Re: HELP!!! I am been hunted by a big cheese bacon hamburger and an Extra Large Pizza.

Marcseattle,

Good job thus far. What do to about cravings? My favorite subject.

While fasting, drink warm water and do something you like to reward yourself. I simply feel great when I fast because I know what my rewards are, oh my knees are working better, oh my neck pain is gone, I lost weight, etc. Another thing to do is to breath deep and ask yourself, why am I craving this food? Then come to a conclusion that it is partly from memory and partly taste. Then you can say that you can change this.

Here is what I have learned....this is a long essay, but bear with me. After you start eating this will help you.

Food cravings are associated with what tastes good and quantity we consume. Beyond the physiological reasons for food cravings, they often have something to do with emotion and desire. Food cravings arise to satisfy emotional needs, such as calming stress and reducing anxiety.

One, blocking the opiate receptors in the brain, which sense pleasure, can blunt your desire to eat foods rich in fat and sugar, but how do you do that? Fat and Sugar are the most craved foods and there are surveys that say 70% of people crave fat and sugary foods.

Also Carbohydrates boost our levels of the hormone serotonin, which has a calming effect. And the combination of fat and Sugar may also have a calming effect. Our brains remember that. So memory of foods has a lot to do with cravings. I am a prime example of that. When I was young and was on a fast I craved lemon, tomato, chocolate, some fruit or another with salt on it, why? Because I have never eaten any meat, fish or chicken in my life, I have no memory, heck I don't even know what it tastes like. I drink one to two homemade Kombucha everyday, but for last weak I did not, partly because I was eating two meals a day and didn't make a new batch of Kombucha. Last night I craved for it soooo much that I went to the refrigerator 3 times to open the last one bottle left in there. But I backed down, took a deep breath and told myself, I am hooked on this thing, took another deep breath and drank water, and went to my favorite activity, writing and an Excel schedule. I replaced my cravings with something other I liked. Now Kombucha is not bad for you, but I am simply making a point.

Eating a diet lacking in variety can lead to more food cravings. So one answer is eat variety. Second is our tongue/ taste buds are so flexible, they start liking tastes/foods that we did not like before, but after three-four times of eating those foods we get hooked, like spinach or seaweed in my case. Another thing to do is to de-stress yourself with exercise, yoga, meditation, etc.

Everywhere we turn, our environment seems to be screaming at us to eat more fast food and junk food. "Unhealthy food is highly accessible, it's convenient, it's engineered to taste good, it's heavily advertised, and it's inexpensive. If you wanted to engineer a good food environment, you'd have to reverse of all that. I make my own chocolate with raw cacao, coconut oil and stevia or xylitol.

Other things you can do is read a book, get a massage, get a manicure, pedicure, etc. Reward yourself with some other thing than food. Food cravings are associated with what tastes good and quantity we consume. Beyond the physiological reasons for food cravings, they often have something to do with emotion and desire. Food cravings arise to satisfy emotional needs, such as calming stress and reducing anxiety.

One, blocking the opiate receptors in the brain, which sense pleasure, can blunt your desire to eat foods rich in fat and sugar, but how do you do that? Fat and Sugar are the most craved foods and there are surveys that say 70% of people crave fat and sugary foods.

Also Carbohydrates boost our levels of the hormone serotonin, which has a calming effect. And the combination of fat and sugar may also have a calming effect. Our brains remember that. So memory of foods has a lot to do with cravings. I am a prime example of that. When I was young and was on a fast I craved lemon, tomato, chocolate, some fruit or another with salt on it, why? Because I have never eaten any meat, fish or chicken in my life, I have no memory, heck I don't even know what it tastes like. I drink one to two homemade Kombucha everyday, but for last weak I did not, partly because I was eating two meals a day and didn't make a new batch of Kombucha. Last night I craved for it soooo much that I went to the refrigerator 3 times to open the last one bottle left in there. But I backed down, took a deep breath and told myself, I am hooked on this thing, took another deep breath and drank water, and went to my favorite activity, writing and an Excel schedule. I replaced my cravings with something other I liked. Now Kombucha is not bad for you, but I am simply making a point.

Eating a diet lacking in variety can lead to more food cravings. So one answer is eat variety. Second is our tongue/ taste buds are so flexible, they start liking tastes/foods that we did not like before, but after three-four times of eating those foods we get hooked, like spinach or seaweed in my case. Another thing to do is to de-stress yourself with exercise, yoga, meditation, etc.

Everywhere we turn, our environment seems to be screaming at us to eat more fast food and junk food. "Unhealthy food is highly accessible, it's convenient, it's engineered to taste good, it's heavily advertised, and it's inexpensive. If you wanted to engineer a good food environment, you'd have to reverse of all that. I make my own chocolate with raw cacao, coconut oil and stevia or xylitol.

Other things you can do is read a book, get a massage, get a manicure, pedicure, etc. Reward yourself with some other thing than food.

Good luck.

Archus Tweet