Here Are Seven Ways To Beat Your Cravings and Stick to Your Body Goals!

When you least expect it, nasty food cravings and a growling appetite can have you caught off guard. When you’re facing a grumbling stomach and feeling grouchy, it can be straightforward to throw your hands up in the air and give up. Here are seven tricks you can use to beat your cravings before they hit you!

Drink Water

By far, the most natural and most intuitive method to curb your appetite or to help you forget about something you crave to eat or drink is to sip on some water. A large glass of water and a few minutes of waiting can go a long way in ensuring that you don’t overeat or eat something you may regret later.

If your craving doesn’t disappear, at least the fact that you have a sensation of fullness in your stomach will lessen the effect of the craving.

Distraction

So if you have tried having a large glass of water and the cravings are still killing you, you could try out distraction. Distracting yourself can go a long way in pulling you to your next meal time without snacking on junk food in between. An excellent way to distract yourself is to play an entertaining game on your phone. There’s plenty of games available for download that can keep you busy and help you forget about your cravings. A scientific study conducted that discovered that playing Tetris for only 3 minutes reduced a variety of cravings.

Have a Cup of Coffee

Research is active in finding the effects of having coffee on appetite. The findings supported that drinking coffee can suppress acute energy intake. What this means is that people consumed fewer calories after having had a cup of coffee than if they had not drunk coffee.

So how this helps when it comes to food cravings is that by drinking a cup of coffee, you may still give in to your craving and have a cheat meal, but you might not be as likely to eat a substantial meal. Interestingly, people who had decaffeinated coffee have better results than the caffeinated variety in this regard.

Brush Your Teeth

Brushing your teeth helps you reduce cravings in two manners. Firstly, this activity psychologically tricks you into thinking that eating time Is now over. If you find it difficult to trick your brain with ease, the second way this trick helps is by introduces the fresh minty taste in your mouth. This makes it challenging to consume anything afterward.

Increase Your Protein Intake

If you struggle with cravings very often, it can be beneficial if you make protein, your best friend. Increasing your protein intake can help you reach your weight loss and fitness goals both by increasing satiety and by feeding your muscles if you are performing strength training workouts.

It has been scientifically proven that a higher protein intake does lead to fewer cravings in the first place and that having a meal that includes a portion of lean protein goes a long way in the fighting off of the munchies at night. The increased satiety means you won’t be reaching for the snack cupboard between meals, too!

A Light Workout

It may seem counterintuitive, but performing a quick, light workout can help stave off hunger or food cravings. We aren’t talking about 100 burpees or 50 kettlebell swings, either. If you do something as intense as these, you will wind up hungrier and grouchier. What you need is to do a low-intensity exercise like a brisk walk or a short bodyweight circuit routine.

Studies show that participants who engaged in light activity ate half the amount of chocolate they would have eaten if they hadn’t exercised at all. If you want to combine distraction and light exercise, try walking backward!

Sleep

It isn’t a widely known fact, but improper sleep can have adverse effects on both your appetite and your food cravings. Fitness and weight-loss centers around sufficient rest, and unfortunately, this is an area that people often neglect. Sleeping less is a habit that’s easy to pick. Especially with so much to do in a day and so much to distract you.

The next time you have food cravings, you know exactly how you can fight them off and stick to your goals! Say goodbye to the feeling of regret and to quit just because you’ve messed up.