Tips to Help Control Food Cravings

Food cravings can be triggered by various things including low blood sugar, stress, and other emotional triggers. The best way to take control is to understand how to balance your meals and snacks to avoid the traps that trigger food cravings.

1. Do not skip meals. Eat three meals a day and include snacks when needed. Try not to let more than 5 hours go between meals and snacks. This will help keep your blood sugar stable and avoid getting to the place where you are extremely hungry. Low blood sugar and extreme hunger can be a dangerous combination and almost always leads to overeating. Plan ahead and keep healthy snacks around.

2. Include protein, fat, and carbohydrate at each meal and snack if possible. Instead of bringing an apple for a snack, try having half an apple with some peanut butter or a slice of cheese. This will help keep your blood sugar more level throughout the day.

3. Keep food records. Food records are invaluable to help identify your eating patterns. For example, you may experience sugar cravings every afternoon at 3 p.m. This could mean that you need to eat an appropriate snack at this time or it could mean that what you had for lunch may not have been the right choice. It also could indicate a high stress time for you where a quick break might be in order.

4. Avoid very low calorie diets. Eating less than 1200 calories a day will likely lead to food cravings because it is basically a starvation diet. There are few people who need to be on this low of a calorie level and studies show people who go on very low calorie diets have increased food cravings and can become preoccupied with food. If you are unsure what calorie level is right for you, contact a Registered Dietitian in your area by going to www.eatright.org/cgi/findanrd3.cgi or get a metabolism measurement. Go to www.healthetech.com to find out who can run a metabolism measurement for you in your area.

5. Include whole grain carbohydrate sources with each meal. The fiber content of these foods helps to keep blood sugar levels stable to avoid any blood sugar drops which can lead to food cravings. Look for

3 grams fiber or more per serving on the nutrition label.

6. Clean up your environment! Avoid keeping trigger foods in your house or office if possible. It will be hard to choose healthy snacks when a bag of chips and a package of cookies linger on your shelf. The less temptation you have, the better.

7. Don't be too rigid! Enjoy your favorite desserts and snacks once in a while. If you completely eliminate them, you will become focused on these foods and end up eating too much. Enjoy your favorite treats once in awhile.

Once you have the craving:

If you really crave a food (i.e. chocolate), you have two choices:

1. Allow yourself a small portion when you feel the craving (i.e. 2 Hershey kisses a day) or find a substitute (i.e. Swiss Miss sugar free hot chocolate or Chai tea).

2. Try to wait 15 minutes before giving in to a craving. Try to engage in another activity such as journaling, or taking a walk. Sometimes even a 5 minute distraction can help ward off the cravings.

If you do give into a craving and eat more than you would have liked, do not beat yourself up. Try to learn from the craving. What could you have done differently to have prevented the craving? Then- Let it go! We are all human. Guilt will only make things worse and we have to allow ourselves learning curves.

? Meri Raffetto, 2005

About the Author

Owner of Real Living Nutrition Services, Meri Raffetto is a Registered Dietitian and a recognized professional in the area of nutrition and wellness. She has developed online weight management programs that focus on a healthy, non-diet approach to weight loss. For more information or to sign up for our free newsletter, visit http://www.reallivingnutrition.com.

disinfecting cleaning services Arlington Heights ..
In The News:

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.
Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.
Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.
Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.
Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.
Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.
Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.
New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.
A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.
AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.
A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.
New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.
The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.
Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.
Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.
Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.
Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.
Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.
Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.
Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.
iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.
Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.
FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.
Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.
Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

The Type Of Food and Nutrition That Can Help You Lose Weight Fast

The following are diet tips that can help you shape... Read More

Lose Body Fat by Choosing the Right Diet Plan For You

If you are overweight and searching for the diet program... Read More

Low Fat versus Low Carb Diets

Diets, diets, diets... every where you go, anything you read... Read More

Weight Loss and Dieting Secrets ? What You DONT Want to Know!

Some of you will not like what I have to... Read More

Weight Loss Online -- The Fastest & Easiest Weight Loss Plan

My first article provided steps for fast healthy weight loss.... Read More

Top 5 Most Popular Diet Programs Reviewed

There are many subscriber programs available both online and in... Read More

7 Power Packed Tips to Help You Lose Weight & Gain Optimal Health

Did you know that what you're eating could be making... Read More

How I Lost 51 Pounds In 4 Months Using The Simplest Diet Plan In The World

Like many people I've been on dozens of diet plans... Read More

Weight Loss Proteins -- The Casein & Whey Protein Debate

The weight loss protein debate centers around the effectiveness of... Read More

Possible Pitfalls

There are as many reasons you've given yourself to eat... Read More

Weight Loss Is All To Do With Calories

What is a calorie? The definition of a calorie is... Read More

The Myth of Spot Reducing

There is no such thing as spot reducing. Any fat... Read More

6 Everyday Tips For Losing Weight

1. Drink plenty of water. Our body needs a lot... Read More

A Mediterranean Diet - How to Lose Weight Safely

If you are looking for a way to lose fifteen... Read More

Weight Loss for Good: The Cold Hard Truth!

Twenty years of health club consulting, 50,000 hours of paid... Read More

Failed at Weight Loss: Heres Hope

All Diets Work: No Diets WorkHave you lost weight in... Read More

20 Dieting Tips You Can Use Immediately To Start Losing Weight

Dieting is not easy. If it were, we would probably... Read More

Fitness Wars: Revenge of the Girth

As of the writing of this article, May 16, 2005,... Read More

Liberate Your Set Esteem and Lose Weight

Are you a 'look-and-lose' dieter? Have you studied every diet... Read More

Weight Loss: N Y Millionaire Weight Loss ?Secret? Revealed

It is a fact that about 70% Americans are overweight.... Read More

What are Fats?

Fat is fuel. That is basically what it is. A... Read More

Dieting: A Few Dieting Pitfalls To Avoid

When we gain more weight than is good for us,... Read More

How You Can Eat Carbs and Still Lose Weight

When I decided to lose weight I of course decided... Read More

Dieting? You Must Reset Your Weight-o-stat

You need to reset your weight-o-stat. No matter how much... Read More

Breakfast -How Not To Start The Day Part II

The Order of Energy UtilizationBack to our table of stored... Read More

bathroom cleaning service Mundelein ..