I’m addicted to …

SOME TIPS TO KEEP ON TRACK

By Sinead Roberts, OUR IN HOUSE NUTRITIONIST

Do you crave particular foods? Or do the munchies hit at a certain time each day and you ‘have’ to have that [insert food of choice]?

Now, there is nothing wrong with eating something that you want to eat. The problem comes where you don’t really want to be eating that thing at that point in time and / or it doesn’t fit your goals (e.g. losing weight, building strength etc), but you feel you ‘can’t resist’.

You are not addicted to that food! And there is a way around your craving. But you need to work out the reason why your craving hits so that you can then overcome them. Typical craving triggers, and ideas for ways to overcome them:

Tiredness: You crave food to provide energy. Pack extra nutritious low calorie snacks, e.g. veg sticks and Skyr yoghurt. This provides satiating food, whilst minimising calorie impact.

Self-sabotage: You feel you are making good progress, or no progress at all. You have a certain food on your mind and you think “I’m going to indulge”. This is not going to get you closer to your goal in either case.

Boredom: “I am certain I am hungry!”. Distraction is key here. Go for a walk, tidy the kitchen, make a list … something it isn’t easy to snack whilst doing!

Office snacks: There are high calorie processed snacks around. You can’t avoid going to work! Try post it notes reminding you of your goals, and take your favourite snacks to work.

Stress: Food can provide comfort, plus the energy to deal with the stress / the crash after. Coping strategies for this are very individual. Chat to me!

These are just ideas, and everybody is different. So mind map it to figure your trigger and solution …

  • Take 5 minutes and jot down all the things you typically crave, and when

  • Be specific: “Anxiety pre-meeting with boss”, “Office chocolate brownies (not fussed by the flapjacks)”.

  • What can you do to avoid the craving? As many ideas as you can.

  • Be specific: “Go for a walk pre meeting”, “Decide how often will have the brownie and put it in the diary”

  • Store the mind map on your phone. Refer back to it regularly!

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