How To Kill Cravings on a Diet

When you really, really want a double-chocolate chip cookie or a slice of that pumpkin-pie cheesecake, there is not much that is stopping your primal desires from grabbing a piece and succumbing to the momentary pleasure. But we must stop and think before we make a bad decision. One bite could ruin your week. And do you really want that. Below are some tips that I have found work well for if I am having a craving.

1. Remember Your MOTIVATIONS

Remember your WHY. Make it MEANINGFUL to YOU and it will have more weight on your decisions. Not just about how you will look. About how you will feel. About your values as a person. About the long term reasons.

2. Use the BEST-CASE/WORST-CASE scenario comparison

Sometimes even the best motivations can not seem important enough when the lure of chocolate hits. This takes you out of your primal desires and temptations and urges and puts you in control as the EXECUTIVE of your own life business. It allows you to take a step back. You are PURELY focused on the PLEASURE right now. This takes a step back and allows you to see the big picture reality of how your choices will play out in reality. Worst case you take one bite, it leads to 1000, and you are over your weekly calories by so much that you ruined your whole week. You wake up the next morning feeling bloated, uncomfortable, sick to your stomach, and disgusted with yourself. You feel guilty, ashamed, and depressed that you took a step backwards in your goals. Best case if you eat it you get 1 minute of pleasure. Best case scenario if you don't eat it is that you are under your calories for the day, you keep up the momentum of your progress, you wake up feeling lean and hungry and ready for a new day of delicious healthy food and happily proud of your progress.

3. Use your FAITH

Remember that God will never allow you to be tempted so much so that you cannot overcome it. Gluttony is a sin. Self discipline is a fruit of the spirit. Live more and more like God would, every day, in order to get full access to the fruits of the spirit; to find peace, love, patience, joy, etc. The more you put discipline into the small actions of your life, the more God will trust you in your bigger dreams for life. Trust that your character in small actions will lead to great harvest. You are so worthy of all you want in life, don't let little temptations, from the Devil, lead you down a path of self-destruction and further away from God.

4. Remind yourself that FEEDING cravings FUELS CRAVINGS - STARVE YOUR CRAVINGS

The more you give in to cravings, the more cravings you will have. This is enough motivation for me to not give into cravings. Do I want to be CONTROLLED by food? No. I want to enjoy food and choose what I eat. If anything is controlling you in life - it is time to let go of whatever that is. You should be in FULL CONTROL, 100% of the things you CAN BE IN CONTROL OF. And let go, 100%, of anything that you cannot control. This is way to true peace.

5. Remember that giving into cravings is an UNHEALTHY coping mechanism taking you away from your BEST LIFE

When you give into a box of cookies or that bar of chocolate, when you seek it out, when you desperately NEED it, what we really need is not that box of cookies or bar of chocolate. And when we continually use this as a substitute for what we TRULY NEED EMOTIONALLY then we never truly solve the problems in our lives. This leads to even more overeating, and eventually emotion-fuelled super-binges that can harm our bodies physically and harm our minds mentally. I dont want you to fall into the pit of self-destruction. I want you to be happy, healthy, and live a life true to yourself, free of all your pain because you OWN UP TO it and resolve it through HEALTHY means. For me, I was addicted to chewing gum and drinking artificially-sweetened flavoured water to deal with my late-night anxiety. I learned that there are other ways I can comfort myself. For one, I kept myself more busy - I made a schedule so that I would not have idle time to worry about my life and instead have planned what I was going to do in that given amount of time. With a plan for my day, hour to hour, I felt more free, because instead of spending my "free time" full of anxiety, I was spending it with planned activities that I knew were going to MAKE ME FEEL HAPPY, FULFILLED, and would help me WORK TOWARDS MY GOALS. I found COMFORT in my PLAN. Sometimes people thing that plans are restrictive, but they are not, if they are RIGHT FOR YOU. The RIGHT PLAN FOR YOU is freeing; it makes you feel GOOD, SAFE, SECURE, and you have a sense of PEACE because you know that, through the plan, you are getting closer and closer towards your goals everyday. You don't have to continually check the outcomes because you KNOW that you are doing something everyday that is getting you closer and closer towards your goals and so you can rest easy.

If you want to be happy and fulfilled when you finally reach your goal weight, you need to be HAPPY AND FULFILLED NOW! Never forget this! Continually reflect and inspire yourself. You deserve your best life. Take care of yourself and follow the plan and the rest will follow! Trust the PROCESS! Trust that YOUR SEASON WILL COME.

Love, Amanda

Let me know how you deal with cravings in the comments below!