I‘VE just been reading Jo Milligan’s hilarious account of her foray into fasting.
Those of you who’ve read previous blogs of mine and/or heard me speak at events will know I’m not a fan of calorie counting as a way of losing weight and I don’t necessarily advocate fast based diets either as they can mean your body is lacking in the essential nutrients it needs for healthy function and can also trigger unhealthy thought and behaviour patterns.
However, Jo’s journey is highlighting a problem common for any woman making changes to her diet – cravings.
At the beginning of the year I wrote extensively about food cravings and why they occur but I thought it would be useful if I summarised that information by providing my top tips for banishing food cravings. So here they are:
1. Stress less
Leisurely activity such as walking or relaxation based yoga and pilates helps to sensitise the body to insulin and lowers our stress levels. Ideally walk for an hour a day but even 10 minutes will have benefits.
Meditate – nothing fancy, just empty your mind and focus on breathing.
Get good quality sleep and drink relaxing drinks such as tulsi or camomile tea to help you relax.
2. Sleep well
Tiredness is one of the biggest causes of food cravings and so good quality sleep is vital for helping to form good nutrition habits. Sleep allows your body to restore levels of human growth hormone (HGH) which help to burn fat and build muscle.
3. Boost your happy hormones
Balanced levels of dopemine, the reward hormone, and serotonin are vital for making good nutrition choices and reducing cravings. 100% cocoa is great for this as it mimics these hormones. Make a cocoa drink with hot water and a teaspoon of good quality cocoa and if needed sweeten with honey.
Fish oils are vital for brain health and probiotics are great for gut health so upping these will help with serotonin and dopemine function.
Vitamin D improves our mood and raises our serotonin levels (the happy hormone). Sunlight (even when hidden behind clouds) is a great natural vit D booster so try to get outside every day.
4. Eat right
Pack your diet full of nutrient rich vegetables. Vary the colours to get the full range of vitamins and make sure there are lots of dark green leafy vegetables in the mix to fill you with good carbs.
Always include protein at breakfast. The quality of our first meal can have a really big effect on how our day pans out so start well to end well.
Slow down and chew your food well. Be mindful about your meals – it’s one time when multi-tasking is a real no no.
Good quality organic coconut oil is great for cooking and for eating straight off the spoon (some people can, some can’t). It’s great for energy and has an abundance of fatty acids to help nourish the cells without the need for insulin and so can help to lower insulin spikes and reduce cravings.
5. Exercise
Short bursts of high intensity interval training coupled with resistance work are the ideal form of exercise. Be aware that exercise of durations longer than 40 minutes and steady state cardio exercise can increase stress levels and cravings.
6. Question
When you’re craving something ask yourself questions:
- Is this physical or emotional?
- What’s really going on?
- How do I feel? Am I tired? Grumpy? Stressed? All three??
- Is this part of a pattern? Using a PMS tracker or similar can help you identify craving patterns and allow you to put pre-emptive strategies in place to combat them.
- How will I feel after I eat this? Do I want to feel like that? Can I cope with feeling like that? Is this action taking me nearer to or further from my goal?
Incorporating these simple tips into your daily routines will put you well on your way to fitness, health & happiness.
Sara Perry is the Thinking Woman’s Personal Trainer and is passionate about helping women over 40 to improve their fitness, health & happiness.
For more information visit www.renaissance4women.com or email info@renaissance4women.com
