- Are there times when you need chocolate?
- Do cravings sabotage your weight loss efforts?
- Can you feed your cravings without blowing your diet?
When Should I Listen to My Cravings?
Cravings can be intense—and often they go way beyond minor hankering. Surely, it can’t just be that you want chocolate. There must be some reason that you need chocolate. Come on, please! Just a taste.
Unfortunately, you probably don’t. In most cases, cravings aren’t a physiological function telling you what you need. In fact, it’s much more likely that they’re a dysfunction
Why Do I Crave Chocolate and Other Foods That Aren’t Good For Me?
Cravings are complex. While a subtle nutrient need may be partly to blame, cravings arise for several reasons—and tend to include a tangled web of psychology, hormones, and other physiological issues.
Why would the body seek out a food for a specific nutrient when that food has very little of that nutrient? Wouldn’t it make more sense that your body would crave foods richer in nutrients, such as nuts, leafy greens, or beans? Your chocolate cravings probably exist for more deceptive reasons. Some research shows similarities between chocolate cravings and alcohol addiction, in that both alcohol and cacao contain similar neuroactive alkaloids (chemicals that tweak your melon). In other words, research suggests that chocolate is addictive. I think I can personally attest to that.
Another reason you could be craving that brownie is because of your emotional history with it. It’s one of the great American comfort foods. We’re brought up identifying chocolate with birthdays, Halloween, post-soccer game ice cream outings, and all those magic moments when you were a good little boy or girl who deserved a reward.
Furthermore, the chocolate you consume is filled with sugar—and sugar cranks up the “feel good” hormone serotonin (among other chemicals) levels in your brain, giving you a feeling of mild euphoria. When it’s gone, you want more. Combine this sugar hit with the emotional issues and you’ve got one powerful craving.
So I How Do I Feed My Cravings?
Eat a piece of carb-heavy cake and you’re going to spike your blood sugar. So instead, feed the craving with healthy food. If you’re craving sweet things, increase your fruit and veggie intake. If you crave greasy foods, increase your raw nut or avocado (good fats) intake. If you find yourself craving meat and cheese, increase your lean protein intake with chicken, fish, eggs, and legumes. If you do this and it doesn’t work, odds are that your cravings are more psychologically based.
If you’re deliberately eating at a calorie deficit, this method can be a problem. In these situations, it might be useful to adjust the balance of carbs/protein/fat in your diet. So, for example, if you’re in the middle of phase one of P90X® and you’re jonesin’ for sweet stuff, try switching to phase two, which features a carb increase.
Cravings suck. And when you’re trying to lose weight, they suck even more, as calorie deficits tend to increase cravings. In our most frustrated, give-me-the-donut-before-I-kill-someone moments, we’d all like a simple solution. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist. Finding your way around cravings requires a little patience and experimentation. It’s just a matter of finding a healthy substitute, a little willpower—or some combination thereof.