So since I started this blog last Friday and since then have been assaulted with food cravings for horrible things EVERY day. It's like my mind is saying, "so you think I'll give up just cause you're writing a fancy blog? Ha! Take that!" Where "that" means cheese fries, ice cream, chips... anything. Last night I didn't even crave anything specific. Just something bad. I have 2 questions:
1. How the hell am I supposed to stop these cravings especially when they're not even for anything in particular?
I can tell you some things that don't work for stopping the cravings:
The Food Network. I think I'm going to have to quit watching Rachel Ray and Paula Deen for a while. Especially Paula.
Also ineffective: "I'll just eat this instead." Okay yes, pretzels are better than Cheetos, but I just ate way more than I normally would, felt guilty and STILL wanted the Cheetos.
Tonight I actually found something that worked. I told myself I could have what I wanted (tonight it was a bowl of fruity cheerios) if I just waited 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I made myself wait a little more. After 2 hours and a glass of apple juice, I'm craving free!! Take THAT mind.
I'm going to try some other things next:
Distraction- crocheting, crosswords, reading (apparently I'm also ~95 years old)
Exercise- daily walks, runs, or bike rides and if a craving is really bad, maybe a quick set of crunches.
Drinking more H2O- because everyone says it works.
2. Just what the heck is going on with my mind/body anyway?
Tada! Here's my FOUND for the day: Your Brain and Food Cravings. There aren't a lot of pretty articles about mental issues involving cravings, but I came across this one from a Bryn Mawr class! BMC was part of the Bi-college consortium with Haverford College, my alma mater. The author claims that cravings are possibly caused by a mechanism outside of our control, but that surrendering to cravings is something we can control.
The truth is, I didn't find a lot of agreement in the research on the mind's role in cravings. It doesn't seem like we really care why we have them, we just want them gone. I'll keep you updated if I find any better research. Til then, I hope we can all keep the chips in the bag and off the ass.
xoxo,
Jessica
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5 comments:
here's my theory, and i swear i read this somewhere...
you crave something when your body is missing certain vitamins or minerals... so, say you are having a serious potassium deficiency... you'd start craving bananas (or something like that)! this is why pregnant women start to have weird cravings, as their bodies start to need different vitamins, etc than they needed before. it's your brain's fun way of communicating with you!
so, maybe like with the pretzels there is a healthy substitute for each craving!? who knows.
in other news, i love your blog. i like hearing about you and your life, woohoo!
-k
Way to go Jess! I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to learn what you learn and share in your success!!
I've recently been hearing about cortisol which is a hormone that is released with stress. Cortisol also plays a role in insulin resistance and storing fat in the abdomen.
The kind of stress that modern humans are exposed to is more than the stress we usually think about with too much work, etc. The human stress response is a "fight, flight or freeze" response.
Biologically we are programmed to release certain hormones when we feel threatened (this goes back to caveman days when we had to run from wild animals to save our lives). One of the theories about current stressors include constant visual stress from television/movies and internet putting us into a state of constant "fight/flight/freeze." One has to wonder if meditation and relaxation might have weight loss implications!?
Keep up the good work! I love you,
Mom
Katia,
So glad you're reading! :) I've definitely heard about the chemical cravings too, and so I searched online. I found this: http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php
So maybe I should eat fish and have a glass of milk the next time I want cheese fries! :)
xoxo,
Jessica
Mom,
As for the meditation for weight loss, it's worth a try (although I'm not sure this isn't just another ploy to get my to do it). :)
I'd be interested to know what the studies said is the reason for the internet putting us into "fight/flight/freeze" mode.
xoxo,
J
Jess, I know this weight loss thing is hard and also never ending. Google Bunny Dimmell. She's a local lgal who lost 200 lbs. Her info is helpful sometimes. The one thing I lliked about WW was this saying..."Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!" I really believe that. Get a bag of carrots and cherry tomatoes to keep on hand. I also like your idea of withholding food for 10 min then increasing time, That's a Bunny Tip! Water is good, too. It is a constant struggle but I know you can do it. I suggest writing down everything that goes in your mouth!
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