Managing Cravings While On A Diet

How can you reduce cravings while you’re on a diet?

There are a number of ways to keep your diet on track.

1. Work out a plan beforehand: Make sure you know where you’re headed and what you want to achieve on a diet? Is it a lifelong commitment or a temporary change in habits? I think it’s a great idea to make a commitment to healthy food and activity with a goal six to twelve months in the future.

2. Clean up your pantry: Get rid of the food in your house that’s a temptation. That means junk food, crappy food, and the food that you can’t stop eating no matter how full you are.

3. Make a list of the healthy, tasty foods you’re going to eat on your diet: You need to go shopping and stock your kitchen with food that will help achieve your health goals. If you do have a snack attack, you want to be able to grab a piece of fruit or a small serving of nuts rather than a sleeve of cookies. One of my favorite healthy snacks is a small package of seaweed. Seaweed is a great way to get valuable minerals into your diet.

4. Make sure you eat enough protein: Eating protein is a key factor in reducing cravings. You need to eat protein with most meals. You could opt for chicken, fish, legumes, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, and seeds, to name just a few options.

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5. Chose satisfying snacks: A common snack for me it will be an avocado because I’ve got two avocado trees. One good size avocado can allay hunger for a few hours.

6. Eat at regular times: Skipping or irregular meals can contribute to getting overly hungry and trigger cravings. If you want to reduce cravings, I think eating a breakfast that includes protein makes good sense.

7. Drink several glasses of water between meals: Drinking water in combination with a high fiber diet will leave you feeling full for extended periods. A couple of small pieces of cooked sweet potato and a glass of water will leave you feeling as if you’ve had a two-pound steak. You won’t be hungry for a long time.

8. Catch the cravings early: When you start thinking about the pantry or refrigerator, chose a different activity. It could be a walk with the dog or a stroll on your own. If you distract yourself from a craving, often it goes away within five or ten minutes.

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