Without any shadow of doubts, this article is written for the hundreds of individuals who would like to look better, feel better, and get in control of their weight, and their lives-permanently. We believe that you are also one of these concerned people in the ‘dieting’ world. Hence, we would like to tell you more about the seriousness of ‘Food Cravings’ fiery traps. And how to gracefully escape from these pitfalls!
To be perfectly honest, cravings are like fires; to get out unscratched you have to know your emergency exits before the flames are licking at your heels. For cravings, the “emergency exits” are alternative activities that can divert your mind during the crucial fifteen minutes of your cool down.
The time to plan your emergency exits is now, when you are not in the grip of a craving. Get an index card or piece of paper, title it “Things to Do Instead of Eating,” and list several nonfood activities that you can do when’ a craving strikes. Go for things that will make you feel better and stronger about yourself. Although your list should be as individual as you are, there are a few basic “emergency exits” that everyone should include in their weight loss program. Agreed?
A quick warning though! Please straighten your seats, fasten your seat belts before let’s blast off!
Escape Hatches No.1: The Garbage Pail.
Listen to this fact! You would be enlightened. If a particular food is gratifying but a danger to you, the first and best defense is to get rid of it. Sometimes, of course, if the food is not yours or the particular situation is unavoidable, this method is impossible. That’s when you search for the second hatch. You ask ‘Where? ‘Just continue to scroll down and you will directed to the next hatch. OK?
Escape Hatches No 2: The 911 Friend.
Allow me to pull back the curtains and reveal this! The human mind cannot focus on two things simultaneously. You can’t focus on a food craving when you’re on the phone with a pal. Human emotions and problems require human solutions. Whenever, you turn to food for emotional support, you miss out on a chance for human contact. Don’t let food occupy a place in your life that should be held by a friend.
Find the person or persons in your life who can be a support in times of stress, someone who understands you, perhaps someone who can always make you laugh or feel better about life. Keep then numbers handy. And call them! Too often, friends or loved ones say things like “If there’s anything I can do …” and we never take them up on it. You don’t have to make it a therapy session.
You don’t even have to tell them why you called. Just four or five minutes of pleasant conversation can be as effective and as quickly satisfying as finishing off a box of Pepperidge Farm cookies. Close personal relationships enhance every aspect of your life and make it possible to endure the ups and downs of life with far less physical and emotional trauma (as well as far fewer pounds).
Next up, let’s look out for escape hatch number three. Right?
Escape Hatches No 3: Stress Busters.
This is tricky, I know because many of my readers demand that I should be more specific. However, in plain, simple English all I can say now is that frustration and anger are powerful triggers of self-destructive and uncontrolled eating. If you are a person who eats to relieve stress and frustration, it’s time to find some alternative stress busters. Indulge yourself a bit. Buy yourself a dartboard and the next time you are frustrated, threw darts hard! Designate a pillow as your punching bag. Name it after your boss, if that will help.
Start saving old newspapers for recycling and tear them to shreds when you’re angry. If simply having something in your hands seems to help, take up needlepoint or knitting or get yourself some sort of tactile toy and keep it around the house. Special stress-busting paraphernalia can be found at specialty stores. Not that it has to get that high-tech: One of my clients has an index card that lists a Slinky, and another will never go anywhere without his Silly Putty.
By the way, if you have not read anything substantial, believe me the next one really takes the cake! Right?
Escape Hatches No 4; Nonfood Rewards.
By the way, let’s not mince words or attempt to hide this unvarnished truth. Resigned to the fact that food isn’t the only rewarding thing in the universe, although that may be hard to remember when you’re in the midst of a craving attack. So take the time to list some of the other things in your life that give you pleasure and that can be done in fifteen minutes. Is there a particular song or piece of music that always lifts your spirits? Write it down and note where you keep It.(When you need immediate gratification, you won’t have the time or patience to root through your old albums.) How about starting that great book waiting on the shelf? Even a computer game can really psych you up and keep you from noshing. Do long, hot baths make you feel pampered and relaxed? Hit the tub! Does playing with your dog make you feel like a kid again? Take Spot to the park! Let our mind roam free over every aspect of your life to come up with as many sources of nonfood enjoyment as possible.
The next hatch may be the last but rest assured it is not the least! Read on and it will certainly knock your sock off your feet! True?
Escape Hatches No. 5: Tend to Unfinished Business.
Trust me, this paragraph is worth reading. Prove me wrong and I will eat my hat and deserve a pie in my face. Deal? Here goes! Almost everyone I know has some sort of “to do” list odds and ends in life that they are always meaning to get around to but somehow never quite do. The fifteen-minute cool down is a great time to finally get around to some of the projects that have been falling by the wayside, and you can also enjoy a sense of accomplishment as you cross off each completed task for example, what about that crossword puzzle you started last Sunday? Or that letter you wanted to write your old college roommate? Or the closets that need cleaning out? Or all those back issues of your favorite magazine that you never had time to read?
To summarize, let me restate the five hatches that all weight watcher must be prepared to exist when faced with sudden and uncontrollable food cravings. The first escape hatch is to be prepared to throw unhealthy foods into the garbage pail. The second would be ready to call the 911 Friend for help. The third escape hatch is none other than apply stress busters tactics. Fourth escape hatch is simply utilize nonfood rewards. And lastly, preoccupy oneself to unfinished business! Get and remember the picture?
We are now at the conclusion of this article and the beginning of life where you are in control. And what you do and don’t do put in it is entirely up to you. Everything else in the article is here to help. And it will. You don’t have to believe it. Just follow my instructions. This is my final take. With this I rest my case! End
“Are you prepared to avoid foods craving now?”
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