Post by lizlor on Jul 13, 2021 7:36:58 GMT
Overcome Cravings
Cravings usually peak within the first few weeks of your diet. Once you limit or stop eating the foods you crave (usually fast food, sweets, salty snacks, and the like), your cravings for those foods will diminish significantly. Today, you’ll learn how to deal with cravings effectively and decisively. If you’ve successfully dieted in the past, you might remember how wonderful it feels when you stop experiencing intense cravings. To weaken the intensity and reduce the frequency of cravings, however, you have to stop giving in to them. People who struggle with dieting usually find that they don’t limit themselves to just a small taste of the food they crave; even though they try to eat just a little, they end up eating a lot. Have you also found that cravings don’t usually go away by trying to satisfy them with just a taste?
Waiting out a craving increases your ability to tolerate cravings and also increases your confidence that you can do so. The more often you wait out your cravings, the less intense and less frequent they’ll be in the future. Eventually, you’ll experience a craving, and, instead of feeling bad, you’ll feel good. You’ll spontaneously say to yourself, This is great ... I’m feeling a craving, but I know I can tolerate it and it’ll go away ... It’s great that I’m tolerating it! Instead of feeling deprived, you’ll feel good—proud, strong, confident, in control. Dieting will get so much easier. To get to that point, however, you first must learn how to respond to your cravings. This is actually simpler than many people realize. Cravings start to diminish the moment you decide you’re absolutely not going to stray from your diet. They increase when you’re indecisive about whether or not to eat. To weaken the intensity and reduce the frequency of cravings, you have to stop giving in to them.
Anti-Craving Strategies Mindset Techniques
You can take a number of steps to respond to your next craving. The first five steps help you prepare your mindset, and you should use the following every time you have a craving:
1. Label it. Tell yourself, This feeling is just a craving ... It’s uncomfortable and intense, but (like hunger) it’s not an emergency.
2. Stand firm. Tell yourself that you’re absolutely not going to eat the food that you’re craving. Remind yourself that you truly don’t want to strengthen your giving-in muscle and weaken your resistance muscle. Ask yourself whether giving in to this craving will be worth the momentary pleasure you’ll get from eating. Think about how giving in can undermine your confidence.
3. Don’t give yourself a choice. The emotionally painful part about a craving is the struggle you feel. Once you can tell yourself with total conviction, NO CHOICE, and do something else, the craving will diminish. (You’ll read more about this on Day 16.) It won’t go away, though, if you waver or say to yourself, This is so intense, I don’t know if I can stand it. Of course, you can stand it! It might be uncomfortable, but nothing bad will happen if you withstand it. In fact, in a few moments, you’re going to be so proud of yourself!
4. Imagine the aftermath of giving in. Go ahead and think about eating the food you’re craving. Imagine it in your mouth. How many seconds does it take to eat it? How many seconds do you feel pleasure? Now visualize the rest of the picture—the part of the experience you usually don’t think about until it’s too late. Picture yourself feeling weak and out of control. See yourself feeling upset, giving up, continuing to eat more and more, feeling worse and worse. Do you start to feel heavier in your body or more heavy-hearted? As you become upset in the image, remind yourself how many times you’ve given in before, how you promised yourself you wouldn’t do it again, and how hopeless you felt. Now that you’ve seen the entire picture, which seems better: eating or not eating?
5. Remind yourself why you want to learn to withstand cravings. Read your Advantages Response Card. You won’t be able to attain the wonderful benefits of losing weight unless you tolerate your cravings. If you continue to give in to them, you’ll always be at risk for gaining weight.
Behavioral Techniques
If you’re still tempted to eat something you shouldn’t after you’ve done all five mindset techniques, then try as many of the behavioral techniques below as you need:
1. Distance yourself from the food you crave. When you experience a craving because you see or smell food, you might be able to move that food to an inconvenient place (where you can’t see it ) or to get rid of it (give it away, throw it away, or put it down the disposal). If you can’t remove the food from your immediate presence, you might be able to remove yourself from the scene. Leave the room, go to another part of the room, go to the restroom (and read your Response Cards), or go outside.
2. Drink a no- or low-calorie beverage. Thirst can mask as hunger and trigger you to eat. Consider drinking club soda, water with lemon, diluted juice (if your plan allows it), or another low-calorie drink.
3. Relax. You can teach your body how to relax in a variety of ways. Your library or bookstore has tapes and books on relaxation techniques. One simple relaxation technique involves focusing on your breathing: Breathe in and out of your nose, slowly counting to four as you inhale and again to four as you exhale. Use very shallow breaths; don’t let your chest rise and fall. Set a timer and keep up this technique for a full three minutes. At the end of the three minutes, you should feel calmer and more in control of your cravings.
4.Distract yourself.
Do you remember a time when a natural distraction interrupted your craving and you later were glad you hadn’t eaten? Maybe a friend called, the dog insisted on taking you for a walk, or your boss came to discuss something with you? By the time you finished what you had to do, your craving had weakened or passed. You focused your attention on something else. When you experience a craving because you see or smell food, move the food to an inconvenient place or get rid of it—or remove yourself from the scene.
Write it down: When I have a craving, I’ll___________________________.
Cravings usually peak within the first few weeks of your diet. Once you limit or stop eating the foods you crave (usually fast food, sweets, salty snacks, and the like), your cravings for those foods will diminish significantly. Today, you’ll learn how to deal with cravings effectively and decisively. If you’ve successfully dieted in the past, you might remember how wonderful it feels when you stop experiencing intense cravings. To weaken the intensity and reduce the frequency of cravings, however, you have to stop giving in to them. People who struggle with dieting usually find that they don’t limit themselves to just a small taste of the food they crave; even though they try to eat just a little, they end up eating a lot. Have you also found that cravings don’t usually go away by trying to satisfy them with just a taste?
Waiting out a craving increases your ability to tolerate cravings and also increases your confidence that you can do so. The more often you wait out your cravings, the less intense and less frequent they’ll be in the future. Eventually, you’ll experience a craving, and, instead of feeling bad, you’ll feel good. You’ll spontaneously say to yourself, This is great ... I’m feeling a craving, but I know I can tolerate it and it’ll go away ... It’s great that I’m tolerating it! Instead of feeling deprived, you’ll feel good—proud, strong, confident, in control. Dieting will get so much easier. To get to that point, however, you first must learn how to respond to your cravings. This is actually simpler than many people realize. Cravings start to diminish the moment you decide you’re absolutely not going to stray from your diet. They increase when you’re indecisive about whether or not to eat. To weaken the intensity and reduce the frequency of cravings, you have to stop giving in to them.
Anti-Craving Strategies Mindset Techniques
You can take a number of steps to respond to your next craving. The first five steps help you prepare your mindset, and you should use the following every time you have a craving:
1. Label it. Tell yourself, This feeling is just a craving ... It’s uncomfortable and intense, but (like hunger) it’s not an emergency.
2. Stand firm. Tell yourself that you’re absolutely not going to eat the food that you’re craving. Remind yourself that you truly don’t want to strengthen your giving-in muscle and weaken your resistance muscle. Ask yourself whether giving in to this craving will be worth the momentary pleasure you’ll get from eating. Think about how giving in can undermine your confidence.
3. Don’t give yourself a choice. The emotionally painful part about a craving is the struggle you feel. Once you can tell yourself with total conviction, NO CHOICE, and do something else, the craving will diminish. (You’ll read more about this on Day 16.) It won’t go away, though, if you waver or say to yourself, This is so intense, I don’t know if I can stand it. Of course, you can stand it! It might be uncomfortable, but nothing bad will happen if you withstand it. In fact, in a few moments, you’re going to be so proud of yourself!
4. Imagine the aftermath of giving in. Go ahead and think about eating the food you’re craving. Imagine it in your mouth. How many seconds does it take to eat it? How many seconds do you feel pleasure? Now visualize the rest of the picture—the part of the experience you usually don’t think about until it’s too late. Picture yourself feeling weak and out of control. See yourself feeling upset, giving up, continuing to eat more and more, feeling worse and worse. Do you start to feel heavier in your body or more heavy-hearted? As you become upset in the image, remind yourself how many times you’ve given in before, how you promised yourself you wouldn’t do it again, and how hopeless you felt. Now that you’ve seen the entire picture, which seems better: eating or not eating?
5. Remind yourself why you want to learn to withstand cravings. Read your Advantages Response Card. You won’t be able to attain the wonderful benefits of losing weight unless you tolerate your cravings. If you continue to give in to them, you’ll always be at risk for gaining weight.
Behavioral Techniques
If you’re still tempted to eat something you shouldn’t after you’ve done all five mindset techniques, then try as many of the behavioral techniques below as you need:
1. Distance yourself from the food you crave. When you experience a craving because you see or smell food, you might be able to move that food to an inconvenient place (where you can’t see it ) or to get rid of it (give it away, throw it away, or put it down the disposal). If you can’t remove the food from your immediate presence, you might be able to remove yourself from the scene. Leave the room, go to another part of the room, go to the restroom (and read your Response Cards), or go outside.
2. Drink a no- or low-calorie beverage. Thirst can mask as hunger and trigger you to eat. Consider drinking club soda, water with lemon, diluted juice (if your plan allows it), or another low-calorie drink.
3. Relax. You can teach your body how to relax in a variety of ways. Your library or bookstore has tapes and books on relaxation techniques. One simple relaxation technique involves focusing on your breathing: Breathe in and out of your nose, slowly counting to four as you inhale and again to four as you exhale. Use very shallow breaths; don’t let your chest rise and fall. Set a timer and keep up this technique for a full three minutes. At the end of the three minutes, you should feel calmer and more in control of your cravings.
4.Distract yourself.
Do you remember a time when a natural distraction interrupted your craving and you later were glad you hadn’t eaten? Maybe a friend called, the dog insisted on taking you for a walk, or your boss came to discuss something with you? By the time you finished what you had to do, your craving had weakened or passed. You focused your attention on something else. When you experience a craving because you see or smell food, move the food to an inconvenient place or get rid of it—or remove yourself from the scene.
Write it down: When I have a craving, I’ll___________________________.
