–

–

Lesson Activity

When you get cravings = Ask yourself to tell if these good or bad cravings.

  1.  Do I need this or do I want it?  Do you need that bowl of chips, or do you just want it?  Or do you really just want a glass of water?
  2. Why am I craving?  Are you drinking alcohol to manage anxiety, are you getting angry to manage fear, and you eating because of you sad, are you smoking because you are bored?
  3. What are the realistic outcomes of this craving?  Will this make me feel lighter and better, or bloated and heavy?  Will, I put on weight or will I actually burn it?

Simply asking these 3 questions can help you reframe the craving and perhaps see it for what it really is.  Over time this becomes much more obvious and easier to tell, so you really only need to reflect a bit more deeply in the beginning.

Transcript

Cravings are the intense desire to engage in the thought/behaviour for example to eat a certain food.  Some studies have shown 97% of women and 68% of men report experiencing cravings for specific foods.  Cravings are not necessarily bad but food cravings are correlated with high BMI as well as with behaviours that might lead to weight gain, including increased snacking, poor compliance with dietary restrictions, and binge eating/bulimia.

By contrast, some believe that cravings reflect the “wisdom of the body” meaning you feel an urgent desire to eat something.  For example, you crave water when you are thirsty or something high calorie after doing exercise.

I think both of these are true, but we have to learn over time the difference between the sensations we experience when the body genuinely needs something versus what are negative cravings that lead to overeating.  These sensations can subtly different so there are a few questions we can ask ourselves to tell if these good or bad cravings.

  1.  Do I need this or do I want it?  Do you need that bowl of chips, or do you just want it?  Or do you really just want a glass of water?
  2. Why am I craving?  Are you drinking alcohol to manage anxiety, are you getting angry to manage fear, and you eating because of you sad, are you smoking because you are bored?
  3. What are the realistic outcomes of this craving?  Will this make me feel lighter and better, or bloated and heavy?  Will, I put on weight or will I actually burn it?

Simply asking these 3 questions can help you reframe the craving and perhaps see it for what it really is.  Over time this becomes much more obvious and easier to tell, so you really only need to reflect a bit more deeply in the beginning.

The other really important point to know about cravings is when people feel them they very often have inaccurate beliefs about the craving sensation and this can lead to a relapse.

Accurate beliefs about cravings include:

1) Cravings are time-limited. They go away is often a short period of time.  They may feel overwhelming but it will pass.

2) Cravings are not harmful in themselves. They are annoying, distracting, and perhaps uncomfortable, but they do not cause harm, though giving into them may.

3) Cravings do not force you, as strong as they are you still have a choice

4) And finally – Cravings create anxious feelings. It is helpful to learn specific techniques for relaxation and self-soothing. These techniques include slow deep breathing, meditation, taking a bath, going for a walk, playing with the dog, etc. These techniques are often called coping skills and we discuss those in future talks and in much more detail in our “self-health coaching course”

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1799279

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12401745

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11135328

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477694/#nuv002-B102