By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom
Do you struggle with food cravings?
This is a giant barrier to weight loss success. It sets up a negative cycle of initially “battling” the craving, giving in, overindulging, feeling like a failure, and giving up. Sound familiar?
I’d like you to try my easy “5 Ds” to help manage your food cravings. They really work!
DELAY – DISTRACT –
DISTANCE – DETERMINE – DECIDE.
Delay: Postpone eating
for 10-15 minutes when you feel an urge. You’re not saying “no” – just stopping
to think before you eat. You’re not ignoring the thought but dealing with it.
While you’re delaying your decision, the next D makes it easier…
Distract: Try a
non-food activity to give you something to do (so you don’t watch the clock for
10 minutes!). Often the wave of desire to eat disappears in a few minutes when
you keep your hands busy without food. Clean out a drawer, call a friend, brush
your teeth, surf the web, or even learn to knit!
Distance: It’s
important to keep your eating environment at arm’s length – maintaining a
distance. Keep food out of sight, not on counters; “out of sight, out of mind”
can help. Stay out of the kitchen when a craving strikes. And use the kitchen
only for food preparation and meal consumption. Avoid it as a place to hang
out.
Determine: After
waiting 10-15 minutes, determine whether you are physically hungry or just thirsty;
these two are often confused. Also consider whether you might have
emotional/boredom hunger, what I call “head hunger.” And avoid getting
over-hungry, a main consequence of meal skipping. All of these situations can
be helped with a structured eating schedule and pre-planned meals and snacks.
Decide: If you’ve
made it through the first 4 Ds, it’s time to make a smart choice. Think before
you eat and pre-plan what you are really looking for – sweet, creamy, salty,
chewy – before you make a choice. Look for single-serving packaged items for
built-in portion control. You also get the satisfaction of “eating the whole
thing.” Aim for a snack between 100-200 calories.
How do you manage your own food cravings? Please share your
thoughts!
This is such good advice! So many times, I find myself totally giving in to having a snack when I'm not hungry at all, but I just have a desire to eat something to satisfy some other need--whether it's boredom, happiness, or just that it's time to eat. Recently, I've really been paying attention to whether I'm hungry and eating only when I'm really physically hungry and I swear, my calorie intake has been greatly reduced. It's still hard . . . but it's greatly interesting. If we only ever ate when we were hungry, no one would ever be overweight. When I am tempted, I do what you suggest--think about it, wait for a while, and then try to make a wise decision. I'm I'm overly starved, that's when I sort of grab anything and make a mistake. Low fat yogurt and cheese sticks are a staple in my house; they are my go to foods when I'm starving and waiting for dinner to be ready. Also, hummus and carrot sticks (not crackers or pretzels!)
ReplyDeleteLOVE your way of thinking. You point out the biggest way to fight back to food cravings: have some go-to foods that satisfy, so you don’t lose control. Keep up the good work!! Thanks for your great ideas!
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