Losing weight can be difficult enough for most people, but having to deal with strong food cravings can make it almost impossible. I did say almost! One of the most critical aspects of the Today’s the Day plan that I feel is overlooked is exercising your soul. What does that have to do with food cravings, you ask? When you crave any food – chocolate, potato chips, ice cream or macaroni and cheese – IF you consistently give in to that craving every time it hits – you have created a habit. And your mind, will and emotions which make up your soul, controls those decisions.
So first let’s define “food cravings” and some of the things that trigger them. It’s an intense desire to eat a particular food that goes beyond just physical hunger. That’s really important to realize. There are several things that can trigger these cravings. Emotions top the list. We eat to celebrate, to comfort or entertain ourselves. It pretty much doesn’t matter whether it’s happiness, sadness, anxiety or boredom. We eat in response to our emotions.
As most of us ladies know – hormones also definitely stimulate food cravings. Menstruation, peri-menopause and pregnancy are triggers.
Watching a cooking show, commercial or smelling something delicious can also trigger the cravings and it can become your diet’s downfall very quickly. Also if you try to eat too strict a diet and make certain foods “off limits” – that alone is enough to cause rebellion!
What does your soul have to do with it – well first of all, as I mentioned, your soul is your mind, will and emotions. Hmmm, all three of those influence your desires, decisions and habits – so in a word – there’s your answer! If you see a commercial for your favorite comfort food – especially if you have deemed it off limits – your mind gets busy with thoughts of how delicious it is. Then your emotions kick in – you intensely desire it. Finally, your will, especially if you don’t exercise it, and it has become flabby and weak – will just cave and you’ll go get whatever that food is that you crave. Do it often enough and that habit becomes VERY difficult to change. It’s akin to a stronghold in the spiritual realm.
But I’ll talk more about that and some other methods of dealing with food cravings in the next post.
Do you find food cravings sabotage your best efforts to eat healthy and lose weight? How do you handle them?
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