How Do I Control Cravings For Food When On A Diet?

 One of the hardest things to control when you are on a diet are food cravings. The fact that your food is restricted makes you want the wrong food all the more. And the food types we crave are always the ones that will not help you lose weight like bread, cheese, chocolate, ice cream and peanuts. So how do I control cravings for these foods when I am on a diet.

The first thing I do is make foods that I crave unavailable or at least difficult to get hold of. Get rid of all the foods that are not permitted on your diet from your kitchen. This makes it difficult for the family person but the diet will be a team effort anyway so they will understand.

The second thing to do is surround yourself with permitted foods that you can freely snack. For a low GI diet you can stop your cravings with fruit and fresh vegetables. On a low carb diet like Atkins you can have small pieces of sliced ham in the fridge to munch.

The issue will be that you will not your bad cravings for the wrong food. You may be eating something healthy like a stick of celery but your mind is focussed on cheese or bread. What you have to do is train your mind to crave the good foods instead of the bad ones.

To start with choose a fruit that you enjoy eating. I will use an apple to illustrate. Now I like apples and I eat a lot of them but they are what you would call an ordinary food to eat. What I do is say to myself that It is not just an apple. I picture it as a crunchy fresh apple with a glossy red skin that has a bright sweet tangy flavour. Can you taste that apple. By envisioning your food like this repeatedly you will begin to desire and crave good foods.

To try this with another fruit imagine a mandarin. Think of it like this. This mandarin just falls out of its peel and smells of the juice that it contains. When you eat your fresh juicy mandarin it just fills your mouth with tangy flavour. If you really cannot stop eating the wrong food you should start training your mind in this way.