BANISH CRAVINGS!
Cravings are annoying as hell, am I right or am I right? I’m pretty open with the fact that I began my journey to self love (or so I thought that’s what I was doing) pretty darn restrictive. We’re talking no fruit except blueberries, take a bite of an apple and throw the rest away type of restrictive. And I’m pretty sure it’s not rocket science to figure out that this led me to binge...hard, or BED.If you think you are experiencing this sort of disordered relationship with food or an eating disorder, please seek help, feel free to reach out to me. I know how you feel sister. I'm here for you. Yeah, I tend to speak pretty lightly about it, but anyone who has gone through something like this knows that it takes a heavy toll on your mental health. So my way of talking about it is in hopes to bring you a laugh, or a reality check at the same time. Heck, that’s why I became a health coach in the first place. I want to show YOU how to create a BALANCED healthy lifestyle. The kind where you shap e your ideal body and health, and improve your mental health at the same time. I’ve revamped my private coaching programs to be called “Balanced and Beautiful” because that’s exactly what you experience. Learning to eat intuitively, listening to your body and feeding it EXACTLY what it needs and wants every single day. Learning that ice cream and wine are apart of the plan. And finally, when one part of life (health, career, money, relationships, spirituality) improves, all others improve as a healthy side effect. Talk about a BOGO.
Okay back to the topic Di, stay focused!
Banishing cravings. When I was going through my BED, or horrific experience with binging after a period of intense restriction (of which I had no idea I was doing by the way...I thought I was being “healthy”...que my pathway to discover I was created to show the world what healthy TRULY is. Which is not restrictive or extreme on either side of the spectrum I might add). Hello run on sentence. My high school english teachers would cringe right now. Anyway.
When you go through a period of binging, cravings are on a whole new level. Like the abominable snowman of all monsters. Cravings would hit so hard that I couldn’t think of anything else. Nothing would satisfy it until I had that thing that I wanted.
What I didn’t realize is that my brain was all sorts of confused, my blood sugar was completely out of whack, and my stress levels were through the roof.
When I discovered the method that I use with my clients today of how to balance your meals in a way to promote endless energy, steady blood sugar levels and banish cravings, beating my battle with BED became easier and easier until today when I have full control.
Now, you may not have experienced the degree that I and many others have with these sorts of cravings. But we all experience that craving for moose tracks ice cream that makes you question if you’re actually pregnant because do people actually have cravings this intense?
So for those of you who seem to always be wanting a sweet treat, this one is for you!
How to balance your meals and beat cravings:
In each and every meal you have it is important to include a high quality protein, carbohydrate (full of fiber), fat and vegetable. This particular combination of high quality foods is broken down in a way that it is released into your body as a constant flow of consistent energy. Your blood sugar levels are stabilized and the highs and lows of your day (high energy followed by low energy need a nap or candy bar kind of days) are no longer.
The science:
When you do not balance your meals in this way, often a blood sugar spike occurs in the body, releasing insulin into the bloodstream. The problem with this is that over the years of the United States allowing heavy processing on our foods, our bodies are very used to high sugar foods. So, the body often produces too much insulin to combat the increase in sugar levels. Insulin is the hormone responsible for bringing your blood sugar back down to a normal level. So instead of getting back to normal, we actually dip too low. So what does the body look for to bring it back up? You guessed it. Sugar! Hello cravings… So we end up eating too much sugar, more than the body needs and store some of that as fat.
Double whammy. When the body is producing insulin, we can’t actually produce the hormone glucagon which is the hormone responsible for taking fat out of storage to be burned. So not only are we creating a craving hurricane...but we simultaneously can’t burn fat. SHOOTSKY.
Cravings always come from a positive place in the body. It very well could mean you’re not eating enough carbohydrates, fats or proteins. Or maybe you’re lonely, and your brain is looking to food to fill that gap. This is where I work closely with my clients to discover what exactly the craving is trying to tell us.
Portion sizes also play a key role. In my programs with my private clients, we go through finding the right portion sizes for you, how to adhere to your body’s hunger and fullness needs and what sources or forms of each of these macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat) works best in your body. If you’d like to see what this could look like for you click here to schedule a complimentary private coaching session. In this session we’ll discover what exactly your ideal body, health and life looks and feels like, and where you are holding yourself back from achieving that today. And finally your pathway to start living that ideal life today!
As for now, begin by properly balancing your meals and see how your cravings begin to get lighter and lighter!