how to deal with cravings

There’s really only one way to efficiently deal with cravings…

… and that’s to eat it.

You see, avoiding foods that you’re craving only makes the craving worse. The thing about cravings is there’s no substitute. When you’re craving for a particular food it’s gonna take that particular food to ‘hit the spot’. Similar foods or alternatives just don’t hit the same. Trust me I know, I’ve been there way too many times.

Like when I’m craving a snicker bar, I want a snicker bar. Fruits & honey or some sweet alternative ain’t gonna do it. No 80% chocolate’s gonna do it. I want the snicker bar.

The more you avoid cravings, the worse it gets. The worse the craving gets and you start heading into a higher chance of binge eating. When you binge you’ll respond to that with guilt and punishment, which means you’ll put on even more restrictions into your diet which makes another cycle of binging just around the corner, and this vicious cycle will just keep repeating itself until you decide to fully quit.

So how should you deal with it then?

Eat it.

Meaning find a way to include it into your diet while still adhering to your goals. Let’s use the example of a snicker bar. Let’s say you’re craving for snickers. A typical standard snicker bar is roughly 230kcal. A mini snicker bar is roughly 90kcal. A bite sized snicker bar is around 40kcal.

Could you eat 1 full snicker bar (230kcal) a day everyday and still lose weight? Absolutely. But fitting that into your diet likely means you’ll have to take away some calories from your meals. Perhaps you eat 80kcal less per meal to fit it in? Or half your usual rice portions? Or switch out the regular coke you have usually for coke zero? Or maybe you don't need a full snicker bar to hit the spot, a mini one will do?

It doesn’t matter how you fit it in, if it fits it fits. If you’re still consistently in a calorie deficit with or without that snicker bar you’re still gonna lose weight.

Food becomes a lot easier to deal with when you allow yourself the freedom to eat it rather than be full on restriction mode. The only thing you have to restrict to lose weight is the total amount of calories you’re eating on a regular basis. The portions. The type of food is totally up to your choice.

Obviously the general guideline is eat mostly nutrient rich whole foods and lean protein while sprinkling in some of your favorite foods, but if you’ve found some other ratio that suits you better for longevity totally go for that.

Will your craving go away once you include it in your diet?

Eventually yeah.

It’s not likely gonna go away the moment after you eat it. Say back to the snicker bar example perhaps after having 1 full bar you feel all good and don’t crave for it for the next 5 days, but after that the cravings start again. Well then just schedule your diet so that you get to have a snicker bar every 5 days. There’s nothing wrong with that. Over time once that becomes naturally part of your routine it’s quite likely that the day will come where you don’t crave for it anymore.

But… you might start craving for something else.

And that’s perfectly normal.

Cravings is they never fully go away. You deal with one, you’re good for a while and another one comes along. The thought of never ever craving for something forever I do not believe is humanly possible.

Dealing with cravings is an ongoing process. When you’re craving for something, eat it. Figure out a way to fit it into your diet. When you’re done with it, replace it back to your original diet or with the next thing that you have a slight craving for. It’s a skill to learn that does take time, but when you do learn how to deal with cravings that’s when a “diet” starts to not feel like diet.

I hope this helps!

Till the next one~

— Po