DEALING WITH YOUR EMOTIONS
Our emotions can influence our thoughts and our thoughts can influence our emotions. They can become an obstruction to progress and can really ruin lots of the hard work you put in to getting healthier and fitter. If we can learn to understand how our emotions can be manipulated by our surroundings and day to day life then we can begin to understand how we can deal with them and not allow our emotions to create a barrier to any success.
UNDERSTANDING FOOD CRAVINGS
Food cravings are of great concern because they can at times be so powerful it seems almost impossible to avoid making a poor food choice – this will throw you right off track if they occur too often. There are several reasons we make crave a certain food, but lots of the time it is not always the most obvious reason, it’s not because we need that food we crave. We don’t always try to seek out food based on the hunger response alone; there are other interfering factors that play a part. Certain behaviour and environmental factors can influence our eating habits, some of those factors include time of day, boredom, tiredness and fatigue, current mood status, habits, greed, eating much too quickly, social encouragement and peer pressure, and food availability.
DEHYDRATION
Unfortunately your body does not send a message that you are thirsty until you are on the brink of a dehydration. Dehydration can easily be mistaken for hunger as it is so hard to distinguish between the two, we often find ourselves craving food when all we need is some fluids. If you feel like you are craving something, have a drink of filtered water first to try and resolve the feelings – you may just be lacking in fluids.
LIFESTYLE
Being bored, stressed or depressed can cause us to seek momentary pleasure from certain foods as a way of dealing with our emotions and making us feel better. Being in a toxic relationship, friendship or job can also contribute to this emotional eating. Once you recognise this may be why you’re doing it, you can fight against it.
HISTORY
All too often food cravings come from the past. Perhaps it is certain meals we enjoyed when we were children, our family favourite meal or mums best cooking. Recognise the foods that stem from childhood and try to create healthy versions of them so you still enjoy the memories whilst you eat them.
DEFICIENCIES
Of course one of the most obvious reasons to crave certain foods is because we may be deficient in certain nutrients and our body is crying out for us to consume them. If we are not eating enough food, or not getting enough variety in the diet then we can start to crave certain foods.
