4 Steps to Overcome Cravings
Feel like you absolutely need that piece of chocolate, pint of ice cream or huge plate of mashed potatoes to satisfy your craving? Rather than true hunger in a physical sense, cravings are more likely a sign of one of two things: an emotional hunger or possibly a deficiency in some key nutrients. Follow these four steps to restore balance.
Step 1: Eliminate the bad stuff
Get rid of sugar, caffeine and anything processed and/or refined. If you really struggle with mood swings and depression, eliminate gluten, dairy, red meat and alcohol. Do this at least until you feel the symptoms are under control, or you have healthy doses of serotonin being produced and maintained in the body.
In my opinion, sugar and caffeine are the main two culprits and cause the greatest amount of damage. You’d be doing yourself a huge favor by releasing them from your diet. Sugar can, indeed, make us momentarily uplifted because this refined molecule temporarily boosts blood sugar and actively alters brain chemistry. But like any drug, the depression after it wears off is far worse than the brief happiness it appeared to give us. And in the worst cases, we sometimes fall into a pattern of treating that mental rut with yet another hit of sugar to keep the happiness going.
This downward cycle of sugar dependence leads us to long-term obesity, diabetes and depression. Sugar also contributes to adrenal exhaustion, metabolism malfunction and overall poor health, which opens the door to a whole host of illness and disease.
While there are six definite tastes that we need for balance (salty, sweet, bitter, astringent, pungent and sour), the sweet taste is not abundant in whole and natural foods. We’re meant to have it in small amounts and seasonally. In the summer, the days are longer and we’re more active. We have more of a need for the bursts of energy that we get from berries, melons and other fruits. Maple syrup in the spring, and sweet vegetables, honey and apples in the colder months provide the sweet taste year-round.
Step 2: Add more good stuff
· Adaptogens: yerba mate, ashwaganda, ginseng, rhodiola, cordyceps mushrooms, etc. Adaptogens stabilize moods, ease stress and promote feelings of well-being. They also add an infusion of balanced and sustained energy without stimulation like caffeine. Herbs like St. John’s Wort help fight depression and can be taken with dandelion root and milk thistle to aid in liver detoxification and cleansing.
· Healthy fats that contain omega 3′s: nuts like almonds, pistachios, pecans, macadamia and walnuts; avocados, coconut and other cold-pressed oils; seeds like pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, hemp, chia and flax; olives as well as good quality fish oils.
· Green vegetable juices. These alkalize the body and help bring everything back into balance and release our cravings for sweet and processed foods.
Step 3: Bring in (or get back to)
· Living in the present moment.
· Removing complication: simplify, simplify, simplify every area of your life that you can. Move away from rampant multitasking and being plugged into a myriad of technological gadgets constantly. Take technology breaks and focus on one task at a time as much as you can. Eliminate clutter. Clean out your cupboards (which will probably lead to healthier eating as well) by throwing out or donating the packaged, canned and less than optimal things buried there.
· Moving out of the thinking mind and into the feeling heart.
· Meditating. Any amount of being still brings immeasurable benefits into our lives even if it’s five minutes when you’re waking up or falling asleep.
· Enjoying everyday moments. There are a million beautiful things that pass through our days. What are five of them that have happened today so far?
· Exercising, through yoga, dance, or whatever you prefer, to release endorphins. When we feel good about our bodies and are generally happier, we move more, so we become fitter and have more energy, so we move more. This creates a positive circle of cause and effect.
Step 4: Release and Be Empowered
During any cleanse it’s inevitable that not only will you clear out toxins and old sludgy buildup, but old emotions will most likely be released as well. For some, this is unexpected and a little unsettling, but the best way to handle it is to look at those emotions or feelings as they’re surfacing. Don’t delve in and live in the past, just let them go. They no longer affect you, after you realize that they brought you to the place you are now, and that it’s exactly where you’re supposed to be. They do not affect your future. How you act and think right now is the only thing that affects your future, and that’s not meant to make us anxious or stressed, but to excite and enliven us as every moment is truly a gift full of promise and a chance to create exactly the future you want!
Photo Credit: canadapost
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