago and have been eating healthy stuff since and already my cravings have begun to fade. Junk food shouldn’t even be sold, just like cigarettes and alcohol but unfortunately they will always be on the shelves. That is, unless millions and millions of people manage to quit…
Glad to hear and I agree with everything you said.
It should be a controlled substance. The epidemic of obesity and disease is no better than the situation was when government interventions started with smoking.
hi
It’s all good what you’ve been saying on how to loose weight easily.
Though its not always easy to make it.
Tell me are cereals good for that?
I’ve started a planning to lose weight recently and Ireally want to lose weight rapidly.
I’ll keep reading your articles to know what is good or bad.
Thank you for all you’ve been doing.
Are you a fitness expert?
I’m fairly knowledgeable. I don’t know about “expert” though.
Thank you for this post! I am new to your blog… looks great! I eat very healthy now. Try to eat all organic… try to get those veggies in. However, I still experience a great cosmic battle within my soul when I am confronted with sugar and bread. Especially organic junk food if you know what I mean.
And since I enjoy gathering with friends throughout the week, I am faced with food I- know- I shouldn’t- eat- but- really- want- to all the time! It is so hard to resist the temptation to have just a little bite. The only way I can resist is to not buy it myself. But it’s hard when others are always offering.
I will try these tips you suggest.
It’s so funny. I rarely just crave something out of the blue. It’s only when it is placed right in front of me!
Hi Kris
Thanks for all of this im just new here in your blogs but it seems very helpful.
I hope this can help me
How do u just have the energy to work out and not feel embarrassed?
Jade – are you embarrassed to work out in front of others like at the gym?
Firstly, you will not be the first or last overweight person to step inside a gym :) oftentimes It seems like everyone will stare at us etc but in reality ppl are just too busy doing their own thing to care about what some random stranger is doing :)
Secondly, you can always work out at home until you gain the confidence to workout around others. There are lots of great exercise DVDs out there. I recommend Richard Simmons as his workouts are like dancing and quite fun and they do get your heart pumping! Those are what I use. Richard is very encouraging and there are “real” people in the vids.
Another tip …. Think of working out as just something you HAVE to do, like brushing your teeth. What would happen if you stopped brushing???? Just do it, you can come up with a million excuses but excuses will get you nowhere. Just get up and do it now! :)
As for having the energy……you won’t always have the energy, some days you will wake up and the last thing you want to do is exercise. But you do it anyway, and you WILL feel so good about yourself after you’re done and might even get an energy boost :))
Hi Kris, was just wondering what you believe to be the best pasta? am I better off eating whole grain, rice pasta etc etc I know eliminating it all together is the best option but I can’t live without a bowl every now and then!
Hi Kris,
I have 14 weeks before I am getting married (really excited) and I would like to loose 30 kilos. Following your tips above and exercising…is this totally unrealistic?
Thanks – great site :)