When it comes to choosing to change your diet then one particular thing that can cause you real trouble is the cravings you may get for things you can no longer have. Certainly, when it comes to following a Paleo diet cravings for items like bread, pasta or potatoes can prove a downfall for many.
Yet there are certain things that you can do which don’t require any real willpower to prevent your cravings from taking over. Below I offer up some ways that can help you tackle those cravings you may be experiencing when you begin following the Paleo diet.
1. Prevent Them
What could be better than be able to power your way through your cravings? That is to not have them in the first place. However before you start looking at using any kind of psychological methods to prevent such you should look to see if you are doing the following, as these can help to reduce how many cravings you have.
a. You should eat when you’re hungry. As soon as your stomach starts growling it is doing so not because you are craving some food, but you are feeling hungry. To stop this you need to eat plenty of good quality protein and fat all of which appears on any approved Paleo diet food list. By making sure that you are eating enough protein and fat in each of the Paleo diet recipes you create you will find that this can help to prevent cravings from beginning. Plus you’ll also find that they can help to get rid of your cravings as well.
b. It is crucial that you don’t skimp on the carbs in your diet. Most people who add a little more starch to their diet that is Paleo diet friendly as it helps to prevent them craving more carb type foods like crackers or pretzels. Such foods won’t help you in any way with achieving your weight loss goals.
2. Find Something That Helps To Distract You
People find that if they are able to distract their mind for a few minutes when they start to get cravings, it prevents these thoughts from then taking a hold. Also like them, you’ll find once that they have gone, they hardly ever come back.
There are plenty of things you can do to help distract you when you start to crave something that isn’t on any Paleo food list. You could read a book, or watch your favourite TV show, do some stretching or yoga, even write down what your goals are now you’ve changed your diet.
Anything is going to help; the whole point of doing something else is to help you focus on something completely different. By interrupting the craving you are reducing your desire to eat whatever it is and in turn, the choices you make will be far better.
3. Make Yourself Happy
In a study carried out, it was found that not all cravings were associated with us feeling hungry, but rather with our being in a more negative frame of mind. Most people tend to crave sugar when they feel anxious, stressed, lonely or bored. Okay for a short while eating junk food is going to make you feel better.
However if you are able to find some other way of helping you to feel better then this will help to eliminate your craving. Again do things that you know you will enjoy for example book some “me time” and do something that you really want to do, even if it is totally unproductive.
4. Exercise
Of all the ways to effectively prevent cravings from taking a hold is this one. Whilst working out of course your mind is more focused on making sure that you perform each work out properly rather than thinking about what to eat.
Also through exercise, your body is producing more endorphins. This is a chemical that actually provides you with the same kind of buzz you would get if you were thinking about eating some junk food. You’ll find that once you start to feel good then you won’t need chocolate or a cake to get the same feelings.
By acting the way you would like to feel you are going to find that saying “no’ to the food that isn’t going to help you feel good is much easier.
I would suggest that this is in fact, the perfect way to prevent those cravings you are having now from taking hold or just won’t leave you.
However please keep in mind that not all these methods are going to help you, as we are all different. As a result of this, the cravings we experience are different as well. It may mean you need to try out several of these methods to help you find the one that actually works best for you. Even if you find it a struggle in the first place, then take this as an opportunity to learn something new just as you will when cooking variou Paleo recipes.