What exactly is hunger?
What exactly is a craving?
It’s important to understand that cravings can be emotional and brought on by a specific emotional trigger. But, there are also physical cravings where your body is craving a specific nutrient. These types of cravings occur when your body is lacking something or is in some way compromised. For example, if you find yourself craving something salty it could be because your body is actually lacking the sodium (if you’ve been sweating excessively or vomiting or had diarrhea). Or it could be because you’re stressed and your adrenal glands are overworked. Physical cravings are a way of letting you know something is not in balance within your body. So if you find yourself with a specific, chronic craving you may want to go to your doctor to have it checked out.
How to tell if you are truly hungry:
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The desire to eat doesn’t go away, even if you wait.
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The desire for food intensifies while you wait.
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Even the thought of eating something not that pleasant (e.g., lima beans) still makes you want to eat.
How to tell if you are just having a craving:
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You don’t feel any hunger “pains” or experience any physical hunger symptoms.
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The thought of eating goes away when you are distracted by other things.
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You feel “emotional” about eating a certain type of food (e.g., happy, comforted, guilty, etc.) .
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You desire something very specific and not healthy, so not a particular nutrient but more a texture or consistence (e.g., sweet, crunchy, etc.).
What to do:
Tips to Manage Cravings:
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First determine if it’s physical or emotional. If you determine it is emotional, identify the emotion that is causing the cravings and take steps to try to dissolve your craving in some other way than giving in to the food.
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If you feel like you just HAVE to have something sweet, then make it a healthy sweet choice. For example if you are really craving cold and smooth, choose some non-fat frozen yogurt. Your body doesn’t know if it’s having a bowl of full-fat ice cream or something much healthier.
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If it’s crunchy you want/need, try pickles instead of chips.
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And if nothing else will do…have a little bit of what you’re craving. But make sure you portion it out. So for example if you decide you just have to have chocolate chip cookies and nothing else will do, then go ahead and have a cookie. But stop at one. Take one out of the package and then wrap up the package and walk away. Brush your teeth. Move on.