Can You Eliminate Cravings?

I still struggle with strong cravings for pasta, even though I am in excellent shape, have been a nutrition coach since 2017, and regularly coach clients about cravings.

Just as there are no finish lines or medals when it comes to your overall health, there aren’t any for dealing with cravings either.

Today I’ll break cravings down in 5 sections:

1. The Big Picture 🖼️

2. Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦

3. From 1️⃣ To 🔟

4. Skill ➡️ Practice ➡️ Action

5. Parting Zen 🧘‍♂️

Let’s begin.

The Big Picture 🖼️

Acceptance + Awareness → Actions.

Acceptance is a very important first step because if you refuse to accept cravings, then you will continue to resist or ignore them.

This rarely works because willpower is finite, and cravings aren’t going anywhere.

There are several different, powerful causes of cravings … and you have no control over some aspects of them.

Some of the causes include:

• Nutrition: If you’re undernourished.

• Biochemical: We have built-in receptors and signals.

• Hydration: If your fluid balance is too low or high.

• Stress: This is a big one.

• Sleep: Or, lack of it.

• Cultural: Not only your childhood; also that of your ancestors!

• Seasonal: We crave different foods at different times of year.

• Hormonal: This includes men.

• Self-Sabotage: Common to do with food.

• Emotions: All kinds of emotions are at play.

• ‘Yin-Yang’: Any duality that’s out of balance (raw / cooked, sweet / salty, sugar / meat, hot / cold, etc.).

Those are some serious forces at play - and they can combine with each other.

For example, I grew up eating tons of pasta, bread, & pizza. Those were my favorite foods.

I have fond memories of always finishing all of the uneaten pasta, right out of the strainer in the sink where my Mom left it.

My Grandmother, who grew up during the Depression, constantly imparted on me the importance of finishing all food on the table.

Plus, refined carbohydrates like pasta, bread, & pizza have physically addictive qualities.

So, the faster I accept the fact that pasta will always be tempting for me to overeat, the faster I can get to work on which aspects of my behavior I can control.

From Acceptance, you can swiftly move to raising your Awareness about what happening … and craft Action steps.

We’ll do this in the ‘Skill ➡️ Practice ➡️ Action’ section below.

Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦

Today’s topic, as simply as possible:

“Cravings are like the weather. You cannot control them, but you can change where you live, and prepared for the storm.”

From 1️⃣ To 🔟

There is no such thing as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food. It’s more helpful to rank foods on a spectrum, then make informed decisions.

Since I mentioned bread:

Keep reading the ingredients and start to make your own rankings!

Skill ➡️ Practice ➡️ Action

There are 9 fundamental ‘Level One Nutrition Skills’. Each week I will break one down into a ‘Core Practice’, and a few ‘Possible Actions’.

Skill: Regulate Emotions Without Food & Eating.

This is 1 of the 9 basic Skills however, these other Skills all could apply to Cravings:

• Plan, Prioritize, & Prepare

• Regulate Eating Behaviors

• Match Energy Intake To Needs & Goals

• Choose Higher Quality Foods More Often

• Provide Adequate Nutrients

• Rest & Recover

• Create A Supportive Environment

Core Practice: Identify physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, & their connections to food & eating.

This practice is one that most of us need to continually refine over the course of our lives.

The good news is that if you’ve never worked on this before, big ‘gains’ can come early and fast!

It’s largely about raising Awareness, so that you can then take Action.

Often the first Actions are to raise Awareness, then you can take more Actions after that.

Possible Actions:

• Practice noting common triggers (HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired).

• Start a food & feelings journal.

• After a negative eating episode, do a ‘Behavior Awareness Worksheet’.

If you need help with this, or want a copy of the worksheet, email me. I’ll send it to you ASAP.

[Actions are what you actually practice. Typically it’s best to pick one that you are highly confident in executing for a period of 1-2 weeks at a time, before progressing to the next one.

These are just some examples; the list of specific possible actions you could take is practically infinite. After deciding on one, in order to maintain progress, it is important to honestly measure, assess, and adjust regularly.]

Parting Zen 🧘‍♂️

A simple word, phrase, or thought to take with you:

Sometimes you must surrender in order to avoid defeat.

Next week we’ll be tackling how to shop. See you then!

Coach Matt