23 Ways to Kick a Craving Right in the Nachos
Give yourself a fighting chance at Intentional Eating.
Cravings. We all get them. Sometimes they’re totally acceptable, like my craving for some delicious blueberries. And sometimes, that craving is not that good, like when you really, really want to dig into that box of cookies or donuts at the office. Or when you’re feeling snacky and want to dive into a giant, family-sized bag of Doritos right before bedtime.
When we have goals for our health and fitness, cravings and food urges can derail us. For me, it isn’t usually the first thing that I end up putting in my mouth. It’s like opening the floodgates. Give the inner pig an inch of cookie, and then he wants a footlong hot dog. The squealing doesn’t stop until I’m stuffed.
There are ways to defuse a craving.
You don’t have to be at the mercy of your inner pig. When it squeals for treats, you can try one of these methods to get it to shut up and go lay in the mud.
For most of us, we only need to withstand a craving for about 10 to 15 minutes and it will subside.
Give them a try. Some will work for you, and some won’t, but we’re all individuals and need different tools in our toolbox. That’s why I collected so many in one place for you!
HI. I’m Tim from Time2Thrive, a newsletter that helps people find simple ways to get healthier, eat with intention, and care for their bodies.
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1. Drink Water
Thirst can be confused for hunger, especially if you’re like me and your body is confused by years of addictive eating or dieting. We don’t always understand the body’s messages. Are you hungry, or thirsty? One way to figure it out is to get a glass of cold water.
2. Eat Protein Early
This is a way to stop the craving from ever happening. Your body might be protein deficient, so it sends you signals to eat. So of course you grab that cupcake! But guess what, there’s no protein in it and you’re still hungry. Better eat some ice cream. Still no protein.
Instead, what if you gave your body more of the nutrients it needed? If you want to know more about protein and its effects on snacking, read this:
3. Distract Yourself
Are you hungry and snacky, or are you just a little bored? Maybe you could distract yourself from the craving by doing something for a while to pass that 15-minute mark.
Go for a walk (but not past a store with junk food!)
Play with your dog or kids
Listen to music
Do a workout
Call someone and catch up
Play a game
Dance around the house
4. Preplan Your Meals
One thing that works for some of us is to have a meal plan for the day.
For example, this morning I took 2 burger patties out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge, and I already have cut veggies and dip ready to go. So when I’m on my way home from work, I have everything ready for me. There’s no need to listen to my inner pig squealing when I pass through the bullshit corridor of fast food and convenience stores all the way home. I can just keep driving because everything is in place and waiting for me.
Meal prepping on the weekend can be a good way to set yourself up for success.
5. Avoid Extreme Hunger
This tip goes along with the “Eat more protein!” tip. If you eat a sufficient amount of nutrient-dense foods early in the day, your body won’t be searching. So get that protein in you!
The best way to accomplish this is to have scheduled meals and make sure your first meal of the day has enough real food, including protein and some fat. That will carry you through to the next planned meal.
6. Reduce Stress Levels
Most of us eat more when we’re stressed. Once we get past a certain threshold and our willpower and give-a-fuck are beaten down, we start shoveling in the food. Anything handy goes down the hatch, especially if it has salt, sugar, and fat.
Breathing exercises can reduce stress - if you don’t know where to start, take a lesson from a breathing coach like Mila Popovic Geoui
Do a ten-minute guided meditation
Walk outside
Do something you enjoy for a few minutes
Connect with a friend
7. Take Supplements
There are a few things you can take that have been shown to reduce cravings, such as fenugreek, cloves, cinnamon and cinnamon extract, L-glutamine, and ginseng.
Here is a podcast that talks about these and more:
8. Get More Sleep
Sleep-deprived individuals are more snacky than those who get plenty of rest. I know it isn’t easy, but if you make sleep a priority you might be able to fit in more. When you feel good and aren’t sagging with tiredness, you won’t need that snack to keep you upright.
9. Eat Healthy Meals
Right. Back to the protein and nutrients. If your body is already stuffed full of real food like veggies and dip, a big home-cooked meal made with whole ingredients, or a huge steak, it won’t need to make you scramble around looking for a bag of chips or a candy bar
10. Intentional Eating and Slow Eating
If you can slow down and enjoy your food, studies show that you will eat 10% less and snack less up to three hours later than if you wolf down your food like someone was coming to snatch it away. I wrote about that here:
11. Exercise
Going for a walk, lifting something heavy, swimming, dancing. any of these could help you to keep to your intended eating plan instead of buckling and eating something you’ll regret later.
12. Decide What to Have in Case of a Craving - and Bring It
Is there a healthy snack you would like to substitute for whatever craving you are trying to avoid? Then prep that snack and have it ready.
One thing I love to bring is pecans or walnuts (see tip#21). I put them in baggies and have them in my vehicle in small serving sizes, ready to grab.
13. Plan a Reward
Some snack-avoiding geniuses defuse their snackiness by planning a reward meal, where they will enjoy some decadent delights. Then, when their inner pig is squealing, they can tell it to shut its snout and wait for Friday night ( or whenever the reward meal is planned for.)
14. Pantry Purge
This is a hard topic for food hoarders, but maybe it’s time to clean the shelves up a bit. Consider not having those snack foods around the house. I know if I have a pantry stuffed with delicious snackery, that’s all I’m going to be thinking about after supper. Take all of those things you know you shouldn’t have and donate them to the neighbors, your relatives, or something.
15. Make it Inconvenient
If you’re going to have piles of snacks around, make sure you keep them in the least convenient place so you have to do a bit of work to get them.
Lock the Doritos in the gun safe
Put the chocolate on the top shelf of the pantry behind the boring old pasta
Stuff the "fun size” bars in the freezer under the regular food.
16. Don’t Bring It Home
When you’re out shopping, don’t buy family-sized bags of chips and cases of cookies and chocolate bars. If you don’t have it around, you can’t eat it at 3 AM.
17. Only Get Single Servings And Small Treat Packages
This goes with the last tip. If you buy single serving sizes instead of the family pack, you can’t eat a family-sized snack by yourself. I’ve done this so many times.
“I’ll get the fun-sized bars because I’ll only eat one. I’ll never eat the whole box. Ha! That would never happen. I will only eat one per day, I promise!”
Sure. You can have a reward. One individual serving. Not a sack of potato chips the size of your upper body.
18. Brush Your Teeth
This might fall under the “distract yourself” tip, and I’m not sure why but I know it works. Brush you’re teeth and you’ll forget about that craving for a bit.
19. Keep an Honest Food Journal
If you record what you eat on paper or in an app, then you’ll be more aware of what is going in your mouth. That will make you more likely to stay off the junk food. Awareness of your actions is a great first step to making improvements.
20. Inhale Peppermint
Researchers have found that if you sniff peppermint extract every couple of hours, you will eat up to 350 calories less in a day. Easy to pack and easy to use.
21. Eat Walnuts
Eating walnuts has been shown to reduce cravings significantly. I buy walnuts at Costco in a gigantic bag for not much money. They work, too. A small handful of walnuts, and I’m done.
22. Drink Something Hot (without sugar!)
A cup of tea, coffee, or herbal tea can diffuse a food craving just like that. But make sure to avoid drinking piles of empty calories with sugary drinks.
23. Get Help!
There are a few options if none of these tips work for you. You can talk to your doctor. You can get a personal trainer. Or you can find a health coach like myself who can help you reach your goals with sustainable accountability.
Do you have any craving busters to share? Have you tried any of these yourself? Let me know what you think.
Going for a brisk walk works well for me, probably because it releases endorphins. And having a bag of walnuts in the pantry is also a great idea.
Great list! My favorite suggestions is to put the Doritos in the gun safe. Haha. I'll add one to your list-- Don't buy that chocolate bar. If it's not in the house you won't eat it.