3 Ways to Make the Cravings Disappear
Stress eating, how to make cravings disappear. I often hear my students report that beating cravings for food is their number one victory! I’ve listed 3 common reasons for cravings and how to make them disappear.
Find the root cause of your cravings.
Craving Cause #1 – You have something to say…
- Your boss keeps piling on the work.
- Your spouse has been unhappy with everything in life
- Your kids are rebellious and failing in school
- Your checkbook is on empty
- Your family member hurt your feelings
- Life is just not what you hope for
All you want to do is eat. Give me anything dripping with butter and sugar or grease and salt…you just can’t get enough.
You are eating instead of speaking!
You receive oral satisfaction from speaking what is in your heart.
Often when we find ourselves binging on foods that have no benefit and even bring us harm we are really trying to satisfy a deep emotional need to speak from our heart. Those words of hurt, anger or personal truth want to come out but for some reason we are afraid to say them or feel we don’t have permission to speak.
You experience oral (mouth feel) satsifaction when you speak your heart in the same way you experience oral satisfaction eating food.
When you feel drawn to “stuff your face” with – sweet, salty, fatty, carb-filled, dripping with sugar or covered salt – foods ask yourself this question:
Do I have something to say?
Give yourself some time to come up with an answer BEFORE you take your first bite. You see, the desire to stuff your stress will go away when you speak your heart.
Once you realize, yes! I have something to say…then ask yourself these questions
Who do I need to say it to?
How can I say it in a way we are both safe?
Who can I practice saying it with?
If you stop, spend some time thinking, and get in touch with the answers to these questions your mind and your mouth will connect in a positive way and you will feel the cravings begin to diminish.
Find a trusted friend or counselor to help you say what you are feeling in a safe and healthy way…
Then the next step is SAY it!
I began piling my plate with mashed potatoes…
The holidays provide many opportunities for us to stuff our face rather than speaking our truth. One of my students experienced this at a holiday gathering.
“I was having a great time visiting and really feeling good about myself, having removed 90 pounds of fat. I felt strong, confident and healthy. Then, as I was sitting down to the family table my cousin made a comment that cut me to the core.
I immediately grabbed the mashed potatoes and began angrily piling them on my plate. Suddenly I stopped and thought…what am I doing? What is happening here? This is the old me. I asked myself…do I have something to say and I realized I was about to stuff my face rather than face the hurtful words from my cousin. I took a breath, put the potatoes down and ate the healthy meal I had previously planned to enjoy.
Later that day I talked with my cousin in private, trying to understand the motive behind her comment. I realized my reaction to my cousins words reflected my own personal fear of how my family would respond to my weight loss.”
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Craving Cause # 2…What are you telling yourself?
Often the conversations in our mind are not towards others but towards ourselves…Negative self talk that fills our minds with 50,000 accusations a day!
In 2005, the National Science Foundation published an article regarding research about human thoughts per day. The average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before and about 80% are negative.” (1)
Randy Alcorn quotes Joni Eareckson Tada, an amaing woman who has overcome quardraplegia, ministering to people all over the world despite her life-altering disability. (2)
“There are very few days when my soul does not require a good ‘talking to.’ On most mornings when pain encroaches, I demand my soul to come into alignment with the Holy Spirit; I order it to stand at attention and take orders from God for the day; that it rejoice in the day that’s been made by its Creator; that it ascribe to a holy purpose for living; that it quit being sullen, and be hopeful in Jesus; and that it rejoice in the Lord, for therein lies its strength!” (3) Joni Earekson Tada
My friend Barbara Bird taught our AIM Business Builders Mastermind group about Influence. Barbara shared the truth that our greatest influence in life should be ourselves…what we are telling ourselves on a daily basis.
The Bible teaches positive Self Talk
Psalm 103 gives us a great format to speak to ourselves, I need to say these to myself on a daily basis and I find when I speak these truths to myself I have less need to speak my mind to others!
My Interpretation of Psalm 103…based on the original language
Today I will Be Happy with The Lord, in my mind, with my will and my emotions, I will consider His name as sacred and above everything else I value.
Today I will Be Happy with The Lord, in my mind, with my will and my emotions and I will continually remind myself of all His benefits, provided for ME when Jesus died on the cross and rose again:
When I feel like I blew it, I’m a loser, I can’t do anything right…I remind myself…God forgives ALL my sin, because of Jesus; including when I am unjust or unfair to others, when I am guilty or even when I give in to corruption or perversion. If I come to him and ask…He forgives. Who else does that?
When I am sick or get a negative diagnosis I remind myself…Jesus heals ALL my diseases, every sickness and malady. Why do I go to Him last? I must go to Him first!
When I feel like I’m drowning in despair I remind myself…Jesus bought my life back from destruction, the pit and death. I am already redeemed, I ask Him to show me how to walk in that redemption!
When I feel surrounded by stress, hopelessness and fear I remind myself…Jesus encircles me with Love and Compassion. Lord, let me see and feel YOUR love and compassion more than the stress and fear that surrounds me.
When I am hungry and craving food, love or comfort I remind myself…Jesus satisfies my hunger, when I am hungry for things that destroy my body, my mind or my spirit I must go to Him. He satisfies, oh He satisfies so much that my youth is renewed like the eagle! I can soar above the earth, I can see everything from HIS perspective and I can allow HIM to carry me like the wind carries an eagle.
Who else can do these things for me?
- My job? No!
- My doctor? No!
- My Spouse? No!
- My family? No!
- Social Standing? No!
- Money? No!
Only Jesus…I remind myself…Be Happy with Him, all that is within me and consider His Name above everything you value.
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Craving Cause #3…you might be starving to death
Yes, you can be fat and starving to death if you are filling your body with fast foods and processed foods you are not getting good nourishment. Additionally, fast and processed foods are full of chemicals that influence your brain to crave those foods.
- Craving chocolate is frequently a sign of magnesium deficiency. (5)
- Craving salt reveals adrenal fatigue and craving fats are your body crying out for stress relief! (6)
- Give your body the nutrients it needs to fight daily stress:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables to alkalize the physiological effects of stress.Nuts, seeds, avocado and coconut oil to soothe and nourish your nervous system.
- Beans, pasture raised eggs and poultry, grass fed free range beef, and wild caught fish to provide magnesium and tryptophan for relaxation.
Learn the Alkaline Plate and get rid of cravings for good!
Our Be Nourished 4 Life students see cravings for sugar and fast food, even chocolate disappear in a matter of days. Why? Because they are nourishing their body with nutrient dense, real, God-Made foods.
Resources
(2) Randy Alcorn
(4) Psalm 103 The Bible https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+103&version=KJV
(5) Dr Sircus http://drsircus.com/cardiovascular/magnesium-chocolate-therapy-heart-disease-stroke/
(6) https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-facts-about-food-cravings#1
