Stop food cravings for good with these easy to follow tips and common sense hints. This is part 2 of our series on how food cravings are a sign of a body out of balance, and why the reasons behind them are not as easy as saying ‘mind over matter’.  The good news is that food cravings can be controlled, and stopped. The 15 tips will kickstart your life changing plan for a healthy lifestyle. You will get inspired to lifestyle changes you can do to feel, be and do good – every day and working (far) away. 

Stop Food Cravings and Kickstart a Healthy Lifestyle

Food Cravings are common. The screamer will have an intense need for a certain food. Read more on thegoodista.com. Screaming chocolate cookie illustrates the food craving urgency.

To get to grips with your food cravings, Part 1: Food Cravings Goodbye Guide and the Eat This – Not That Chart and Infographic will be a helpful start. You will find common types of food cravings, and get a complete list of trigger foods, reasons why your head tell you to eat them, and the healthier alternatives to eat instead. 

Starting a healthier relationship with food is a question of re-booting and some lifestyle changes. To form new habits you need time, and you and your body will need to adjust. Be patient, and tweak a little every day. By staying on course you will see how your body and mind starts to cooperate. Guess who will benefit? You! 

15 Tips To Stop Food Cravings – For Good 

  • Keep a food diary, just for yourself. Be brutally honest about each crisp, bit of cheese, salami and chocolate you eat. 
  • Give yourself a three-day trial to eat the same time every day, and not snack in between. Get inspired by healthy recipes, and clean food. 
  • Drink enough water, as dehydration is a powerful sign which the mind interprets wrongly (Look at the Food Cravings Goodbye Guide).
  • If you find it hard not to snack don’t deprive yourself, but change your snacks to healthier alternatives. Here are some great ones: 50 Clean Eating Snacks.
  • Clean up your food act by understanding more about real, healthy food. Get inspired by this book Health is a Habit, by Julie Massey. It’s a great read, and a sure trigger to new ways of thinking about a healthier lifestyle. 
  • Food Conscientious is about healthy choices.Use alternatives to sugar, salt and common carbs. Are someone who automatically adds salt before tasting, or sugar to your coffee / tea – or always orders french fries as a side dish? Well, taste first, the ad sparingly, and order other vegetables (all colours except fried) Think Rainbow foods.  When you are cooking you can add naturally sweet or salty foods instead of sugar or salt. Honey or dried fruits instead of sugar. Anchovy paste or sun-dried tomatoes to add salt to your cooks and stews; and Quinoa, Spelt and Bulgur instead of potatoes and pasta. 

  • Portion Control Aid

    Listen to your cravings and help your body get what it really needs. Interestingly enough – the more nutrient dense whole foods you eat, and the more water you drink, the less cravings you will have. Relearn about food groups and how to exercise portion control.

  • Set and keep regular meal times. Eating clean foods clears up the need to go to the fridge five to six times a day to graze, munch and take a piece of this and that. Your body will not scream for it. Hence – you need not provide. Nice, huh? 
  • Exercise is a great change motivator, and the oxygen also helps you think clearer. A walk a day keeps the doctor and the snack away. 
  • Gargle after every meal. To help you to avoid snacking brushing you teeth or gargling will be a great habit to get used to. 

  • Healthy Snacks

    Read these great tips by WebMD: Food Cravings: Ways to Identify and Cope with Food Addiction

  • Check out what your trigger foods are from the Food Cravings Goodbye Guide and Chart, and get into alternative healthier options.
  • Understand why hormones play such a big role, and this article is a very good and detailed read: Hunger Hormones 
  • Learn more about mindfulness and meditation as these are powerful resources to deal with stress.
  • Get to know your signs – and times – when you tend to get more affected. Prevent these from occurring by changing food habits, and lifestyle. Slowly but surely you will turn from your mood monster state to a happy healthy living enthusiast.

    Wellness Goals can be achieved by making a list and then a plan, as illustrated by these examples of 'goals'.

    What Are Your Wellness Goals?

Stop Food Cravings: Every Day and Working (far) Away

How to get a Healthier Life with Good Food is learning what the body needs. This picture shows what foods are good for certain parts of the body.If you are in your every day life situation at home changing lifestyle can be tough enough. Learning new habits, and way to cook can be a challenge – but also great fun. It inspires you to actually cook again, and enjoy thinking about food in a new way. This in itself becomes a trigger for introducing more healthy changes such as exercise and mindfulness.

Every step counts when setting wellness goals – and it is your choice to change. No-one but you can convince you to do this. Not even your Doctor. Do try however, to surprise your medical practitioner by changing your way of eating and exercising before your next visit. You are likely to be pleasantly surprised – and so will s/he. 

Stop Food Cravings: Working Away From Home

Fitness Food items to pack for a field mission, illustrated by assorted health food items. Read more on thegoodista.com

Fitness Food Pack Items

If you are on assignment or mission far away from home, finding healthy alternatives can sometimes be a challenge. The GOODista has many posts about working (far) away – and this post: 10 Fitness Food Tips for Work (far) Away gives you great tips on how to pack, think and tackle your mission with wellness and health still intact.

Include exercise to the mix, and you will be fitter than most humanitarians, contractors and oil riggers. Exercise Away: Fitness Space, Time and Tools gives you a lot of insight and advice on how to keep fit in a remote duty station. Tip: Sign up to The GOODista and get field focused wellness tips in your inbox 

Stop Food Cravings: Trigger a Healthy Lifestyle

Food cravings are a sign that you need to rebalance body and mind. Eating clean is the way to kickstart healthy living, and also reboot yourself from the inside. When you start on this process it will feel as if you have gone though a grinder. Your body will slowly detox from years of processed foods, additives and food colouring,

When you start adding fibre, greens and all natural foods the body will not know what hit it at first. You will increase your bathroom visits, as you get rid of the waste. You may even have physical reactions such as feeling bloated or breaking out in acne. This is your body emptying itself from unwanted poisons, and eating cleaner allows it to finally rebalance itself.

Anyone who starts with fibre, flax seeds and lentils is prone to gas build up. This should not put you off. It is entirely normal. Give it time, and the adjustment comes with a great gift: you will feel so much better – and very soon too. The effect is actually faster than you think. You will get more energy, and have a sense of focus for work and play that you didn’t have before. 

How to get a Healthier Life illustrated by yin and hand of unhealthy and healthy foods

Read how you get a healthier life.

In itself the energy you feel will have a knock on effect on other lifestyle change areas. You will want to start exercising for instance. The combined effect of better food and gentle exercise will make you sleep better and your stress levels will go down. All in all you are on your way to a better you – a new you. You will have kickstarted a healthy lifestyle.

If you like inspiration to lifestyle changes you can do – every day and working (far) away follow The GOODista and get updates directly in your in-box. Sign up below 🙂 

Copyright and Terms of Use 

Recommended and Related:

Please Comment – Here or on FaceBook: