Explore Cravings
Cravings: a powerful desire for something
Often we look at cravings as a negative, a lack of willpower or self-control, we judge ourselves as lacking because we need ‘something’. I’d like us to take a moment to explore that cravings have absolutely nothing to do with our character and everything to do with our emotional and physical needs.
Emotional needs:
Repression: If you have grown up with trauma and haven’t dealt with the issues, you often crave food to comfort the small child within.
Avoidance: If you have experienced an emotionally painful experience and you don’t know how to sit with your grief, you often crave food.
Distraction: Food is very often an emotional distraction. You need something and you don’t want to feel anger, or sadness, or hurt, or disappointment, or fear. So you fill yourself up with food. It comforts you and helps push aside the emotions you aren’t interested in exploring.
Stress: If you are putting too much on your plate without scheduling moments to release the inner panic that accompanies a stressful lifestyle, you will often crave food as an outlet.
Rebellion: For some the very idea of being on a diet triggers an inner rebellion. This is when just planning a diet sparks ‘last supper’ mentality and now you need to eat everything in sight. Or if simply following a healthy meal plan feels restrictive, you may find yourself eating to satisfy doing something ‘naughty’.
“Weight is a safety blanket, it wraps around you, when you aren’t willing to comfort yourself. It keeps you safe and protects you. When you learn to care for your inner person, you learn to let go of what you’re holding on to.”
Physical needs:
Water: if you’re not drinking enough water your body often looks to sugar or salt to alleviate your thirst and regulate your flow.
Protein: we look to sugar if we are not consuming enough protein, because our body is looking for the energy necessary to get through the day -sugar is a quick fix.
Sleep: when our bodies are over tired they often look to sugar to help regulate blood sugar.
If you’re mineral deficient, your body seeks sugar to balance it’s physical needs. (Magnesium, zinc)
Belief drives behavior. When you believe you will lose control around certain foods, you are more likely to engage in behavior that harms you. Learning to care for your physical and emotional body, helps quiet the cravings you have for food. Exploring your desire for certain foods, by balancing them with protein, fat, and water helps to calm the intense effects they may have on your blood sugar.
If you don’t remember eating, did you really eat? Have you ever noticed that when you eat and you’re distracted, you often eat more than you would if you were paying attention? As you’re walking through this program, please give yourself permission to be present with what you’re eating, enjoy whatever you choose to consume.
